Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-04-22
DEATHS FROM FRIGHT.
AN INTERESTING QUESTION Dis
CUSSED BY A PATHOLOGlST.

AN iNieHeS iNG QUGS ION DIS
CuSSeo BY A PATHOLoGiST.
Shocks Deadly Bullets, but Which
Leave No Marks-Mere Physical Strength
Does Not Cut Any Figure-In This Coun-
try Fright Alone Causes Few Deaths.
Can man or woman i'm ordinary good
health be killed by sudden fright just as by a
bullet, q knife wound or falll
The burden of opinion is on the side of the
theory that even the most hearty person can
die OF the shock caused by fright. 1t seems
that II has been impossible to diagnose one Of
these cases. Fright, if it causes death, leaves
no peculiar marks by which the character of
such an attack can be defined In most cases
of death there is some condition that enablfS
the physicians to deter mine the cause
But In the case of death by fright fbare 10
no lesion OH the brain nor is tbSse arv condi.
ton of the organs that defSitev MARKS the
cause OF demise. Neye-'.b.loss a mo ioritv ~
the best physciapg aoree that FRIGHT alone
mond pr Masam d A. Ham
this view and most of his colleagues
ISfee with him Visits made at a number Of
New York hospitals and dispensaries showed
that the physicians in these institutions
nearly all take the same ground.
DIFFICULTIES OF AN AUTOPSY
The physician who spoke most freely on
the subject was Condact W. Cutler, who has
charge of the New York dispensary, the old
est In New York city, and one in which some
i2o,OOO patients are treated every year for
all manner of diseases. DIR. Cutler is an ex-
pert in nervous disease and rrnks high among
pathologists. He is decidedly of the opinion
that persons In good health can die from sud
den fright, although, he says, that in his
opinion such cases are extremely rare.
1t Is a question that has been widely
studied and discussed, and one which has
been the subject of so much controversy In
medical journals. But a majority of ply
sicians now agree that fright may be set
down as q cause OF death unassisted by any
other
but Is there not usually some other COM
ptcationf some heart or nervous trouble or
some other organic weakness"
Mot necessarily. OF course in most cases
there Is, but death might result from fright
alone even II there existed no organic trou-
Dies. Nor has the mere physical strength of
q man or woman much 10 do with the mat
Ter. A small weak woman is frequently less
affected by these shocks than a strong man.
You see" continued the doctor, there Is
something peculiar in the make up Of a man
or woman. There are strong men who cam
not endure the sight of blood There are
men even in the medical and surgical profess
sions who never become reconciled to some
OF the more disagreeable tasks that they are
called upon to perform. Then again there
are others physically weak who have nerves
nfcf ux.l, III 49, lol.- Il
operations"
But how can it be determined that a per
son has died from fright aloneP
From general conditions, +" said the doctor.
''Of course there is no means OF defining the
cause OF death as in case of death by ordi-
nary causes. So far no LESSONS have been
found on the brain that would make clear the
action or the shock upon that organ. Nor
are there any other marked conditions that
enable one to make a satisfactory autopsy
In fact have never been called upon to do
30, although have watched the discussion of
this question with interest But to make it
plain. It Is agreed that where it is known that
a person has been subjected suddenly to a
severe shock, where it is subsequently, found
that the person had in life suffered from no
disease and where 1t is also found that at the
time OF death the organs were in a normally
that death was the result of fright You
know alcoholism Is put down as a cause Of
death, and yet 1t was but the other day that
prize was offered for any paper that would
establish the existence OF LESSONS on the brain
that would prove that alcoholism alone Ia q
cause Of death"
NERVOUSNESS CONTAGIOUS
But Is not death from fright very rareP'
Extremely So" was the reply. las have
said, / never had one come under nv per
sonal observation, although l believe that
such deaths sometimes occur.
There are,n continued DR.. Cutler, leases
whore persons suffering from heart troubles
have had death fastened by some sudden
fright or shock but even these cases are not
common"
''But is not insanity sometimes the result
Of frightr
Sometimes, but it Is more frequently
caused by some other kind Of severe shock.
But both causes produce but a small percent
age OF cases. Insanity, as "a rule, is caused
by drunken parents or Is inherited. On the
whole, this is an important question, and one
IN which Psychologists generally are naturally
interested and concerned II it be- possible
70 finally settle the question whether a person
can be frightened to death or not something
important will have been done 1t is q com
mon thing to say one has been frightened to
death, but there Is not much in the phrase
As . rule, fright, unless it be an extreme
case, does not affect healthy grown persons.
Children subjected to extreme fright are fire.
quently driven into commissions, Just as
women are driven into Mysteries. But there
s not much fear of death, even in such cases.
"You do not think fright alone is worth
considering very seriously us cause of death
In this countryFs
mo; but the human frame is queer ma
chine and anything that bears on any Of its
organs Is worth studying. The nervous sys-
tenn Is peculiar one. You may place a
strong man among lunatics and leave him
where he will come into constant contact
with them long enough and his mind will be-
come affected by his association with the in
sane.
1T has been noticed, too, that one child In
school, If afflicted with st. Vitus' dance, will
cause other children about him or her to be-
come affected to some extent One nervous
twitching person In a room where others are
sitting will cause others to become nervous
as we'll We are to a very great extent a
nervous people, and 1t Is necessary to study
every phase Of it. 1t is here that the i'm
portanco Of the question of death from fright
comes IN. New York Mail and Express
--
Saphir's Poser.
An Australian prince, who was also an
archbishop, swore horribly at a banquet
and perceiving that Saphir, the celebrated