from the outside of the receiver, and conveyed to the inside: by this the equilibrium of atmosphere is
broken, and the effort is to restore that equilibrium: This is done by forming a conveyance from
the inside, or plus-electrification, to the outside, or minus-electrification. When the
human body forms any part, or the whole of this conveyance, it receives the shock, and the equilibrium is
restored in the receiver.
that receiver which will be of the least cost, and will require the least preparation, and will
answer as good a purpose as any other, will be a square case bottle; the larger it is, the stronger
the operation. But in choosing the glass, be careful that there is not the least flaw or fracture in it:
there will be sometimes almost imperceptible little fire-cracks in the glass, that emit the effluvia, although
nothing else could possibly perspire through them. The glass must be sound, and free from all appearance
of fractures. Fill the glass with brass filings, or with the cinders or scales from a blacksmith's anvil:
let them be washed clean, then dried in a kettle suddenly over a hot fire, then sifted and put into the glass:
cover the outside of the glass with the thinnest of tea-led, such as comes in the green tea chests;
let it come up as high as the straight sides of the bottle: fold four or five thicknesses of paper, and lay
one such on each side of the glass, upon the lead; then, with a few yards of quality binding, bind all
firmly and close to the glass, from top to bottom.
The next thing will be, to hang this glass under the conductor, in the staple before mentioned:
This may be done by a large wire, like unto the former, a hook turned in the upper end,
to hook to the conductor, and the other end passed into the glass, so as to touch the filling matter,
let it be what it may. But how will you make the glass hang by this wire? There are two methods of
doing this: one is, to drill holes through the wire; and another is, to turn a ring in the wire, which may be
very small; then through the ring or the holes to pass a strong waxen twine, and make it fast round the neck
of the bottle. This nearly completes the machinery. But two chains are wanting
to convey the shocks to the patient: One of these chains brings the shock upon the patient, in any part where
it is applied; and the other takes off the shocks, at whatever part it is applied.
These chains may be made of common wire, of the size of a knitting needle, cut eight inches long,
and the ends turned and linked together. The chains should be six or eight feet long. One wire on
each chain, at the end, must not be turned, but brought to a point, that it may
run through the clothes of a person, or through bedding, if the patient is in bed; for the wires must
always touch the skin. The other end of one chain must be made fast, or connect with the coating
of the receiver; and this is the chain that passes the shock from the patient to
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