THE ACTIVE FORCES OF LIVING ORGANISMS 53 



treatment in a bath. Even the passing of the hand 

 over the tired brow or through the hair causes rehef, 

 and the person operating will sometimes, if of a sensi- 

 tive nature, feel a tingling in his or her finger-tips. 

 Some persons are sent to sleep by these and similar 

 methods. 



It is a fact, not without interest in its bearing on Electricity 



intensifies 



the part played by electricity m the animal economy, the effect 

 that the more a person is electrified, the more disposed conditions 

 does his or her nervous system become to take upon which it is 

 itself the character of the conditions under which it is tered"^^ 

 functioning. Thus, electrification of the body under 

 relaxing conditions will intensify their effect, whilst 

 electrification under the influence of a drug will very 

 greatly intensify both its action and reaction. The 

 nature of the result depends on other factors also 

 — on the kind of current, on its strength, and on 

 the parts to which it is applied. When the spinal 

 cord and cerebellum are electrified, the effect is more 

 pronounced than if the electrification be restricted to 

 the limbs and periphery in general. That electricity 

 should intensify any influence to which the body is 

 subjected is but natural, for its action is undoubtedly 

 to throw the molecules and atoms of the tissues into a 

 state of intense vibration, and matter in motion is 

 always more easily affected than when quiescent. 

 Take, for instance, the piece of iron which the 

 blacksmith fashions for a horseshoe, and which he 

 can mould to his fancy when the fire has made its 

 molecules vibrate. 



