Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-11-17

From the British Medical journal

From the British Medical journal
The serious effects of shock to the nervous
system especially by fright, are constantly wit
messed. the results being most commonly syn
cope and commissions. Death itself il. fortu-
natey, comparatively rare. 1t is reported in
the newspapers to have occurred at Brockiey
on March u. in the case OF girl about is years.
who was frightened to death by man dressed
as ghost. near the DpptOrd cemetery The
pathology of emotional death is Of great inter-
est, and varies in different cases. In some
instances fatal issue results from san
guineous apopleXy: in others, aud much
more frequently from shock to the heart.
Examples OF the former are recorded by
DR.. ID. Hack luke, in his ''influence of the
Mind Upon the Body" Thus woman at Brad
ford received fright from man throwing a
stone against her window. He had previously
threatened her. She soon afterward complained
of numbness. and rapidly became insensible.
There was right hemiplogia. She died in seven
hours. and. On post norton examination, a clot
OF blood was found in the left lateral ventricle
The cerebral vessels appeared to be healthy. In
the Weii-knOWn example of death from the
heart, which occurred in John Hunters own
case. we have an illustration of the cardiac
Class. The organ was extensively diseased. and
the left yentricle was strongly contracted
Other instances of death from emotion, in which
the stress had evidently fallen upon the heart,
and not upon the brain. are recorded in the col
to which we have referred.
In some cases. however, there was no ey-
dence Of disease of the heart or Of any organ of
the body, as might indeed be expected For
instance, man is reported to have died at
Twickenham after witnessing the death Of a
neghbOr. He made the remark, II have never
seen any one dead before, and hope l never
Shall again" There was a post norton exam-
nation made by Or. Ward but nothing was
found to account for death; both yentricles of
the heart contained only little fluid blood, the
organ itself being normal in size and healthy
There is no reason to doubt that in such instaI-
ces. fatal syncope may arise simply from the
action OF the heat being inhibited, whether By di-
rect eXcltatiOn of the vaguS. as maintained by
BrOwn-Sequard. OrOft the acceleratOrs OF the heart
in the first instance, followed by exhaustion, and
the unantagoniZed play of the former. Any
way. If the heart. as in Hunters case could be
strongly contracted on its cOnteuts and the
blood expelled. one efficient cause Of syncope
with fatal results is present Probably this was
the pathological explanation of this unfortunate
girls death, from the silly practical Jokes played
upon her. She arrived home after her fright in
the road by the Deptford cemetery. at Brocklev.
looking very ill and excited. She is said to have
taken off her waterproof, drawn a chair to the
table TO take supper. then fallen forward with
her head on the table. and died after a short
struggle Mr.. Hollis, the medical man who
was called in, made a post-mOrtem examination
and reported that all the organs were healthy.
but that the state of the heart, combined with
the fright, would account for DEATH