In the early 1800s, William Hallaran invented the circulating swing. It was a chair or bed suspended from a frame that could be spun rapidly using a crank. Patients were strapped in and typically spun around at speeds of up to 100 revolutions per minute, often inducing effects like vomiting, dizziness, or unconsciousness. While some doctors believed them to be therapeutic, the swings fell out of use by the mid-19th century, dismissed as both barbaric and ineffective.