6 Comments Posted by roger

Medcraft of Skippack, Pa. manufactured the B24, series III, ECT machine shown here in the photos. Medcraft was a division of Hittman Corporation which had several other divisions. One of which was the Nuclear Battery Division of Columbia, Maryland. I know this as I worked for Medcraft at the time this unit was being manufactured. Medcraft made a number of medical devices including EEG machines, EKG machines, remote heart monitoring stations (the RM-400), a cardiovascular diagnostic center (the CDC-70) and a wearable heart monitor/recorder called the Accutape 24. So named as it recorded for 24 continuous hours on a C-180 cassette tape using pulse width modulation. At the end of the 24 hour recording cycle, the tapes could be reviewed for abnormalities or cardiac events using the CDC-70 station discussed above. The B24, series III, ECT machine was the only piece of equipment that was not patient tested after manufacturing was complete prior to shipping to a customer. There was, however, a dummy load which can be seen inside the lid which was used to set up the machine prior to patient use and also for machine diagnostics.

According to the label, the specific gravity is (or at least once was) 1.18, which (according to standard s.g. tables for this acid) makes it very close to 35% w/w, which is very close to saturated. (You can possible read "HCl = 36.40" on the 4th line of the label, but the digits are hard to make out.) In molarity, it works out to around 11 M (that's eleven, not one point one.) So yes, this is a strong, concentrated acid and would cause serious burns if you got it on you. Having said that, hydrochloric acid of this strength can be bought in any hardware store, without any restrictions. The only difference is that this acid is analytical grade, which means it is much purer than the stuff from the hardware store.


The main reasons for strong mineral acids in a medical lab setting are controlling pH for tests that are sensitive to it, and as a calibration standard. Conc. acid like this isn't used for a calibration standard (because it would need to be diluted before use, which adds a potential source of error), so this acid was probably intended to be a handy supply of acid that could be diluted down to whatever strength was required when needed to adjust pH in tests.

Seeing it here is a side effect of environmental protection regulations. It's obviously a good thing that companies can't dump chemical wastes down the drains. But the rules are so strict that when it comes to disposing of small amounts of moderately harmful chemicals, it's such a pain in the arse to go by the book that it's easier to leave it on the shelf and hope someone else deals with it. The fact is, for a small amount like this (half a one litre bottle), it would have been harmless to dilute it 100:1 in the sink, add a pound of bicarb. of soda to neutralise, then flushing it down the drain. It certainly would be a lot better than leaving it around where some kid might end playing with it and getting burned.

They Rarely use cribs anymore because of whiney people like some of you that are against cribs. You will be pleased to know that now we DRUG the patients to the point where they are NOT aware of anything !!.
They sit and stare into space like DEAD PEOPLE. They are kept DRUGGED 24/7.For the rest of their lives they know NOTHING. Do you still think CRIBS are bad ????

u should c the view from the top of the water tower-amazing. u can even see a bridge wayyyyy out in the distance. i explored ladd 4 2 years and found some pretty amazing things there. great shot-ways ths recent?

i've been to this place 3 times-from ri.all during the nite. the 1st time me n my partner got caught by a very quiet, white security suv. he jus let us go. but dont sleep because they have beefed up their security. bigtime.thanks to idiots n matches. state police roam the campus. there is foot patrol. and even some half assed boobytraps. i spotted all this thanks to the cover of nite n my nifty night vision goggle. this place is huge! no joke. and at nite it seems to tower over u. i do warn...it's haunted. believe what u want but i KNO. or atleast the small auditorium is.thats where i had the experiences. many. it was a bit overwhelming. by the way...great shot. it brings me bak to the 1st time i saw that room.

So for 'therapy' they would bring patients into this hall and show them the picture of what it used to look like. You know, job security... ;o)