Abstract
THE writer, after premising that hitherto electricity in its x application to the human body had not come up to expectations reasonable in the case of so powerful a force, and that it was evidently still in an embryonic state, mentioned some examples of the conflicting and contradictory statements made by different authorities as to its electrical resistance. These varied from 13,000 to 2875 ohms and less. He believed it was enormously overstated, and had for this reason applied himself to make some more accurate determinations. He was at once met by three obstacles:—(1) The difficulty of making good contact through the skin of a living man. (2) The limitation of the amount of current by pain, and by the fact that the rapid opening and closing of strong circuits produced a tetanic state of muscle. (3) The fact that the human body is an easy electrolyte, almost immediately furnishing currents of polarisation.
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On the Electrical Resistance of the Human Body 1 . Nature 29, 21–22 (1883). https://doi.org/10.1038/029021a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/029021a0