142 ELEMENTS OF STATIC ELECTRICITY. 



with their outer terminals, according to the degree of 

 resistance offered by each path respectively. If a per- 

 son, or a number of persons with hands joined, grasp 

 the handles, the resistance will be less than through the 

 wood, and they will feel the effects of the discharge. 

 This discharge is regulated by the distance to which R 

 and P are separated. With a separation of T V of an 

 inch, on a large machine, the discharge is so rapid that the 

 distinction between the impulses can scarcely be per- 

 ceived ; producing a faradic current smoother than can 

 be obtained from the best batteries, while a separation 

 of i an inch produces effects which the strongest nerves 

 cannot endure. 



This current, in its milder form, cannot be distin- 

 guished from that obtained from the battery, or mag- 

 neto-electric machine : but, in its more powerful effects, 

 it is more impulsive ; coming in jets, with cumulative 

 force, like the rapid blows of a planishing hammer. In 

 the battery current, the stronger effects show increased 

 intensity, and a greater tendency to muscular contrac- 

 tion ; while increase of strength in this current is 

 due to the slower impulses giving more time for the 

 accumulation of electric energy. 



THE ELECTRIC BATH AND ELECTRIC WIND. Charg- 

 ing a person on an insulated stool is one of the most 

 common experiments in static electricity, but it has 

 only recently come into use in medical practice; and, 

 instead of the stool, an insulated platform, on which 

 one or more persons can be comfortably seated, has 

 been substituted; the treatment being known as the 

 "Electric Bath." 



When the patient is seated, as above, the electrodes 

 P and R, drawn out beyond sparking distance, and the 



