DescriptionElectrice sideshow act 1914 - lighting candle with fingers.jpg
English: "Electrice - The Girl Who Defies Electricity", a carnival sideshow performer in 1914 who passed high voltage electricity through her body. Here she is lighting a candle with sparks (a brush discharge) shooting from her fingers. The high voltage comes from a Tesla coil visible behind her, connected to the electric chair(right) which she is touching with her left hand. The Tesla coil produces very high voltage; up to several hundred thousand volts, so it can create sparks of several inches, but has very low amperage, and because it is alternating current with a high frequency (in the radio range, 100 kHz to 2 MHz) it does not cause the sensation of electric shock. Although it didn't give her a shock, the sparks could give her skin burns and the act was somewhat uncomfortable, sometimes she would wear copper thimbles on the end of her fingers. It was also very dangerous and could kill her if the coil was misadjusted. Today passing Tesla currents though the body like this, painful or not, is considered extremely hazardous, so DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME.
Caption: Lighting a candle from the finger tips
Alterations to image: skewed image slightly to counteract warping due to curved page when the picture was scanned.
This file depicts potentially dangerous activities. Wikimedia Commons is not responsible for any consequence resulting from the use of its files; see Commons:General disclaimer for more information.
This media file is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1929, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.
This image might not be in the public domain outside of the United States; this especially applies in the countries and areas that do not apply the rule of the shorter term for US works, such as Canada, Mainland China (not Hong Kong or Macao), Germany, Mexico, and Switzerland. The creator and year of publication are essential information and must be provided. See Wikipedia:Public domain and Wikipedia:Copyrights for more details.
Captions
Carnival performer lighting candle with fingertips