On Wed, 2 Apr 2008 23:52:23 -0700 (PDT), MaxB
wrote:

On 3 Apr, 06:02, "Roger T." wrote:
Up to around 3000v DC off a local generator IIRC (thus the dimming of
the prison lights as seen in many films is a load of old cobblers).
There was a DC v AC competition involving the public killing of an
elephant in the early days of deciding the "best" way to fry people;
prior to that Thomas Edison "perfected" his AC system by killing
numerous cats and dogs in experiments :-
http://www.ccadp.org/electricchair.htm

The local SPCA used to electrocute animals. *Then they went to gassing, now
it's the needle.

When we lived next to a 750v 3rd rail line, in the days when you could
have an allotment on the bank, our cat used to wander on to the tracks
quite regularly until one day, we assume, his tail swished against the
rail. When we finally caught up with him, there was a horrible smell
of singed fur and a bald patch on his tail. He kept away from the
rails after that.

I always understood that AC killed by high voltages but threw you off
so you might survive, but DC killed with low voltages because you just
stuck there!

There's a lot of pub science involved. Whether you get thrown away or
hang on more likely depends on which muscles are affected and/or
whether being thrown away is actually the result of a reflex reaction
to a shock that might not actually be life-threatening. Either are
equally harmful from the POV of burns (which can be internal and
follow bones) caused by the passage of enough current through the body
distinct from any effect upon the heart's rhythm.