Nikola Tesla - Free-Energy Devices

820 INVENTIONS OF NIKOLA TE8LA.tips a burning sensation is felt.They should not be confoundedwith those produced by an influence machine, because in manyrespects they behave differently.I have attached the brass sphereand plate to one of the terminals in order to prevent the formationof visible streamers on that terminal, also in order to preventsparks from jumping at a considerable distance. Besides, theattachment is favorable for the working of the coil.The streams of which light you have observed issuing from myhand are due to a potential of about 200,000 volts, alternating inrather irregular intervals, sometimes like a million times a second.A vibration of the same amplitude, but four times as fast, to maintainwhich over 3,000,000 volts would be required, would bemore than sufficient to envelop my body in a complete sheet offlame. But this flame would not burn me up ; quite contrarily,Yet athe probabilityis that I would not be injured in the least.hundredth part of that energy, otherwise directed, would be amplysufficient to kill a person.The amount of energy which may thus be passed into the bodyof a person depends on the frequency and potential of the currents,and by making both of these very great, a vast amount ofenergy may be passed into the body without causing any discomfort,except perhaps, in the arm, which is traversed by a trueconduction current. The reason why no pain in the body is felt,and no injurious effect noted, is that everywhere, if a current beimagined to flow through the body, the direction of its flowwould be at right angles to the surface ;hence the body of theexperimenter offers an enormous section to the current, and thedensity is very small, with the exception of the arm, perhaps,where the density may be considerable. But if only a smallfraction of that energy would be applied in such a way that a currentwould traverse the body in the same manner as a low frequencycurrent, a shock would be received which might be fatal.A direct or low frequency alternating current is fatal, I think,principally because its distribution through the bodyis notuniform, as it must divide itself in minute streamlets of greatdensity, whereby some organs are vitally injured. That such aprocess occurs I have not the least doubt, though no evidencemight apparently exist, or be found upon examination. Thesurest to injure and destroy life,is a continuous current, but themost painful is an alternating current of very low frequency.The expression of these views, which are the result of long con-