Manchester Metnoirs, Vol. liv. (1910), No. I;{. 



XIII. The Electrical Resistance of the Human Body. 



By Prof. W. VV. Haldane Gee, B.Sc, M.Sc Tech., 



AND 



F. Brotherton. 



Read January 2^th, igro. Receivid J or publication April gth, igio. 



In an investigation, which is in progress, relating to 

 Electrical Endosmose, tests have been made with organised 

 structures, and those relating to the human body have 

 been thought to be suitable for a separate paper, now 

 brought under the notice of the Society. The increasing 

 use of Electricity in Therapeutics and the revival of 

 Electrical Medication or Catopheresis makes a knowledge 

 of the electrical resistance of the body of importance. To 

 the general user of electrical energy the subject is also of 

 interest in connection with dangers associated with the 

 usual supply voltages. 



In so complex a structure as the human body the 

 problem of determining its electrical resistance presents 

 unusual difficulties. First, there is the question of how to 

 secure a proper contact between the skin and the 

 electrodes. Evidently measurements made by the appli- 

 cation of dry metallic disks, etc., to the dry skin must be 

 of very questionable value, for the resistance will depend 

 on the firmness of the contact of the electrodes and the 

 state of the skin as regards texture, moisture, and tempera- 

 ture. In the larger number of our experiments it was 

 therefore thought advisable to make the measurements 

 with the skin immersed in salt solution. Again the 



July 1 2th, igio. 



