ELECTRICITY. 



49 



$ 4. Effects of Electricity upon Animals. 



(180.) Having seen that the effects 

 of electricity on inanimate matter are of 

 various kinds, we should he led to ex- 

 pect that its operation on living bodies 

 would he still more complicated ; for in 

 addition to its mechanical and chemical 

 agencies, it can hardly fail of exerting 

 considerable influence on the living 

 powers, and more especially on the 

 functions of the nervous system. It is 

 unnecessary to describe the sensations 

 excited in the body by receiving electric 

 sparks or shocks, since most persons 

 in the present day are familiar with 

 them. It is curious, however, to take 

 a retrospective view of the mode in 

 which the effects of the Leyden phial 

 were announced to the world, on their 

 first discovery. The philosophers whp 

 first experienced, in their own person, 

 the shock attendant on the transmission 

 of an electric discharge, were so im- 

 pressed with wonder and with terror by 

 this novel sensation, that they wrote the 

 most ridiculous and exaggerated ac- 

 count of their feelings on the occasion. 

 Muschenbroek states, that he received 

 so dreadful a concussion in his arms, 

 shoulder, and heart, that he lost his 

 breath, and that it was two days before 

 he could recover from its effects; he 

 declared also, that he should not be in- 

 duced to take another shock for the 

 whole kingdom of France. Mr. Alle- 

 mand reports, that the shock deprived 

 him of breath for some minutes, and 

 afterwards produced so acute a pain 

 along his right arm, that he was appre- 

 hensive it might be attended with seri- 

 ous consequences. Mr. "Whikler informs 

 us, that it threw his whole body into 

 convulsions, and excited such a ferment 

 in his blood, as would have thrown him 

 into a fever, but for the timely employ- 

 ment of febrifuge remedies. He states, 

 that at another time it produced copious 

 Weeding at the nose; the same effect 

 was produced also upon his lady, who 

 was almost rendered incapable of walk- 

 ing. 1 hese strange accounts naturally 

 excited the attention and wonder of all 

 classes of people ; the learned and the 

 vulgar were equally desirous of expe- 

 riencing so singular a sensation, and 

 great numbers of half-taught electri- 

 cians wandered through every pail of 

 Europe to gratify this universal cu- 

 riosity. 



(181.) As it is probable that the elec- 

 tric fluid meets with greater impedi- 



ment in passing from the surface of one 

 bone to another, at the parts where 

 the continuity of substance is inter- 

 rupted by the joints, this circumstance 

 explains why the shock is often more 

 especially felt at the joints than in any 

 other pail of a limb. But if the shock 

 be directed more particularly through 

 muscles, its effects are chiefly shown by 

 exciting a convulsive and involuntary 

 action of those muscles. This is often 

 observed to take place in a paralysed 

 limb, when electric shocks are sent 

 through it, although the nerves of the 

 limb are at the time incapable of con- 

 veying the impressions which produce 

 sensation. Mr. Morgan states, that if 

 the diaphragm be included in the circuit 

 of a coated surface of two feet in extent, 

 fully charged, the sudden contraction of 

 the muscles of respiration will act so 

 violently upon the air in the lungs, as 

 to occasion a loud and involuntary 

 shout ; but if the charge be small, a fit 

 of convulsive laughter is induced, pre- 

 senting a most ludicrous exhibition to 

 the by-standers. 



(182.) It is on the nervous system, 

 however, that the most considerable ac- 

 tion of electricity is exerted. A strong 

 charge passed through the head, gave 

 to Mr. Singer th sensation of a violent 

 but universal blow, and was followed 

 by a transient loss of memory and in- 

 distinctness of vision. If a charge be 

 sent through the head of a bird, its 

 optic nerve is usually injured or de- 

 stroyed, and permanent blindness in- 

 duced: and a similar shock given to 

 larger animals, produces a tremulous 

 state of the muscles, with general pros- 

 tration of strength. If a person who is 

 standing receive a charge through the 

 spine, he loses his power over the mus- 

 cles to such a degree, that he either 

 drops on his knees, or falls pros- 

 trate on the ground ; if the charge be 

 sufficiently powerful, it will produce im- 

 mediate death, in consequence, proba- 

 bly, of the sudden exhaustion of the 

 whole energy of the nervous system. 

 Small animals, such as mice and spar- 

 rows, are instantly killed by a shock 

 from thirty square inches of glass. Van 

 Marum found that eels are irrecovera- 

 bly deprived of life when a shock is sent 

 through their whole body; but when 

 only a part of the body is included in 

 the' circuit, the destruction of irritability 

 is confined to that individual part, while 

 the rest retains the power of motion. 

 Different persons are affected in very 



