If the electric circuit be interrupted, the electric matter, during the discharge, will pass to any other body that lies near its path, and instantly return. This may be called the lateral explosion. The effect of this lateral explosion through a brass chain, when the quantity of electricity is very great, will be the discolouring and partial burning of the paper on which it lies.
If a great quantity of electricity be accumulated, as in a battery, the explosion will pass over the surfaces of imperfect conductors without entering them, and the effect will be a strong concussion of the substance. Also the electric matter thus accumulated and condensed will, by its repulsion, form concentric circles, which will appear by melting the surface of a flat piece of metal on which the explosion is received.
If an electric shock, or strong spark, be made to pass through, or over, the belly of a muscle, it forces it to contract, as in a convulsion.
If a strong shock be sent through a small animal body, it will often deprive it instantly of life.
When the electric shock is very strong, it will give polarity to magnetic needles, and sometimes it reverses their poles.
Great shocks, by which animals are killed, are said to hasten putrefaction.
Electricity and lightning are in all respects the same thing; since every effect of lightning may be imitated by electricity, and every experiment in electricity may be made with lightning, brought down from the clouds by means of insulated pointed rods of metal.