Up to this point we have assumed that, while touching two points in the
wire, the rest of the circuit is perfectly insulated, so that no current
can leak, in other words, that the circuit is nowhere "grounded." If
this is not the case we may, under suitable conditions, receive a
shock by touching only _one_ point of the wire. This becomes clear
by considering the current to leak from another spot of different
potential, to pass through the ground and into the body; thus, on
touching the wire the body virtually makes a connection between the
two points of the circuit. In clear dry weather such leaks are
insignificant; but in damp and rainy weather, and with poor insulation,
they may rise to such a point at which it would be dangerous to touch
the circuit even with one hand, the leaks being sometimes so great as
to cause the lamps to burn in a fitful, desultory manner, and to go out
entirely.
There is still another factor which enters into the discussion of the
danger of electric light wires. This must be looked for in the fact that
the physiological effects are greatest at the moment of the opening or
the closing of the circuit; or in a closed circuit they are the more
marked when the flow of current stops and starts, or diminishes and
increases.
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