Massacon Ear Treatment Device—Type "D"
The Massacon Ear Treatment Device was manufactured
by the Hutchison Acoustic Company of New York in 1903, the makers of the early Acousticon carbon
hearing aids and predecessor of Dictograph Products, Inc. It was
originally called the "Akou-Massage".
There were several sub-models or "Types". For example, Type "A2" was
an economy A/C powered model, while Type "D" (shown here) was the
battery-powered model.
The Massacon box measured 8¾" x 6⅞" x 4¼" and weighed
3 pounds without batteries.
|
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
| |
|
|
The Massacon was a rather ingenious, non-intrusive way to treat deafness
caused by otosclerosis. It did this by creating a
loud sound vibration through the earphone held against the patient’s
ear.
The Massacon was designed to cause severe vibration to the
eardrum and consequently the tiny bones in the middle ear as a means of loosening
them up and breaking the spongy bone attachments apart to improve the hearing
in people who had otosclerosis. It was made for the use of physicians and
not as a home treatment for hearing loss.
There are three controls on the device. There is a nine step rheostat
on the box (right side of picture) that is used to vary the intensity of
the vibrations.
|
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
In addition, there is a control knob on the rear of the earphone that controls the
frequency of the vibrations. |
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
Finally, you can rotate the top of the receiver in relation to the
bottom. If you look closely, you can see some numbers around the top
edge. There are 24 steps around the side
of the cap which moves the diaphragm in and out towards the magnets,
which
also increases or decreases the sound level. |
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
The sound produced by this unit, even on the lowest
setting is a whopping 120 dB. On any of the settings above that it is off the
scale of the sound meter. Consequently, this device is capable of doing great damage
to the normal ear and should have only been used on people who had a
considerable degree of conductive hearing loss due to otosclerosis. This picture shows the interior of the earphone.
|
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
Here is a close-up of the interior of the earphone showing the
vibrator (red).
It appears to operate from
a 6 Volt battery of unknown type. The engraving on the back of the
earphone states that this unit is a type D, No. 7. |
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
The Massacon's box from the outside.
|
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
|
A close-up of the name plate on the box. It says that this is Type D
and the serial number is 227. Thus, this is one of the earliest
battery-powered Massacon's produced.
|
 |
Click picture for larger view |
| |
|
(If a larger picture doesn't appear, you may have to
turn your pop-up blocker off)
|
|
|
