St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-02-05
SUN-STROKE BY ELECTRICITY
The Great Electrical Furnace at
CreuzOt MOws Spectators Down

The Great Electrical Furnace at
CreuzOt MOws Spectators Down
Like the Sun.
In the Journal dies Debats M. Henri
de Parville gives an account of some
extraordinary medical observations in
electric sun-stroke collected at the ia
nous French foundry, Creuzot, says
the st. James Gazette.
Ordinary Sun-StrOke we all know.
But there is another kind of Sun-StrOke
lnfin tely more strange, yet scarcely
known, and that is the electric sun
stroke. Now, what is electric sun
stroke? Dr.. Defontaine, in his charac-
ter of head physician at Creuzot. has
been call upon to examine ISIS effects.
1t is already known that electricity is
employed in the form of an intense
focus foyer to smelt certain
minerals, and especially to melt and
solder metals. Thus metal placed in
the electric arc is fused, as if by magic.
Steel melts like butter in few seconds.
Now CreuZOt, where the progress of
science is followed step by step, has for
some time possessed its electric fur
mace. Steel is soldered directly by the
high temperature produced by cleo
tricty. The electric arc in which the
metal is placed is of marvellous radiance.
Its luminosity focus upon few square
inches exceeds 10000 Carcel lamps and
surpasses 100000 candles.
1t happens that spectators standing at
distance OF (Say) ten yards feel no
heat; but presently they become con-
sciouS of acute pain. Every odd" said
by-Stander, 81 feel no heat, but l have
a sense of being burnt, which recalls
the sun-stroke | had last summer"
Therefore he stood off, but not before
he had, in fact, experienced something
like second Sun-StrOke. 1t almost
hour or two persons witnessing
the experiments feel burning sensa-
ton, with more or less pain, in neck,
face and forehead, and their skin, at the
same time, assumes cOppery red tint.
1t is customary to protect spectators
eyes with blackened sunglaSSes; yet
their retina is affected to such an extent
that blindness SuperveneS in broad day
light for several minutes, and for nearly
an hour all objects are seen in deep
saffron color. Other symptoms
are headache and sleeplessness.
Afterward the skin of the face
gradually peels off in broad flakes, when
the complexion is left of fine brick
color. his we take to be the deScrIp-
ton of severe cases. In ordinary sun
stroke it is reasonable to attribute the
suns share to heat, if for no other rea1
son than that the solar heat is felt. But
here there is no sense of heightened
temperature. Nay, thermometer,
placed within five yards of the
arc which is melting steel
like butter, is hardly affected at all.sAll
the heat seems to remain concentrated I
and while at five yards distance the
thermometer hardly moves, by-standers
suffer stroke even at fourteen yards.
To what else can we appeal, therefore,
but to the light pure and simple? The
fact is interesting in many ways,
but it illustrates once more the
active part played by light in a
variety of biological phenomena. Itmay
be asked, is the skin affected by the
red and yellow rays of light. or is it not
rather to the chemical rays, the violet
and purple rays we should look? M. de
Parville inclineS to the latter hypothe-
sis. M. Defontaine is silent; but M. de
Parville thinks that by trying the alter
nate effects on the skin of the red and
yellow rays and the violet rays, respect
lively isolated, the problem may be capa-
BILE of easy solution.