B. E.

MaHOHjiOB
3JIEKTPHHECTB0
H HEJIOBEK
(jieqeHHe h onacHOcn.)

H3aaTe^bCTBo «3HeprHH»
JleHHHrpaacKoe OTfle/ieHne
 Electricity
and
Man
(Medical application and hazards)

V. MANOILOV

Translated from the Russian by

GEORGE KITTELL

Mir Publishers
Moscow
 Ha QHeAUUCKOM H3b lKe

First published 1978 © H3,naTejibCTBO «3HeprH»», 1975

Revised from the 1975 © English translation,
Russian edition Mir Publishers, 1978
 CONTENTS

To the English Reader . . 7

By Way of P reface...................... 8

PART ONE. ELECTRICITY CURES . . 11

Chapter One. Electrophysics of Inanimate Nature . . . 11
1. Motion, Motion, M o tio n ........................................... 11
2. Electric Conduction in M etals...................................... 13
3. Electrical Resistance o f Solutions................................. 18
4. Neither Conductor nor I n s u la t o r ........................... 19
5. Semiconductors with Impurity C onduction. . . . 22
6. Organic Semiconductors................................................. 27
Chapter Two. Electrophysics of the Living Organism. . . . 35
1. Amazing Electrical C onductivity................................. 35
2. Significance o f Changes in the Electrical Properties
of the Living O rganism ................................................. 42
3. Examples and E vidence................................................. 45
Chapter Three. Physical Properties of the Biosphere. 53
1. Electricity Round U s ...................................... 53
2. Where is Magnetism and Where are
the Magnetic Fields ? ................................................. 5"
3. Magnetic Storms and M a n ........................................... 60
4. Electricity and the Ratiobiosphere................................ 66
Chapter Four. Items from the Prehistory of the Use of Electricity
in M edicine................................................................................ 74
1. First D isco v e r ie s........................................................... 74
2. An Important Investigation........................................... 76
3. The Prize Awarded to M a ra t...................................... 78
4. Dispute between Galvani and V o lta ........................... 81
5. V. V. Petrov’s Experiment. The Beginning of
E lectro d y n a m ics................................................. 85
6. Use of Electricity in Medicine and
Biology in the 19th Century...................... 89

s
Chapter Five. The Physician’s Electric A s s i s t a n t ...................... 93
1. The Origin o f Biological Currents...................................... 93
2. The Electrocardiogram...................................................... 96
3. The Electrocardiograph...................................................... 101
4. Remote D iagn osis................................................................. 104
5. Taking Medicine Without Powders or P ills.............................112

PART TWO. ELECTRICITY IS D ANGERO US . . . . 118

Chapter Six. In What Way is Electricity Dangerous ? . . . . 118
1. Events in Vasilevsky Island, St. Petersburg.............................118
2. Electric Trauma and Some Statistics........................................121
3. Temporary W iring........................................................................ 123
4. A “Horse Accident” ...................................................................125
5. Examples o f Electric T raum a.................................................. 126
6. Is a Low Voltage Dangerous ? ............................................. 131
7. One Hundred and Ten kV Power Transmission
Line in the City, and the Electric Safety o f
Medical Instrum ents.................................................................. 134
Chapter Seven. Biophysics of Electric Injury . . . . . . 139
1. Fundamentals for S tu d y............................................................. 139
2. The Dispute C o n tin u es............................................................. 141
3. Man — a Self-regulating S y ste m ............................................. 144
4. Something U n exp ected ............................................................. 146
5. D a n g e r ! ................................................................................. 149
6. Electricity Kills Animals as well as People . . . . 152
B ib liograp h y............................................................................................. 156
 TO THE ENGLISH READER

This book was published in Russian several years ago.

Since then much has changed; important discoveries have been
made in electrophysiology. Development of the knowledge of
electricity and its practical application has been broad and
diversified, particularly its application in electronics, electro­
chemistry and power engineering. Conceptions have greatly
altered and new interpretations have appeared. It is now
obvious that at the elementary particle level, electricity is
much more significant than was formerly supposed. The
nonuniform concentration of electrons in a semiconductor,
for instance, provides interesting knowledge of macropro­
cesses, making them a new type of primary transducers of
information. Moreover, a change in the interdirection of the
elementary particles in the atom imparts new properties to
molecules.
Consequently some principles should undoubtedly be set
forth differently, but after rereading the book I have come to
the conclusion that what is of greater importance is not out­
dated. And the important thing is that knowledge of electri­
city in man is of the greatest significance and as yet constitutes
a vast realm of the unexplored.
The more we know about electricity in man, the more suc­
cessful we shall be in solving practical problems in its appli­
cation. I therefore consider myself fully justified in leaving the
basic content of the book without substantial revision. The
experience of many years observation in man is not obsolete,
has not lost its importance.
At the beginning of the 19th century electrophysiology and
electrical engineering developed in different directions, but
in time the two will merge into a single science of electricity.
 BY WAY OF PREFACE

Luigi Galvani who discovered “animal electricity” at the

end of the 18th century, and Niels Bohr who proposed a plane­
tary model of the atom at the beginning of the 20th century
can hardly have realised that their discoveries would not only
mark the beginning of the extensive and increasing application
of electricity but would also serve as the basis for solving the
greatest mystery of nature — where does life begin? Where is
the dividing line between the animate and the inanimate?
Electricity and man. Electricity has become a part of man’s
life, changing the conditions in which he lives and works.
One could cite a great diversity of examples of the use of electri­
city in industry, transport and communications, in the home,
in medicine and art. Electricity has made it possible to develop
new technology and to manufacture materials not existing
in nature. The electromobile, replacing the automobile, is the
future individual means of transport. Electrostimulators and
other electrical instruments are today irreplaceable aids to
the physician. Everyday life is being revolutionized.
But those ur^not the things our book deals with, although
the development of electrification unquestionably gave grounds
for writing it. The following examples will give an idea of what
it is about.
A patient’s head shakes and is bent to one side; his hands
tremble. He is completely incapacitated by a progressive
disease of the nervous system. Drugs give little relief. The
physician seats the patient in a chair and places electrodes
in the form of small silvered plates on his temples, securing
them with ordinary sticking plaster. He connects the electrode
wires to a small pulse source of electric current and presses
a button. Current from the electrodes passes through the
8
patient’s body. The hands stop trembling and the head stops
shaking. The patient can easily turn his head and his eyes
light up with the hope of recovery. Thus begins his lengthy
but promising treatment.
Or another example. A large well-lighted operating room.
For over an hour surgeons have been performing a most deli­
cate operation — an operation the patient must have if his
life is to be saved. Suddenly the instrument registering the
patient’s pulse by the heart’s electric activity shows that the
heart is not working normally— numerous sharp spikes appear
instead of the waves characteristic of the heart’s normal con­
dition. The heart has been unable to withstand the strain of
the enervating disease and “fibrillation” has set in— the
heart has ceased to contract rhythmically as a single whole.
Instead, there is an uncoordinated jerking of the countless
fibres of the heart muscle, recorded by the instrument as dis­
orderly weak electric impulses. Their number reaches a hund­
red per minute. Such a fibrillating heart cannot force the blood
through the vessels. It is as though the heart had stopped beat­
ing. The human heart, unlike that of an animal, say a dog,
cannot spontaneously come out of the condition of fibrillation.
Defibrillation measures must be taken at once or the patient
will die. The physician places two metal plates on the patient’s
body as electrodes and secures them tightly against the skin.
The wires from the electrodes are connected to an electric
defibrillator. The physician presses the button and a sudden
electric impulse of several thousand volts passes through the
patient’s body. The instrument recording cardiac activity
shows that fibrillation has ceased. The heart begins to contract,
at first weakly but then more vigorously, its activity gradually
returning to normal.
But tragedies sometimes occur. A certain woman liked to
sew for herself and her children. Her new electric sewing ma­
chine stood at a window, below which was the pipe of the
hot-water heating system. It was her habit, while sewing, to
put her feet in house-slippers on the warm pipe. Once she
9
kicked off her slippers and put her bare feet on the pipe at a
spot where the paint was off, following some repair work.
Without a sound she slumped over the machine, and all
attempts to bring her back to life were futile. An investigation
revealed that the insulation of one of the wires from the motor
was defective where it was in contact with the steel frame of the
machine. The tension was 127 V.
It is difficult to detect such faults and consequently the Re­
gulations* prohibit the positioning of electrical appliances
(which include electric sewing machines) near water and
heating pipes.
Here we have two diametrically opposed effects: electri­
city can be used for treating disease, for saving lives, and elec-
ricity can cause death.
Life on Earth originated and developed in interaction with
electromagnetic fields. Electricity is inherent in the living in
its most complicated form — the vital activity of man.
Scientists have done much in studying this amazing inter­
action of electricity and the animate but much in nature is
still concealed, much must be analyzed and understood.
This book will help to widen the reader’s understanding
of the interaction of electricity and the living organism, al­
though it makes no claim to exhaust the subject.

* Safety-Engineering Regulations for the Operation and Main­

tenance o f Electric Installations and Safety-Engineering Regulations
for Household Electric Installations. Moscow, 1969.
 Part One
ELECTRICITY CURES

CHAPTER ONE

Electrophysics
of Inanimate Nature

1. MOTION, MOTION, MOTION...

Continuous, never-ceasing motion: changes and transfor­
mations of matter and energy — matter into energy, and energy
into matter — this is what characterises nature. The diversity
of the forms and types of motion and transformations of
animate nature, particularly as regards man, is marked by
great complexity. Every form of transformation and motion
reflects an electrical phenomenon, either directly or indirectly,
and is often caused by it. Movement of electric charge carriers
is accompanied by the transfer of matter and a change in its
properties and characteristics. A lightning discharge can cause
serious destruction and kill both people and animals; at the
same time the survival rate of newly-hatched chicks held in a
high-voltage electrostatic field is higher than that of chicks not
held in an electric field. Directly, an electric field can promote
metabolic processes in animals and man, while indirectly, an
electric field, as regards the favourable aspect, can bring about
changes in the microflora of man’s environment and through
these changes favourably act on his body.

11
 The interaction of the electricity of the environment and
the electricity within the living organism depends on its elec­
trical characteristics, one of the principal characteristics being
electrical conductivity, which determines the movement of
the charge carriers, their type and nature. Electric conduction
is classified into the following types: electronic, ionic, semi­
conductor and plasmatic.
Electronic conduction is found in metals and other sub­
stances with close packing, which makes it possible for the
electric field of an atom to “serve” several atomic nuclei, that
is, to overheat them. Electronic conduction is also found in
the upper layers of the atmosphere in which the density of
matter is low and electrons can move freely without entering
an electric field of different polarity.
Ionic conduction occurs in liquid electrolytes. Ions are
charge carriers and during their movement transfer matter,
changing the chemical composition of the electrolyte liquid
under the action of the field.
Semiconductor conduction is characteristic of the largest
class of substances. It consists in the directed movement of
electrons from one substance to another, from one atom to
another, if there is a vacancy, a “hole”, into which the elec­
trons rush.
Plasmatic conduction is due to the nature of plasma. Plasma
is understood to be a gas containing a large concentration of
charge carriers — substantially exceeding the number of un­
charged elementary particles.
Quite a large number of substances belong to the class of
insulators. In these'substances all the charge carriers are firmly
held by inner electrostatic bonds, and only a small part are
capable of migration.
Electrical conductivity is assessed by the value of the re­
ciprocal of the product, ohm metre. The numerical values
range from 106-1 0 8 1/ohm m (for metals and plasma) to
10~12-10“ 16 1/ohm m (for dielectrics).
Another most important electric property is dielectric
12
strength, especially for insulators, since their quality is primm il\
assessed by this.
The dielectric strength of a substance is defined as the ma­
ximum voltage which can be applied to a given material, ob­
ject or the human body without causing a sudden rush of the
charge carriers. This is termed the break-down of the material
in question and the voltage causing it is termed the break­
down strength. For human skin this value is 200 V/mm2.
Investigations carried out in the 1960’s and 1970’s revealed
that previous views concerning electrical conduction and
dielectric strength were erroneous. For instance, it was thought
that metals possessed only electronic conduction, and con­
sequently the movement of the charge carriers was not accom­
panied by the transference of matter. It has now been found
that such transference, though small, does take place through
ionic conduction. It was held that there could be no electronic
conduction in solutions. It now turns out that along with the
movement of ions in solutions there is also movement of elec­
trons which influence processes taking place in the solutions.
Practically speaking, for any complex substance, for any state
and for any environment, all types of conduction and elec­
trical strength are present. This is particularly true of the living
organism. Combined electric conduction in man is especially
complicated.

2. ELECTRIC CONDUCTION IN METALS

Quite recently atoms were thought to be the ultimate “bricks”
making up everything animate and inanimate (Greek ato-
mos = indivisible). Now the conception of an indivisible
atom has given way to the conception of an atom as complex
system of particles with its own laws and relationships. The
particles making up the atom include electrons, which are
incomparably lighter and possess a constant electric charge.
According to the modern view all electrons are identical—
the electron in the hydrogen atom is exactly the same as the

13
 electron in the uranium atom. The electron has a mass which
is about 1/2000 that of the hydrogen atom. It has a charge of
1.6x10“ 19 coulomb, the unit of electricity. Yakov Frenkel,
outstanding 20th century Soviet physicist, said this about
the electric charge: “To get an idea about the size of the
electric charges bound up in matter it should be noted that
if we were able to extract an electron from every atom of
hydrogen in 1 g of the gas we would obtain a negative charge
equal, in absolute electric units, to the product of 5x 10“ 10
times 6 x l0 23, i.e., 3 x l 0 14 cgs units or 105 coulombs. The
force of attraction between this charge and the total positive
charge of the atoms of 1 g of hydrogen that have lost their
electrons would come to approximately 1020 tons at a distance
of 1 cm (over a million million tons!-K.M.). Taking into
account the fact that electric forces diminish in inverse
proportion to the square of the distance, it can easily be cal­
culated that the force of attraction between these charges at
a distance equal to the earth’s diameter (about 13,000 km)
would decrease 1019times but would still be equal to 10 tons.”*
Electrons are at a distance of a tenmilliardth of a centimetre
from the nucleus, the centre of the atom. An electron is attract­
ed to the nucleus with a force equal to 2.5 x 102 N/m2. Such
a force for a particle having such a mass as the electron is
tremendous. The bond between the electron and the atom
is characterized by the work that must be done to remove the
electron from its initial position. The energy expended in
removing the electron is equal to the energy of the bond bet­
ween the electron and the nucleus. The energy of the bond or
the potential is within the range of 1 to 30 eV.
Metals only conduct electricity when they are in the solid
or liquid state, conduction being better in the solid state. If
metals are heated to a temperature at which they are converted
into vapour, or, in other words, go into the gaseous state, they

* Frenkel, Ya. I., Printsipy teorii atomnych ypder (Principles of

the Theory o f Atomic Nuclei), Moscow — Leningrad, 1955, p. 11.

14
cease to be conductors of electricity and the exchange of elect­
rons stops. In the gaseous state metals behave the same as
non-metals— insulators (dielectrics).
How is the appearance of electric conduction when metal
vapour condenses to be explained? Here again Yakov Frenkel
gives an excellent explanation: “The appearance of electric
conduction when metal vapour condenses to a solid or liquid
body is due to a phenomenon which can be called the ‘dein­
dividualization’ of electrons, i.e., the loss by some electrons
of their bonds with individual atoms”.
Deindividualized atoms are capable of freely passing over
from one atom to another. To put it more exactly, the bond
of some electrons attracted by the positively charged nucleus
of the atom is weakened and the electrons move about among
the atoms without altering the chemical properties of the me­
tal, since the number of electrons about each atom does not
change. The freely moving electrons impart to the metal the
ability to conduct electric current.
Why is it that metals, especially such metals as copper,
silver and gold, have deindividualized electrons which easily
leave the individual atom?
The electrons in an atom move round the nucleus in definite
shells. The energy of the electrons in different shells differs
by great values, depending on their mean distances from the
nucleus. Within each shell the difference in energies is not
great and is determined by the shape of the shell and its orien­
tation in space, as well as the orientation of the electron’s
magnetic moment relative to the shell.
In 1925 the Italian physicist, Pauli, formulated the exclusion
principle, according to which there cannot be more than one
electron at each energy state within an atom or not more than
two electrons at each energy level with opposite directions of
their magnetic or mechanical moments (spins). Electrons in
an atom occupy the lowest possible energy levels. The number
of electrons in each shell cannot exceed twice the number
of energy levels of the shell, which is equal to 2 n2, where n is

15
the number of the shell or the principal quantum number,
which can have the values 1, 2, 3, 4 ... and so on.
When a solid body is formed from individual atoms, the
state of the electrons moving round nuclei in internal electron
shells remains practically unchanged. The external or valence
shells interact vigorously when atoms approach one another,
split and combine, forming a valence band of allowed energies
of the solid body. In a number of solid bodies this band is
followed by a band of forbidden energies and then a band of
possible energies in which at a temperature of absolute zero
there are no electrons.
The number of levels in the valence band is equal to the
number of levels in the corresponding shell of each atom mul­
tiplied by the number of atoms in the solid body. The width
of the valence band does not depend on the dimensions of
a crystal but is proportional to the cube root of the atomic
concentration. For different crystals it has a value of the order
of 5-10 eV. If a crystal contains 1023 atoms per cubic centi­
metre, the distance between adjoining levels in the band comes
to 10“22eV. This is an infinitesimal energy, even when compared
with the average energy of heat motion of atoms and molecules
at room temperature, which is equal to 0.04 eV. If the valence
band is completely filled with electrons, it is impossible to
introduce even a single additional electron in any way. In this
case, when the forbidden band is very wide, a solid body is
a dielectric. Its electrons cannot be accelerated by any external
electric field, i.e.j they cannot acquire the additional energy
corresponding to\the conduction current. If the valence band
is not completely filled, the solid body is a metal. Electric
conduction is determined by the concentration and mobility
of the charge carriers and depends on their number on the
outer valence shell. The less the electrons’ bonding energy
with the nucleus, the easier they are detached from the atom
and the easier they form deindividualized electrons. The above-
mentioned metals have one peripheral electron, which easily
leaves the atom. Iron, zinc and magnesium have two perip-
16
 heral electrons and aluminium has three, and it is more diffi­
cult for them to leave the atom. Detachment of electrons from
the stripped atom requires large expenditures of energy. For­
mation of a metal, semiconductor or dielectric when atoms
are condensed to a solid body depends on the structure of the
atoms and on the extent to which their valence electron shell
is filled. In a solid body atoms are orderly arranged in space,
forming a crystal lattice, which is formed by the lengthy repeti­
tion of a group of atoms termed the elementary cell.
Four types of crystal lattice are possible, depending on
the character of the particles at the lattice points and on
the character of the forces with which they interact with one
another.
Metallic lattices. At the lattice points are arranged positive
ions, between which deindividualized electrons split off from
the atoms when the crystal was formed, move irregularly si­
milar to the molecules of a gas. These electrons are current
conductors and at the same time act as a cement holding to­
gether the positive ions of the lattice. The resistance of metals
depends on the temperature. This is because at temperatures
above zero, the ions at the lattice points are put into thermal
harmonic vibration and the orderly movement of the electrons
toward the outer electric field is disrupted, and the greater
the amplitude of the vibrations, i.e., the higher the tempera­
ture, the greater this disruption. Consequently the resistance
of metals increases as the temperature rises.
Atomic or homeopolar crystals. At the points of the crystal
lattice there are like neutral atoms. This type of bond is found
in graphite, diamond, silicon, germanium, etc. In this lattice
the atoms are crowded so closely together that the electronic
shells of their valence electrons are interwoven, thanks to which
special exchange forces arise, causing greater cohesion. The
nature of these forces is explained in quantum mechanics.
By analogy with the hydrogen molecule, it can be considered
that the homeopolar bond originates through the exchange
of electrons moving in a common shell embracing both nuclei
2-124X 17
of a molecule. Thus the homeopolar or hydrogen-like bond
is effected by electron pairs and is directed in character.
Ionic or heteropolar crystals. At the lattice points positive
and negative ions of equal size are alternately arranged, so
that the crystal as a whole is neutral. The forces of interaction
between the ions or the forces of the bond are the electrostatic
forces of attraction between unlike charges (coulomb forces).
The entire crystal can be regarded as a single giant molecule.
Molecular crystals. The lattice consists of molecules of
water, oxygen, etc. The bonding force is determined by the
force of attraction between the electric dipoles of the indi­
vidual molecules.

3. ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE OF SOLUTIONS

Passage of electric current through a solution (the move­
ment of electric charges) differs essentially from the move­
ment of electric charges along a metallic conductor. The dif­
ference consists, above all, in the fact that in solutions the
charge carriers are not electrons whose mass is only about
1/2000 of the mass of a nucleon (proton or neutron), but the
residues of atoms and molecules consisting at times of many
large charged particles — ions.
Naturally this movement is accompanied, in one way or
another, by a change in the properties of the substance itself.
Let us consider an electric circuit in which one element is a
vessel containing a solution of table salt in which two platinum
electrode0 or" ' T" the solution the
current particles — ions.
The app ^ x )ility of chemical
dissociation of the dissolved salt into its constituent elements,
sodium and chlorine. Sodium, which loses an electron, becomes
a positively charged ion moving toward the electrode connected
to the negative pole of the power source for the electric circuit.
Chlorine, which appropriates an electron, becomes a negative
ion moving toward the electrode connected to the positive
18
pole of the power source. The formation of positive and nega­
tive ions takes place through the spontaneous break-up of the
salt molecule in aqueous solution which is called electrolytic
dissociation. Movement of ions is brought about by the voltage
fed to the electrodes immersed in the solution. On reaching
the electrodes, the ions take possession of an electron or give
up an electron, thus forming molecules of sodium and chlo­
rine, respectively. This process of chemical decomposition
during the passage of an electric current (electrolysis) takes
place in solutions of many other substances. The molecules
of such substances, like the molecules of table salt, consist of
oppositely charged ions, into which they dissociate in solution.
The number of dissociated molecules, or to be more exact,
the number of ions, characterizes the electrical resistance of
the solution.
It should be reiterated that passage of an electric current
through a circuit, one element of which is a solution, causes a
transference of the substance forming this element of the cir­
cuit, and consequently a change in its chemical properties,
whereas when an electric current passes over a metallic con­
ductor no chemical changes take place in the metal. This
is explained by the fact that in metal conductors the transfer
of a certain amount of electricity takes place through the trans­
lation of free, or more precisely, deindividualized electrons;
in solutions the transfer of this amount of electricity is carried
out by ions having a great weight compared to electrons, and
forming the basis of the substance in question. In the first
case the passage of electricity is not accompanied by the trans­
fer of the basic mass of the substance, while in the second case
it is.

4. NEITHER CONDUCTOR NOR INSULATOR

1924 was the year in which wireless broadcasting began in
the Soviet Union. The Comintern wireless station in Moscow,
a giant in wireless engineering in those days, went on the air.

T 19
In Leningrad, too, programs were broadcasted regularly two
or three hours a day. Thousands of fans of all occupations and
ages enthusiastically set about making crystal sets. The de­
tector in these receiving sets was a small silvery, semiconduc­
tor crystal, with which the loose end of a metal spring was in
contact. The electric circuit included, besides the detector,
a wire spiral (self-induction coil), a condenser and ear-phones
or loud-speaker. Thanks to the properties of the semiconduc­
tor crystal, this apparatus “sensed” changes in radio waves
and provided reception of the information carried.
But a diversity of other properties, equally amazing, are
found in semiconductors, a large group of substances with a
very broad range of conductivity — from 105 to 10“ 8 1/ohm m.
In the most general sense these substances are something
of a bridge between inanimate and animate nature. What is
there in common? Many semiconductors, like living orga­
nisms, are highly sensitive to environmental effects and react
to them with changes in their electrophysical properties. The
relationships in these changes are of course different, but
there is undoubtedly something in common. Thus, the conduc­
tivity of semiconductors, inorganic and organic, increases
sharply as the temperature rises, while in metals it falls. In
some semiconductors, conductivity depends on the intensity
of illumination, while in others voltage appears under the
influence of light. Such semiconductors find application as
sources of electric energy, and are used for making solar batte­
ries. Semiconductors in which electric current appears under
the influence of penetrating radiation (including X-rays) are
also used as sources\of electric energy. The electric properties
of semiconductors can change under the action of pressure,
humidity, chemical composition of the air and other environ­
mental factors.
Man can assess changes in environmental conditions through
changes in the bioelectric potentials of the visual, acoustic,
gustatory and tactile analyzers. Analogy, no matter how tempt­
ing it may be, is not proof, but evidence of the similarity of
20
inanimate and animate nature is gradually accumulating,
and it can be assumed that this will continue. But more of that
later.
Semiconductors are widely employed in various sectors
of the national economy as transducers of environmental
characteristics into registered electric signals. The strength of
the electric signal is proportional to the change in the primary
characteristic.
The conduction properties of semiconductors are explained
by the band theory of solids. For an electron to jump from the
valence band to the conduction band it must be given additi­
onal energy, since an electron cannot possess an energy lying
within the range of the energy values of the forbidden band.
An electron can be given the energy for its jump from the va­
lence band to the conduction band by heating or by the action
of an electric Field, penetrating radiation or light, i.e., by the
action of any external source of energy. The following is cha­
racteristic of semiconductors, a category which includes a
great number of diverse materials: when an electric field is
applied to a semiconductor crystal and an electron jumps from
the valence band to the conduction band, a vacancy — a “ho­
le” — is formed in the valence band. In the absence of an elec­
tric field, the hole moves irregularly about the crystal, but
under the action of a field, it moves in that direction. In an
ideal semiconductor crystal, free from defects or impurities,
the valence band is completely filled with electrons at abso­
lute zero (0 Kelvin,-273°C), while the conduction band is
empty, and the semiconductor becomes an insulator. At that
temperature metals possess conductivity.
Parallel with the generation of electron-hole pairs in a semi­
conductor under the action of heat, there is a recombination
of electrons and holes. When conduction electrons encounter
holes in the valence band they fill them. The simultaneous
action of these processes leads to the establishment of an
equilibrium in the semiconductor, characterizing the equilib­
rium concentration of charge carriers. At room temperature
21
this concentration is many times smaller than the concent­
ration of valence electrons. For example, in germanium, a
typical semiconductor, there is only one conduction electron
to ten thousand million valence electrons at room tempera­
ture. Still even this small number of charge carriers is suffi­
cient for the semiconductor to possess perceptible conduction.
This is explained by the fact that conduction depends not only
on the number of charge carriers, but also on their mobility.
In pure semiconductors the mobility of the electrons (charge
carriers) is much greater than in metals. This mobility and the
fact that the concentration of electrons and holes can change
at room temperature explain the high sensitivity of semicon­
ductors seen in variations in their electrophysical characteris­
tics, depending on environmental factors.

