Electro-physiology and electro-therapeutics : showing the best methods for the medical uses of electricity / By Alfred C. Garratt.
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tities of opposite electricities, positive and negative, or plus in one and minus in the other, according to Franklin. There is usually thunder with the lightning, but there are lightnings without thunder, and so are there thunders without lightning. There arc actual thunderbolts found in several parts of our own country, and in other parts of the globe — ponderable, tangible bodies; one of the most marvellous specimens of which, I think, is to be seen in the cabinet of Yale College in New Haven. Safety from Lightning. It is often asked of us how to avoid the danger by lightning. We usually advise on general principles, rather than give specific directions. Persons who are perspiring copiously, or are wet, are, on the whole, more exposed to danger by light- ning than others whose skin and clothing are generally dry. The dress is truly important; but the casting away from one's person, and every way avoiding the locality of metals, as coin, scissors, pocket knife, or the proximity to the butt of a tree, or chimney, or iron, is also important. It is best not to stand in the doorway, nor yet by a window, particularly if it is open, as the warm air of the house acts as a conductor, and in that case attracts the lightning. Ladies dressed in silk, if with no jew- elry, having a dry skin and clothing, are the least exposed of all persons. After having divested one's self of coin, jewelry, &c, then the next best thing to be done is to seek a position in the middle of the room, on a bed, or any where away from con- ductors; also avoiding the range between two conductors. Dr. Franklin's advice was to avoid the fireplace. 1 say avoid, also, the proximity to stove or gas pipes, water pipes, and lightning rods. Such are prudent precautions, under Providence, and it is but wise and important to observe them; yet we must bear in mind, that there is no absolute safety, as lightning will not always respect silk and glass, nor human wisdom. A person may be struck with lightning and yet not be killed; they may receive only wounds or laceration, or these with death. The victim may bear the traces of dreadful burns, or singed hair,