One of the new and not uncommon dangers of modern life is that of getting in the way of a powerful current of electricity and receiving the entire discharge through the body. The effects of such a discharge vary, of course, with the strength of the current. There may be simply a sharp muscular contraction accompanied by a familiar, disagreeable sensation of an electric shock; these contractions may be repeated several times after the current has ceased, constituting true convulsions, or there may be a persistent continued muscular contraction. There may be suspended respiration while the heart continues to beat; both heart and respiration may cease, in which case death will speedily follow unless instant medical relief is at hand or in other cases death may be instantaneous.

The first care is, of course, to free the person from contact with the live wire, and here great caution is necessary, or the giver of assistance may share the fate of the one he is trying to help. He must himself be insulated before touching the victim's body, if the latter is still within the path of the current, and this is especially important if the accident has happened out of doors on a wet day. Care should be taken also not to let any part of the body other than the hands, or rather one hand, touch the electrified person.

It may not be possible to pull the sufferer away from the source of electricity, and if not it will be necessary to make a short circuit by dropping a stiff wire or a metal tool of any kind over the live wire or cutting the wire.

Insulation is best obtained by rubber boots and gloves, but in the absence of these, standing on a folded coat or a woman's silk skirt and putting on thick wollen gloves or wrapping the hands in several folds of silk, woolen or cotton cloth, which of course must be dry. A dry board or several newspapers, or better still, both, may serve as an emergency insulat-ing stool.

When the victim has been freed from the current he should be placed so that he can have plenty of fresh air. In severe cases artificial respiration will almost always be needed, just as it is in cases of drowning, and an early resort to it may save a life that would otherwise inevitably be lost.