5. SEMICONDUCTORS WITH
IMPURITY CONDUCTION
Besides semiconductors with intrinsic conduction there
are semiconductors with impurity conduction, in which some
of the atoms of the initial substance are replaced by atoms of
other elements whose energy levels are in the forbidden band.
Impurity atoms are of two types — donors and acceptors.
Donors when introduced into the crystal lattice give up an
electron to the conduction band. Acceptors, on the contrary,
can seize an electron from the valence band, thus forming a
hole. The difference between semiconductors with intrinsic
conduction and those with impurity conduction lies only in
the degree to which impurities influence their conduction. If
the concentration of donors in the semiconductor exceeds the
concentration of intrinsic conduction electrons, it is the con­
duction electrons that make the greatest contribution to con­
ductivity, since their concentration, n, will be much greater
than the concentration of the holes, p. Such a semiconductor
is called an electronic or w-type semiconductor to distinguish
22
 Fig. 1. Movement of charge carriers in n-type semiconductor

it from a hole or /?-type semiconductor, in which the number

of holes is greater than the number of electrons.
Semiconductors with impurity conduction have different
properties than chemically pure semiconductors. Consequ­
ently the presence of impurities in semiconductors greatly
extends their application. What impurities are there? Impurity
atoms can be trivalent or pentavalent, while the most popular
semiconductors, germanium and silicon, are tetravalent.
Thanks to the presence of pentavalent atoms in a medium
of tetravalent atoms (Fig. 1), free electrons appear in the semi­
conductor from each pentavalent atom of the impurity (in­
dicated in the Figure by minus signs). As a result, the penta­
valent atoms become positive ions, indicated by plus signs. If
electrodes are attached to a piece of germanium and a poten­
tial applied, there will be a current in the circuit exceeding the
current from intrinsic conduction. The free electrons, super­
fluous in a system of tetravalent atoms in the presence of pen­
tavalent atoms, will begin to move toward the positive pole
of the potential source. Such impurities are donors since they
give up electrons. In the semiconductors used in practice there
is one atom of impurity to 108—104 atoms of germanium. By
using such a ratio of impurity atoms to basic atoms it is possible
23
 Fig. 2. Movement of charge carriers in p-type semiconductor

to obtain a semiconductor with preset properties and charac­

teristics.
But what will happen if the impurity atom has three electrons
in its valence shell instead of five (Fig. 2)? The trivalent atom
has chemical affinity with three neighbouring basic tetravalent
atoms, a void or hole being formed in the fourth atom which
can be filled by any electron. The system with three electrons
has a tendency to attract an electron, and by detaching one
from a neighbouring atom will make a hole in its valence band.
Under the action of a potential the electrons will travel to the
positive pole, and the holes, to the negative pole. Trivalent
impurities are termed acceptors because in contrast to do­
nors they accept electrons. Acceptor impurities include, among
others, aluminium, thallium and indium.
This discussion of semiconductor properties would be in­
complete if no mention were made of the phenomena observed

24
Fig. 3. Movement of charge carriers through p-n junction when the
poles of the power source are connected to the sides of the compound
semiconductor with the same signs of the charge carriers

Fig. 4. Movement of charge carriers through p-n junction when the

poles of the power source are connected to the sides of the compound
semiconductor with the opposite signs of the charge carriers

25
when semiconductors with different impurities are joined
(Figs. 3 and 4). The boundary of contact between two semi­
conductors with n and p types of conduction is called the p-n
junction. Its thickness is measured in tenths of a micron. This
extremely thin layer imparts new and amazing properties to
the compound semiconductor which are widely made use
of in radio electronics. At the boundaries of both semicon­
ductors the negative ions formed by the trivalent impurity
atoms repel the free electrons coming from the semiconductor
with a pentavalent impurity. In the region adjoining the con­
tact boundary, all the acceptor atoms will be filled with elect­
rons and converted into negative ions fixed at the lattice po­
ints. On the contrary, all the atoms of the donor impurity
near the junction will lose an electron, thus making them po­
sitive. In the region of the junction, travel of the charge carri­
ers— electrons and holes — will be made difficult. The con­
tact boundary between the two semiconductors will be a sort
of barrier between the two regions. One region will contain
negative ions fixed at the lattice points; the other will contain
positive ions. This barrier is called the potential barrier. It
is deficient of the mobile charge carriers. On the whole, the
compound semiconductor remains neutral — the positive and
negative charges counterbalance one another.
What will happen if an electrode (a metal plate) is attached
to each side and a potential applied? The charge carriers will
receive additional energy and will behave differently. The
free electrons will be drawn toward the positive pole of the
potential source. Overcoming the potential barrier, they will
begin to fill the holes in ihe valence bands of the atoms that
have travelled there under the influence of the positive poten­
tial. The electrode connected to the positive pole of the source
will attract electrons. A current will appear in the circuit.
If the polarity of the potential applied to the electrodes is
changed, the properties of the semiconductor will be different.
The electrons of the electrode in contact with the negative
pole of the potential source will draw a chain of holes from

26
the p section. In the n section of the semiconductor the elect­
rode connected to the positive pole will attract the free elect­
rons. These phenomena combined increase the potential
barrier. If the same potential is applied, there will be no current.
Until the breakdown voltage is reached, phenomena in the
circuit characterized by the movement of charge carriers will
only be due to the potential applied. When the applied poten­
tial reaches the breakdown value, the semiconductor will
fail. Thus a compound semiconductor can be either a conduc­
tor, or an isolator depending on the polarity of the potential
applied. For alternating current the semiconductor will be
a rectifier.
There are many variations in the use of the peculiarity of
movement of the charge carriers in this class of substances.
In view of the object of this book it is important to get an
idea of the types and peculiarities of charge carriers, and their
movement in materials known as semiconductors.
The conductivity of this class of materials, as characterized
by the movement of the charge carriers, differs essentially
from the electronic conductivity of metals, the ionic conduc­
tivity of solutions and the very slight conductivity of dielectrics.

6. ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTORS
The development of organic chemistry is bringing an in­
creasing number of new materials whose basic characteristic,
aside from the general carbon structure (skeleton), is the absen­
ce of free electrons. New organic materials possessing ultrahigh
resistivity have brought about a veritable revolution in insu­
lating technology— new insulation for wires and cables has
appeared, microminiature radio-electronic parts are being
manufactured and fundamentally new trends in the develop­
ment of radio engineering are in evidence.
But coherent ideas of polymers as insulating materials
began to break down as early as the end of the ’thirties. A very
small number of organic compounds were found to possess
27
electrical conductivity properties of a kind. The first such
compound was anthracene. When exposed to light, electrical
conduction appeared, and this increased sharply as illumina­
tion was intensified.
It is greatly to the credit of Academician A. F. Ioffe that he
realized the significance of the phenomenon discovered, and
immediately after the Great Patriotic War conducted exten­
sive investigations into the semiconduction properties of orga­
nic compounds. However it was only in the mid-sixties that
the immense potentialities of organic semiconductors began
to be utilized. What are the common particularities of these
materials? To begin with, there is the great range of conduc­
tivity values. For instance, some complex organic compounds,
derivatives of tetracyanchinodimethane have a conductivity
approaching that of metals. The activation energy, i.e., the
energy required to set the charge carriers in motion, is very
small. Beginning with potential values characterized by an
electric field potential of 103- 105 V/cm, the current/voltage
relationship is close to Ohm s law. Besides the dependence
of the conduction of some organic polymers on illumination
mentioned above (photoconductivity), it has been found that
conduction may be dependent on humidity, pressure, penet­
rating radiation and other factors.
The charge carriers, for example, for photocurrent, can
be electrons or holes. Experiments carried out in vacuum,
during which the layer of material was carefully sealed, showed
that the sign of the charge carriers can change from positive
(holes) to negative (directly acting electrons). This means that
hole current is due to the presence of absorbed oxygen, a strong
electron acceptor which alters the electron/hole ratio in fa­
vour of the latter. The effect of oxygen on the character of
conduction is of great importance when considering electro­
nic conductivity in living organisms, since the mechanism
of energy transformation and transmission is apparently
associated with this.
A. A. Dulov and A. A. Slavkin stress another characteristic
28
of organic semiconductors — the presence of magnetic proper­
ties.
Summarizing what has been said, it can be concluded that
organic semiconductors essentially differ from most organic
compounds. In the first place they have a large number of
double (unsaturated) C = C bonds forming a conjugated
system, i.e., a system with a regular alternation of double and
single bonds. A. A. Dulov and A. A. Slavkin cite naphthalene
as an example. Large crystals of naphthalene can easily be
obtained by slowly cooling a melt.

H H

The skeleton of the conjugated system, as can be seen from

the complete or simplified formula, is a chain of carbon atoms
connected by alternating single and double bonds. Two elect­
rons from two atoms are involved in the formation of the
double bond, C = C. In the conjugated system the electrons
interact within the entire molecule, forming a unified elect­
ronic system. In such systems the electrons are not bound
with individual atoms or are bound very loosely. Consequently
they are capable of moving about the entire molecule, thus
bringing about bulk conductivity. As the number of electrons
weakly bound to atoms increases, there is a corresponding
rise in electrical conductivity. This has been confirmed expe­
rimentally and by quantum mechanical calculations. Thus,
the greater the number of conjugated bonds, the greater the

29
conductivity. The energy holding the individual electrons in
the molecule falls to 0.25 eV, and at times still lower. It is for
that reason that the electrons easily become mobile charge
carriers. But mobile charge carriers are not found in all com­
pounds with conjugated bonds. For example, polymers desc­
ribed by formula (1) possess conductivity, but those described
by formula (2) do not, in spite of the presence of conjugated
bonds

1
c 2H5
1
ch3
/o)
{2)
If a slight energy of any form (electric field, light, heat, etc.)
is applied to the semiconductor (formula 1), the conductivity
will change. The type of conductivity can differ. It can be the
usual electronic conductivity or the electron-hole-type con­
ductivity, as in inorganic semiconductors.
The reader will recall the preceding section in which we
spoke of molecules with an impurity of atoms of a different
valence which imparted donor conduction (the atoms of the
impurity gave up electrons to neighbouring atoms), or accep­
tor conduction (the atoms of the impurity detached electrons
from neighbouring atoms). This is also true of organic semi­
conductors. In this case there is, in the structure of the subs­
tance itself, an alternation of molecules capable of giving up
electrons (donors) and molecules capable of acquiring elect­
rons (acceptors).

30
 Conducting properties are also found in polymers, like­
ning them to inorganic semiconductors such as germanium and
silicon. They are also similar in a number of other charac­
teristics. For instance, resistivity values, as a rule, are close.
Both groups are characterized by the common shape of the
curves for variations in conductivity under the action of heat,
light, etc. But there are exceptions — because of the weak bond
holding the electrons within the skeleton, some polymers
have a conductivity close to that of metals.
The results of experimental studies of semiconductor poly­
mers have been published in the literature. Organic semicon­
ductors are now being used to an increasing extent in the most
diverse fields of technology. Consequently no fewer investiga­
tions are being devoted to the development of processes for
producing polymers. There is good reason for emphasizing
the experimental character of the material published. Great
difficulty is encountered in formulating a theory of the struc­
ture of such complicated substances, possessing, as they do,
such a wide range of bond energy — from fractions of an
electron volt to energies equal to the energies of ionization,
i.e., possessing the conductivity of electrolytes in solution.
Fundamentally new methods are required for tackling the
study of the interdependent, interconnected condition of
particles packed in a structure characteristic of a solid body
and the liquid state. Development of processes for the produc­
tion of organic semiconductors pursues the line of directed
synthesis followed by chemical and thermochemical transfor­
mations in the chains of the macromolecule. Success has un­
questionably been achieved in the application of both methods.
Many new polymers of diverse properties have been obtained
which possess conductivity varying over a wide range, and
having a temperature dependence characteristic of ordinary
semiconductors. The practical application of technological
advances has revealed new properties found only in these
substances. Recent publications give grounds for assuming
that further studies in the physical chemistry and electronics
31
of organic substances with semiconductor properties in the
macromolecule will promote still greater employment of new
materials in electrical engineering, electronics and the chemi­
cal industry. There is probably no sector of the national eco­
nomy in which organic semiconductors will not find appli­
cation.
Scientists at the establishments of the USSR Academy of
Sciences and at industrial research institutes are successfully
developing their independent line in semiconductor investi­
gations. Particular mention should be made of Academicians
V.A. Kargin and A. V. Topchiev, and Doctors L. S. Stilban-
son and B.A. Krentselin*.
Concluding this survey of organic semiconductors, the
following should be noted. In the first place, concepts of the
types of charge carriers found in nature have been greatly
extended, and on the basis of these concepts it has become
possible to formulate new hypotheses regarding the structure
of matter.
Thus, study of inorganic and organic semiconductors has
shown that in them the following types of charge carriers are
found:
(a) Atoms, which on losing an electron in their outer shell
become positively charged particles and participate in the
transfer of positive charges;
(b) Electrons thus freed which become carriers of negative
charges;
(c) Ionized acceptor atoms, i.e., atoms which have captured
an electron from a neighbouring atom; they are also negative­
ly charged particles and participate in the transfer of nega­
tive charges; (
(d) Holes formed when valence electrons are captured
from an atom; they begin to attract electrons from a neigh­
bouring atom and become a sort of positive electricity car­
riers.
* Organicheskiye poluprovodniki (Organic Semiconductors), Edit­
ed by A.V. Topchiev, Moscow, 1963.

32
 There are considerably more types of movement of the
charge carriers in organic semiconductors. In them, transla­
tion is a combination of several complex phenomena, one of
which is brought about by “vagabonding” electrons roaming
about the molecule. Since the molecules differ, their bonds
with electrons and molecules are most diverse.
An essential difference between metals and semiconduc­
tors and dielectrics of any kind is to be seen in the physical
nature of the dependence of electrical conductivity in these
substances on temperature. In metals, conductivity falls as
the temperature rises; in other substances it rises. It would
be well to return once more to a consideration of the pheno­
mena characterizing the conductivity of metals.
In metals the charge carriers are deindividualized electrons
which are very weakly bonded with the atomic nuclei, and
possess wave properties. The electron moving in the metal
can be considered a flat wave propagated in the same direc­
tion as the stream of electrons. Metals, having a crystalline
structure, form a periodic lattice. A flat wave can pass through
an ideal crystal without scattering. Consequently electrons
or an electron stream can pass through an ideal crystal with­
out loss of the energy they acquire if the metal is connected
to a source of potential. The ideal periodicity of the metal’s
crystal lattice can be destroyed in two ways, thus causing re­
sistance to the electron stream. At a temperature above abso­
lute zero (— 273°C) the atoms begin to vibrate relative to their
equilibrium position. The'vibrations increase as the tempera­
ture rises, and the electrons encounter mounting resistance
(i.e., conductivity falls). Another cause of increasing resis­
tance is the presence of impurities in the metal. It is extremely
difficult to obtain metal free from impurities. The impurity
atoms begin to move as the temperature rises, leading to the
lowering of conductivity.
The simplified explanation can be illustrated by a still simpl­
er analogy. Imagine a crowded square. The people are stand­
ing in a definite order, practically motionless, shifting from
3-1248 33
 one foot to the other, turning slightly round their original or
equilibrium position. Next imagine some athletes, runners,
come up to the square, which they must cross. So long as the
crowd remain standing in order, the athletes have no trouble
in crossing the square, winding in and out among the people.
But if the people become excited or disturbed for some reason
and start moving about, the runners will find it very difficult
to push their way through to the other side. They must expend
much energy overcoming the resistance they meet.
In nonmetals, phenomena are different. Here there are no
deindividualized electrons. The energy of the bond between
electron and nucleus is much greater. It is true there are some
nonmetals in which the bonding energy is small, but never­
theless it is greater than in metals. On heating such substan­
ces, the atoms begin to vibrate, and this may disrupt the elec­
tron-nucleus bond, but this only occurs when the vibratory
energy is very great. Breaking the electron-nucleus bond ca­
uses the formation of free-moving electrons and the appearan­
ce of electrical conduction, which increases as the temperatu­
re rises.
And now what becomes of our analogy if it is altered to
illustrate the behaviour of nonmetals. Let us imagine the same
square crowded with the same number of people, but in this
case they are all holding hands for a round dance or some ring
game. It is impossible or extremely difficult for the runners to
cross the square. Then the people begin running very fast (si­
milar to the greater mobility of electrons as the temperature
rises) and the rings and chains break, making it easy for the
athletes to run through the crowd.
This analogy should make it easifer to understand the simi­
larity and fundamental difference bkween the electrical con­
ductivity of metals and nonmetals.
 CHAPTER TWO

Electrophysics
of the Living Organism

1. AMAZING ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY

For a long time chemistry was divided into inorganic and
organic, and it seemed that it always would be.
Advances in physics developed and consolidated the mater­
ialistic conception of the world as eternally existing matter.
Materialistic views also triumphed in chemistry. In 1828 Wohl­
er synthesized urea, an animal product, from inorganic ma­
terial, and the theory of the “vital force” was dealt a serious
blow. A merging of inorganic and organic chemistry began.
The concept of chemistry as a single science has now become
dominant.
Organic chemistry and biochemistry are nothing but more
complicated fields of inorganic chemistry. By employing the
latest techniques of inorganic chemistry, it is possible to solve
problems involving compounds of nitrogen and carbon, the
basic substances of the living organism. The possibility of
creating the animate from the inanimate is becoming a reality.
The teaching of the animate and the processes taking part
in it is characterized by internal unity which assumes the exis­
tence of biophysical-chemical evolution which gave rise to
biological evolution, thus bringing about all the diverse forms
of modern plants and animals, and man himself. This princip­
le, formulated by the outstanding materialist-physicist, John
Bernal, is being developed in biophysics and biochemistry.
The ideas of John Bernal and other like-minded scientists
y- 35
predominated at the Fifth International Biochemical Cong­
ress held in Moscow in 1961.
A deep-going study of the electrophysical properties of liv­
ing tissue is of great theoretical importance. It is a fact that
when a living organism of any species comes into being, bio­
electric phenomena set in, which only weaken and cease with
the death of the organism. B. N. Tarussov, and not only he,
consider electrical conductivity an inherent characteristic of
vital activity. This theory finds application in the well-known
electrodiagnosis of the activity of the heart muscle registered
in the electrocardiogram. It is absent in the dead. In the dy­
ing, the curve changes in shape, amplitude and the intervals
between the individual cycles.
The electric properties of the living organism were first
noted and studied in the middle of the 19th century. In the
80’s of the 19th century, I.P. Tishkov carried out the first in­
vestigations of electrical conductivity in the body of living
man. In his work O soprotivlenii chelovecheskogo tela elekt-
richeskomu toku (Resistance of the Human Body to Electric
Current) published in 1886, he cited numerical values of re­
sistance without disclosing underlying principles. Wilhelm
Weber, a German physicist, who conducted similar investi­
gations, attempted to prove that in its electrophysical charac­
teristics, the human body or the body of any living organism
could be likened to salt solutions or ordinary electrolytes. In
spite of the fact that those investigations were carried out a
very long time ago, the assertion that in its electrophysical
characteristics the body of the living organism is a salt solu­
tion is voiced to this day, although there is ample evidence,
experimental and theoretical, paving that this view is erro­
neous. In this connection it would be well to consider, if only
briefly, the semiconductor properties of living tissue.
On the very eve of World War II Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, the
eminent Hungarian biochemist, spoke of the importance of
studying the “electronic properties” of living tissues to increa­
se our knowledge of the living organism. It was his view that

36
a number of very complicated phenomena could be explained
by the transfer or movement of electrons in the macromole­
cule or group of molecules of the living organism. On Albert
Szent-Gyorgyi’s 70th anniversary a collection of articles by
leading scientists in different fields was published under the
title “Horizons in Biochemistry”, (Academic Press, New
York London, 1962). The articles devote considerable atten­
tion to the results of investigations into the electrophysical
phenomena in the living organism — biotissues and biofluids.
The articles by L. Brillouin, D. Eley and J. Duchesne were of
particular interest, since their approach to biochemistry was
from the positions of modern theoretical physics. Szent-Gy­
orgyi’s brilliant idea of comparing the properties of the gi­
gantic biological molecules with the properties of semicon­
ductors aroused immense interest. Life is a continuous pro­
cess of the absorption, transformation and transfer of energy
of different types and values. We must find the mechanism
explaining the movement (transference) of energy along the
molecules of the living body. One mechanism which can expla­
in many processes taking place in the living organism is provi­
ded by the electronic theory of semiconductors developed in
solid-state physics. The macromolecule of the living orga­
nism is in many ways equivalent to the semiconductor molecu­
le, although the phenomena taking place in it are much more
complicated.
A number of experiments have been carried out at Soviet
and foreign research establishments which show that our
knowledge of phenomena characteristic of organic semicon­
ductors can be extended to biological objects. The substances
studied were diverse types of protein compounds, including
various enzymes, and a number of other vitally important
substances of the organism. Researchers were unanimous in
their opinion: the transfer of electrons, their polarization, the
formation of new charge carriers, and their interrelation with
electrons — that was the line of investigations which could
reveal many secrets to mankind.
37
 This line is not at odds with the basic principles of modern
biology formulated by S. E. Bresler*. According to Bresler
the principal carriers of chemical energy in living organisms
are the macroergs of 16 species of nucleoside triphosphate.
Their structure is characterized by a chain of three anhydride-
bonded molecules of phosphoric acid. The bond between the
phosphates is termed macroergic because the hydrolysis of
phosphate compounds takes place with a great lowering of
the free energy. For that reason these compounds readily give
up their phosphate to other molecules. A more detailed de­
ciphering of this principle will undoubtedly be associated, di­
rectly or indirectly, with the deciphering of the movement
and migration of charge carriers.
What the study of biological objects from the positions of
semiconductor theory has already contributed should be noted.
Firstly, elements and even whole molecules have been found
which act as donors and give up electrons, and also acceptors
which detach electrons from their neighbours. Secondly, a
fundamentally new particularity of the electrophysical pro­
perties of biological objects which is not observed in either
inorganic or organic semiconductors has been established —
the presence of extremely small bonding energy. For the ordi­
nary ionization of a solution or a solid an energy of the order
of 20-30 eV is required. For the majority of the giant biolo­
gical molecules the energy required is only a few electron
volts, or even a fraction of an electron volt. Such data have
been obtained for the most diverse biological objects. It has
been assumed that the charge carriers are electrons which move
about through what is known in semiconductor science as the
tunnel effect. Thanks to this effect the electrons move from one
molecule into another. \
Experimental techniques for studying the electrophysical
properties of biological objects have been substantially improv-

* Bresler, S. E., Vvedeniye v molekulyarnuyu biologiyu (Introduc­

tion to Molecular Biology), Moscow and Leningrad, 1966.

38
 ed. Installations and apparatus are now in use making it
possible to determine the electrophysical characteristics of
these objects when absolutely dry and under a high vacuum.
It has thus been possible to determine the electrical conducti­
vity of most proteins over different temperature ranges. In
many types of proteins and protein substances polarization
is small. This means that conductivity is brought about by
electron-hole-type carriers, since the temperature dependence
of conductivity in the absence of impurities is linear. A number
of aminoacids of great importance in the organism’s vital
activity have similar conductivity values with varying
dependence on environmental factors (see Chapter One,
Par. 5).
Another particularity of the electrophysical properties of
protein and other biological substances is the great mobility
of the charge carriers. This is shown by application of the theory
of the potential barrier (Chapter One, Par. 4) to protein com­
pounds. Apparently the carbon-oxygen and hydrogen-nitro­
gen bonds are of major importance. In such a system of hydro­
gen bonds the excited electron can penetrate the potential
barrier through the tunnel effect and consequently migrate
through the entire protein molecule. This leads to a substan­
tial overall displacement of the electron, thus bringing about
its mobility and making the protein molecule highly conduc­
tive. A number of studies have shown that the presence of
water increases the dielectric constant of the protein system,
which facilitates the formation and separation of ions. It has
been demonstrated that in this case protons are the predomi­
nant charge carriers.
Summing up the particularities of the electrophysical pro­
perties of biological substances, it can be asserted that the
charge carriers in proteins and other elements of the living
organism are ions (protons and electrons), which in com­
bination with the system of electron-hole conduction create
a single conductivity, characteristic only of the living orga­
nism. When the water content is increased, the charge car-

39
 riers can be predominantly protons. In dehydrated biolo­
gical substances they are apparently electrons. But as yet, the
results of many investigations are contradictory. A number
of authors, for example, have found that chloranil acts as an
acceptor when a small amount is added to a protein and increa­
ses conductivity a million times. The addition of water, on the
other hand, lowers conductivity to one-tenth of the initial va­
lue. Water acts as an electron donor and apparently at first
fills the positive holes, lowering conductivity 106 times. Elec­
trons are then given to the proteins, and the conductivity incre­
ases 105 times, the net result being a lowering of conductivity
10 times, i.e., to 1/10 of the initial value.
Other substances, such as nucleic acids and nucleoproteins
play as important a role in the body as proteins. Structurally,
they differ from proteins since they have hydrogen bonds in­
volving other elements, but they are similar to such nonbiolo-
gical substances as graphite. They are characterized by the ge­
neral electrophysical properties of protein compounds. Thus,
the bonding energy ranges from 1.0 to 2.5 eV. Specific conduc­
tivity is high but several orders lower than that of proteins.
The mobility of the charge carriers is also somewhat lower.
But on the whole, their electrophysical properties and the phe­
nomena causing them have the same general relationships as
the analogous properties of proteins. Nucleic acids possess
properties characteristic only of them (among biological sub­
stances).
' The French researchers, J. Duchesne and A. Mon­
fils developed and employed a method for determining weak
piezoelectric properties in diverse materials. The method con­
sisted essentially in placing the test substance in the alternating
field of a capacitor connected to a highly sensitive radiomet­
ric system which provided important information about the
electric, thermal and mechanical properties of the substance
or complex compound placed in the capacitor field. When
this method was applied to nucleic acids it was found that
they possessed piezoelectric and thermoelectric properties,

40
 nd that these properties depended to a great degree on the
>resence of water. By changing the amount of water it was
>ossible to alter the piezoelectric properties. Study of elect-
ical conductivity phenomena with this technique again con­
firmed that these substances possess a particular form of con­
ductivity, which has not, as yet, been precisely characterized.
Let us attempt to sum up the facts set forth in this section.
Quite a number of the compounds studied, substances of the
greatest importance for the vital activity of man, animals and
plants, possess semiconductor properties in the crystalline
and amorphous states. Semiconductor properties are also
characteristic of organized biological systems. For example,
the rods of the retina have photosemiconductor properties.
At the same time the molecules of living organisms possess
electronic conductivity, similar to the conductivity of some
polymers.
The growing number of studies of the electrophysical pro­
perties of biological systems and organisms as a whole reveal
new and particular electrophysical phenomena, characteristic
only of the living organism. A mutual enrichment of biology
and the technical sciences is taking place — this is particularly
true of electrical engineering.
Actually, electrical engineering can embark on a new stage
of development if it proves possible to produce systems simi­
lar to proteins and nucleic acids, possessing weak electronic
bonds, high conductivity, semiconductor properties and spe­
cial sensitivity characterized by a change in the electric signal,
depending on pressure and temperature.
Conversely, the possibility of investigating the electrophy­
sical properties of biological systems by the methods of study
of modern theoretical and experimental physics, particularly
electronics, will open a new stage in the development of bio­
logy and the acquisition of knowledge of man’s body and
its ills.

41
 2. SIGNIFICANCE OF CHANGES
IN THE ELECTRICAL
PROPERTIES OF THE LIVING ORGANISM
Reanimation, the science of saving a person who has all but
lost signs of life, has achieved a great deal. Its methods are
being employed to an ever greater extent in emergency prac­
tice in ambulances and at hospitals and clinics. When saving
life, the electrical activity of the heart is sometimes recorded.
I. V. Shaban, a reanimation enthusiast, has made the follow­
ing observation. Life is waning but the curve showing the elec­
trical activity of the heart, the electrocardiogram, retains its
shape. As long as the electrical activity of the heart is maintain­
ed, the fight to save the life of the dying patient continues and
in many cases the patient is saved.
What then happens when death occurs? Changes appear in
the electrocardiogram. These changes quickly increase and
then electrical activity ceases. Sometimes individual disorderly
electric impulses are observed for an hour. The man is dead.
What has happened? The number of atoms and molecules,
i.e., the amount of matter comprising the body, alive or dead,
if it could be determined before and after death, would be fo­
und to be practically the same. From what has been said, we
single out this: what has changed is the movement of the charge
carriers — the electrons and ions. Perhaps that is one of the
keys to the mystery of death, and future researchers with more
advanced techniques at their disposal will establish the under­
lying principles of the movement of electrons, ions and other
charge carriers in the living organism, and its direct relation
to vital activity. Perhaps one of the principal differences bet­
ween the animate and the inanimate\lies in different atomic,
molecular and intermolecular electronic bonds in the struc­
ture of the living and even in structurally related synthetic
organic substances. The distinction may be in the different
migration of the electrons from molecule to molecule, in the
peculiar movement of the ions, resulting in a particular type

42
of conductivity and a particular type of polarization charac­
terized by an accumulation of charge carriers, as recorded in
the electrocardiogram, etc. Perhaps Szent-Gyorgyi was pro­
phetic when he wrote: “I am firmly convinced we shall never
understand the essence of life if we limit ourselves to the mo­
lecular level. After all, the atom is a system of electrons stabi­
lized by*a nucleus, while molecules are nothing but atoms held
together by shared electrons, that is, electronic bonds.”*
Developing this thought, it can be assumed that the mole­
cules of the animate are molecules interconnected by the ener­
getics of the motion of charge carriers, the migration of elect­
rons possessing a particular conductivity inherent only in the
animate. Even the usual, well studied types of conduction like
the ionic, electronic and electron-hole types have specific fea­
tures in the animate. There are also specific features in the com­
bined mobility of the charge carriers and in the value of con­
duction, polarization and in much else. But this is not simply
a sum of all types of conduction: 1+ 1+ 1=3. While centr­
ing attention on the movement of charge carriers it must be
distinctly remembered that interaction of the electromagnetic
fields takes place similtaneously and in association with it. The­
re is an interconnected orientation of the magnetic moments
of the elementary particles, and simultaneously, continuously
and discretely the molecules and their constituent atoms jump
from one energy state to another. The constantly changing
excited state has a specific effect on the mobility and motion
of the living organism’s electrons and ions. This applies, above
all, to the central nervous system. Only this complicated super­
imposing and combining of bioelectrophysical properties can
explain the organism’s responses to a number of environmen­
tal factors. An example makes this clear: 10~7 milligram of
botulotoxin can be fatal.

