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Practice
Acu. | Issue #35 | Summer 2022
On the trail of the detector A recent discovery has left member Amanda Watson wondering whether anyone out there can tell her more about the pioneering work of her late grandfather
Amanda Watson Member: Bristol
I sometimes think that perhaps we are destined to choose this career of acupuncture. It may not be our first, and it may be our own trauma that leads us here, but once found it is a complete way of life. That’s certainly how I felt when I came across a piece of equipment invented and manufactured by my grandfather, Dr William Arnould-Taylor. A few weeks ago, while looking through a huge scrapbook of my grandfather’s life with my Mum, we found a photo of what appears to be an early acupuncture point detector, simply labelled ‘acupuncture detector’. As you can see, it clearly has a probe connected to a meter. According to the marketing leaflet, the ACU-MED Electro-Acupuncture instrument was ‘designed for both diagnosis and treatment’ – in the same way that we would use some detector probes today, presumably. Designed and manufactured by Electro-Medical Hire and Sales Limited, one of The Arnould-Taylor Organisation’s Associate Companies, the ACU-MED was said to incorporate the latest advances in the field of energy measurement. This company had ‘been actively engaged in the manufacture of skin potentiometers for the past eight years and this latest instrument is the product of accumulated experience and technical skill. The instrument is
extremely sensitive and the meter accurately records any changes in energy flow’. And this is all I know, as yet. I have no details as to the exact year of manufacture, if there were any previous versions, or which professions were using the instrument at the time. Of course, my first thought was to wish my grandpa was still alive so that I could talk to him about it. Sadly, he passed away in June 2007 at the age of 96. I had always been vaguely aware that he was well-known in his field and highly regarded. As an undergraduate he studied physiology and chemistry and went on to gain a diploma in public health. Then in 1947 he teamed up with his friend, Lord Cecil Douglas, to form a company called Elmed. They supplied electro-medical equipment of all types, from heat lamps to X-ray – including, I am assuming, the ACU-MED – and were associated with the introduction of ultrasound to England from Europe. He also had his own company, The Arnould-Taylor Education Organisation.
In the early years he worked closely with Wallace Sharps, who founded the Vocational Training Charitable Trust (VTCT) and was known as the ‘Father of Beauty Therapy’. Together they were involved in researching and developing theories on figure improvement resulting in the production of paramedical machines and equipment for specific purposes. They also set up training and educational systems to help the growth and standing of the beauty therapy industry. My grandfather’s involvement with beauty therapy came almost by accident. In 1956 the Daily Telegraph published an article identifying a need for trained professionals to promote a service halfway between beauty culture and physiotherapy. As a direct result, he was invited by two colleagues to join them in creating a therapeutic centre – his company was ideally suited to adapt existing equipment and create new machines to fit these ideas. The centre was located at the elegant Grafton Street headquarters of Helena Rubenstein, just off Bond Street in London. The clinic was staffed by beauticians and physiotherapists and it soon became evident that a proper training programme was required. Just a year later a small conference was held at Durrants Hotel in London attended by about 60 delegates and press. It was there that the Association of Beauty Therapists was formed, leading to a syllabus for training that became the basis of the first examinations for the new profession of Beauty Therapy.
