The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1891-09-02
How Electricity Kills.

Electricity kills by paralyzing thS'
nerve centres, such as the brain and spf@s
nal cord, and by disintegrating the
blood. Three. .fourths of the body, 81
more. is composed Of water which Is III
the blood. The flow Of blood cannot ~
disturbed without causing instant death.
In ordinary deaths the blood is found To-
be coagulated and the heart empty. hi
deaths by electricity the blood refuses tu
cogulate, and the head is always full &
The paralysis of the nerve centres, how
ever, is the primary cause of death. Amy
tremendous shock would have the Same
effect, so far as paralysis and death ara
concerned. The members are over-stimns
lated and death occurs at once. As 10;
why electricity should affect the nerve
centres we can scarcely understand, bot
it certainly does so. There seems to beS
a physical change in the blood, an actuak
interchange of parts. We know that tbs
positive pole tends to coagulate thu
blood. 1t attracts acids and hydroge
The negative pole attracts alkalies and .
hydrogen, and tends to make the blood;
fluid. Possibly it is the opposing action
of these two poles that makes the change:
in the blood. It doesn't seem to tear thu
tissue or cause grave lesions, but feHs
of the capillary blood vessels, the vszYsl
small ones, are generally ruptured. Elec-'
tricity is such q tremendous force wheyS
used for killing that it is difficult k0:
analyze its effect. It never fails to KILL
if sufficient voltage, say 1900 volts, -
used and the electrodes are properly adj
justed. When it fails to kill it is because
the voltage is not sufficient, or the pointz
of contact are not properly made. IL
current of 1900 volts, with small elec-
trodes, may not be equal in its effects to
one of 1000 volts with electrodes Of e.;
considerable size. The rule is that tha
larger the point of contact the less tha
resistance. An expert, speaking on ths
subject, said: 81 think that all Of thu
primarily fatal effects of electricity ara
due to one of three causes, which ana
distinct but inseparable, and each capa
Ulc VI pIO0QCluS oSotl, IL ooLuSioHAyLi
powerful. The most prominent of These
is the forcible contraction of the mus
cles, which may be drawn 50 tightly
about tie arteries as to produce conges-
tion and stop the action of the heart
If you have taken shock from any BAT
terry, such, for instance, as used to bsI
operated on the streets, you will remam
Der that one of the first sensations was.
as if all the nerves were being pulled
from you, and that this was followed by (
an inclination to double up. That was
the result Of contraction of the muscles -
Edison testifies that working people have /,
more resistance than those who do
not work, but that 1000 volts Of an.
alternating current, or of continuous
current which is broken or interrupted q
often, is sufficient 10 cause instant and
painless death" DR.. Cyrus Edison says:
~ think that death by electricity is
entirely painless. Electricity is quicker
than sensation, and uncensciousness IS z
produced at once. In the case of death
by electricity the nerves would be parat-
yzed before they could inform the man
that he was being injured, so there would
be no sensation. ."-Rnston Transcript.