* Szent-Gyorgyi A., “Bioelectronics. A Study in Cellular Regu­

lations, Defence, and Cancer”, Academic Press, New York London,
1968.

43
 Thus, combined conductivity is something of a starting po­
int for unravelling the mystery of the animate. A new and
important approach in this work is combining the study of
the energy jump of the unexcited molecule and atom to the
excited state and vice versa, with the simultaneous study of
the formation and migration of charge carriers. That the excit­
ed state of the molecules is characteristic of the living orga­
nism is evidenced by the luminescence of some insects and
microorganisms. Here it is manifested in a macroeffect but
it is absolutely true to suppose that it also takes place within the
organism. This goes to show the importance and complexity
of the organism’s bioenergetics. It would seem that study of
electrical conductivity of the animate should facilitate gain­
ing knowledge of bioenergetics at any level — from any species
of organism down to the cellular and molecular. It would be
useful to draw on the biophysical methods of overlapping
sciences for studying the effect on the living organism of elec­
tromagnetic radiation over any range. The author’s original
hypothesis of the primary action of penetrating radiation
holds out promise. The author suggests that the action is first
manifested in atoms of metal, e.g., iron, present in the tissues.
Experiments show that there is a change in the valence of these
atoms and that there is a selective action of radiation of diverse
wave length. Continuing the logic of the author’s reasoning it
can be assumed that there will be a change in the mobility of
the charge carriers. It would not seem fantastic to believe that
if the most sensitive instruments were available for measuring
combined conductivity it would be possible to assess patholo­
gy of one kind or another and thus approach knowledge of
the essence of the animate. If one assumes that scientists suc­
ceed in establishing the fundamental relationships governing
the movement of charge carriers and electrons in the living
organism, and construct a model of this movement, the model
would not be a living organism. There are still many natural
phenomena which are hidden from us. But this by no means
detracts from the importance of the aforesaid.

44
 Of course what must be done first of all is convincingly to
demonstrate the presence of electronic and electron-hole con­
ductivity in biological objects and describe the specific featur­
es of their conductivity as a whole. This is no easy matter but
feasible if the advances in modern theoretical physics are made
use of. It should be added that the hypothesis that it is the spe­
cific characteristics of the movement of charge carriers in the
animate that distinguish the animate from the inanimate —
a hypothesis formulated by Szent-Gyorgyi and developed by
his pupils in various fields — already appears to be well-gro­
unded.

3. EXAMPLES AND EVIDENCE

The extremely delicate mechanism of cellular regulation and
the energy transformations manifested in the speed of reac­
tion of the organism as a whole and the individual analyzers
to environmental changes and external stimuli and the speed
of processing this information assessed by the value of elect­
rical activity can be explained by these processes being based
on the movement of charge carriers. The extremely complicat­
ed metabolic processes in the cell and the transformation of
diverse forms of energy in the cell or its elements, such as the
mitochondria *, can only be explained by energy being trans­
ferred by particles having a mass less than that of an atom,
and in the first place, directly and indirectly, by electrons.
Electrical activity of the brain is assessed by its potential
pulses (waves) of diverse frequency. This is the result of the
study of hundreds of thousands of sick and healthy people
and hundreds of thousands of test animals. It has been estab­
lished that in man the following rhythms are the most prono­
unced :
(1) Delta-rhythm— from 0.5 to 3 waves per second;

* Mitochondrion — a structural element of the cell associated

with energy transformations.

45
 (2) Teta-rhythm — from 4 to 7 waves per second;
(3) Alpha-rhythm — from 8 to 13 waves per second;
(4) Beta-rhythm — from 14 to 35 waves per second;
(5) Gamma-rhythm — from 35 to 55 waves per second.
Greater frequencies are sometimes recorded.
In amplitude, the waves range up to 500 microvolts. It is
impossible to obtain pulses of such frequency and amplitude
from charge carriers of the ionic type alone. Electrochemical
sources of current are inertial. Such temporal changes in elect­
rical quantities, even if amplitudes are small, cannot be obta­
ined directly with ionic conductivity. This can be considered
direct evidence of the presence of electronic movement of the
charge carriers in the brain and nervous system as a whole.
Let us consider a reanimation experiment with a dog. An
experimenter is studying conditioned reflexes in a dog. During
the experiment the dog accidentally receives a mechanical
head injury. The dog stops breathing and its heart stops beat­
ing, which is shown by the electrocardiogram being recorded
in the experiment. It would seem the dog is dead. A source of
pulse potential is connected to the electrocardiograph elect­
rodes already in place on the animal’s body. The potential fed
to the dog comes to several kilovolts, which is delivered for
some hundredths of a second. At times it is only necessary to
feed voltage once and life returns to the “dead organism”. It
is important not to lose time. The dog in the experiment de­
scribed was reanimated. If delivery of pulse potential can be
carried out within 8 to 10 minutes, the wonder of reanimation
becomes a reality. Life can also be restored in cases of death
from electric shock. The instrument employed in such reanima­
tion procedures is called a defibrillator. It is not necessary to
go into the design of this instrument — itlis not complicated,
and is used with increasing frequency in clinical practice dur­
ing operations in which the patient suddenly loses all signs
of life. V. N. Negovsky, Member of the Academy of Sciences,
has been awarded the State Prize for developing, in callabora-
tion with other researchers, a method of defibrillation and
46
introducing it into medical practice. A team of scientists head­
ed by V. N. Negovsky has carried out a vast number of expe­
riments of great diversity on test animals and achieved re­
markable results.
There is every ground for explaining reanimation in this
way. As a consequence of the most diverse causes, migration
of electrons is disturbed in the cells of the central nervous sys­
tem responsible for regulating cardiac activity. Disturbance
of the established migration of electrons leads to disturbance
of the self-regulating bioenergetic system of the living orga­
nism ; metabolic processes cease and all the symptoms of death
set in. Applying to the organism in the first stage of impair­
ment— deregulation — an external electric field with a surge
of charge carriers, restores the movement of charge carriers
inherent in the living.
N. L. Gurvich *, one of the authors of this method, rightly
associates the effectiveness of defibrillation with the shape
of the curve of the pulse potential delivered. This is evidence
that in defibrillation there is a regulation, a restoration of the
movement of charge carriers characteristic of the living or­
ganism— a restoration of the former conductivity.
The authors of the defibrillation method of restoring the
heart beat assume that when electrodes are placed on a per­
son’s body in the thoracic region, the current pulses will act
directly on the heart muscle. While not denying this possibi­
lity, it must be pointed out that the pulses will simultaneously
act on the heart through the central nervous system by which
current reaches the vital regulatory centres of the nervous
system. The nervous system’s conductivity is much greater
than that of the muscular tissue and the circulatory system;
it interacts with everything associated with vital activity, gre­
atly surpassing other systems in the speed of reaction to any
impulse, particularly an electric impulse. What is dominant in

* Gurvich, N. L., Fibrillyatsiya i defibrillyatsiya serdtsa (Fib­

rillation and Defibrillation of the Heart), Moscow, 1957.

47
restoring the normal sequence of heart contractions? There
are grounds for assuming that it is restoration of the specific
movement of the charge carriers characteristic of the animate.
Let us go on to the next example. It was observed long ago
that sudden impulses caused a sharp change in the body’s
electrical resistance. The experiment is extremely simple, and
is carried out as follows. Electrodes like those already menti­
oned are placed on a person’s body, but this time they are not
connected to an instrument for recording electrical activity
but to an instrument called a resistance bridge, used in this
case for measuring the body’s electrical resistance. Without
warning, a bright light is flashed in the examinee’s face, or a
bell is sounded, or he is touched with a hot object or told an
astounding piece of news. In all cases, no matter what the
nature of the impulse — visual, acoustic, thermal or more
complicated, mental — the electrical resistance falls. The re­
sistance falls quickly from a sharp stimulus. The resistance is
restored much more slowly, and this also depends on the na­
ture of the stimulus. If the body had only the usual ionic con­
ductivity, i.e., conductivity associated with the transfer of
matter, changes in electrical resistance would proceed much
more slowly. The rapid change in electrical resistance under
the influence of stimulating factors can be explained by the
presence in the “aggregate” resistance of the human body, a
resistance associated with some form of electronic conduction.
This is also indirect evidence but sufficiently convincing.
And now one more example, the last. A fatal accident in
which a person lost his life by coming into contact with a live
wire was described over a hundred years ago — in 1862 to be
exact. Death was instantaneous. This was the first case of
death from electric shock on record. But as the use of elect­
ricity increased, such accidents became more frequent. Opi­
nion was unanimous that death was instantaneous and that
there were no bodily changes to be seen. The only exception
was when there were burns from an electric arc.
At the end of the 19th century experiments were begun on ani-

48
mals to determine the threshold, or dangerous, values of vol­
tage and current. The determination of these values was ne­
cessary for working out protective measures. At the beginning
of the 20th century contradictions arose regarding both the
dangerous values of electricity and the mechanism of shock,
especially when information began to appear about the ago­
nizing and not instantaneous death of convicts executed in the
electric chair. Without going into these contradictions, it
should be noted that at times people are killed by electric
shock when both voltage and current strength are very low,
and survive when the potential is several kilovolts and the
current strength, hundreds of milliamperes. The Austrian
physicist, Jellinek, founder of the science of the danger of
electricity, who was struck by this fact when investigating elec­
tric shock, suggested back in the late ‘twenties that in many
cases of electric shock the “attention factor” is decisive, i.e.,
the outcome of shock depends to a great extent on the state
of the nervous system at that moment. This will be discussed
in greater detail in Chapter Five.
What is important for the present is that when death occurs
instantly from electric shock there is apparently disruption
of the electrical conductivity of the central nervous system,
which controls the basic, vitally necessary functions of the body.
Opinions differ to this day. Some scientists, basing their
views for the most part on experiments on animals, assert
that for a person to be killed by electricity a fairly large current
strength is required, at least several score milliamperes. Other
scientists who have investigated cases of death from electric
shock in men claim that weak currents, up to 10 milliamperes,
can be fatal, and even suggest that such cases are the most
typical. This can only be explained by disruption of the move­
ment of the charge carriers in the cells of the brain, which can
take place in a number of circumstances, including very small
potentials and very weak currents from external sources of
potential; this disruption causes complete or partial stoppage
of oxygen delivery to the cells.
4-1248 49
 It was demonstrated above that in complex polymers, espe­
cially in biological polymeric systems, the energy of the bond
between electrons and the nucleus is very small — at times
in the 0.01 eV range or even smaller. When a current of one
microampere passes through a person’s body during electric
shock, the energy absorbed in the tissues is many orders great­
er than the bonding energy of the nervous system’s electronic
structure, and consequently there is every ground for assum­
ing that even very weak currents can disrupt electrical conduc­
tivity and cause very serious disorders of bodily functions.
Why this takes place will be discussed later. Meanwhile this
example can serve as evidence of the specific nature of elect­
rical conductivity in the living organism, and the unquestion­
able presence of electronic and electron-hole conductivity.
It is not only electric shock that can cause sudden death
without visible external or internal injury. Suffice it to men­
tion that micrograms of some poisons cause instantaneous
death, and as yet nothing can be done to save the victim. In
this case, too, there are undoubtedly sharp changes in the bo­
dy’s electrophysical characteristics, particularly in the central
nervous system.
Here, too, an analogy should be useful. The life of a town
depends on the electric power supply. There must be electri­
city for lighting, for the radio and TV set, for refrigerators
and the scores of household appliances. Suddenly there is a
power failure from a short circuit or overloading— the lights
go out and everything comes to a standstill. As everyone knows
electricity is supplied over cables or wires — metal conduc­
tors in which electrons are moving. If there is a break in the
line or a fuse burns out or a switch is pulled, movement of the
electrons stops. ^
Many things can happen. Say repairs are under way in an
apartment. A falling chunk of plaster breaks the wiring or
the wiring is damaged when moving a heavy piece of furniture.
If there is a fire, the insulation on the wiring will be destroy­
ed, causing a short circuit and blowing a fuse or setting off the

50
automatic circuit breaker. Whatever the cause, breaking the
circuit stops the movement of the electron charge carriers,
i.e., stops the supply of electricity to the consumer. This ana­
logy illustrates the interconnection of changes in the move­
ment of the charged elementary particles and changes in phe­
nomena of the macroworld.
The disruption of combined conductivity, polarization and
electrical activity in the living body can ensue from many caus­
es, and often results in death or serious consequences.
It would seem that the results of investigations along this
line already carried out or to be carried out later should make
it possible to explain a number of diseases of the central ner­
vous system as being due to disruption of electrical conduction
and electrical activity in the living body. Investigations should
be comprehensive with the direct participation of specialists
in different fields, including clinicians, experts in diseases of
the nervous system, which are noted for their complexity.
A deep-going and comprehensive study of electrical con­
ductivity cannot be an end in itself. The intramolecular and
intracellular movement of charge carriers is associated with
the energetic mechanism of conveying oxygen and other envi­
ronmental components to the cell. Transformations of all
forms of energy in the living organism make life possible,
are the basis of life. Consequently, study of the mechanism
of the electrical conductivity of living tissue is one of the ways
of gaining knowledge of the animate. If it becomes possible,
as undoubtedly will be the case, externally to influence and
control electrical conductivity in the cell and in the living or­
ganism as a whole, inexhaustible means will appear for con­
trolling the diseases of man and prolonging his life.
Much that is new awaits researchers studying electrical
conductivity in the animate. There are grounds for assuming
that conductivity in living organisms varies. Apparantly elect­
ronic and electron-hole conductivity is found in the structural­
ly more complicated and functionally more important systems.
The researcher studying the ionic component of conductivity

4* 51
will also discover much that is new. Of course, the transfer
of matter by ions that have lost electrons and are incapable
of retaining them may also differ in the living organism from
ionic conductivity in the inanimate.
Modern electronics also takes in the study of the specific
features of electrical conductivity in the animate. Its future
lies in the study of microelectronic elements, the phenomena
involved being employed at the atomic and molecular level.
Research in the field of control with small quantities of energy
as found in the living organism holds out great prospects for
new solutions of engineering problems which will find appli­
cation in control systems, in producing materials with new phy­
sical properties, etc.
Modern microelectronics and microradio-engineering with
their film and integrating elements is far removed from wire
and tube radio engineering of yesterday. But as yet there is
still an immense distance to cover between modern microelec­
tronics — a new stage in technical progress — and the biomicro­
electronics of the living organism. Knowledge of biomicro­
electronics and its application in the national economy will
mark a new stage in the technical revolution.
Our knowledge of bioelectrical phenomena, however, even
nowadays is of great aid in diagnosis and treatment of prac­
tically any disease.
 CHAPTER THREE

Physical Properties
of the Biosphere

1. ELECTRICITY ROUND US
Many years have passed since the death of Georg Rikhmann,
so vividly described by M. V. Lomonosov. The physicist was
learning how to control electricity. At all events lightning ra­
rely destroys buildings now. But people are still struck by
lightning, which one calls to mind during thunderstorms.
During storms people sometimes say it smells of electricity.
But it is not only during storms that there is electricity in the
air. In general, electricity is inherent in the atmosphere, and
characterizes its condition. But how and when was this estab­
lished? At the beginning of the 19th century it was experi­
mentally discovered that a charged conductor ideally insulat­
ed from the ground gradually lost its charge. The law of the
loss of charge in unit time was established. Later this pheno­
menon was explained. It was found that the air round us con­
tains charge carriers, charged ions. It is because of them that
the conductor ideally insulated from the ground loses its charge.
The charge carrier ions can be charged residues of atoms
and molecules, and are divided into light, medium-weight
and heavy ions. The macroparticles of fog, raindrops, finely
dispersed dust and microorganisms are also charge carriers.
In the air surrounding us the charge carriers are in constant
motion in all directions. Observations carried out at the earth’s
surface with a voltmeter with great internal resistance showed
that the potential gradient ranges from 120 to 150 V/m.

53
 It has been established through experimental observations
that the density of electric charges on the earth’s surface is
7 x 105 elementary charges per square kilometre. Knowing the
area of the earth’s surface it is not difficult to calculate the
earth’s total charge-it comes-to 5x 107 coulombs. The amo­
unt of electricity on the earth’s surface is constantly changing.
Electric charges move from the earth’s surface to the upper
layers of the atmosphere and vice versa — from the upper lay­
ers of the atmosphere back to the earth’s surface. If the move­
ment of the electric charges is expressed in current, the average
value is 1500 amperes. This means that a current of 1500 am­
peres is constantly circulating between the upper layers of
the atmosphere and the planet’s surface.
In his meteorology course, P.N. Tverskoy points out the
various causes of the movement of electric charges, taking as
a basis the results of the thorough study of the earth’s surface
carried out at Cambridge University in England. The data is
given in coulombs per square kilometre (on average):
Conduction currents . . . . + 60
Precipitation currents . . . . + 20
Lightning discharges to earth . —20
Point e ffe c t............................. — 100
Total ^to
It is evident from these figures that the earth’s charge is
negative, but a certain explanation is necessary. In the first
place, the list of the causes of the movement of charges is not
complete — there are considerably more charge-carrying me­
chanisms. In the second place, such a distribution of charges
has not been proved theoretically—At is only a hypothesis.
But let us go back to the information icited. Conduction curr­
ents produced by ions of diverse nature'and differing sign move
to earth as a whole. During their movement the ions recombi­
ne, becoming neutral atoms or molecules, and then again be­
coming electrically active. In general, it is ions carrying a po­
sitive charge that move toward a given spot on the earth’s

54
surface. The same can be said of macrocharged particles pre­
cipitated in the form of rain and snow.
The following can be said of the point effect. The earth’s
surface is not smooth. Much of the irregularity is caused by
man in erecting buildings, factory chimneys, etc. During thund­
erstorms, and at times, long before the storm breaks, when the
tension of the electric field in the atmosphere becomes espe­
cially high (during thunderstorms, snowstorms, high winds)
and there are massive displacements of the air, luminous dis­
charges can be seen on points, sharp angles and various high
objects. These discharges are known as St. Elmo’s fire. Most
frequently this phenomenon occurs in mountains on the sharp
tips of protruding rocks, on the tops of trees, at the tops of
power line pylons, etc. In lower places the discharges are seen
at the tips of lightning rods, the projecting parts of buildings,
on wireless aerials, ships’ masts and the like. In exceptional
cases discharges may occur on animals or on a man’s out­
stretched hand. The phenomenon is accompanied by a crackl­
ing sound which may last a few seconds or hours.
Such phenomena are diverse forms of a corona discharge
which forms round the luminous object in a sort of halo. They
are caused by a sharp increase in the voltage of the electric
field to a value a thousand times greater than the average 120-
150 V/m. The high voltage of the field causes ionization even
at normal pressure, accompanied by the appearance of elect­
rons. Electrons appear as a result of secondary ionisation
caused by ions in the air near the point and accelerated by the
electric field. As yet, there is no general theory of secondary
ionization, but individual elements of this phenomenon are
being revealed in experiments. In this respect the works of
N.A. Kantsov and V.A. Ragavsky, among others, are extre­
mely interesting and enabled Ya.I. Frenkel to give a suffici­
ently convincing explanation of secondary ionization and, it
follows, of the appearance of negative charge carriers. Frenkel
suggests that a point in ionized air should be considered the
half of an ellipsoid conductor whose cross section rests on the

55
 earth’s surface. Naturally, such an ellipsoid should be under
the influence of the earth’s field. This assumption enabled
Frenkel to calculate the tension of the field at the point. The
theoretical results coincided with the results obtained in ex­
periments. Thus, the point effect is the main source of the
earth’s negative charge.
The fact that lightning discharges bring a big negative charge
to earth can also be explained. The lighter charge carriers are
naturally in front in the ionized “trunk” of the lightning.
What is it that causes the presence of electricity between the
upper layers of the atmosphere and the earth’s surface? There
are several causes. One was noted by M.V. Lomonosov —
static electricity is produced by the friction of the ascending
masses of warm air. But that is not all. One of the main sources
of atmospheric electricity is in space, beyond the atmosphere.
There is a constant rediation flux from sun to earth — ultra­
violet and soft X-rays. Radiations differ in density, intensity
and energy. On reaching the upper layers of the atmosphere,
the ultraviolet and X-rays interact with the atoms and mole­
cules of the air, making them electrically charged. Moreover,
multitudes of electrically charged elementary particles of di­
verse energy are formed. The density of these particles and
their number per unit volume differ. At a certain distance
from earth solid ionized layers are formed, encircling the earth.
The first stable ionized layer is found at a height of 110-120 km;
it is relatively thin and has stable boundaries. The next layer
is at a height of 180-300 km and has a variable thickness. Be­
sides these permanent electrically charged layers there are
floating locally formed are tides. For the most
part it is their presence sharply changing
values of the field potenti gions of the earth.
It has been established in M.I. Yakovleva’s interesting in­
vestigation into the effect of the electromagnetic field on ani­
mals that some general relationships are common to all spe­
cies. Moreover, it has been shown that for the existence of
each species the presence of an electric field with certain cha-

56
racteristics is necessary. These characteristics and relation­
ships are undoubtedly associated with one another and relate
to the electrical phenomena determining the origin, develop­
ment and existence of the animate, but as an environmental
factor they cannot be considered apart from all the other in­
fluencing factors.

2. WHERE IS MAGNETISM AND WHERE ARE

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS?
All through this book it has been stressed that everything
animate, as well as the medium surrounding man are asso­
ciated to one degree or another with the movement of charge
carriers. Every movement of charge carriers is accompanied
by the appearance of a magnetic field. Then why is it that noth­
ing has been said about magnetism up to now?
It has long been known that electricity acts on the animate
but as a matter of fact we are only now beginning to learn the
nature of that action. The influence of magnetic fields on the
animate was discovered a short time ago, in the postwar years
to be exact, although people knew about the existence of mag­
netic fields many centuries ago. Practical use of magnetism
began with the compass, a device invented 2000-3000 B.C.
The biological orientation of developing plants, the migra­
tion of birds, etc., was discovered long ago. Numerous obser­
vations have shown that in the absence of distinct natural or
artificial landmarks, animals when freely travelling are direct­
ed by the lines of force of the earth’s magnetic field. In the
‘fifties a scientific explanation of these phenomena began to
emerge. This was promoted by the observations of Soviet
scientists who found that the germination of maize and wheat
varied, depending on the position of the grains relative to the
lines of force of the earth’s magnetic field. A.S. Presman re­
ports that if the germ root is turned toward the south magnetic
pole, grains germinate more quickly than if the root is turned
toward the north magnetic pole (the magnetic poles do not
57
 coincide with the geographic poles). Grain arranged per­
pendicular to the magnetic lines of force germinates worse
than when arranged parallel to the lines of force.
Interesting observations have been made in the region round
the Kursk magnetic anomaly, a place in the Soviet Union
where big deposits of iron ore greatly affect the earth’s magne­
tic field at the surface. Figures for 1964-1967 show that crop
yields on farms near the anomaly were 10-15% lower than in
districts at some distance from the anomaly, but having the
same climatic and soil conditions. It can now be considered
proved that the germination and growth of seeds depend on
their orientation relative to the earth’s magnetic pole when
sown.
And now a few words about the ambient magnetic field.
The magnetic field in the medium surrounding man and ani­
mals is made up of two constituents: (1) the magnetic fields
produced by trams, trolleybuses and electric trains, other mo­
tors, generators and power transmission lines, etc.; and (2)
the earth’s magnetic field. A magnetic field is characterized
by its potential. The potential of the field from artificial sour­
ces at a given locality with a given number of electric installa­
tions can only be determined experimentally. The earth’s
magnetic field is characterized by the horizontal and vertical
potential constituents, which can vary.
The earth’s magnetic field is likewise characterized by the
magnetic declination and the magnetic inclination. The mag­
netic declination is the angle between the astronomical (geog­
raphical) meridian and the magnetic meridian. The astrono­
mical meridian is the direction determining the true position
of North and South at a given spot] The magnetic meridian
is an imaginary line on the earth’s surface coinciding with the
direction of the magnetic field. The magnetic inclination is
the angle between a horizontal plane and the direction of the
potential vector of the magnetic field. The value of the field
potential in the International System is taken to be A/m =
4k x 10"3oersted. The magnetic field potential is also measured
58
 in gammas. The oersted is a comparatively large unit, being
equal to one million gammas. The sum of the squares of the
vertical and horizontal constituents of the earth’s magnetic
field is equal to the square of the field potential. At the magne­
tic poles the vertical constituent and the field potential are
equal, while the horizontal constituent is equal to zero. At the
magnetic poles a freely suspended magnetic needle will assu­
me a vertical position. At the magnetic equator, the horizon­
tal constituent and the field potential are equal. An analytical
calculation of the potential of the earth’s magnetic field, ex­
clusive of the territory of the poles, gives an approximate
value since a number of magnetic anomalies are not taken into
account and particularly because of the difficulty of calculating
the effect of the magnetic field of the upper layers of the at­
mosphere.
There is as yet no strict theory of the origin of the earth’s
magnetic field *. Diverse theories have been suggested at differ­
ent times, only to be refuted later. Consequently we shall briefly
discuss only one hypothesis which is popular today among
meteorologists.
In the molten depths of the earth (the core) charge carriers
are in motion, which produces eddy currents. The magnetic
field of these currents forms the earth’s magnetic field which
we observe. The displacement of individual closed systems of
currents in the core or changes in their intensity cause temporal
variations in the magnetic field, observed on the surface as
variations over centuries.
This hypothesis was first suggested in 1947 by Ya.I. Fren­
kel, and was subsequently supported by some foreign physi­
cists.
But the following must be taken into consideration. Charge
carriers are also in motion in the atmosphere. This movement
is especially strong in the upper layers of the atmosphere,

* Pochtarev, V. I., Magnetizm Zemli i kosmicheskogo prostranstva

(Magnetism of the Earth and Outer Space), Moscow, 1966.

59
and specifically, in the ionized layers. The magnetic fields pro­
duced by these currents superimposed on the magnetic fields
of the eddy currents in the depths of the earth, result in a sing­
le, combined electric field on the earth’s surface, and it was in
this field that life originated and man evolved. The potential
of the magnetic field on the earth’s surface as a whole is not
great— at the poles it comes to 0.3-0.5 oersted. This poten­
tial is not constant, but subject to daily, monthly and yearly
variations. At times there are sharp increases in the potential.
They are caused by sporadic phenomena on the sun, accompa­
nied by intensified solar activity. High fluxes of ultraviolet,
roentgen and harder radiation, as well as corpuscular radiation
stream from sun to earth. Their interaction with elementary
particles in the upper layers of the atmosphere greatly increas­
es the streams of charge carriers, whose magnetic fields increa­
se the earth’s magnetic field — a phenomenon called a magne­
tic storm.
Magnetic storms range in duration from minutes to days
and at such times the potential of the earth’s magnetic field
increases thousands and even tens of thousands of times.

