over
it paste of equal parts of boric acid and vaseline, and bandage over
all._

=Conditions, Etc.=--A shock produced by contact with an electric
current is not of rare occurrence. Lightning stroke is very uncommon;
statistics show that in the United States each year there is one death
from this cause to each million of inhabitants. There are several
conditions which must be borne in mind when considering the accidental
effect of an electric current. The pressure and strength of the
current (voltage and amperage) are often not nearly so important in
regard to the effects on the body, as the area, duration, and location
of the points of contact with the current, and the resistance offered
by clothing and dry skin to the penetration of the electricity.

When the heart lies in the course of the circuit, the danger is
greatest. A dog can be killed by a current of ten volts pressure when
contacts are made to the head and hind legs, because the current then
flows through the heart, while a current of eighty volts is required
to kill a dog, under the same conditions, if contacts are made to head
and fore leg. In a general way alternating currents of low frequency
are the most injurious to the body, and any current pressure higher
than two hundred volts is dangerous to life. On the other hand, a
current of ninety-five volts has proved fatal to a human being. In
this case the circumstances were particularly unfavorable to the
victim, as he was standing on an iron tank in boots wet with an
alkaline solution, and probably studded on the soles with nails, when
he came in accidental contact with an industrial current. Moreover, he
was an habitual drunkard. In an instance of the contrary sort, a man
received a current of 1,700 volts (periodicity about 130) for fifty
seconds, in one of the early attempts at electro-execution, without
being killed. The personal equation evidently enters into the matter.
A strong physique here, as in other cases, is most favorable in
resisting the effects of electric shock.

High-pressure alternating currents (1,300 to 2,000 volts) are employed
in electro-executions, and the contacts are carefully made, so that
the current will enter the brain and pass through the heart to the
leg. The two most vital parts are thus affected. In industrial
accidents such nice adjustments are fortunately almost impossible, and
shocks received from high-pressure currents, even of 25,000 volts,
have not proved fatal be