The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1872-07-04
sYmptoms of sunstrokn.

The symptoms Of sunstroke are at amer
uniform and diyerse-unilorm In theie
general outline, and diverse in their Is.
peclal details In the ordinary form
that which may be spoken OF as the cere-
bro-spinal variety-aiter more or less
warming, in the shape Of such Fremont.
tory symptoms as headache, dfsordered
vision, intense WEAKNESS, ETC., the subject
becomes unconscious, sometimes sudden.
ly, sometimes more gradually. The la
borer will fall senseless in the street; in
the hospital the comrades Of the sick
man will have their attention attracted by
his heavy breathing, only to find that
natural sleep has passed by insensible
degrees into fatal coma or stupor. With
this insensibility there is always associ.
ated intense heat Of. the skin. To the
hand the surface feels intensely hot; nor
Is tho sensation deceptive one-the heat
Of the body exceeds that attained In al
most any other affection. A thermometer
placed in the armpit, instead Of indicating
ninety.eight degrees Fahrenheit, the tenn
perature Of health, rises generally TO one
hundred and niue degrees, in some cases
even TO one hundred and thirteen degrees,
From the peculiar -pungenCy OF this heat
the technical term cqlor m0rddr, or biting
heat, has been appliedtoit. y
The surface may or may not betpale;
very often 1t is duSky, with llvid, blush
purple hue. The eyes arc sometimes wild
and restless, sometimes fixed and glaring,
sometimes dull with the leaden hue orap.
preaching death. The pupils at first are
generally contracted; in the latter stages
they are often widely dilated. With these
symptoms Of intense fever are others be.
tokening nervous disturbance. In some
cases those are Of the nature OF paralysis,
the patient lying apparently In the deepest
sleep, not a muscle moving, not a limb
raised, not an eyelid quivering. In other
cases this peaceful though deadly calm is
replaced by Wild tempest-raging de.
,lirium, wild screams as though Of in.
tensest agony or uncomfortable passion,
furious commissions following one another,
like the rapid discharge of galvanic bat.
terry, throwing the body in all directions,
twisting 1t into every conceivable shape,
the countenance hooking the derisive
laughter Of the maniac, or knotted into an
expression OF agony. In another and per.
haps more common class Of cases the IN.
conscious patient is simply restless, NUT.
tering incoherent words, tossing about on
the bed, showing, perhaps, also signs Of
local paralysis. There appears to be 10 GU
rious connection between this variety of
symptoms and the difference of races.
The Anglo-Saxon rarely becomes wildly
delirious, whilst this is the most common
symptom amongst the Latin nations.
Frenchmen thus attacked often become
melancholic, and develop an irresistible
tendency to suicide, 50 that soldiers on the
march will suddenly shoot themselves.
Whatever may be the form OF the at.
tack, generally as the minutes pass the
symptoms are intensified; the quick pulse
Of the first onset becomes more and more
feeble, the labored breathing noisy and
stertorious, the surface darker and darker
as respiration fails; and death at last is
brought about by asphyxia, and some.
times by the almost consentaneous fading
away ofrespiration and circulation.
The one great SYMPTOM, the centre OF
the group in all forms Of the disease, is the
high temperature. If the skin be cool the
case is not sunstroke, After death the
high temperature continues, and is said
sometimes to rise higher. Decomposition
follows with exceeding rapidity. On
post.mortem examination the only features
OF striking importance area condition
OF blood similar to that seen in low feyers,
q rigid, contracted state of the heart, in
which it feels like wood, and great ten.
dency toward the rapid but transient do.
velopment of that peculiar stiiening
which at some time after death takes
possession OF the muscular tissues.-Lip-
pEncOtES Magazine for july.