3. MAGNETIC STORMS AND MAN

Investigations conducted between the ‘fifties and ‘seventies
demonstrated the influence of magnetic fields in general and
magnetic storms in particular on man. This is set forth con­
vincingly and in due detail in A.S. Presman’s monographs,
Elektromagnitnoye pole i priroda (The Electromagnetic Field
and Nature) and Elektromagnitnye^polya v biosfere (Elect­
romagnetic Fields in the Biosphere). ]We cite some examples:
In 1930 A.L. Chizhevsky and then others called attention
to the connection between the development of certain diseases
and processes taking place on the sun. On the basis of statis­
tics over many years he showed a connection between increas­
ed solar activity and outbreaks of plague, cholera, diphtheria,
grippe and meningitis epidemics, and even epidemics of re-
60
lapsing fever. British researchers established a distinct growth
of neuropsychic disorders during 67 magnetic storms. Sta­
tistics covered 40,000 cases.
During 1957-1961 the effect of 7, 14, 21 and 35-day systematic
increases in the magnetic potential on the severity of the cour­
se of the disease in 30,000 cases was traced. A similar effect
was discovered on the development of cardiovascular impair­
ment. In this connection the comprehensive observations of
V.M. Gnedushev in Sverdlovsk are of interest. A.S. Presman
calls attention to the fact that during periods of heigtened
solar activity, the multiplication and toxicity of a number
of pathogenic bacteria increase; blood clotting is accelerated
and the lymphocyte count increases. V. K. Podshebyakin, in
Kiev, who investigated a very large number of cases found dis­
tinct variations in the amplitude, frequency, and shape of cur­
ves of biopotentials during magnetic storms. On the basis of
this data he classified people, dividing them into the following
five groups: (1) those in whom the biopotential of the brain
reacts to the oncoming magnetic storms 3-4 days before
its onset; (2) those in whom the biopotential reacts a day before
the storm; (3) those in whom the biopotential reacts during
the storm; (4) those whose biopotential reacts 2-3 days after
the storm; and (5) those whose biopotential does not react
(10-15% of the people observed).
An increasing number of people are studying the effect
on man of magnetic phenomena in the atmosphere. Reports
of investigations involving numerous observations are being
published. An article on the results of an investigation carried
out by I.E. Ganelina, N.F. Savoyarov and S.K. Churina
(I.P. Pavlov Institute of Physiology, USSR Academy of Sci­
ences) was published in Kardiologiya, No. 10, 1975, Moscow,
under the title “The State of Physical Factors of the Outer
Medium and the Frequency of the Principal Complications
of Acute Myocarditis”. Contrary to existing ideas, the authors
show the effect of a lowering of the potential of the magnetic
field on the severity of the outcome. The factual material and

61
the thoroughness of clinical observations convince one of the
reliability of the results. Yet the usual statistical method em­
ployed by the authors for processing the information did not
allow them fully to reveal more complex phenomena from the
data at hand. R.M. Arslanova and L.K. Sapozhkov at the
Leningrad Institute of Aircraft Instrument Manufacture,
processed this data, at the advice of the author, by resolving
the curve characterizing the studied dependence into periodic
constituents by the method proposed by Walsh in the ‘twenties.
Work along this line is continuing at the I.P. Pavlov In­
stitute of Physiology, USSR Academy of Sciences, and at the
Leningrad Institute of Aircraft Instrument Manufacture. The
investigators hope to reveal the unquestioned possibility of
prognosing, and hence of preventing cardiovascular crises.
The facts cited are not exhaustive, but the fact that like con­
clusions have been drawn by different observers in different
countries at different times proves beyond doubt that magne­
tic fields and magnetic storms have an infuence on man.
But through what mechanisms is this influence exerted?
Electric fields and electric currents manifest their influence,
in one way or another, through their effect on the electric pro­
perties of the living body. If the influence of the magnetic
field has been established, it can be assumed that the magnetic
field has an effect on the magnetic properties of the living body.
A distinguishing feature of the action of the magnetic field on
the living body is that the body is “transparent” to the field.
The vitally important organs are more or less protected by the
muscles. Even a hot fire does not immediately lead to a seri­
ous outcome. The circulatory system and the muscles, possess­
ing as they do electric conductivity, can shunt, to a certain
degree, dangerous current. Penetrating radiation is partially
or completely absorbed in the surface areas of the body. Only
the magnetic field acts at once on the body as a whole — from
the body and organs down to the cells and the individual mo­
lecules and atoms.
Are magnetic properties inherent in the animate? The
62
examples of the influence of magnetic storms on the living
organism have necessitated investigations. Carrying out such
investigations is made difficult by the fact that magnetic mea­
surement of small values is one of the most difficult fields of
measuring technique. It was only in the ‘sixties that proton
magnetometers possessing sufficient resolution and accuracy
appeared. Before that, the principal instrument for measuring
magnetic fields was, as a matter of fact, a magnetic needle
suspended on a thread, which turned in the direction of the
lines of force. The manufacture of iron having great magnetic
permeability and the use of new physical phenomena made it
possible to carry out the first investigations into the magnetic
properties of the living body. The presence of a variable mag­
netic field originating during the work of the heart muscle
was established, and this immediately found practical appli­
cation. The first models of magnetocardiographs have been
designed in the Soviet Union and abroad. Their use in the cli­
nic has demonstrated the possibility of detecting the begin­
ning of serious heart disorders considerably sooner than can
be done with the electrocardiograph. Good prospects for the
prevention of cardiovascular diseases are opened up, but it
will only be possible to talk of them when the magnetocar­
diograph becomes a simple instrument — in the first models
the transducers of input information incorporated coils with
several million turns. The small-size magnistors proposed by
G. I. Rekalova promise to be of good use in studying the mag­
netic fields of the living body. The microminiaturization of
radio-engineering parts and the manufacture of wire of a few
microns in section will enable the designing of instruments
for realization of the method of magnetic diagnosis and, possib­
ly, the magnetic therapy of the cardiovascular system.
What are the sources of magnetic fields in the living body
and how do these fields react with the magnetic fields of the
atmosphere?
First, as to sources. In the first chapters of this book we re­
peatedly spoke of the movement of charge carriers and the
63
 complex nature of bioelectricity; we noted the most important
part played in vital activities by biocurrents produced by mig­
rating electrons and ions. As a first approximation in can be
considered that those currents, variable in value, are appa­
rently the sources of the magnetic fields in the living body,
and specifically, the magnetic fields of the heart muscle. That
shows that bioelectricity is subject to the general laws of elect­
romagnetism— current is produced and varies in value, and
magnetic fields are produced and vary in value. Current is
produced in a circuit possessing electric conductivity when it
is placed in a variable magnetic field. Current is also produced
in a circuit placed in a constant magnetic field if the circuit
itself is moved. All this is also characteristic of bioelectromag­
netism, but the magnetic phenomena undoubtedly reflect de­
licate and complex phenomena taking place in the living body.
The next step — one that is very promising and extremely
difficult — is to study the action of external magnetic fields
on man. This should be a comprehensive examination of all
environmental characteristics, but particularly electromagne­
tic phenomena. The importance of such an examination can
be illustrated with the following example. L. K. Sapozhkov,
under the guidance of the author, studied the possibility of
creating a rational biosphere in a closed space. In distinction
to the usual conception, this would be an artificially created
environment providing optimal conditions for a person’s
stay and work. While carrying out this investigation a com­
parative analysis was made of the influence of all the basic
factors of the environment on the condition of the cardiovascu­
lar system. This was based on the daily number of emergency
calls in Leningrad on account of acute heart attacks. This data
was compared with the environmental meteorological fac­
tors— temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, changes
in the barometric pressure and changes in the earth’s mag­
netic field.
Analytical processing of 100,000 emergency calls showed
the following: the daily number of calls on account of acute

64
heart attacks was not constant — at times it increased from
day to day by 100—150%. At first it was assumed that the prin­
cipal factors causing an increase in the number of calls were
abrupt changes in barometric pressure or temperature. The
point is that diurnal variations in the earth’s magnetic field
are small, having a range of tens of gammas. Variations in
the magnetic field caused by transport and industrial motors
and other electric installations are much greater. As a matter
of fact it is impossible to measure variations in the magnetic
field in cities. All that could be used were the measurements
of the magnetic field obtained from the Magnetic-Ionospheric
Observatory of the Leningrad branch of the Institute of Ter­
restrial Magnetism, the Ionosphere and Propagation of Ra­
diowaves, USSR Academy of Sciences. According to L. K. Sa-
pozhkov’s algorithm, statistical processing by the method of
identification of the process yielded an unexpected result.
The number of calls depended on environmental conditions,
and its increase was apparently associated with unfavourable
changes in these conditions. The most important factors prov­
ed to be variations in the magnetic field and sharp changes in
the diurnal temperature and barometric pressure when there
was a definite correlation with all other environmental con­
ditions. The principal conclusion to be drawn from this in­
vestigation is the following. The cardiovascular system has an
amazingly delicate sensitivity to variations in the earth’s mag­
netic field and to variations in the frequency constituents of
changes in barometric pressure. Experiments on animals kept
in magnetic fields of much greater intensity than the terrest­
rial magnetic field and differing from the latter in the character
of variations revealed the influence of these fields on animals
but it was different than in man. A survey of people working
near sources of magnetic fields as required by their occupa­
tions showed that there were complaints of a deterioration
in their health but this deterioration was not so acute as in
patients attended by the emergency doctor.
From this a general conclusion can be drawn. Bioelectric

5-1248 65
and biomagnetic phenomena are indissolubly associated with
the electricity and magnetism of the surrounding medium and
with all its physical characteristics. Study of these relation­
ships holds out excellent prospects of gaining knowledge of
animate matter, and what is most important, the prospect of
being able to regulate environmental conditions and provide
optimal conditions for man’s life and activity.
The founder of the new trend in the science of man’s envi­
ronment, ratiobiospherology, can rightly be considered the
outstanding naturalist, Academician Vladimir Ivanovich Ver­
nadsky.
4. ELECTRICITY AND THE RATIOBIOSPHERE
Electricity and magnetism were actively involved in man’s
evolutional development. Both are part of the biosphere.
But what is the biosphere?
The word, “biosphere”, appeared in the literature at the
beginning of the 19th century. It was that word the French
naturalist, Lamarck, used for “the region of the existence of
the animate”. At the end of the 19th century the Austrian geo­
logist, Eduard Suess, extended the concept of the biosphere to
include geology, pointing out that minerals owe their origin,
to a great extent, to the physico-chemical energetic processes
of the animate world. The biosphere as the region of the exis­
tence of the animate, in the Lamarckian understanding, is
used in the literature to this day. If is so defined even in the
latest edition of the Bolshayar^Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya
(The Great Soviet Ensyclopedia) in the section on cosmona­
utics.
In 1926 Vernadsky defined the word differently. He said
the biosphere was not the region of the existence of the ani­
mate but the conditions and factors in the environment in
which, thanks to the interconnected and interdependent va­
riations of these conditions and factors, terrestrial life origina­
ted and exists. Vernadsky made this statement: “Mankind as
a whole is becoming a powerful geological force, and before

66
 it, in its thoughts and work, arises the question of remaking
the biosphere in the interests of free-thinking man as a single
whole”. He developed this idea. The medium surrounding man
is not always favourable for his existence — it can and should
be reconstructed in man’s interests. But this interpretation of
the biosphere has not been widely accepted, and the less for­
tunate concept of the biosphere as the region of habitation is
used instead.
In line with Vernadsky’s teaching about the biosphere,
the term “ratiobiosphere” (“ratio” is used here in the sense of
the Latin word — reason) is to be understood as an artificial
medium surrounding man which makes his life easier by pro­
viding optimal conditions for his work and stay. Modern con­
ditions are quite different from the conditions of work and eve­
ryday life a hundred years ago. The proportion of the earth’s
surface covered by forest and that covered by vegetation has
changed; the amount and spectrum of radiation has also chang­
ed, as has the moisture cycle — evaporation from the earth
and precipitation in various forms. The most significant chang­
es in the medium began at the end of the 19th century when
technology began to play an active role in man’s life. The air
is being contaminated with waste gases from the fuel burned
in aircraft and with industrial wastes; variations in electromag­
netic fields are increasing because of the increasing number
of radio stations.
The change in the environment was first manifested in the
change in the microflora and the intensity of the electric fields
interacting with man. The change in the environment first
affected people’s sight and hearing. The excess during the day
of bright artificial illumination with a spectrum unlike that
of sunlight has lowered sensitivity of vision in urban dwellers
as compared to that of people living in rural districts. Here
is a characteristic example. A little more than 100 years ago,
the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, today
the S. M. Kirov Academic Theatre of the Opera and Ballet,
was lighted with 40 or 50 kerosene lamps arranged along the
5’ 67
outer perimeter of the stage, and there were no complaints
about the lighting. Today the stage is lighted with powerful
floodlights from the side boxes, and there is also bias lighting
from the sides; the back of the stage is lighted separately, and
yet the audience often complain that the stage is dimly lighted.
The need for bright illumination is not limited to the theatre.
It was not without reason that during the last 20 years State
Standards for obligatory illumination have twice been raised.
The lowering of the sensitivity of the visual analyzer which de­
termines the value of the electric impulse transmitted to the
central nervous system is unquestionably undesirable, but at
the same time this lowering of the electrical activity of the visual
analyzer is in its way the body’s defensive reaction to the height­
ened action of visual stimuli, an adaptation to them.
Modern turbojet and jet planes take people from one clima­
tic zone to another in a few hours time. These people must be,
and in many cases must work, in conditions radically different
from those in which they were only a few hours before. The
intensity of electromagnetic fields is one of the characteristics
of the environment which are changed. There is no gradual
adaptation to the surrounding medium which is the case when
travelling in a train which covers this distance in several days.
One naturally wonders if it is possible to accelerate adaptation
to the medium. The results of investigations show that it can
be done. Studies along this line are being conducted on the
basis of ratiobiospherology.
Ratiobiospherology is the science of an artificial habitable
environment providing optimal conditions for a person’s
stay and work. This definition is repeated deliberately, since
ratiobiosphere is often confused with microclimate. The mic­
roclimate in dwellings, industrial spaces and airplane cockpits
and passenger compartments is intended to maintain or produ­
ce a number of characteristics equivalent to the climate of a
forested area in central Russia or the Black Sea coast. It is be­
coming evident from experience, firstly, that the external me­
dium produced by present-day air-conditioning installations

68
does not reproduce the natural environment completely with
all its desirable characteristics, and secondly, that a climate,
an environment, excellent for holiday-making does not al­
ways provide optimal conditions for work.
What characterizes the environment? For a long time it
was considered that the basic characteristics of a habitable
environment were the following: standard oxygen/nitrogen
composition of the air; temperature of 18 — 25°C; relative hu­
midity of 60-80%; barometric pressure of 760 mm Hg (1033
mbar); constant spectral composition of electromagnetic radia­
tion in the visible region of the spectrum. Such an environment
originated about a million years ago when an equilibrium was
established between plants and living organisms requiring
oxygen. It is such an environment that air-conditioning
is intended to produce. Until recently the basic characteristics
enumerated above were sufficient for providing an artificial
environment in production spaces and dwellings. It was men­
tioned earlier that the atmosphere is now contaminated with
wastes from industrial enterprises and aircraft. The time has
come when these contaminants must be taken into account,
as well as other environmental factors acting on man, parti­
cularly electromagnetic fields.
The diagram in Fig.5 characterizes a ratiobiosphere. It
can be seen from the diagram that there are considerably more
factors acting on man than those enumerated above. When
creating a life support system or an artificial climate system,
which is the same thing, they should all be taken into account
in one degree or another. At present this is impossible. Usu­
ally sanitary-hygienic investigations along this line are limited
to studying the effect of a single factor or two factors simul­
taneously, irrespective of other factors. It is now becoming
evident that a person’s reaction to a change in the environ­
ment depends on the action of the entire factor complex. For
example, the action of temperature and humidity on a person
is not the same for different intensities of magnetic and elect­
ric fields. Unfortunately, there are as yet no combined measur-
69
 Biological-technical
life support systems
Illumination
Chemical / c n p n tLn
i Ui 1
mi 1i
composition
Measuring complexes. background,
of air
\V Processing
of infn rm atinn a h n n t ! \ :
w contrast)

person's condition

Temperature
V//
Electrom ag­
and
netic fields
humidity
/\/
H

Barometric
\ / \
/\\ \\
\\
-
/ M Magnetic
pressure H 1\ \ \ \ fields

/\ \ \\\
\ vw Penetrating
Dustiness
radiation

Person ir m 3ptimal
cond iti<Dns for
work arid stay

________ \f

Type of person's
activity or conditions
of his stay

Fig. 5. Diagram o f ratiobiosphere in life support system

These continuous lines indicate environmental factors acting on man;
broken lines, factors necessary for regulating life support systems; dot-and-
dash lines, factors in life support systems amenable to regulation
70
ing systems for assessing a person’s reaction to a change in
the environment. And probably opinions still differ when
assessing the optimal combination of characteristics for a per­
son’s stay. Also, there are as yet no systems of artificial cli­
mate with interconnected regulation of at least five or six ex­
ternal characteristics, while taking a person’s reaction into
account. But there will be! There is sure to be! So far, inves­
tigations along this line are being conducted to ensure safe
flight in advanced aircraft and spaceships, and also to pro­
vide conditions for work in special industrial spaces. The
effect of an artificial environment on man and any living or­
ganism will be manifested directly and indirectly in changes
of one kind or another in electrical activity. Consequently
these changes can become a means of assessing the optimiza­
tion of the environment.
When creating an artificial atmosphere a moral problem
arises, associated with the choice of characteristics. Assume
that a composition of the atmosphere is found which makes it
possible for a person to work harder for a short time or even
for a lengthy period, and which also increases the resolving
power in the perception of information. This is all well and
good but the average life span will be shortened. On the cont­
rary, if conditions of physical comfort are provided, the avera­
ge life span can be maintained or even increased, but the body
can no longer be overloaded in situations of strain. There are
other possibilities. What is the solution? One thing is certain —
all requirements must be satisfied as fully as possible. Opti­
mization of the gaseous medium, temperature and humidity
is not sufficient. All factors shown in Fig. 5 must be taken
into account. This can be done in the following way. The rec­
tangle in the centre of the diagram indicates a person’s con­
dition brought about by the environmental factors enumerated
in rectangles to the right and left. A general assessment of a
person’s condition is obtained by means of instruments charac­
terizing the condition, e.g., the instrument described in Chap­
ter 5. The condition is determined by a summarizing instrument

71
 of one kind or another. A signal from this summarizing inst­
rument which does not as yet exist, is transmitted to systems
regulating changes in characteristics, thus creating an envi­
ronment providing optimal conditions for a person’s work
and stay. This system of adjusting the environment is conceiv­
ed as a system summarizing assessments of one person and
of a group of people present in a closed space. Future investi­
gations in this field will show that electricity and magnetism
act on a person not only directly but also through other fac­
tors, such as the microflora.
The microflora is characterized by the word, “bioaerosol” .
The bioaerosol consists of various microorganisms — bacte­
ria, viruses and fungi (moulds). They exist in the air, depending
on the conditions of the environment. The microflora reacts
most quickly to changes taking place in the atmosphere, in­
cluding variations in its electromagnetic properties. Micro­
organisms, like all living organisms, need a gaseous medium,
food, support for reproduction, and electromagnetic fields.
Food consists of various chemical substrates, and the support
for reproduction is dust (nonmetallic), the skin of a living or­
ganism, insulating materials, wood, paper, etc. In the presence
of people the number of microorganisms sharply increases.
The products of man’s vital activity are excellent food for them.
In the air many of them assimilate carbon dioxide, oxygen and
admixtures necessary for the synthesis of proteins. As a re­
sult of the activity of microorganisms intermediate chemical
substances are formed, such as hydrogen, formic acid and other
organic compounds. Microorganisms are extremely sensitive
to electromagnetic radiation outside the visible region of the
spectrum, their reaction being shown in their reproduction
and in changes in their characteristics as a species. Investiga­
tions carried out by E. N. Chistyakova, Yu. V. Pankratov,
S. E. Manoilov, V. F. Kondratyeva and N. B. Ivanova showed
that changes take place in microorganisms under the action
of electromagnetic fields. Some of them die, while in others
there are changes in hereditary properties. Geomagnetic va-
72
riations also affect them. Microorganisms are necessary for
human life. Whereas some are dangerous, many are necessary
for man’s existence. Regulating the number and species of
microorganisms in the air is an important task to be tackled
when setting about the creation of a ratiobiosphere.
I would like to finish this chapter with a quotation from
V. I. Vernadsky: “A new geological phenomena has appeared
on our planet. Man can and must through his labour and
thought remake the sphere of his life, remake it radically com­
pared to what it was before. More and broader opportuni­
ties are opening up before him, and perhaps the generation of
my grandchildren will approach their full realization... Today
we are going through a new evolutional development of the
biosphere. What is important for us is that the ideals of our
democracy are in unison with the spontaneous geological pro­
cess, with the laws of nature. For that reason we can look con­
fidently to the future. It is in our grasp and we will not relin­
quish our hold.”*

* Vernadsky, V. I., Biosfera (The Biosphere), Moscow, 1967,

p. 358.
 CHAPTER FOUR

Items from the Prehistory

of the Use of Electricity
in Medicine

1. FIRST DISCOVERIES
Since ancient times people have endeavoured to under­
stand natural phenomena. Many brilliant hypotheses about
the natural occurrences around man have appeared in diffe­
rent countries and at different times. The ideas of Greek and
Roman scholars and philosophers living before our era—
Archimedes, Euclid, Lucretius, Aristotle, Democritus and
others — even now are of help in the development of scien­
tific research.
The first information about electricity and magnetism is
of interest for the subject, “Electricity and Man”. It comes
from Miletus, an ancient trading_jcity on the Mediterranean,
and the author is the philosopher, Phales (end of 7th and be­
ginning of 6th century B. C.). He described electric phenome­
n a— how amber, when rubbed, attracted bits of cloth, thread
and paper. He also described magnetic phenomena. Phales
of Miletus can be considered the founder of the science of elect­
ricity. Phales’s pupils accumulated crumbs of information
about electricity, which in one way or another was associated
with living organisms and man. Thus in ancient times it was
known that certain species of fish possessed electric proper­
ties, and such fish were even employed in healing. Thirty years
before our era Dioscorides healed gout and chronic headache
by means of electric shock from touching an electric eel. In

74
 Fig. 6. Experiment with electric ray

Russian chronicles of the 14th century there are entries which

show that this remarkable healing agent was also known to
the Russians. Marvellous fish are described which when put
in a cask have a healing effect when touched.
After the first observations of electric and magnetic pheno­
mena by Phales of Miletus, interest in them sprang up from
time to time in connection with curing.
It should be noted that the electric properties of certain
fish which were known in ancient times have remained to this
day an unsolved mystery. Thus, for instance, in 1960 at an
exhibition in London organized to mark the tricentenary of
the founding of the Royal Society among the puzzles of nature
still to be solved, a glass aquarium containing an electric ray
was demonstrated (Fig. 6). A voltmeter was connected to the

75
aquarium through metallic electrodes. When the ray was at
rest, the voltmeter needle stood at zero, but when the fish moved
the instrument showed a potential which reached as high as
400 V when the ray moved quickly. The inscription stated that
it was still impossible to explain the nature of this electric phe­
nomenon which had been observed long before the organiza­
tion of the Royal Society.

2. AN IMPORTANT INVESTIGATION
Judging by the observations that have come down to us
from ancient times the therapeutic effect of the electrical phe­
nomena described can be regarded as stimulating in a way
and psychogenic. These remedies may have been used or may
have been forgotten. For a long time there was no serious study
of electric and magnetic phenomena, and particularly, their
action as therapeutic agents. The first thorough experimental
investigation into electric and magnetic phenomena was con­
ducted by William Gilbert (1544-1603). English physician and
physicist, later physician to the Royal household. Gilbert was
an innovator in medicine. His success was largely due to his
serious study of ancient remedies and then employing them.
This included electricity and magnetism. Gilbert realized that
without a detailed study of electric and magnetic radiation it
would be difficult to use these “fluids” in treatment.
Rejecting fantastic, unverified conjectures and unfounded
assertions, Gilbert carried out diverse experimental studies
of electric and magnetic phenomena. The results of these stu­
dies, the first of their kind, were stupendous.
In the first place, Gilbert was the first to advance the idea
that the magnetic needle of the compass moves under the in­
fluence of the earth’s magnetism, and not under the action of
the North star, as had been assumed before. He was also the
first to carry out artificial magnetization, and to establish the
fact that the magnetic poles are inseparable. Gilbert studied
electric phenomena as well as magnetic, and on the basis of
76
numerous observations showed that amber was not the only
material that produced electric radiation when rubbed. Ne­
vertheless, since amber was the first material that was observed
to be electrified on rubbing, he proposed that all these mate­
rials should be termed electric from the Greek word “elect­
ron” (amber). So the word “electricity” came to be used at the
suggestion of the English physician on the basis of his histo­
ric investigation which marked the beginning of the develop­
ment of electrical engineering and electrotherapy. At the same
time Gilbert aptly formulated the fundamental difference
between electricity and magnetism. He said that magnetism,
like weight, was a prime force coming out of bodies while elect­
ricity was due to special fluids being squeezed out of the pores
of a body by friction.
As a matter of fact, electrification and magnetism were con­
sidered separately until the works of Ampere and Faraday,
i.e., over two hundred years after Gilbert’s death (the results
of his work were published in 1600 in a book, De magnete,
magneticis que corporibus, et de magno magnete tellure (On the
Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet, the Earth).
In his “History of Physics” *, P. S. Kudryavtsev quotes Galileo,
the great astronomer and physicist of the Renaissance: “I bes­
tow my praise, I am filled with wonder and I envy Gilbert. He
developed amazing ideas about a subject which so many gift­
ed people had discussed but which was not carefully studied by
any of them. I am convinced that in time this field of science
(electricity and magnetism — V. M.) will achieve successes as
a result of fresh observations, and especially, as a result of
strict measures of proof’.

* P. S. Kudryavtsev’s Istoriya fizik i (History o f Physics) (in 2 vols.),

one of the few fundamental monographs on the subject, was o f con­
siderable assistance to the author in writing the prehistory of the de­
velopment of the topic, “Electricity and Man’’. The following quota­
tions in discoveries in physics were taken from this work o f Kudryav­
tsev.

77
 Gilbert died on November 30, 1603, bequesting all his in­
struments and papers to the Royal College of Surgeons, of
which he was President until his death.

3. THE PRIZE AWARDED TO MARAT

We come now to the eve of the French Revolution. Let us
summarize investigations into electricity carried out at that
period. The existence of positive and negative electricity had
been established. The first electrostatic machines had been
constructed and improved. Leyden jars (condensers for static
electricity) had appeared, as well as electroscopes; hypotheses
about electrical phenomena had been formulated; daring
attempts had been made to study the electricity of lightning.
The electrical nature of lightning and its action on people
strengthened the opinion that electricity could both kill and
cure people.
We will cite some examples. On April 8, 1730, two Eng­
lishmen, Grey and Wheeler carried out an experiment with an
electrified person which is now a classic. Two dry posts were
sunk upright in the yard of Grey’s house. A wooden bar was
secured between the tops of the posts. Two lengths of hair
rope were thrown over the bar and the lower ends fastened.
The ropes easily stood the weight of a boy who agreed to take
part in the experiment. Lying on the loops of rope like swings,
the boy held in one hand a rocLwhich had been electrified by
friction or a metal rod which conducted electricity from an
electrified object. In his other hand the boy held a number of
coins which he dropped one by one into a metal dish on a dry
board on the ground below him (Fig. 7). The coins received
a charge through the boy’s body and as they fell into the me­
tal dish, the dish gradually became electrified and began to
attract dry straws laid out around it. Experiments were repe­
ated many times and attracted much interest which was not
confined to scientists.
The Frenchmen, Du Fay and Nollet, and the Russian, Ge-
78
 Fig. 7. Electrification experiment

org Rikhmann, almost simultaneously and independently

of one another designed an instrument for measuring the deg­
ree of electrification. This considerably extended the use of
electric charges for medical treatment since it had become pos­
sible to measure the dose. The French Academy devoted seve­
ral sessions to discussions on the effect on man of discharges
from Leyden jars. Louis XV also became interested in this.
At his request, Nollet together with the physician, Louis-
Guillaume Le Monnier carried out an experiment in one of
the big halls of the Versailles palace, demonstrating the per­
forating action of static electricity. Some good came of the
court amusements— many people became interested and many
began to study electrification phenomena.
In 1787 the English physician and physicist, Adams, built
the first electrostatic machine designed specially for thera­
peutic purposes, and made wide use of it in his medical prac­
tice (Fig. 8). He obtained favorable results which can be ex­
plained by the stimulating effect of the charge, the psycho­
therapeutic effect and the specific action of the charge.
The epoch of electrostatics and magnetostatics to which
everything described above belongs ended with the elabora­
tion of the mathematical fundamentals of these sciences per­
formed by Poisson, Ostrogradsky and Gauss.

79
 Fig. 8. Electrotherapy (18th century engraving)

The use of electric charges in medicine and biology was

fully recognized. Muscular contraction caused by touching
electric rays, eels, and catfish was evidence of the action of
an electric shock. Experiments by the Englishman, John War-
lish, proved the electric nature of the shock from the ray, and
anatomist, Hunter, gave an exact description of the ray’s
electric organ.
In 1752 Sulzer, a German physician, published a report
of a new phenomenon he had discovered: when the tongue
touched two different metals simultaneously, a sour taste was
produced. Sulzer did not suspect that his observation marked
the beginning of two most important sciences— electroche­
mistry and electrophysiology.
Interest in the use of electricity in medicine grew. The Rouen
Academy announced a competition for the best paper on the
extent and conditions under which it was possible to rely on
electricity in treating diseases. The first prize was awarded to
Marat, a physician, whose name has gone down in history as
one of the leaders of the French Revolution. The appearance
of Marat’s paper was timely, since the use of electricity for
medical treatment was often associated with mysticism and
quackery. A certain Mesmer, seizing upon fashionable scien­
tific theories about spark-emitting electric machines, began to

80
claim that in 1771 he had discovered a universal medical reme­
dy— “animal magnetism” — which acted on patients at a
distance. He opened special medical rooms furnished with elec­
trostatic machines of fairly high voltage. The patient was told
to touch the charged parts of the machine, on doing which
he received an electric shock. Apparently instances in which
a favourable effect was obtained from Mesmer’s treatment
can be explained not only by the stimulating effect of the elec­
tric shock but also by the bactericidal effect of the ozone in the
rooms where the electrostatic machines were operated. But
Mesmer had no idea of this. After a number of cases of unsuc­
cessful treatment with serious consequences, of which Marat
had warned, Mesmer disappeared from France. A Government
commission which was set up to investigate Mesmer’s “doc­
toring”, and which included Lavoisier, the outstanding French
chemist, was unable to explain the favourable action of elec­
tricity on people. For a time treatment with electricity ceased
in France.

4. DISPUTE BETWEEN GALVANI AND VOLTA

And now we come to experiments carried out almost two

hundred years after the publication of Gilbert’s work by the
Italian, Luigi Galvani, Professor of anatomy and medicine,
and the Italian, Alessandro Volta, Professor of physics.
Luigi Galvani carried out an experiment in the anatomy la­
boratory of Bologna University, the description of which
astounded scientists throughout the world. Frogs were being
dissected on the laboratory desk. It was the object of the ex­
periment to demonstrate and observe the nerves of the extre­
mities. An electrostatic machine used for producing and study­
ing sparks, stood on the same desk. Galvani describes what
happened in his work, “The Force of Electricity in Muscular
Movements” : “By accident, one of my assistants very slightly
touched the inner femoral nerves of the frog with his scalpel.

6-1248 81
 The frog’s leg jerked sharply... this only happened when a
spark was drawn from the condenser of the machine”.
This phenomenon can be explained in the following way.
A varying electric field acts on the atoms and molecules of
the air in the spark zone, and as a result they acquire electric
charges and are no longer neutral. The ions and charged mole­
cules are disseminated to a relatively short distance from the
electrostatic machine since in their movement they collide
with the molecules of the air and lose their charges. They can
also accumulate on metal objects which are well insulated
from the surface of the ground, but are discharged if an elect­
ric circuit is formed on the ground. The floor in the laboratory
was wooden and dry, and insulated the room where Galvani
was working from the ground. The object on which the charges
accumulated was a metal scalpel. When the frog’s nerve was
only lightly touched with the scalpel the charges accumulated
on the scalpel were discharged, causing the leg to jerk without
any mechanical damage. It was already known at that time
that a secondary discharge could occur through electrostatic
induction.
Galvani was a brilliant researcher and during one of his.
numerous diversified experiments he discovered another phe­
nomenon which was of great importance in the subsequent
development of electrical engineering. This discovery was made
while he was studying atmospherip^lectricity. We quote Gal­
vani again: ... “Exhausted... with fruitless waiting... I began...
to press the copper hooks stuck into the frog’s spinal cord
against the iron grating and the frog’s legs contracted.” This
experiment which was not performed in the open air but in
a room where there were no electrostatic machines showed
that when a frog’s body is touched simultaneously with two
different metal objects — wire and plate of copper, silver or
iron — the muscles contract in the same way as when touched
with an object charged by an electrostatic machine. No one
had observed this phenomenon before. On the basis of his
observations he drew a bold conclusion: there was another
82
source of electricity — “animal electricity”*; the live muscle
was a condenser like a Leyden jar, and positive electricity
accumulated inside it; the frog’s nerve was an inner “conduc­
tor” . Connecting two metal conductors to the muscle caused
the appearance of an electric current which, like the spark
from an electrostatic machine, caused the muscle to contract.
Galvani confined his experiments to frogs, and perhaps it was
for that reason he proposed using the frog’s leg for measuring
amounts of electricity. The measure of electricity was the ac­
tivity of the rise and fall of the leg when brought into contact
with a metal plate which simultaneously touched a hook pas­
sing through the frog’s spinal cord, and the frequency with
which the leg rose per unit time. For some time even eminent
physicists, among them Georg Ohm, used a physiological
indicator of this type.
On the basis of Galvani’s electrophysiological experiment,
Alessandro Volta designed the first electrochemical source of
electric energy, which in turn opened a new epoch in the de­
velopment of electrical engineering.
Alessandro Volta was one of the first to appreciate Galva­
ni’s discovery. He carefully repeated Galvani’s experiments
and obtained much information confirming Galvani’s results.
But in his first articles, “On Animal Electricity” and in his
letter of April 3, 1792, to Doctor Boronio, Volta, unlike Gal­
vani who considered the phenomena noted from the positions
of “animal electricity”, centred attention on chemico-physical
phenomena. Volta established the importance of using differ­
ent metals (zinc, copper, lead, silver and iron) between which
was placed a cloth moistened with acid.
Here is what Volta wrote: “In Galvani’s experiments the
source of electricity is a frog. But what is a frog or any animal
in general. Primarily, it is nerves and muscles and in them va­
rious chemical compounds. If the nerves and muscles of a

* Later in the text the term “animal electricity” is replaced by the

equivalent “electrical activity of living tissue” .

6’ 83
dissected frog are connected to two different metals, an elect­
ric action appears when this circuit is closed. In my last experi­
ment there were also two metals — stanniol (lead — V. M.)
and silver, and the liquid was saliva. By closing the circuit
with a connecting plate I provided conditions for the electric
fluid to move from one place to another, but couldn’t I simp­
ly immerse these same metal objects in water or in a liquid like
saliva? What has “animal electricity” got to do with it?”
Volta’s experiments lead to the conclusion that the source
of electric action is a circuit of unlike metals in contact with a
damp cloth or one moistened with acid.
In one of his letters to his friend, Vazagi, a physician (another
example of physicians’ interest in electricity), Volta wrote:
“I have long been convinced that the entire action comes from
metals — when they come into contact the electric fluid enters
a damp or watery body. On these grounds I consider myself
justified in ascribing all the new electric phenomena to metals,
and replacing the term “animal electricity” by the term “me­
tallic electricity”.
Volta considered frog’s legs nothing more than a sensitive
electroscope.
This started the historic dispute between Galvani and Volta
and their followers about “animal” and “metallic” electricity.
Galvani adhered to his view. He excluded all metal from
his experiment and even dissected frbgs with glass knives. It
turned out that even in such an experiment there was contrac­
tion when the frog’s femoral nerve was brought into contact
with the muscle but the contraction was considerably less than
when metals were involved. This was the first demonstration
of bioelectric phenomena which are the basis for modern
electrodiagnosis of disorders of the cardiovascular and other
systems.
Volta attempted to discover the nature of the unusual phe­
nomena, and precisely formulated the problem confronting
him: “What is the cause of electricity, I asked myself, just as
any of you would do. Thinking it over brought me to the con-
84
elusion: when two different metals, such as silver and zinc, are
brought into contact, the equilibrium of the electricity in both
metals is upset. At the point of contact positive electricity
moves from the silver to the zinc and accumulates there, whi­
le negative electricity, in the same way, accumulates on the
silver. This means that electrical substance moves in the de­
finite direction. When I place plates of silver and zinc, one on
the other without anything between, that is the zinc and silver
are in contact, their combined action comes to zero. To in­
crease the electric effect, or combine it, each zinc plate should
be in contact with a single silver plate, and successively stack
up as many pairs as possible. I do this by placing a piece of
wet cloth, separating it in this way from the silver plate of the
next pair” . A far-sighted statement. Much of what he said
has not lost its significance today from the standpoint of mo­
dern views.
Unfortunately this dispute was tragically broken off. Na­
poleon invaded Italy. For refusing to swear allegiance to the
new government, Galvani lost his chair at the University, was
discharged and soon died. Volta lived to see the complete
recognition of the discoveries of both scientists. In their his­
toric dispute both had been right. The biologist, Galvani,
has gone down in history as the founder of bioelectricity; the
physicist, Volta, is recognized as the founder of electrochemi­
cal sources of current.

5. V. V. PETROV’S EXPERIMENTS.
THE BEGINNING OF ELECTRODYNAMICS
The first stage of the science of “animal” and “metallic”
electricity ends with the work of Academician V. V. Petrov,
Professor of Physics at the Medico-Surgical Academy (now
the S. M. Kirov Military-Medical Academy in Leningrad).
Petrov’s work had great influence on development of the
use of electricity in medicine and biology in Russia. He orga-
85
nized a physics laboratory at the Academy which was furnished
with excellent equipment. There he constructed a high-voltage
electrochemical source of electric energy, the first of its kind in
the world. Judging by the number of elements in it, the voltage
must have been as high as 1800-2000 V with a capacity of 27-
BO W. Using this multi-purpose source, Petrov was able in
a short period to carry out scores of investigations which re­
vealed diverse ways of employing electricity in a number of
fields. Petrov’s name is usually associated with the appearance
of a new source of illumination, electricity, on the basis of the
effective electric arc he discovered. In his monograph Izves-
tiye o galvani-voltovskikh opytach (Report on Galvanic-Vol­
taic Experiments), published in 1803, Petrov set forth the
results of his investigations. This was the first book on electri­
city published in Russia. It was republished in 1936.
This book is important not only for investigations relating
to electrical engineering, but also for the results of the study
of the interconnection and interactions of electric current
with the living organism. Petrov showed that the human body
is capable of electrification and that the galvanic-voltaic batte­
ry consisting of a large number of elements is dangerous for
man; as a matter of fact he foretold the possibility of employ­
ing electricity for physiotherapeutic treatment.
Petrov’s experiments had a great influence on the develop­
ment of electrical engineering and medicine. His “Report on
Galvanic-Voltaic Experiments’’ is to be found in the Latin
translation and in Russian in the national libraries of many
European countries. The electrophysical laboratory he orga­
nized enabled scientists at the Academy to carry out extensive
studies in the middle of the 19th century on the use of electri­
city for medical treatment. In this line of research, the Milita­
ry-Medical Academy held a leading place among institutes
in Russia and also in European countries. Suffice it to name
Prof. V. P. Egorov, V. V. Lebedinsky, A. V. Lebedinsky,
N. P. Khlopin and S. A. Lebedev.
What was the 19th century’s contribution to the study
86
of electricity? In the first place an end was put to the monopoly
of electricity by medicine and biology. This began with the
work of Galvani, Volta and Petrov. The first half and middle
of the 19th century were marked by important discoveries in
electrical engineering associated with the names of the Dane,
Hans Oersted; the Frenchmen, Dominique Arago and Andre
Ampere; the German, Georg Ohm; the Englishman, Michael
Faraday; and the Russians, Boris Yakoby, Emil Lenz and
Pavel Shilling.
We will briefly discuss the most important of these discove­
ries which directly concern our subject.
Oersted was the first to establish the interconnection of
electric and magnetic phenomena. While experimenting with
galvanic electricity (the term then used for electricity from elec­
trochemical sources to distinguish from electricity produced
by electrostatic machines), Oersted noticed the deflection
of the needle of a compass near a galvanic battery at the mo­
ment the circuit was closed or broken. He found that this def­
lection depended on where the compass was placed. It is great­
ly to Oersted’s merit that he himself realized the importance of
his discovery. The idea that electric and magnetic phenomena
were unrelated — an idea based on Gilbert’s work which for
over 200 years had seemed unshakeable — was shattered.
Oersted obtained reliable experimental data on the basis of
which he wrote and later published a book, “Experiments
Relating to the Action of the Electrical Conflict on the Magne­
tic Needle” . He briefly formulated his discovery in these words:
“Galvanic electricity moving from north to south over a freely
suspended magnetic needle deflects its northern end to the
east, and when moving in the same direction under the needle,
deflects it to the west”.
Andre Ampere, French physicist, revealed the essence of
Oersted’s discovery, the first reliable evidence of the interre­
lationship of electricity and magnetism. Ampere was an unu­
sually versatile scientist and scholar, an outstanding mathe­
matician and keenly interested in chemistry, botany and an-
87
dent literature. He was an excellent popularizer of scientific
discoveries. His contribution to physics was the creation of
a new branch of that science, viz., electrodynamics, embracing
all manifestations of moving electricity. Ampere’s source of
moving electric charges was a galvanic battery. On closing the
circuit he obtained the movement of the charges. Ampere
showed that electric charges at rest (static electricity) did not
act on the magnetic needle, did not deflect it. Using modern
language, it can be said that Ampere revealed the significance
of transitional processes (closing the electric circuit).
Michael Faraday completed what Oersted and Ampere had
begun by elaborating, concisely and logically, the princip­
les of electrodynamics. He also made a number of major dis­
coveries independently, which unquestionably had a great
influence on the use of electricity and magnetism in biology
and medicine. Faraday was not a mathematician like Ampere,
and in his numerous publications used not a single analytical
expression. But the lack of analytical analysis was compensat­
ed by Faraday’s ability as an experimenter, his industry and
conscientiousness. It was he who discovered the law of in­
duction. He said he had found a way of converting electricity
into magnetism and vice versa. He also discovered self-in­
duction.
Faraday’s crowning achievement was/the discovery of the
laws governing the passage of electric-6urrent through a con­
ducting liquid and chemical decomposition of the latter under
the action of the current (the phenomenon of electrolysis).
He wrote that the amount of substance on the conducting
plates (electrodes) immersed in the liquid depended on the
strength of the current and on the duration of its passage —
the stronger the current and the longer it was passed through
the liquid, the greater the amount of substance that separated
from the solution (basic law of electrolysis).
Russia was one of the countries where the discoveries of
Oersted, Arago, Ampere and, especially, Faraday were de­
veloped and found practical application. Making use of the
88
discovery of electrodynamics, Boris Yakoby designed the
first ship with an electric motor. Emil Lenz carried out a numb­
er of studies of great practical importance in various fields
of physics and electrical engineering. His name is usually asso­
ciated with the elaboration of the law of the heat equivalent
of electric energy known as the Joule-Lenz law. He also es­
tablished the law called by his name.
This ends the period in which the fundamentals of electro­
dynamics were elaborated.

6. USE OF ELECTRICITY IN MEDICINE

AND BIOLOGY IN THE 19TH CENTURY
P. N. Yablochkov arranged two carbons parallel to each
other and separated by a fusible lubricant, thus producing an
electric candle — a simple source of electric light capable of
illuminating a room for several hours. Yablochkov’s candle
held for three or four years, finding application in almost all
countries until it was replaced by the longer-liver incandes­
cent lamp. Electric generators were being designed everywhere
and accumulators were also widespread. The use of electri­
city in chemistry initiated by Michael Faraday was becoming
popular.
The transfer of matter — the movement of charge carriers —
was one of the first electrical phenomena to find application
in medicine for introducing medicinal compounds into a pati­
ent’s body. The essence of the method consists in the follow­
ing. A piece of gauze or some other cloth is moistened with
the necessary medicinal compound and is used as a pad bet­
ween the electrodes and the patient’s body. The electrodes are
connected to a source of direct current. This method began to
be used during the second half of the 19th century and is still
extensively applied. It is known as electrophoresis or iono-
phoresis. The reader will learn about the practical employ­
ment of electrophoresis in Chapter Five.
Another discovery in electrical engineering followed which
89
was of the greatest importance for practical medicine. On
August 22, 1879, Sir William Crookes, English chemist and
physicist, reported on his studies of cathode rays, of which
the following became known at that time:
1. When a high-voltage current is passed through a tube
containing a highly rarefied gas, a stream of particles moving
at an immense speed is emitted from the cathode.
2. The motion of these particles is strictly rectilinear.
3. This radiant energy can produce a mechanical action,
e.g. it can rotate a small impeller set in its path.
4. The radiant energy is deflected by a magnet.
5. Heat is developed at places where the radiant matter
falls. If the cathode is made in the form of a concave mirror,
even such high-melting substances as an alloy of iridium and
platinum can be fused in its focus.
6. Cathode rays are a stream of material particles smaller
than atoms, viz., particles of negative electricity.
Such were the first steps on the threshold of the new and
momentous discovery by the German physicist, Wilhelm
Roentgen.
Roentgen found a new type of radiation which he called
X-rays. Later these rays began to be called roentgen rays.
Roentgen’s report caused a sensation. Numerous laborato­
ries in all countries began making apparatus to produce X-rays
and Roentgen’s experiments were repeated and developed.
This discovery aroused particular interest among physicians.
Physics laboratories with X-ray installations were besieged
by physicians and their patients who suspected that there
were metal objects somewhere in their bodies, such as needles
or buttons they had swallowed. Never before in the history of
medicine had a discovery in electricity found practical ap­
plication so quickly as this new means of diagnosis — roentgen
rays.
There was immediate interest in roentgen rays in Russia.
Even before scientific publications appeared, before there
was any exact information about the apparatus but only a
90
 brief communication on Roentgen’s paper, Alexander Ste­
panovich Popov, the inventor of radio, was at work at Kronsh­
tadt near St. Petersburg making the first Russian roentgen
apparatus. Little is known about this. Popov’s role in design­
ing the first Russian roentgen apparatuses became more wi­
dely known from F. Veitkov’s report. This was aptly supple­
mented by Popov’s daughter, Ekaterina Kyandskaya-Popova,
in an article entitled “Inventor of the Radio and X-rays” pub­
lished in collaboration with V. Tomat in Nauka i zhizn, No. 8,
1971.
Further advances in electric engineering provided greater
opportunities for studying “animal electricity”. By that time
the galvanometer had been designed, and using it, Matteucci
demonstrated that during the vital activity of muscles an elec­
tric potential is developed. Matteucci severed a muscle trans­
versely to the fibres and connected the cut end to one of the
poles of a galvanometer; when the longitudinal surface of
the muscle was connected to the other pole, the galvanome­
ter showed a potential ranging from 10 to 80 mV, the value
depending on the type of muscle. Matteucci claimed that the
biological current “flowed” from the longitudinal surface to
the transverse cut and that the cut was electronegative. This
curious fact was confirmed by experiments on different ani­
mals— tortoise, rabbit, rat and birds — carried out by a numb­
er of researchers, of whom special mention should be made
of the German physiologists, Du Bois-Reymond and Hermann,
and the Russian, V. Yu. Chagovets. In 1834 Peltier published
the results of an investigation on the interaction of biological
potentials and direct current passing through living tissue.
He found that in such cases the polarity of the biological po­
tentials changed as did the amplitudes. Changes in physiolo­
gical functions were likewise observed.
Electrical measuring instruments with adequate sensitivity
and measuring range began to appear in physiological, biolo­
gical and medical laboratories. Experimental data of great
diversity began to accumulate.

91
 This can be considered the end of the prehistory of the use
of electricity in medicine and of the study of “animal” elec­
tricity.
The historical stage in the scientific-technological and me­
dical-biological use of electricity has been marked by the
development of new physical techniques providing primary
biological information, the development of electrical measu­
ring technology, the information theory, autometry and te­
lemetry and the integration of measurements.
 CHAPTER FIVE

The Physician’s Electric

Assistant

1. THE ORIGIN OF BIOLOGICAL CURRENTS

Electrography is the science of the connection between
electrophysiological and clinical-anatomical processes in the
living body. Electrography is the study of the electrical acti­
vity of living tissue, and electrocardiography is a diagnostic
method of assessing the condition of the heart muscle and car­
diovascular system by temporal variations in their electri­
cal activity.
The use of electrocardiography began at the end of the
‘twenties of the present century when the outstanding English
electrophysiologist, Adrian, suggested employing the magnetic
oscillograph for recording the electrical activity of the heart
muscle, organs, nerves, etc. With this instrument electrical
activity could be interpolated, and the curve recorded on paper
tape. Electrical diagnosis began rapidly to develop. Making
instruments intended for diagnosis became an independent
branch of medical instrument manufacture. The development
of electrical measuring technology and methods of recording,
along with ever-increasing clinical experience, brought it
about that the electrocardiograph, an instrument for recording
the curve of cardiac activity, was soon to be found in every
polyclinic, and today is one of the basic instruments for emer­
gency medical services.
Many score years passed after the first observations of the
electrical properties of living tissue before the electrocardio-

93
graph came into general use. Electrical measuring techno­
logy developed quite rapidly, and the electrical activity of the
heart could have been measured sooner with the means avai­
lable. This was not done because the nature of the phenomena
associated with the heart’s electrical activity was not clear.
Solving this question required integrated physico-chemical
and quantum-mechanical measuring apparatus.
It would be well to consider briefly existing explanations
of the electrical activity of living tissue. Some of them appeared
a long time ago. According to one of these explanations, elect­
rical charges are formed at cell boundaries due to the transfer
of matter. Their presence was demonstrated by a very crude
experiment: between two electrodes mounted in a biological
fluid containing live cells were placed two nonpolarizing (inert)
electrodes, for example, platinum electrodes, and potential
cut in. The cells became charge-carriers of a sort. Under cer­
tain conditions it was possible to determine the charge and the
speed of migration.
A more widely accepted hypothesis was that potential ori­
ginated as a result of the diffusion of ions as takes place in
solutions of low concentration. In 1889 Walther Nernst, Ger­
man physicist and chemist, proposed an equation based on
experimental data and some reasoning, nuking it possible to
determine the potential between two liquids of different con­
centration on coming into contact. Ions from the solution of
higher concentration diffuse (migrate) into the solution of
lower concentration. The difference in the mobility of the ions
causes the appearance of a potential between two parts of the
solution. But do diffusion potentials play a part in the forma­
tion of bioelectric potentials in biological systems? Probably
not. The distance between moving charge carriers in biological
tissue is very small, and diffusion quickly equalizes the con­
centration and the composition of the solution.
A membrane hypothesis was proposed, according to which
there is a semipermeable membrane between individual con­
stituents of a biologically active fluid which permits the pas-
94
sage of certain ions but holds back others. As proof of this
hypothesis an experiment was cited in which a solution of al­
bumen was separated from a salt solution by a cellophane mem­
brane. The potential which arose, called the membrane poten­
tial, persisted even after general equilibrium had set in.
Developing this hypothesis, Academician P.P. Lazarev in
the ‘thirties, formulated a theory of excitation, advanced for
its time, based on changes in the movement of charge-carrying
ions. According to Lazarev’s theory excitation of tissue sets
in at a certain concentration of free ions. This theory made it
possible to establish a general law of excitation and inhibition
which also applied to the central nervous system. Attempts
were made to explain by means of the membrane hypothesis
not only the origin of bioelectric potentials, but also basic phy­
siological phenomena. For a long time the membrane theory
gave rise to no doubts. During the ‘seventies it acquired new
content. A new science appeared — membranology — al­
though contradictions in explanation of the nature of bio­
electric potentials were not completely eliminated.
In 1939 American scientists published a report of their ob­
servations of potentials arising between the external membra­
ne and the internal contents of a primary nerve fibre. Accord­
ing to their findings the potential reached 40-50 mV. Higher
potentials, up to 70-80 mV, have been observed by other re­
searchers. On stimulation of the fibre the sign of the potential
difference changes as do the values of the potentials. These
facts are at variance with the membrane theory.
Academician D. N. Nasonov proposed the “phase” hypothe­
sis of the origin of bioelectric potentials. According to this
hypothesis, bioelectric potentials are associated with the dist­
ribution coefficient in a fluid of immiscible constituents, such
as water and oil. The phase hypothesis explains a number of
phenomena but it is out of line with the membrane theory and
vice versa.
In 1942 J. Weiss discovered the transition of electrons from
one molecule to another, which he termed the transfer of charg-

95
es. This most important discovery, which is in full agreement
with modern conceptions of processes within compound semi­
conductors, is apparently the basis for revealing the nature of
the origin of bioelectric potentials. Moreover, this means,
as a matter of fact, that molecules and atoms are not indepen­
dent, isolated elementary particles — the electron clouds of
two molecules can overlap, and an electron of one molecule
can use the orbit of another molecule.
The American physicist, Robert Millikan, formulated a qu­
antum-mechanical theory of charge transport, systematizing
available experimental data. This theory, as well as the rapid
development of the science of the semiconductor properties
of matter, including biological polymers, hold out great and
most interesting prospects for study of the nature of bioelectric
potentials. Probably there is a superposition of different hy­
potheses. Perhaps an entirely new explanation of the diversity
of biological activity phenomena will be found. For the time
being, practical electrography is based on a vast amount of
empirical data and numberless clinical observations, and is
effectively assisting the physician, which is all to the good.

2. THE ELECTROCARDIOGRAM
The electrocardiogram (ECG) is a curve of the temporal
changes in the electrical activity of the heart, characterizing
the work of the heart muscle during the period from the entry
of blood into the auricles to its expulsion into the aorta and
pulmonary-artery. In the diagram, potentials in millivolts are
shown vertically, and time in seconds is shown horizontally.
In order to obtain an ECG one has only to place on a person’s
body two electrodes with surface areas of 40-60 cm2 and
connect them to a measuring-recording instrument. Nu­
merous investigations have revealed the regions of the body
from which measurements give curves providing the most
full information. The present electrocardiograph models

96
could supply fuller information if the range of recorded fre­
quencies were extended.
In the preceding section it was related how much that is
unclear and contradictory still remains in the basic concep­
tions regarding the origin of electrical activity. Yet these con­
ceptions are advanced and evidence is cited in their favour.
But in what way does electrical activity spread over the body,
and why is it that when the electrodes are placed on some
parts of the body, one curve is recorded, but when placed on
other parts of the body, a different curve results — so far there
is no convincing answer to these questions. General views
regarding the electrophysics of the phenomena are extremely
contradictory. Like the biophysics of the source of electric
energy, determination of the ways in which bioelectrical cur­
rents spread over the human body require comprehensive in­
vestigations. Tribute must be paid to the electrophysiologists
Yu. Yu. Chagovets, A. F. Samoilov, S. S. Steriopulo, V. F. Cha-
govets and E. Adrian, as well as the great army of Soviet and
foreign clinical physicians who have been able to employ this
most complicated phenomenon for the good of man. An appli­
ed science — electrocardiography — has sprung up. Electro­
cardiographic findings supplement the clinical picture of the
course of a disease and assist the physician make the correct
diagnosis and correctly assess the course of treatment. There
is good reason for emphasizing that cardiographic findings
supplement the clinical diagnosis, although in the overwhelm­
ing number of diseases they are equivalent. But although ra­
rely, it sometimes happens that the clinical picture of the di­
sease is not reflected in the ECG. Fig. 9 shows the ECG of a
healthy person. It consists of three upward waves, R, T and P,
and two downward, negative waves, Q and S.
The beginning of the cycle at the P wave indicates the be­
ginning of the work of both auricles which finishes with the
Q wave. The P wave appears when excitation of the auricles
sets in. The left half of the P wave to amplitude corresponds
to the work of the right auricle receiving venous blood; the
7-1248 97
 R

Fig. 9. Normal electrocardiogram o f healthy person

I — Interval of work of auricles, characterized by P wave; II— QRST
interval — work of ventricles

right half of the P wave, the work of the left auricle receiving
blood from the lungs. The entire QRST complex characterizes
the work of the ventricles: from the left, blood passing through
the aorta enters the vessels toN^upply oxygen to the body tis­
sues; from the right, blood passes to the lungs for enrichment
with oxygen. The potential amplitudes of the waves and the
intervals between them provide information about the condi­
tion of the heart. Ranges: for R wave, from 0.3 to 0.4 mV (nor­
mal); for P wave, hundredths of a millivolt.
Maintenance of the shape, phases and amplitudes of the
curve of electrical activity indicates normal, resolute work
of the heart. Deviations from the normal ECG — changes in
the time intervals of the entire cycle or between all or individ­
ual phases, changes in the potential amplitudes of the waves,
or changes in their sign, as sometimes occurs in the T wave,
and a change in the correlation between potential values —
indicate an impairment of cardiac activity. One of the indica­
tions of serious impairment is a break in the curve or a marked
98
Fig. 10. Typical leads for taking electrocardiogram (explanation in
text)

change in its shape, for example, a curve is rounded instead of

being sharply pointed. The changes mentioned are not exhaus­
tive. They are observed both in the classic, first lead (lead I in
Fig. 10), and in others. Fig. 10 shows the arrangement of the
different leads, and Table 1 gives their designations. Fig. 11
shows the most typical changes in the ECG, characterizing

7* 99
 AAj|A-AA
aK

-M-

-V '

Fig. 11. Electrocardiograms in different diseases o f the heart

different forms of heart disease. These changes along with

other symptoms, such as abnormal arterial pressure, and
indicators associated with biochemistry, enable the physi­
cian quickly to make a diagnosis and take necessary measu­
res in good time.
Thus without knowing everything about the source of elect­
rical activity, and the nature and fundamental principles of
the spread of bioelectric currents through the body, man ably
uses electricity, something that is inherent in him, in his life,
with the object of preserving his health. The reader will learn
in the next section how electrical activity is measured and how
the ECG curve is traced.

100
 3. THE ELECTROCARDIOGRAPH
The electrocardiograph is an instrument designed for mea­
suring the potential characterizing the work of the heart musc­
le over a range of 0.01 to 0.50 mV and recording the result
on paper or photographic tape, or on the screen of an electro­
nic oscillograph. The instrument’s input system has an active
resistance ranging from 0.5 to 2.0 Mohm, so it would be more
correct to speak of the electric activity of the heart muscle
as “tension,” rather than “bioelectric potential”. The electri­
cal activity of the heart muscle can be characterized by the
value of the energy generated. If the potential of the R wave
on the ECG, which comes to 0.3-0.5 mV, is divided by the
input resistance of the electrocardiograph (500 kohm to 2
Mohm), it gives a current of approximately 10“ n-10~12ampere.
Knowing the current and the potential, it is possible to calcu­
late the electric energy developed during the work of the heart
for any period of time. It is possible that in the future this va­
lue can be used as a diagnostic characteristic.
The electrocardiograph consists of the following basic units:
electrodes placed on the patient’s body; a fast amplifier mak­
ing it possible to obtain an electrocardiographic signal which
can directly activate an electromagnetic measuring instrument
with potential recorder; a tape-moving mechanism; a standard
source of potential, for checking the scale of measured poten­
tials; a set of cords for connecting the electrodes to the elect­
rocardiograph. For recording the curve from the moving sys­
tem of the electromagnetic instrument, ink is fed to the paper
under slight pressure. Ink recording provides an ECG curve
with less distortion but operation is more complicated.
The ECG curve varies, depending on the part of the body
from which it is taken. The principal elements of the curve
are retained but the shape and amplitudes differ. Explana­
tions of this phenomenon in classic works on electrocardio­
graphy differ. At times it is said that since the electrodes are
positioned differently in relation to the source of current,

101
the resistance between the electrodes and the source differs.
Some investigators assert that it is due to the local distribution
of electrical activity on the surface of the heart muscle. When
the nature of the generation of electrical energy by the living
body is revealed, a convincing explanation will be found for
the different forms of the ECG curve taken from different
parts of the body. Today the physician’s experience shows that
curves obtained from different parts of the body provide in­
formation extremely useful for diagnosing diseases of the
heart. The leads most often used are shown in Table 1.
Besides these basic leads, chest leads are used for a complete
electrocardiographic examination. In this case the electrodes
are placed on the surface of the chest at the right edge of the
sternum, at the left edge, on the left axileary line and a number
of intermediate points.

Table 1
Typical Electrocardiograph Leads

Designation Positions of electrodes

Standard I Left arm Right arm

(classic) II Left leg Right arm
III Left leg Left arm

Augmented aVR Right arm Left arm with left foot

aVL Left arm Left foot with right arm
aVF Left foot Right arm with left arm

Chest V (K ,-K 6) Chest (six Right arm with left arm

positions) and left foot
CR Chest Right arm
CL Chest Left arm
CF Chest Left foot

English letter symbols: a — augmented; C — chest; F— foot; L — left;

R — right; V — volt (potential)

102
 Electrocardiographs are classed as single-channel, double­
channel and four-channel. Leads are switched on and off
with switches mounted in the electrocardiograph. This makes
it unnecessary to move the electrodes placed on the extremi­
ties. For convenience in selecting the desired wire to be connect­
ed to the electrocardiograph the wires or plugs have coloured
markings, say red for the right arm; yellow, the left arm; green,
the left foot, etc. To give a good contact and reduce the re­
sistance between the electrode and the skin, a piece of cloth
moistened with saline is placed under the electrode or the
skin is rubbed with conducting paste. Electrodes on the extre­
mities are secured with rubber bands. Electrodes on the chest
are secured with suction disks or a special flexible strap. The
cardiograph most widely used in the Soviet Union is the type
060 or 061 portable single-channel direct-reading instrument
(Fig. 12). It is intended for use in out-patient clinics and poly­
clinics and at the patient’s home. Since this is a pen-recording
instrument, the ECG curve is immediately visible. The pen
moves in an arc, so the grid on the paper tape for recording
the curve is in the form of a radial system of coordinates with
a radius equal to the length of the pen.
Operation of the electrocardiograph is as follows. Electro­
des are placed on the patient’s body and connected by flexible
wires through the lead switch to the input terminals of the
amplifier. The amplified bioelectric potential is fed to the
moving coil of a recording electromagnetic voltmeter. When
the circuit is set up, the nurse pushes the check button and
feeds a potential impulse to the instrument from the standard
source. The height of the rectangular impulse corresponds
to one millivolt and is used for determining the amplitudes
of all the impulses in the electrocardiogram. The length of the
paper tape for the recording from all the leads comes to 1-1.5 m ;
in the double-channel instrument it is correspondingly less.
The advantage of the double-channel instrument is that it
is possible immediately to compare curves from two different
leads. This advantage is particularly important in the clinic,

103
 Fig. 12. Single-channel electrocardiograph

but in general medical practice the single-channel instrument

has fully proved its worth.
The Krasnogvardeets firm has developed two new electro­
cardiograph models — “Salyut” and “Malysh”. They are of
lighter weight and have a more reliable recording system. The
use of semiconductors makes them more reliable in operation.
Undoubtedly they will be well received by physicians.

4. REMOTE DIAGNOSIS
So the value of the potential induced during vital activity
and its temporal changes characterize the body’s condition.
The use of the electrocardiogram in determining disorders of
the cardiovascular system and the myocardium is an example
showing what a valuable assistant the physician has in “ani­
mal electricity”. It is also a trusty assistant in diagnosing many
other diseases. Modern electric measuring technology has

104
made it possible to record quite simply impulses, time inter­
vals and the shape of impulses of “animal electricity”.
But the opportunities provided the physician by radio elec­
tronics and radio engineering are immeasurable! The phy­
sician examines a patient and listens to the tones of his heart
while the patient is lying in bed or standing before him. But the
heart often aches when a person is walking, doing physical
work or other work and not when he is at rest. The local phy­
sician is now limited in his information about a patient’s con­
dition to what is ascertained when the patient is at rest. Radio
electronics and radio technology provide the physician with
a fundamentally new method of diagnosis.
At the end of the ‘twenties I. P. Pavlov timidly expressed
the desire for measuring apparatus to be designed making it
possible to observe from a distance the condition of a test
animal or a man at work. At the beginning of the ‘thirties he
was more insistent in his request. Pavlov’s pupil, co-worker
and friend, L. A. Orbeli, an outstanding physiologist, set abo­
ut realizing this idea.
Orbeli together with A. A. Yushenko and L. A. Chernovkin
designed a transmitter to be mounted on the animal’s back.
Using this transmitter and a receiving device they also design­
ed, the dog’s behavior could be recorded at a distance. Thus,
the test animal, the “radiofied” dog, was n o t limited in its
movements. Such an experiment was a major and fundamen­
tally new advance.
The primitive radio apparatus of that period was too large
and heavy. There was, as yet, no thought of microminiaturiza­
tion.
In the postwar years, and especially in the m id ‘fifties, there
was extensive designing of measuring devices to be mounted
directly on test animals under observation. I n 1963 a radio
transmitter incorporating five transistors was designed. To­
gether with the power source, a mercury-oxide battery, it
weighed only 36 grams. It was 7.6 cm long and 3.5 cm in dia­
meter. The transmitter could operate 20h with a range of about
105
 Fig. 13. Radio transmitter on pigeon for telemetry of pulse

one km. The First discovery was astonishing: when such a

transmitter was mounted on a pigeon to transmit the pulse
rate according to the number of maximum amplitudes in the
ECG, it was found that when the pigeon was at rest the pulse
rate was 150-170 per min, and in flight, 350-600, i.e., an almost
threefold increase. Fig. 13 shows the pigeon with transmitter
mounted.
In the mid ‘fifties, systems were designed for transmitting
the pulse rate in parachutists at the moment of their jump,
according to the number of maximum amplitudes in the ECG.
And not only the pulse rate was transmitted but the entire
ECG. Soon these radiotelemetering techniques, i.e., the trans­
mission of measured values to a distance by means of radio,
began to be used when training aircraft crews.
On April 12, 1961, the First spaceship was launched, pilot­
ed by Yuri Gagarin, and on August 6, the same year, the second
spaceship, Vostok-2, was put into orbit, this time piloted by
G. S. Titov. During these flights there was continuous moni­
toring of the astronauts’ cardiac activity, the electrocardio­
gram being transmitted to earth and used for counting the pul­
se. There was simultaneous monitoring of the respiration and

106
Fig. 14. Diagram of transmission of information characterizing the
astronaut’s condition: a — direct transmission o f information to earth;
b — transmission o f information with relaying
T — transducer; A — amplifier; Tr — transmitter; R — receiver;
R T S — radiotelemetric station; E C G — electrocardiograph

other functions of vital activity by means of transducing sys­

tems and radiotelemetry. The diagram in Fig. 14 shows how
information characterizing the astronaut’s condition was
transmitted. It can be seen from the diagram that the signals
for the ECG are transmitted to earth and the ECG recorded
there. The potential generated by the heart muscle is fed from
electrodes on the body to an amplifier and then to the ship’s
radio transmitting system. A version of the transmitting sys­
tem with relaying of the signal is also possible. This is preferred
by astronauts and fliers since the entire system is on them, and
there is no bundle of wires stretching from them. Fig. 15 shows
the system for transmitting information from the flier by bio­
telemetry. The version of the transmission system without an
intermediate radio receiving system (it can be called the space
system) has found application in medicine for studying the

107
 r—

M.. U
EOG I'
_J 1 1
-R T S JL RTS — R

ULr

\ SGR H

■0 s'

Fig. 15. Diagram o f information-taking layout in biotelemetry

P A - preamplifiers (E E G - electroencephalographic, E O G - electrooculographic)
A . - E E G amplifier; A 2 ~ E O G amplifier; E C G - electrocardiographic amplifier;
P G - pneumographic amplifier; fCP-electrocardiophonic amplifier; S C R -
self-contained recorder; S G R - skin-galvanic reaction amplifier; R T S - radiote­
lemetric system; 5/?-ship’s recorder; 5 - “Signal” transmitter and receiver;
R -recording device; S I -sound indicator

physiology of work and sport. Great services in the develop­

ment of Soviet radio-biotelemetry have been rendered by
A. I. Berg, V. V. Parin, E. B. Babsky and A. A. Zlatorunsky,
et al.
V. V. Rozenblat and the laboratory he heads in Sverdlovsk
were pioneers in the use of biotelemetry for assessing a per­
son’s working capacity. The telemetry laboratory organized
at the initiative of A. V. Deryabin was the base for introduc­
ing biotelemetry into health resort practice. At time of writ­
ing biotelemetric systems are being organized at various me­
dical institutions, sanatoriums and industrial enterprises.
108
 To the credit of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute,
“Electronstandart”, is its initiative in designing, jointly with
the Leningrad Institute of Aircraft Instrument Manufacture
and the Kislovodsk Telemetric Laboratory, telemetric appara­
tus and launching its serial production for extensive use at
sanatoriums and health organizations.
Present-day biotelemetric apparatus consists of a system of
transducers secured to the examinee’s body with adhesive plas­
ter, and a system of wires for connecting to the radiotransmit­
ter. The capacity of the radio transmitter depends on the dis­
tance at which the apparatus should operate; for short-dis­
tance biotelemetry it comes to 20 mW or less. When observing
a man doing manual work or an athlete in action in a gymna­
sium, the radio transmitter has a capacity of 100-200 mWand
the radius of operation is increased to 5-8 km. The frequencies
adopted for the transmission of biological information have
been set at 45 and 140 megahertz. The signal transmitting sys­
tem, the modulation, is of the frequency type. A compact trans­
mitter is similar in size to a usual transistor with the same aeri­
al. At times the aerial is mounted in the hat. The signal charac­
terizing cardiac activity is amplified in the receiver and fed
to the standard electrocardiograph or other instrument which
records processes on paper or photographic tape. Many diffi­
culties were encountered when selecting places for mounting
the electrodes, since the positions mentioned in the preceding
section for the usual ECG were found to be unsuitable. Ex­
cessive interference due to various causes made it difficult
to decipher the transmitted signal. Chest positions arranged
vertically were found to be optimal.
Using this apparatus for monitoring a person’s condition
without direct contact with the physician, the ECG was ob­
tained, which enabled assessment of cardiac activity as well
as determination of the pulse rate; respiration characteris­
tics— rate and depth — were also obtained. In the case of
respiration there are as yet no adequate transducers of pri­
mary information. The most reliable is one comprising a va-
109
 (o ) - -HI, A IK h h
—

(k)

Fig. 16. Radiotelemetric electrocardiogram while subject is doing

physical work: a — when beginning work; b — at different stages of
the work

riable resistor which changes during breathing. The change

in resistance is then transduced into an electric signal. The
amplitude of the signal indicates the depth of breathing. The
number of signals per minute is the respiration rate. Trans­
mitting the body temperature is not difficult. There are pros­
pects in the immediate future of transmitting energy consump­
tion when performing work of one kind or another. Experi­
ments carried out at the Leningrad Institute of Aircraft In­
strument Manufacture have shown that energy consumption in
an athlete in action, as determined by the heat exchange or the
inspired-expired oxygen quotient, varies, depending on whe­
ther or not he is trained.
The most important and fundamental achievement in bio­
telemetry is the establishment of the fact that the shape of the
ECG curve characterizing cardiac activity is the same in a
healthy person at rest and during lengthy activity. Further­
more, it has now unquestionably become possible to assess
the work of the heart under different loads. Fig. 16 shows the
electrocardiograms of a person doing physical work — when
beginning work and at different stages of the work.
As a whole, biotelemetry is at the beginning stage of its de-

110
 velopment. Much will be improved and ways of doing this are
already being marked out. For example, it would be advisable
to combine transmission of biological information with two-
way radio-telephone communication. The number of types of
information will of course be increased.
One of the fundamentally new forms of information is infor­
mation for diagnosing gastro-intestinal disturbances.
Existing methods for diagnosing gastro-intestinal diseases
are complicated and in a number of cases inadequate. Procedu­
res also involve unpleasant sensations for the examinee due
to the necessity of swallowing a gastric tube. Some regions of
the gut are inaccessible without surgery. It is likewise prac­
tically impossible to measure the temperature of the stomach
and intestine, or the pressure within them.
These difficulties are overcome by new diagnostic techni­
ques employing a miniature transmitter with transistorized ge­
nerator of high-frequency radio waves, and a system of trans­
ducers for converting temperature, pressure and acidity into
electric signals. The transmitter, generator and transducer
are contained in a capsule.
The appearance of the radio capsule is shown in Fig. 17. It
is easily swallowed by the patient, and as it passes through the
gastro-intestinal tract, the generator transmits signals, the
values of which depend on changes in the value of the charac­
teristic being investigated. The signals from the capsule are
received by an aerial mounted on the patient or beside him.
The aerial is connected to a receiver in which the signals are
amplified, automatically deciphered and recorded on paper
tape.
The curves obtained enable the physician to evaluate the
temperature along the entire gastro-intestinal tract, pressure
and acidity. The capsule passes through the gastro-intestinal
tract in the space of several hours and is naturally discharged
from the body. Its use has no effect on the examinee’s health.
Specifications of the radio capsule: length, 20-24 mm; diame­
ter, 6-8 mm; weight, 2-3 g; continuous service life, 72 h. The
111
 Fig. 17. Radio capsules

receiving device is operated from 220 V mains, and is no larger

in size than a modern TV set.
Prof. E. B. Babsky is one of the initiators in introducing this
diagnostic technique. Undoubtedly this method will in the
near future substantially increase the possibility of obtaining
biochemical and other information on a person’s condition
directly from the body.
The rapid development of biotelemetry in various fields of
medicine, physiology and sport is primarily associated with
the development of aviation and especially with space flights
since such flights are impossible without medical monitoring
of the crews of the piloted space ships.

5. TAKING MEDICINE WITHOUT POWDERS

OR PILLS
The reader is already prepared for this section. It was men­
tioned in the preceding chapter that one of the first applica­
tions of electricity in medicine was the use of electrolysis for
administering medicine through the skin. The discussion of
ionic conduction will also be recalled. The particular feature
112
of this form of conduction is the transfer of matter. The atom
or molecule has either a superfluous electron or lacks an elec­
tron. When potential is applied to the solution, the negatively
charged ions (anions) begin to migrate through the patient’s
body to the anode, electrode connected to the positive source
of potential, while the positively charged ions (cations) move
to the cathode, the negative electrode.
To transfer one gram-equivalent of substance in solution
(the gram-equivalent of a substance is its chemical equivalent
expressed in grams, i.e., the ratio of the atomic mass to the
valence) always requires the same amount of electricity
about 100,000 coulombs. The electrolytic method of trans­
ferring matter is employed in one of the oldest means of tre­
atment— electrophoresis or ionophoresis. The ionic and com­
bined conductivity of biological tissue, although it corres­
ponds to Faraday’s general laws, is considerably more com­
plicated. But here, too, the experience gained in the administ­
ration of drugs by electrophoresis over scores of years has been
of assistance.
In the first method of electrophoresis, the drug is adminis­
tered through the hand or foot (Fig. 18). In this case the hand
or foot is immersed in a bath containing a solution of the drug.
One of the electrodes is placed in the bath and the other is
secured on the extremity above the place where the hand or
foot is immersed in the bath. In this form of electrophoresis,
carbon electrodes are usually employed, since in that case
there is a minimum of contamination of the bath during passa­
ge of the current due to impurities in the electrodes.
The second method of electrophoresis is more widespread.
Both electrodes, which are in the form of flexible metal plates
are secured to the patient’s body above a layer of flannel, un­
bleached calico that has been defatted by boiling, gauze or
at times simply filter paper. The material between the elect­
rodes and the patient’s body is impregnated with the drug.
When the electrodes are secured in place the current is turned
on, and electrophoresis begins. The electrodes can be of pla-
8-1248 113
Fig. 18. Electrophoresis o f drugs, using baths with carbon electrodes

Fig. 19. Electrophoresis using applied

electrodes
 tinum, gold, silver, brass, aluminium or lead — a metal to
which the drug must be inert. The most frequently used metal
is sheet lead, which is sometimes covered with a thin layer of
tin. Sheet lead is convenient in that it can be bent to fit any part
of the patient’s body, and easily cut to any shape with scissors.
The area of the electrode depends on the therapeutic needs
as set by the physician and ranges from 15-20 to 200-300 cm2
(Fig. 19). The electrode is 0.5-1.0 mm thick and must be free
from sharp angles, burrs and dents, otherwise the current
density will not be uniform, which in some cases may even be
dangerous. The optimal current density is established by ex­
periment, and ranges from 0.03 to 1 mA/cm2. If the surface
area of the anode and cathode differ, the current density is
set by the smaller electrode. The current strength in the circuit as
a whole is also limited and must not exceed 40-50 mA. When
the electrodes have a large surface area the currents may be
considerably smaller. The potential used in electrophoresis
is 15-20 V. Patients are given up to 15 treatments of one to
15 min each.
Electrophoresis is used for administering antibiotics, iodi­
ne-containing drugs and complex compounds. The action of
drugs is manifested differently than when the same drugs are
administered by other methods (pills or mixtures per os, or
intramuscular and intravenous injections). Drugs administered
by means of direct current have a general action on the entire
,body. Drugs accumulating in the skin irritate the nerve end­
ings. They are irritated directly by the chemical compounds
administered and by the electric current. Apparently there is
an alteration of electric conduction under the action of the
current. At the same time the drugs are absorbed into the ca­
pillaries with the stream of blood and lymph and are carried
by these systems to all parts of the body, acting upon the tissues
that are most sensitive to the given substance. Thus the general
action of a drug administered by electrophoresis is made up
of reflex and humoral effects. By selecting suitable drugs and
an appropriate current schedule, it is possible to obtain a pre-

8* 115
Fig. 20. Diagram o f experiment illustrating the significance o f elect­
rode polarity (with the polarity shown in the picture*, the rabbit on
the left will be killed)

dominantly reflex or humoral action. The drug penetrates

into living tissue to a depth of 1-1.5 cm.
Very interesting conclusions can be drawn from the work
of N. D. Troitskaya on the action of current on the skin. Her
test animals were guinea pigs, animals whose skin is similar
in structure to that of man. Electrophoresis on a dead animal
proceeds like the usual electrolysis of a complex compound,
and even the depth of penetration can be calculated. Electro­
phoresis on a living animal is accompanied by most complicat­
ed reactions of the entire organism. In this connection it should
be emphasized once more that in the living animal there is a
more complicated alteration of electric characteristics. For
that reason the action of a drug introduced through the leg
is manifested in all parts of the body, while its action on a dead
animal can only be detected in a small area under the electrode
since further away the density of the current diminishes and
its manifestation is practically imperceptible.
The polarity of current is of great importance. A. P. Parfe­
nov cites an interesting example of the action of current of
different polarity. Conducting pads moistened with solutions
of strychnine and sodium chloride were secured on the sides
of two rabbits. In one rabbit the pad moistened with strychnine

116
was on the right side and in the other rabbit the strychnine was
on the left. The two rabbits were connected in series in a com­
mon circuit. In one rabbit the pad moistened with strychnine
was connected to the positive pole of the power source; in the
other rabbit the strychnine pad was connected to the negative
pole. The moment the circuit was closed one rabbit died —
the one in which the pad moistened with strychnine was con­
nected to the positive pole. When the polarity in the circuit
was changed, the other rabbit died. A diagram of the experi­
ment is shown in Fig. 20.
Only two examples of the use of electricity, inherent in the
living organism, as the physician’s assistant have been cited
in this section: in making a diagnosis (an examinee’s condi­
tion is assessed by changes in the electrical activity of the heart
muscle) and as direct treatment, the effect of which is due to
the interaction of the external electric current and field with
the electric currents and fields inherent in the living organism.
Considerably more examples could be cited. Investigations
along this line are continuing.
 Part Two
ELECTRICITY IS DANGEROUS

CHAPTER SIX

In What Way is Electricity

Dangerous?

1. EVENTS IN VASILEVSKY ISLAND,

ST. PETERSBURG
In the middle of the 18th century two events occurred which
have a direct bearing on the subject of this book. In England,
at a session of the Royal Society, Collinson, one of the mem­
bers, read out some letters he had received from his friend,
Benjamin Franklin, the American scientist, telling about his
observations during a thunderstorm and his assumption that
lightning was similar to the discharges on electrophore (elect­
rostatic) machines. Lomonosov considered this report an
event of the greatest importance in the development of scien­
ce. Lomonosov and Rikhmann, who were engaged in syste­
matic observations, had long been interested in atmospheric
phenomena taking place during thunderstorms. One of the
interesting instruments in Rikhmann’s laboratory in Vasi­
levsky Island, Saint Petersburg, was an electrostatic machine
and a sort of voltmeter he had made. Rikhmann and Lomono­
sov had before this observed the phenomena described in
Franklin’s letter. Lomonosov’s great service to science was
that on the basis of a great number of laboratory experiments
and observations of atmospheric phenomena he formulated

118
the first well-grounded hypothesis regarding the nature of
atmospheric electricity. He had come to the conclusion that
atmospheric electricity appeared during the movement of
masses of air and the accumulation of carriers of electricity
formed by the friction of the masses of air. Developing this
interesting hypothesis, Lomonosov demonstrated the presen­
ce of electric charges in the air when there was no sign of a
thunderstorm. Thus the first event was the discovery that elec­
trostatic and atmospheric electricity are the same in nature.
The second event was tragic — Rikhmann’s death from a
stroke of lightning. This tragedy is well known, and every­
thing connected with it is told in A. Morozov’s book, “Lomo­
nosov”, published in Moscow in 1965, so we will only cite
some excerpts from Lomonosov’s letter announcing Rikh­
mann’s death, concerning the way in which a person can be
killed by lightning. The entire letter can be found in Moro­
zov’s book.
“Dear Sir! (The letter was to Count 1.1. Shuvalov who was
in authority over the Academy of Sciences. V.M.). That I
write to you today is a wonder because dead people do not
write. I do not know yet or at least wonder whether I am alive
or dead. I see that Professor Rikhmann has been killed by
lightning in exactly the same circumstances in which
I was and at the same time. On the 26th of July at one o’clock
in the afternoon a great cloud rose in the North. The thunder
was very strong but there was not a drop of rain. I looked at
the lightning machine which had been set out (Lomonosov
is speaking of a lightning conductor in the form of a metal bar
on the roof of the house. V. M.) but could not see the slightest
sign of electric force. But while food was being put on the
table I waited, expecting to see electric sparks on the wire,
and at that time my wife and the others came, and like me
they kept touching the wire and the suspended bar, because I
wanted witnesses of the different colours of the fire about
which the late Professor Rikhmann had argued with me. I
had only been sitting at the table a few moments when sudden-
119
ly the late Rikhmann’s servant opened the door, all in tears
and out of breath with fright. I thought someone had beaten
him on the way when he was sent to me, but he gasped: “Pro­
fessor’s been hit by lightning!” The first stroke from the rod
hung with a thread (part of the instrument for measuring at­
mospheric electricity. V. M.) struck him in the head. There
was a bright red spot on his forehead and the electric force of
the lightning went out through his feet into the boards. His
feet and toes were blue and his boot was torn but not burned” .
The letter ends with a description of the measures taken in
an attempt to revive Rikhmann. Lomonosov speaks highly of
Rikhmann as a scientist and man, and requests that his family
should be given assistance — a request that shows Lomonosov
to have been very kind-hearted.
From these excerpts it is evident that Lomonosov called
attention to the fact that under the same or very similar con­
ditions one person was struck and killed by lightning but ano­
ther was unharmed. He also noted that everything indicated
that death had been instantaneous.
In the ‘twenties of this century the Austrian scientist Jelli-
nek, referred to in Chapter Two, asserted on the basis of ob­
servations carried out in different conditions that death from
electric shock could be instantaneous and without any visible
signs of injury.
In the first half of the 19th century, the Russian physicist,
Academician V. V. Petrov, noted the particular features of
injury and death from electric shock.
Having carried out investigations with a unique electro­
chemical source of current developing a potential up to 2000 V,
Petrov established the fact that contact with such a potential
was dangerous and could result in serious consequences, and
that the action was different for different species of animals.
He also pointed out how serious consequences could be avo­
ided. It is interesting to note that Petrov asserted that shock
from such a source was similar to the stroke of lightning that
had killed Rikhmann.
120
 2. ELECTRIC TRAUMA AND SOME STATISTICS
The first description of death from man-made electricity,
rather than from lightning, appeared in the middle of the 19th
century. In this fatal accident the victim had come into con­
tact with the live part of an electric installation. This descrip­
tion was followed by others. Somewhat later these reports
began to be systematized with the object of working out effec­
tive safety measures. In 1880 the magazine Elektrichestvo,
and in 1898 the magazine, Elektrotekhnik, began systema­
tically to publish descriptions of injuries and deaths from
electric current, as well as the first statistics which were neces­
sary for preventing such accidents as far as possible. By this
time it had been more or less firmly established that electric
current could kill a person and an electric arc could cause such
serious bums that a person might not recover. Finally, nume­
rous observations showed that electric shock from accidentally
touching a live wire or other conductor was a sudden irri­
tating action not usually followed by any perceptible conse­
quences, but sometimes leaving signs of injury, or electric
trauma, as it is now called.
An electric trauma should be understood as impairment of
the anatomical relationships and functions of tissues and
organs, accompanied by a local and general reaction of the
body. Electric traumas are classified as follows: traumas as­
sociated with disturbances of the normal operation of electric
installations in which a circuit is formed through a person’s
body, and traumas in which no circuit is formed through a
person’s body. In the latter case injury may be in the form
of burns or blinding from an electric arc, falling which may
result in serious fractures. The latter group includes mixed
traumas in which the victim suffers both types of injury. This
classification makes it possible during the recording and pro­
cessing of statistical data to reveal more effectively the possib­
le danger spots and causes of injury to people by electric cur­
rent, and also to disclose electric traumatism.

121
 Electric traumatism is to be understood as the origin and
recurrence of electric trauma in certain groups of the popula­
tion in similar occupational, domestic, sport and other con­
ditions and circumstances.* How do matters stand in regard
to electric traumatism?
Ever increasing number of people are having something to
do with electric apparatus, instruments, appliances and in­
stallations in industry, transport, municipal services and eve­
ryday life. Electric energy consumption in the Soviet Union
is increasing by 6—8% annually. In 1971 it came to 800 thousand
million kilowatt hours. In the tenth and subsequent five-year
periods the increase will be still greater.
In the USSR great attention is being devoted to safety en­
gineering which is seen in the daily monitoring of electric insta­
llations to ensure proper operation, and also in the introduction
of accident-preventing means and measures. As a result the
number of traumas per million of the population or per million
kW h of energy consumed is falling.
Yet the absolute number of electric traumas is still high.
In some sectors of the national economy it is decreasing, and
there are enterprises where there has not been a single case of
injury to a person from electricity since operation began. But
at the same time there are individual enterprises and sectors
of the national economy where the number of traumas with
serious outcome is not declining, but even rising. This refers
particularly to the municipal services. The number of traumas
in everyday life has also increased.
The number of traumas in agriculture is also increasing,
especially in dairying and animal husbandry. The industrial­
ization and electrification of agriculture is being intensified.
At the same time the operation of electric installations and
power lines is becoming more efficient, and labour discipline

* Gordon, G .Y u. et al., Proizvodstvenny electrotravmatizm (In­

dustrial Electrotraumatism), Leningrad, 1971.

122
 is improving. There are grounds for assuming that in agricul­
ture too, electric traumas will begin to decrease.
When speaking of the incidence of electric trauma, the term
“danger spot” is sometimes used, meaning a temporary or
even constant situation in the operation of electric equip­
ment or power lines in which like or similar cases of injury
occur.
Here is an example. For a long time not enough attention
was paid to the low quality of installation parts, such as starter
covers and mounts, terminal boxes and switchboard bases.
This led to a large number of serious injuries from electric
shock. When the technical public, the management of enter­
prises and leaders of sectors of the national economy became
uneasy and measures were taken to seriously improve the in­
sulation of such parts, the number of accidents involving these
parts sharply decreased. This was shown by an analysis of
electric traumas carried out by the Leningrad Institute of
Labour Protection.
But there is still much to be done to control electric trauma­
tism, especially in agriculture and everyday life.

3. TEMPORARY WIRING
At industrial enterprises and construction projects it is
often necessary to use temporary wiring to run an electric
tool or portable machine, or for illumination. In everyday
life temporary wiring is used when developing photographic
film, and for connecting vacuum cleaners, washing machines
and electric irons. Often in such cases the wire used is that
intended for permanent mains and is not flexible. The instal­
lation parts are also intended for permanent use. Naturally
the probability of insulation being damaged is greater in tem­
porary wiring, causing many traumas, including traumas with
serious consequences, as is shown by statistics.
An analysis of accidents indicates an increasing number of
electric traumas in everyday life, but it should be noted that
123
there is a change in the nature of these accidents. At the begin­
ning of the century electricity replaced kerosene and gas for
illumination. At first the electric socket was usually mounted
in a kerosene lamp in the place intended for the wick. The soc­
kets and switches were of brass, and were insulated from the
current-carrying parts by strips of cardboard bent into rings.
The current-carrying parts themselves were mounted on por­
celain or ceramic bases. The switch handles were metal. Such
insulation of sockets and switches could be damaged by vibra­
tion of the building or as a result of inferior assembly so that
people were often shocked, especially when changing bulbs.
In recent years two measures were carried out that were not
noticed particularly by the general public but which were of
considerable significance in the control of electric traumatism.
Practically everywhere electric illumination has been changed
from 220/127 V to 380/220 V. It would seem that with the
increase in voltage there should be an increase in the number
of accidents but that has not taken place because the shells
of sockets and switches are now made of plastics. Unfortuna­
tely injuries are being caused by other defects in municipal and
household mains and wiring.
In nonindustrial traumatology as a whole, including besi­
des electric traumas, falling, burns, road accidents, etc., elec­
tric traumas, serious and not serious, comprise a small percen­
tage, but when it comes to fatal injuries the percentage is high.
Some authors consider that 10 to 15% of all fatal accidents are
caused by electricity and cite figures to prove this. According
to one foreign author, electric traumatism in capitalist count­
ries is a national calamity. There are still many electric traumas
in the Soviet Union. In order to stress the importance of safety
measures to prevent accidents and ensure efficient operation of
electric installations we end this paragraph with a general
assessment of electricity victims the world over. There are no
exact statistics but on the basis of surveys published in some
countries, one draws the conclusion that 22-25 thousand pe­
ople die from electric shock every year. Of course that figure
124
is many times smaller than the number of people killed in road
accidents, but it is still large.
One must know of the dangers to man inherent in electricity.
The rules and regulations for operating electric equipment
and electric wiring must be observed. In general they are not
complicated for the population, and if observed electricity
will only serve people. Some of the ways and circumstances,
at times absurd, in which electricity can cause injury are re­
lated in the following paragraphs.

4. A “HORSE ACCIDENT”
In Dickens one finds vivid descriptions of the roadways
of London. For a long time such roadways were found in other
capitals and large cities, including Leningrad. Long ago the
roadways were simply planking, but in time this gave way to
hexagonal, butt-end paving blocks. It was a roadway of this
kind in what is now known as Lomonosov Square in Lenin­
grad that figured in an incident in 1928 still called the “horse
accident”. In a small patch of greenery in the centre of the
square was a cast-iron well housing an electric air-break switch.
The well resembled a metal barrel and was earthed with two-
metre pipes driven into the ground beside it. The porcelain
insulator to which the switch was secured had broken and
the switch was hanging on the wire but did not touch the body
of the well, so there was no short-circuit. The switch inside
the well remained under a tension of 2000 V. It began to rain
and the roadway was wet. A heavily loaded wagon passed
near the well and people were walking by. Under the weight
of the wagon the roadway under the well sagged slightly but
it was enough for the switch to come close to the side of the
well and arc across in a short-circuit. This created a high ground
potential gradient on the roadway and pavement near the well,
and people nearby felt a shock. The horse was in better con­
tact with the roadway because of its greater weight and iron
shoes, and since the distance between its legs was greater was

125
killed outright. The short-circuit lasted only two seconds be­
cause the current was shut off by the automatic circuit-breaker
at the electric station. In the square, the sudden death of the
horse and the electric shock the people had felt caused great
confusion, and a crowd gathered. Soon a patrol of mounted
militiamen appeared.
At the electric station, the engineer on duty saw that a cir­
cuit-breaker had cut out one of the cables and tested the in­
sulation with his instrument. He found everything in order
because there was a gap between the switch and the side of the
well. He therefore supposed that the circuit-breaker was at
fault, and closed the circuit again as he was supposed to do
according to the instructions then in force. When the current
was turned on, the switch again arced across to the well, and
again for only two seconds but that was enough to kill two
more horses, and give the people in the square a bad shock.
According to instructions, the engineer could hot close the
circuit-breaker a second time, so that was the end of the in­
cident. Soon the iron wells — a left-over from pre-revoluti­
onary engineering — were discarded and the roadway was
paved with asphalt.

5. EXAMPLES OF ELECTRIC TRAUMA

One can learn more about cases of people and animals being
killed by ground potential gradients from the literature. Usu­
ally this has taken place in the country when high-tension
power lines have broken. One case is recorded in which seve­
ral people were killed on the grounds of a substation. Fortu­
nately such accidents are rare, but there is a conclusion that
must be drawn from them: never go up to the wire of a trans­
mission line lying on the ground, and never touch one under
any circumstances. And this applies not only to high-tension
transmission lines but to ordinary lighting wires.
In cities and suburbs 220 V aerial lines are being replaced

126
 by cables. Break-downs are much more frequent in aerial
lines and the accidents involved, even at this voltage, are in­
comparably more numerous than when cables are used, and
accidents occur in situations that are difficult to imagine.
Since there are still 220 V aerial transmission lines in a number
of suburbs and some large cities, and they remain predomi­
nant in rural areas and settlements, we will describe an inci­
dent showing how important it is to observe the simple regu­
lations for the operation of such circuits.
In a suburb of an industrial city, a country estate, a 220 V
transmission line passed down the street in front of the cotta­
ges. According to the regulations, electric wiring, insulated
or bare, must not touch trees, branches or bushes. Therefore
branches must be trimmed or cut out from time to time. This
must be done by the operating personnel responsible for the
circuit, since there are safety measures that must be observed.
In the incident described, the branches of a birch tree touched
a bare wire when the wind blew. During a shower two boys
took shelter under the tree. A gust of wind brought the bran­
ches against the live wire. Both boys received an electric shock
and one of them died.
A number of accidents have been recorded which occurred
when uninstructed people have been erecting aerials on the
roofs of their houses and a guy wire has touched a live wire
bringing current to the house. This has usually happened in
suburbs or villages. Such accidents are frequent. They have
not all had serious consequences but the general conclusion
is that when working near transmission wires, whatever the
voltage, observe all safety measures. Such work should be
done by skilled personnel.
A recent statistical survey of electric traumas published
in a Swiss electrical engineering bulletin gives a good idea of
this problem in the capitalist countries. It cites figures on acci­
dents involving electricity in England. The figures are unqu­
estionably interesting. Something new and even unexpected
is the following. For the time electric traumas on private or-
127
 chards and kitchen gardens have been taken out of the “agri­
culture” and “miscellaneous” groups and listed separately,
although the consumption of electricity on such plots is ex­
tremely small.
Fruit-growing has been greatly developed in the Soviet Uni­
on. It is necessary that the inspection authorities concerned
should draw the attention of fruit-growers and market garde­
ners to the need for proper operation of electric circuits. Pro­
bably there should be a popular, mass edition of the require­
ments for the operation of electric circuits on individual or­
chard and garden plots. Accounts of accidents on such plots
are published in the special electrical engineering periodicals
and consequently seldom come to the notice of the public at
large, though it is greatly to the credit of Soviet literature that
the need for particular attention to such circuits is stressed. We
cite some examples. M. F. Krikunov and F. V. Skvortsov pub­
lished in the magazine Vestnik Elektropromyshlennosti (No. 6,
1957) the results of an inquiry into an accident on an individu­
al orchard plot in which the wife of an electrical engineer was
killed by electric shock. The engineer had rigged up an alarm
to keep intruders out of the orchard. There was a bell in the
room and a spring switch held in the off-position by a cotton
thread which ran inside the fence, if the thread was broken
or even became slack, the switch closed and the bell began to
ring. The wires were under a tension of 12 V. The day before
it had rained and everything was damp. In the morning, while
the husband was at work, the neighbours heard the bell ringing
incessantly and found the wife on the ground without any
signs of life. Her neck was touching the 12 V wire. The muni­
cipal prosecutor’s office appointed a committee of experts
to investigate the accident. The committee included highly
competent electrical engineers and experienced forensic medi­
cal experts. The commission carried out a thorough examina­
tion of the signal circuit, paying particular attention to any
possibility that the victim had come into contact with the
220 V mains where the insulation was damaged. It was estab-
128
lished with absolute certainty that this had not happened.
From the moment the accident was reported to the end of the
inquiry the entire house and especially the signal system was
guarded by the militia so that there could be no attempt by any­
one to conceal anything. Tested under a potential of 2000 V,
the insulation between the transformer proper and its housing
was found to be undamaged. The committee was forced to
admit that death had been caused by electric shock from current
under a potential of only 10 V — something considered extre­
mely rare at that time. According to the committee’s conclu­
sion, the victim’s neck had come into contact with the switch
terminal when she attempted to cross the protected zone.
The article concluded with the detailed and comprehensive
conclusion of the physicians, explaining this case. In their
opinion the physiological mechanism of this fatal trauma con­
sisted in the following. Contact with the live switch terminal
had taken place near the carotid sinus, a sensitive nerve cent­
re. The vagus nerve passes close by and the direct action of
current on this nerve can cause fatal shock. Evidently that is
what happened. The biophysics of this case will be discussed
in the next chapter.
In the ‘sixties electrified enclosures began to be used in differ­
ent countries, set up 1-2 metres inside the fence. The inside
enclosures carried live wires, and there were warning signs on
the fence. These electrified enclosures were publicized in the
foreign press, especially in France. Unfortunately there were
imitators among fruit-growers. At times this “electrification”
was carried out with gross violations of elementary safety
regulations. The live wires in the enclosure were connected
directly to the 220 V transmission line. During recent years
there have been numerous accidents with serious consequen­
ces. Among the victims there has not been a single thief or
malefactor — the people to suffer have been members of the
family or close friends and sometimes even the man himself
who contrived the electric barrier.
One is alarmed by some accidents with electricity in every-
9-1248 129
 day life. Accidents have occurred, the possibility of which was
difficult to foresee, even by specialists. For example, electric
lighters have begun to be used for lighting gas burners operat­
ed from 220 V mains. The wires for the lighters have plastic
insulation. It is often necessary to pass the wire over a lighted
burner, the flame damages the insulation and subsequently
the user may receive a shock. Such accidents are sometimes
serious. The most rational way of preventing such traumas is
to make provision for lighting the burners in the design of the
stove itself. Improving the quality of installation parts and the
introduction of plastic bodies for gas stoves have greatly reduc­
ed the number of such accidents but other sources of injury
have appeared — not many so far but timely attention should
be called to them.
When repairing apartments in old houses the open wiring
with cord or wire on insulators going along the ceiling and
walls is replaced by buried wiring. Installing the new wiring
is sometimes done without taking account of the specific fea­
tures of buried wiring, and the wire and connectors used are
not intended for such work. The insulation is not tested under
high voltage when repairs are finished, which also leads to
electric traumas difficult to foresee. Here is an example. The
body of a buried metal connector was in contact with a poorly
insulated wire. As a consequence the painted wall was “live”.
Accidently touching the wall and a heating pipe at the same
time caused an electric shock that proved fatal. The potential
in this case came to 100-150 V. Previously such accidents from
faulty wiring were confined to bathrooms and utility rooms.
People replacing open wiring by buried wiring must be warned
of the need for strict observance of requirements for wire and
installation parts to be buried.
Portable standard lamps are now being widely used. Some­
times the outer parts are of plastic, sometimes they are brass
or aluminium. When metal parts are used for portable elect­
ric equipment, strict watch must be kept on the insulation of
the wires. Plastic, porcelain or ceramic entrance bushings may

130
crack or break and the insulation at such places damages. As a
result there are many complaints that people are shocked when
they touch metal parts, even when not touching heating or wa­
ter pipes at the same time. There are also complaints of being
shocked by touching the refrigerator in the kitchen.

6. IS A LOW VOLTAGE DANGEROUS?

There is an idea that there is such a thing as a “safe voltage”.
Sometimes this is put at 12 V, at other times at 36 V. Of course
there is a safe voltage. Sometimes it is much lower than these
values, sometimes much higher, depending on conditions and
the likelihood of a circuit being formed through a person’s
body. The danger of a low voltage is discussed in greater de­
tail in Chapter 7. Here we will only cite a few facts. A trauma
caused by a potential of only 12 V was described in the preced­
ing paragraph. That accident occurred in an orchard. Here
is another example of a fatal trauma. The body of an elect­
rician, 21 years old, was brought to the morgue. The ambu­
lance physician said death was apparently due to electric trau­
ma, although there were no burns or other injuries on the
body. Autopsy revealed distinct asphyxia*, characteristic of
electric trauma. According to the ambulance physician and
people who had attempted to give first aid before he arrived,
there had at first been a thready pulse. Artificial respiration
had been started 2-3 minutes after the accident, and accord­
ing to the doctor it had been done competently. The doctor
had attempted to revive the victim on the spot and had admi­
nistered a strong vasodilator. Along with artificial respiration,
the heart muscle had been massaged by appropriate pressure
on the chest. It had been impossible to save the victim’s life.
The accident had happened under the following circumstan­
ces. A commission was inspecting the fixed wiring of electric
* Asphyxia (suffocation) — death caused by the stoppage of res­
piration followed by stoppage o f cardiac activity.

9’ 131
equipment in a basement, for its acceptance. To facilitate the
commission’s work a wire carrying a 12 V portable lamp was
let down from a 220/12 V step-down transformer. Except
for a small section at the base of the lamp, the wire from the
transformer was enclosed in a rubber hose which was in good
condition. The wire proved to be too short so the members
of the commission inspected the area with 6 V torches. The
coiled wire from the transformer together with the lamp was
hung on the iron railing of the stairway leading to the base­
ment. When the inspection was finished, electrician K., his
left hand on the iron railing, reached for the coil of rope to
take it upstairs. The moment the back of his hand touched the
wire he let out a strange, throaty cry, so the others said, and
slumped over. The members of the commission standing beside
him tried to hold him up and were shocked. When K. was
freed from the coil of wire, he was taken upstairs and imme­
diately given first aid. As was already said, this was unsuccess­
ful. A thorough examination of the insulation between the
windings of the transformer and between the 220 V winding
and the housing was in excellent condition. When the wire
let down into the basement was examined it was found that
one of the strands was carelessly insulated. There were bare
spots where the wire from the transformer was connected to
the wire of the lamp, and anyone picking up the lamp could
touch them. The second wire of the transformer was grounded.
The committee of experts examined other possibilities, howe­
ver unlikely, of the wire K. touched being under high voltage,
and rejected them all. While taking precautionary measures,
the committee reproduced the situation obtaining before the
accident and the moment of the accident itself, after which they
pronounced their unanimous conclusion — the man had been
killed by a potential of 12 B. The members of the committee
called attention to the fact that the victim could have touched
the places where the insulation was damaged with the back
of his hand.
A woman fitter at a laboratory was killed in approximately
132
the same conditions, that is, by touching a bare wire with the
back of her hand. The committee of experts concluded that
the potential responsible for her death did not exceed 12 V.
Fatal traumas from potentials of 10-24 V are described in
the literature. Until recently such occurrences were consider­
ed extremely rare exceptions, since problems of electrical sa­
fety engineering were largely solved by lowering voltages whe­
rever possible, particularly for portable lighting. There are
grounds for doing so. It cannot be denied that the probability
of serious consequences when the voltage is low is less than
when it is 220 V. But a deeper analysis of electric traumas
shows that such cases are not so rare. The point is that usually
when analyzing electric traumas it is the voltage of the faulty
circuit or installation causing the accident that is taken into
consideration and not the actual voltage from which the vic­
tim died. Actually these values are by no means the same. They
are identical only if there is two-pole contact with current-
carrying parts, but in 80% of electric traumas there is single­
pole contact and the resistances of footwear, clothes, floor,
and at times structural parts of equipment are connected in
series with the victim’s body. In the case described above, in
which two boys were standing under a tree whose branches
touched an electric wire, the resistance was the surface resis­
tance of the tree.
The resistance of footwear, clothes, floor and other objects
in the circuit passing through a person’s body is very high,
sometimes tens of thousands of ohms. Even damp footwear
at times has a resistance of several thousand ohms. Thus the
voltage of an installation can be two to four times the voltage
causing a fatal trauma. According to data gathered by the Le­
ningrad Institute of Labour Protection 60-70% of traumas
recorded are in the single-pole class. Even the most cautious
conclusion puts the number of victims from low voltages quite
high, and this is confirmed by figures for deaths from a weld­
ing potential, which is only 65 V.

133
 The fact that death can be caused by 12 and 36 V alternat­
ing current would seem at first sight to be at variance with the
value of 100 mA considered in electrical engineering to be the
lower limit of dangerous current. At the low voltages mention­
ed the current causing serious trauma or death is less than a
milliampere, even in the most unfavourable conditions for
the victim.
Why the discrepancy? The point is that when setting the value
of current dangerous to man, only fibrillation is taken into
consideration. The mechanism of this disturbance has been
established by numerous experiments on animals. But data
on electric traumas in animals is contrary to data on many
electric traumas from low potentials leading to death in peop­
le. This contradiction can be explained by the assumption
that the mechanism of electric trauma may be different and
consequently the current dangerous for man may be diffe­
rent. The validity of this explanation is borne out by the instan­
ces of death from low voltages cited and also by other consi­
derations which will be taken up in the next chapter.

7. ONE HUNDRED AND

TEN KV POWER TRANSMISSION
LINE IN THE CITY AND THE ELECTRIC SAFETY
OF MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS
Consumers of electric energy are divided into different gro­
ups according to the reliability of supply required and accord­
ing to the electric safety of their electric installations. There
are consumers for whom a power failure is not dangerous
and there are others for whom a power failure means an acci­
dent or serious material losses. For example, if the power be­
ing supplied to an electric melting furnace is cut off, the metal
will be rejected and the furnace seriously damaged. Other
examples could be named. For this group of consumers mea­
sures must be taken to prevent even short power failures and

134
this is possible. When the introduction of 110 kV power lines
was under consideration the question arose as to whether it
would be possible to transmit power of that voltage directly
to consumers through thickly populated districts of Moscow.
It was feared that wires might break and people could be killed.
The chairman at a conference where it was being decided whe­
ther or not such a power line could pass through the city said
that it was absolutely necessary for a 110 kV power line to pass
through the city and such wire had to be used and it had to be
secured in such a way that no breaks were possible. Optimal
versions of constructing a highly reliable power line through
the city were worked out and implemented. The 110 kV power
line was operated for scores of years without a single accident.
No one is surprised now at the 220 kV which passes through
busy streets directly to the power departments of factories.
“Wires must not break” is something that must be remembered
when designing and operating medical instruments. The use
of electrical apparatus in medicine has greatly increased. Comp­
lex electrical measuring systems and other instruments are
set up beside the patient’s bed. Reanimation departments
and operating rooms can vie with any industrial or educatio­
nal laboratory in the electrical engineering line when the ex­
tent of their electronic apparatus is considered. Electricity
can be dangerous but hazards can be eliminated by rational
techniques, rational operation of electrical equipment.
Let us return to the statistics of electric traumas and con­
sideration of the danger of possible injury from electric current
when medical instruments are being used. Statistics give great
satisfaction. The increase in the number of electric medical
instruments and the increase in the capacity of electric medical
installations has not been accompanied by a corresponding
increase in the number of electric traumas. But there have
been accidents and there still are. Although the number is not
great it is increasing. A careful analysis of each injury from
electric current in a medical institution shows that it could
have been avoided. Electric traumas in hospitals, clinics, the-
135
rapeutic departments of sanatoriums, etc., can be divided into
two groups. The first group includes electric traumas similar
to those in everyday life. Their source is faulty insulation in
lighting fixtures, electric systems, sockets, etc. Statistics show
that such traumas are relatively less frequent than in household
and municipal circuits. This is evidence of the great feeling of
responsibility in the engineering sectors of medical institu­
tions, which work in difficult conditions. The second group is
made up of traumas which occur while servicing medical
apparatus. Both groups of traumas can and must be prevent­
ed. Some electric traumas have been described in this book.
It would be well to generalize the typical traumas.
Buried wiring is used everywhere. In household and munic­
ipal circuits this has sharply reduced the number of electric
traumas caused by faulty insulation of interior circuits. Ho­
wever, they could be eliminated completely if requirements
for the installation and acceptance of circuits for operation
were raised along with requirements for the supervision of
operation. What has been said about the causes of such elec­
tric traumas also applies to circuits in medical institutions,
although there are some specific features. Washbowls with
running water are usually installed in wards, particularly in
modern hospitals. Damage to the earthing or failure to comply
with instructions for earthing washbowls may bring it about
that there is a potential between the tap and the floor or wall
if water pipes are used for earthing electric equipment even
if it is on a different floor. There can also be a potential bet­
ween the tap and the floor, wall or ceiling if the insulation is
damaged in the distributing boxes or connectors of the buried
lighting system. The insulation can be damaged during instal­
lation of the electrical equipment circuits and during their
operation. It is extremely difficult to detect faults. Experience
has shown that the best way to prevent insulation faults is to
substantially raise the specifications for insulating such cir­
cuits. The minium resistance of the insulation on the section
of the circuit from the safety device to electric installation or
136
 installations could be set at 10 megohms. The resistance sho­
uld be measured with a megger or some other instrument under
a potential of at least 1000 V. A resistance of 10 megohms con­
siderably exceeds the usual requirements for circuits up to
1000 V laid down in the specifications, but this is justified. In
such tests an insulation resistance less than 10 megohms will
be found only at places where branch lines are connected and
there are faults in the insulation or signs of a fault are just be­
ginning to appear. As a rule this is due to careless “cutting in”.
It is not an easy matter to find such spots where the resistance
of the insulation has fallen but it must be done. This would be
facilitated by the use of radio engineering methods as is done
in circuits with a voltage over 1000 V. It is not practised as
yet on low-voltage circuits. Walking on floors covered with
plastic tiles or linoleum may produce static charges on the body,
and on touching a metal tap there may be a painful discharge;
this will be prevented if the tap handle is porcelain.
It is clear how to reduce the number of electric traumas asso­
ciated with the mains, but it is considerably more difficult to
solve problems of accident prevention involving operation of
the medical instruments. In many electrodiagnostic and elec­
tro-therapeutic procedures the patient’s body is an element in
the electric circuit, since it is impossible to obtain the electro­
physical characteristics of the human body, a unique source of
biological information, in any other way. The methods used
are of two types. In the first method, the source of information
is bioelectric activity, and this can be called a method with
passive electrodes. Electrocardiography is an example. There
are also methods with active electrodes, such as ionophoresis
and rheography. The use of active electrodes makes it neces­
sary to introduce a number of safety measures — neglect­
ing to do this can lead to regrettable consequences. At a cer­
tain clinic a rheogram was being recorded to assess the func­
tions of external respiration. The rheogram was being record­
ed with an ordinary electric recorder in ink on paper tape. The
measuring system consisted of three units — the recorder, a
137
 high-frequency generator, and a frequency converter. The
housings of the three units were earthed in series, i.e. were
connected one to the other with a flexible cable. The examinee
lay on a metal bed and was holding to the head of the bed
with one hand, no attention being paid to this at the time.
The framework of the bed was earthed. As a result of faulty
insulation in the recording instrument, a potential was produc­
ed on one of the electrodes on the examinee’s body. The man
cried out: “It’s shocked me” and rolled over on his side uncons­
cious. Competent measures were taken immediately to revive
the victim — the heart was massaged and stimulants were given
but everything was in vain. The ECG showed that the heart be­
at had been restored for 3-4 cycles, after which fibrillation set
in, ending in death. Using an electric defibrillator had no
effect. The committee of experts modelled the layout of the
accident and came to the conclusion that death had been caus­
ed by current under a tension of 28 V. Potential had been pro­
duced on the electrode by faulty insulation of the recorder,
while there had been increased resistance between the common
earthing cable and the earthing wiring. Violations of the regula­
tions were also noted: there had been no systematic testing of the
resistance of insulation in medical instruments; the instruments
had not been properly earthed and the condition of the ear­
thing wiring had not been checked. Had it not been for the viola­
tions of the regulations, the man would not have lost his life.
One is greatly alarmed at the enthusiasm for electropunc­
ture instead of acupuncture that has lately appeared. Home­
made instruments are beginning to be used by people who are
not sufficiently acquainted with ordinary acupuncture. Inju­
ries with serious consequences have been recorded, and those
guilty have been severely punished. Anyone, whatever his
rank, whatever his qualification, who uses or permits the use
of medical instruments that have not been approved by the
Ministry of Health will be severely punished. It must not be
forgotten that in the Soviet Union any new instrument must
undergo comprehensive clinical trials at special medical
instrument institutes.
138
 CHAPTER SEVEN

Biophysics of Electric Injury

1. FUNDAMENTALS FOR STUDY

In the second chapter we considered the specific features
of electrical conductivity in inanimate and animate matter
and pointed out the complexity of conduction by organic semi­
conductors and insulators, living organisms and especially,
man, and also how little is known, as yet, about electric con­
duction inherent in the living organism. Consequently the dis­
crepancies that occur in determining dangerous voltages are
not to be wondered at, nor the discrepancies obtained bet­
ween results in experiments carried out on animals and the
reactions observed in man.
There are grounds for the following conclusion: it is dif­
ficult to kill a person with electric current, but accidentally
to die from electric current is very simple. It rests on solid
facts: the easy and instantaneous death from a small voltage,
not exceeding the voltage of the illuminating mains, and the
lengthy and agonizing death of a person executed in the elec­
tric chair at a voltage of 1200-2000 V.
What is the explanation? The mechanism of the action of
electricity on such relatively simple substances as metals, so­
lutions and crystals differs. In this case no one is surprised if
there is no immediate answer to the question: “Is this mate­
rial safe for wiring?” The electrician will ask: “Do you mean
for a load of 10 amperes, or some other?” To answer that qu­
estion one must know what material the conductor is made
of, its cross-section and how it is to be mounted. If that infor-

139
mation is available, it can be said quite accurately whether or
not the given wire will conduct a certain current without any
danger of failure. What has been said also applies in principle
to a conductor possessing1ionic conductivity. One.must know
the chemical composition of the electrolyte, the dimensions
of the electrodes, and the voltage. If what has been said is true
of metals and solutions, it is all the more true of man. People
once judged of the degree of danger threatening that most
complex of complex natural objects, man, by two factors at
best, the voltage and the current, assuming that the danger in­
creased in direct proportion to increases in the values of these
two factors.
This assumption persisted so long as electricians and phy­
sicists were out of touch with pathophysiologists, biologists
and physicians. In the first chapter we noted the broad and
justified interest specialists in diverse technical fields now show
in biology, biophysics and biochemistry. Overlapping scien­
ces on the border between technology and the natural sciences
are today rapidly developing, enriching both technology and
biology.
We continue the analogy. Failure of an ordinary copper
conductor can be caused by the following: (a) burning-out
because of excessive current density; (b) breaking, due to elec­
trodynamic stresses; (c) oxidation — corrosion of contacts,
etc. Death due to injury by electric current may also result
from a number of causes: (a) fibrillation due to the direct pas­
sage of current of sufficient strength through the myocardi­
um; (b) stoppage of respiration; c) shock. Each of these causes
depends on the value of the current, the value of the voltage
and the duration of the electric circuit through the body.
Thus, the first and basic conclusion to be drawn from a ge­
neral consideration is that it is impossible to name a definite
safe value of current or voltage. This general conclusion is
borne out by other information provided by an analysis of
accidents. A unique case in which an electrician was in a cir­
cuit with a tension of several thousand volts and a current
140
of 7-8 amperes passed through his body and was not killed is
described in V.E. Manoilov’s book Osnovy electrobezopas-
nosti (Fundamentals of Electric Safety) (Energiya Publishing
House, 1976). Data on the voltage and amperage were obta­
ined from the tape of the accident oscillograph which was
automatically cut in when there were single-pole failures of
the insulation in an electric circuit of 6.0 kV. The man was
standing on an oil circuit breaker, and holding on to the 6.0 kV
busbar when current was fed to the busbar by mistake. The
man’s hands were seriously burned but he recovered and even­
tually resumed work in a limited capacity.
Cases are known in which people having to do with elec­
tricity by occupation have been in a circuit of still greater vol­
tage, have received burns of one degree or another, and have
fully recovered to continue their work as before.
So there is no explicit answer to the question “What current
is dangerous?”
When the results of experiments on animals are compared
with an analysis of accidents that have happened to people,
one comes to the conclusion that in an electric circuit man
is a special type of “conductor”, differing in its properties,
in its reaction to electric current, from any organic or inor­
ganic element of an electric circuit, and also from any species
of animals. In animals there is not such a difference in the re­
action to a high voltage and a low voltage, as in man, and con­
sequently experimental data obtained in studies of electric
injuries in animals can only be applied to man with great cau­
tion.

2. THE DISPUTE CONTINUES

Thus, an analysis of deaths from low voltages and “favour­
able” terminations in cases of high voltage leads to the logical
conclusion that man’s reaction to electric current is very di­
versified, that in some cases there is a strange sensitivity to
weak currents. This shows the necessity of further study to
141
determine what is injured first — the cardiovascular system
as a whole, the myocardium or the respiratory system. Deter­
mination of the system, injury to which marks the beginning
of the body’s serious reaction to electric current is important
in increasing medical and biological knowledge but that is
not all. If it is known where the injury begins to develop (or
let us say where it most often begins) — the circulatory sys­
tem, the respiratory system or some other system — the fight
to save the victim’s health or even his life can be made more
expedient. This can be explained with an example.
Disturbance of cardiac activity because of injury by elect­
ric current in a man who is operating a manufacturing unit
may have serious consequences not only for the victim. Auto­
matic transfer of control (if only temporary) to an automatic
controller or to another operative can limit a possible catast­
rophe, and automatically bringing into action reanimation
facilities, such as electric stimulation of the heart, can save
the victim.
When studies of industrial electric traumas first began it
was thought that it was the respiratory system that was injured
first and foremost. Autopsies in cases of death from electric
shock indicated that the victims had died of asphyxia (suffo­
cation). This point of view was maintained by Jellinek, d’Ar-
sonval and others who had investigated injuries by current
at all stages. But this opinion was considerably shaken by ex­
perimental study of electric injury in dogs in which it was fo­
und that the predominant cause of death was disturbance of
cardiac activity. To cause the death of a dog by the stoppage
of respiration, the electrodes, or at least one of them, had to
be fixed to the ears or ear. To this should be added that in in­
dividual cases (“individual” must be emphasized) the cause
of death in people, as shown by the post-mortem, was direct
disturbance of cardiac activity.
At the Seventh International Congress on Industrial Trau­
matism held in 1935, Stassen, an outstanding pathophysiolo­
gist, proposed that fatal injuries should be classified as blue
142
 (with primary stoppage of respiration) and white (with prima­
ry stoppage of the heart). Some investigators assume that there
can be simultaneous disturbance of cardiac activity and stop­
page of respiration.
During the next stage diverse mass experimental studies of
electric injuries in animals were carried out in the Soviet Union
and abroad. As a rule, the results indicated a probability of
death from stopping of the heart due to fibrillation. The position
of the “fibrillationists” was shaken by the data of comprehen­
sive, more thorough analysis of accidents in people and do­
ubts as to the possibility of extending to man data obtained in
experiments on animals. The evidence that death results from
stoppage of respiration is especially important. In this connec­
tion the work of I.K. Mishchenko (Academy of Sciences,
Kirghiz SSR) is noteworthy. He demonstrated that a current
of 250 mA was necessary in the electric circuit for fibrillation
to begin in males, and a current of 220 mA in females. These
data are in line with those of the German physiologists, Koe-
ppen and Panse. According to the unanimous opinion of some
researchers, 70 —80% of fatal accidents occur in circuits with
a tension of 220 V. But according to Mishchenko’s data fatal
injury from fibrillation of the heart in such circuits is imposs­
ible in general. A simple calculation proves this. If it is assum­
ed that at the moment of the accident the entire resistance in
the circuit is the resistance of the victim’s body, then at a
tension of 220 V, a current of 200 mA in the circuit through
the victim’s body is impossible. Even a minimal resistance
will reduce the current to tenths of a milliampere. The eviden­
ce is weighty but it has not ended the argument. The dis­
pute about which is injured first, the heart or respiration, con­
tinues.
Fresh data on the electronic conduction of biopolymers
shows that there is another possibility of injury — through the
central nervous system.

143
 3. MAN — A SELF-REGULATING SYSTEM
Results of investigations into the electronic conduction of
complex polymers and biopolymers throw fresh light on the
dispute: respiration or the heart. Irrespective of the degree
of development of the protracted dispute it must be pointed
out that there is a certain arbitrariness about it. In normal
conditions (“normal” should be underlined) the respiratory
and circulatory systems comprise a single functional unit, a
closed system with automatic regulation. Suffice it to cite the
fact that the heart receives stimulating impulses directly through
the respiratory centre of the nervous system, and the latter,
like the respiratory system as a whole, can work and fulfil its
function only when there is a normal supply of blood along
the entire tract of oxygen transfer.
A person becomes part of an electric circuit, and there is
local, or possibly general, absorption of electric energy. The
functions of the usually precisely operating unit are disturbed.
If even a single element of the functional unit is put out of ac­
tion, automatic regulation of the circulatory system, the most
important of the life support systems, will be upset. No matter
in what element of the general system impairment occurs,
it will come to a head in the heart and the latter’s vitally impor­
tant pumping function will be upset. With the ceasing of the
heart beat, the action of injurious factors comes to an end and
death ensues.
The work of all the complex systems, beginning with the
electric system and ending with the biological is subordinated
to a definite rhythm — the sequence of interconnected pro­
cesses.
In cases of injury there can be two terminations: the func­
tions of the general system of self-regulation that have been
impaired by injury to any one of its elements may be restored
by falling back on reserves or by some other method. The in­
jured element turns to be blocked and the system’s automatic
self-regulation restores its functions. But there can be a differ-

144
ent termination when within the system there is no reserve
of self-regulation, the system is not restored and self-regula­
tion ceases. The functional system ceases to exist. The question
arises: can the self-regulating system be restored by acting on it
externally? Sometimes it is possible, sometimes not. It depends
on many circumstances.
Any injury, including electric injury, disturbs the rhythm
of biological processes which are strictly interconnected by the
transformation of energy (generally speaking), and tempo­
rally. In conditions of normal vital activity some processes
are synchronized, some are cophasal and some are in the an­
tiphase or take place with a definite sequence of phases. Dur­
ing vital activity in definite conditions, organs and tissues are
capable of interregulation.
Self-regulation means that all temporal, frequency and am­
plitude quantitative relationships in the transformation of
energy must be observed. When relationships are optimal for
normal vital activity, the work of the heart is an ideal example
of rhythmic operation: the strictly phased auricles contract
before the ventricles. If the phases were not stepped, the upper
half of the heart would not be able to pump blood into the
lower half and the latter would not be able to propel it through
the arteries. The temporal shifts in the work of the auricles
and ventricles was shown in Chapter Five when the electrocar­
diogram was described.
Returning once more to the curve of the heart’s electric
activity, it should be noted that a change in the temporal,
frequency and amplitude characteristics of the ECG indica­
tes disturbances in vital activity of one kind or another but
usually serious. Let us assume that the rhythm of the work
of the parts of the heart is deranged and the auricles and vent­
ricles begin to contract simultaneously. Circulation of the
blood will be seriously disturbed, a condition called auricular
block, and a fatal termination is inevitable. But another ar­
rhythmia is possible— fibrillation — which can be overcome
by external means, particularly by use of the defibrillator des-

10-1248 145
cribed in Chapter Two. Derangement of the cardiac rhythm
can be caused by disorders in the respiratory system or in the
vessels. Without dwelling on other disturbances of the system
of automatic regulation of cardiac activity, one thing should
be emphasized: the heart and the entire blood-supply system
must work as a single whole, and without fail, with the phase,
temporal, frequency and amplitude characteristics required
for precise automatic regulation of vital activity. Other­
wise the heart, a determining element in this automatic sys­
tem, will be put out of action.
So far we have considered the performing elements of the
system which automatically regulates the body’s vital activ­
ities. Their activity is indissolubly associated with the system
of automatic control whose functions are fulfilled by the ner­
vous system. Impairment and disturbance of this system can
lead to disturbance of the circulatory and respiratory systems.
In its complexity the biological control system has no analo­
gues even in the most complex mathematical machines. Elec­
tric current can damage it too, and the result will be the sa­
me— stoppage of the heart.
The part played by the nervous system in the termination
of electric injury is discussed in the following section.

4. SOMETHING UNEXPECTED
The following experiment was carried out at several engi­
neering plants. Absolutely all complaints of electric shock we­
re recorded at the power department. While putting to rights
the faulty insulation, the conditions in which the person was
shocked were established, although in most cases there were
no consequences. The data obtained were compared with
the statistics and analysis of accidents with fatal outcome. It
was found that in 70% of the cases of electric shock without
injury, the electric circuit was from the palm of the hand to
the feet or from palm to palm. Such circuits were only natural
for the work being done at the time. In fatal accidents the elec-
146
trie circuit, as a rule, passed through different parts of the bo­
dy. In 8% of fatal accidents involving 220 V mains at work and
at home, the circuit began through the back of the hand. It
seemed that there must be parts of the body especially sensi­
tive to electric current. That proved to be the case.
Back at the end of the ‘thirties N.B. Poznanskaya while
studying the electric conduction of the body discovered pre­
cisely delimited areas of the body with unusually low conduc­
tivity. Poznanskaya’s observations were confirmed by inves­
tigations of accidents which revealed the significance of the
current’s “path” through the body, and also by the results of
investigations carried out by the present author. There are
grounds for assuming that there are areas of the body parti­
cularly sensitive to current or electric fields — areas that are
converters of primary information, signalling the presence of
the natural electric field inherent in the terrestrial atmosphere.
The areas of the body vulnerable to electric current, in addi­
tion to the back of the hand already mentioned, are neck,
temples, back and shoulders. These converters can be called
electroreceptors. We cite some examples showing the great
influence of the nervous system on the outcome of electric
injury.
At an enterprise under construction steel reinforcement
was being welded. The insulation on one of the welding ma­
chines was damaged, thus feeding the 220 V mains’ tension
to the low-voltage welding circuit. Three of the workers felt
an electric shock. One of them said: “We’ve got to tell the fo­
reman”, and set off through the grounds of the project to the
building where the foreman was. He went up the stairs to the
first floor where the foreman had his office, told him what had
happened, sat down in a chair and died. The autopsy showed
he had died of asphyxia. No direct injury to the heart muscle
or the vascular system was discovered. The circumstances of
the case and the findings of the autopsy did not exclude death
from electric shock, particularly since there were characte­
ristic minute bums on the victim’s body. At least 25-30 minu-
10* 147
tes had passed from the moment of the shock to the worker’s
death.
Another example. A crane was being handed over. The fo­
reman climbed up to the cabin assuming that the current had
not been turned on. With his left hand he touched the termi­
nals of a panel being installed, which it turned out were live.
Sharply reprimanding the electrician in the cabin for cutting
in 220 V without informing the power department, he climbed
back down to the ground. Staggering for some reason, he took
a few steps and fell. He could not be saved. Some 10-15 minutes
had passed from the moment he was shocked until he died.
The results of the postmortem were the same as in the preced­
ing example though the marks on the body were more distinct.
Yet another example. A worker was shocked by contact with
380/220 V mains. Apparently the actual tension on his body
was 150-180 V since the circuit was between his hand and his
feet, and he was wearing leather boots, though they were damp.
He lost consciousness from the shock and stopped breathing.
The other workers around immediately began giving him com­
petent artificial respiration and he soon came to, complain­
ing only of weakness and a heavy feeling in his head. There
was a burn on one finger. He was taken to the medical station
on a stretcher, where besides other measures the doctor gave
him an intramuscular injection of a vasodilator. After two ho­
urs the victim said he felt all right except for being weak. The
doctor wrote him a sick-leave document and told him to go
home, advising him to call a doctor if there were any symptoms
of indisposition. The man began to dress and at that moment
died. The postmortem diagnosis was heart failure.
And now, the last example. A technician on duty was tell­
ing the man who had come to relieve him what was cut in and
what was not. Saying “This bus, here, is 10 kilovolts”, he put
his hand on it. From the electric arc the technician received
such serious burns that both legs and his right hand had to be
amputated. After being in hospital for a month and a half the
victim began to recover. The stumps of his legs and hand were

148
in the final stage of healing. The physicians attending him had
no fear for his life and his death on the eve of his discharge was
completely unexpected. Highly qualified pathologists per­
formed the autopsy and the tentative diagnosis of the immedi­
ate cause of death was heart failure.
In the light of modern conceptions of the action of elect­
ric current, it can be assumed that in all the cases described
above, one of the basic causes of death could have been impa­
irment of cerebral circulation. Since as a rule autopsies were
performed a day after death it was very difficult to establish
the exact cause — impairment of cerebral circulation. The
practical conclusion: in any case of electric injury, but espe­
cially if accompanied by disturbance of circulation, it is ab­
solutely necessary to consult a neuropathologist in addition
to treatment of the trauma by a surgeon.

5. DANGER!
A large shipyard. A big gantry crane covering a large ex­
panse in its travel, and on the crane a placard with the repre­
sentation of a person’s eyes. The eyes are painted in such a way
that no matter where you are, within reach of the crane, they
seem to be watching you. Under the picture, the word “Dang­
er!” . It is interesting to note that at this shipyard there are
fewer accidents than at other similar enterprises. Being care­
ful when operating machines or when one is close to machi­
nery is of great importance in general for efficient, accident-
free operation. But in electrical engineering, being careful,
being collected, creates a special, protective reaction.
In the ‘twenties, Jellinek, who by that time had taken part
in investigations into the circumstances of hundreds of deaths
from electric shock pointed out that differences between the
central nervous systems of man and animals made it impossib­
le exactly to model electric injury in man on electric injury in
animals. At that time Jellinek had probably already come clo­
se to understanding why it was difficult to correlate data ob-
149
 tained in experiments on animals with those obtained by ca­
reful instrumental analysis of electric injuries in people. It
was then, in 1927, that he first stressed the importance of atten­
tion as a factor lessening the severity of electric injury. He wro­
te: “The principal peculiarity of electric injury is that our strai­
ned attention, our firm will is capable of weakening the action
of electric current and sometimes even overcoming it. The
crushing force of a falling beam or an explosion cannot be we­
akened by courage and brave self-control, but it is quite possib­
le in regard to the effect of an electric shock if it occurs when
the attention is strained... Actually a person who hears a shot
without seeing the man with the gun may die from shock but
a person who is looking at the man who shoots or is himself
shooting is not subject to shock” .* Jellinek is speaking of the
self-control of a person expecting something about to happen
or engaged in work requiring strict attention. He continues:
“Attention is a factor which plays an extremely important
role, perhaps a decisive role... Usually nothing happens to
a person in a state of strained attention... He sets his attention
like a shield against the terrible, impending moment”. Simi­
lar convictions have found expression in the sayings of many
peoples. The English say “Forewarned is forearmed”. The
French have a similar saying, “A person warned is equal to
two”.
This assertion holds true, for the most part, for injuries
from electric current of 220-380 V. At higher voltages the in­
jury is usually from bums caused by the arc. In this respect the­
re are grounds for assuming that the severity of the outcome
increases practically in direct proportion to the voltage.
Jellinek did not limit himself to conclusions drawn from
investigations of accidents. He carried out experiments show­
ing that attention was also a factor in animals. The test animals

* Jellinek, S., elektrische Unfall (Accidents from Electricity),

Vien, 1925.

150
 were cats. Electrodes were secured to the animals’ bellies;
wires from the electrodes led to a source of current. After allow­
ing sufficient time for the animals to become accustomed to
the wires, in some cases as much as 24 hours, the current was
turned on. The animals were killed instantaneously by 120-
220 V. When animals were secured on their backs as was usu­
ally done when investigating experimental electric injury, or
were suspended by straps round their bodies, as in the latest
experiments of the German scientist, Osypka, the animals
did not die immediately from the same voltages. To kill them
in these conditions required 20-30 minutes or the tension had
to be increased to several kilovolts. Similar experiments were
carried out on other animals with the same results. However,
it should be noted that the significance of the attention factor
has not as yet been taken sufficiently into account in electric
safety measures. But one is confident that new views on the
electric conduction of living tissue and further study of the
nature of the electric activity of the human body will reveal the
biophysics of electric injury in man, which will be taken into
account when protective measures against electric current
are worked out.
But even now a hypothesis can be voiced. The attention fac­
tor undoubtedly increases the supply of blood to the central
nervous system and increases oxygen consumption which in
turn brings about an increase in the number of charge carriers
(electrons) in biochemical metabolic reactions. The increased
or in some way intensified stream of charge carriers is not so
easily disturbed by an impulse of weak current, such as is in­
volved in injury by low voltages. It is of course more difficult
to disrupt the biological system of automatic regulation when
there is an increased blood supply to the nervous system. This
is evidently the key to understanding the development of the
injury and the occurrence of death a considerable time after
an electric shock.

151
 6. ELECTRICITY KILLS ANIMALS AS WELL
AS PEOPLE
It has long been known that animals are killed when struck
by lightning. Cases are described in the literature in which 2000
sheep were killed during a thunderstorm, and during another
storm, about 1000 sheep. Horses and cows are also killed by
lightning. In one thunderstorm 126 cows in a herd of 152 head
were killed.
When high-tension power lines of 110 kV were first intro­
duced reports began to appear of cattle in the field being killed
by electric current. This was usually where high-tension wires
had broken, and death was caused by ground potential. This
can be dangerous a hundred metres from the fallen wire, the po­
tential in respect to the earth being 50 kV and higher. Cases of
animals being killed by short circuits near badly insulated ear­
thing cables have also been recorded. The adoption of more
stringent requirements to ensure reliability in the operation of
power transmission lines, along with the application of more
effective measures for protection against lightning has substan­
tially reduced the breaking of wires, and consequently greatly
reduced the number of animals killed by ground potential
gradient. Protective measures at open substations are intended
to keep the ground potential below the permissible level of
150 V, which is considered safe for people. In many cases ani­
mals are killed by such a voltage.
Extensive electrification has been accompanied by the grow­
ing use of electric power in all sectors of agriculture. This trend
has been particularly marked in animal husbandry and poultry
raising where farms are becoming industrial enterprises with
complex electrical equipment.
The rapid development of agricultural power engineering
has outstripped the training of operating personnel, and also
the manufacture of specialized equipment and cables required
in agriculture. The point is that electrical equipment at cattle,
dairy and poultry farms is installed in damp buildings where

152
 the floors, as a rule, are conducting. The potential relative to
the ground is 220 V.
It is considerably more difficult to ensure reliable operation
of electric installations at farms than at industrial enterprises.
A number of breakdowns of electric installations at farms have
been reported involving losses of more than 10 animals. As
a rule animals are killed in circumstances similar to those in
which people are killed. This makes an analysis of electric
injury in animals instructive.
Protective organizational and technical measures taken after
each accident to improve the installation and operation of
power lines and electrical equipment increase reliability and
make the loss of animals less likely, but this should be done
without waiting for accidents to happen.
V.P. Sakulin has made an interesting and very useful anal­
ysis of electric traumatism in animals. Electric injury in animals
differs from that in people. In the mechanism of action of
electric current it is simpler and assists in clarifying conceptions
of the dangerous action of electric current on man. The first
and probably the principal difference is the following. Practi­
cally speaking, there are only three ways in which an electric
circuit is formed through an animal’s body: foot — foot,
feet — feet and muzzle — feet. In animals in a house tethered
with a chain, there is an additional circuit — one through the
neck. However, an animal’s hair is a good insulator and limits
the passage of electric current through this additional circuit.
Investigations have shown that this circuit does not increase
the danger. The second difference in electric injury in animals
as compared to electric injury in people is that in animals there
is a possibility of injury with a smaller specific ground poten­
tial gradient (the ground potential gradient per meter). This
is explained by the fact that the distance between the legs of a
large animal is almost twice the length of a man’s stride. The
third particularity is that electric injury in animals always
occurs in the open air or in houses, as a rule unheated, where
the animals stand on a conducting floor.
153
 1 0 /0 .4 kV
coo

Fig. 21. Diagram of injury to an animal caused by breakdown o f in­

sulation of wire while resistance o f second earth is high
R e — resistance of main earth; R se — resistance of second earth

The diagram in Fig. 21 (taken from V.P. Sakulin’s ana­

lysis) illustrates electric injury to an animal at a dairy farm.
This is caused by the breakdown of the insulation of the phase
wire while the resistance of the second earth is relatively high.
This often occurs. In industrial buildings there are many natu­
ral earths, such as metal structures, pipe lines, water pipes,
etc., but in farm buildings there are much fewer.
We give two typical examples of possible electric injury in
animals. At cattle and dairy farms automatic watering systems
with motor-driven pumps are widely used. When installation
is careless and a constant watch is not kept on the condition of
the insulation, the latter may be damaged. As a result the water
pipe is live and so is the water since it is a conductor. If a cow
or any other animal touches the water, an electric circuit will
be formed through its body and it will be killed. At some farms
there have been cases when as many as 30 animals were killed
in this way.
Another example. The operating personnel do not pay
enough attention to the condition of the insulation of wires
and cables where they pass through walls. For one reason or

154
another the insulation may be damaged. Usually this results
from some defect in the insulation formed during installation.
Subsequently the wall begins to carry current, and feeding
troughs as well. An animal touching the trough will be shocked
and die.
Measures to prevent the loss of animals are simple: careful
installation of all electric equipment, regular checking of the
insulation with a megger (an instrument for measuring the re­
sistance of insulation) and the replacement of sections of the
wiring or electric installations in which a lowering of the insu­
lation resistance is discovered.
The analysis of electric injury in animals, causing their death,
has given unexpected results which are useful for understand­
ing the mechanism of action of electric current.
Data cited by Soviet and foreign authors agree on the value
of lethal current for animals, unlike the contradictory data re­
garding lethal current in man. Lethal current: for calves, 0.2-
0.3 A; cows, 0.3-0.4 A; sheep and swine, 0.15-0.20 A. Lethal
tension, 30-40 V. The close agreement of these data is explained
by the fact that in animals the current acts directly on the
heart, causing fibrillation, whereas in people the injury is
often associated to a greater or less degree with serious dis­
turbance of cerebral circulation.
The operation of electrified agricultural equipment re­
quires serious attention. Special electric installations and spe­
cial wire for power lines are necessary. The population must
be explained the specific features of the action of electric current
and the principal protective measures to be taken. Electric
traumatism in animals like electric traumatism in people in
agricultural production can and must be eliminated.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vernadsky, V.I., Biosfera (The Biosphere), Mysl Publishing

House, Moscow, 1967.
Veitkov, F.B., Letopis elektrichestva (Electricity Chronicle),
Gosenergoizdat, Moscow Leningrad, 1946.
Horizons in Biochemistry (Collection of articles),
Academic Press, New York London, 1962.
Quantum Electronics — Small Encyclopedia, Sovetskaya
Entsiklopediya Publishing House, Moscow, 1969.
Kudryavtsev, P.S., Istoriya fiziki (History o f Physics),
Vols. 1 and 2, Uchpedgiz, Moscow, 1956.
Kreitser, A .G ., Meditsinskie pribory (Medical Instruments),
Medgiz, Leningrad, 1962.
Manoilov, V.E., Osnovy elektrobezopasnosti (Fundamentals
o f Electric Safety), Energiya Publishers, Leningrad, 1971.
Manoilov, V.E., Pervichnye mekhanizmy biologicheskogo
deistviya pronikayushchey radiatsii (Primary Mechanisms
of the Biological Action of Penetrating Radiation),
Meditsina Publishers, Leningrad, 1968.
Organic Semiconductors (Collection of Articles) edited
by A. V. Topchiev, USSR Academy of Sciences Publishing
House, Moscow, 1963.
Presman, A .S., Electromagnitnye polya i zhivaya priroda
(Electromagnetic Fields and Living Nature), Nauka
Publishers, Moscow, 1968.
Frenkel, Ya. I., Printsipy teorii atomnykh yader (Principles
of the Theory of Atomic Nuclei), USSR Academy o f Sciences
Publishing House, Moscow • Leningrad, 1955.
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