San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1889-05-15
DEATHS FROM FRIGHT.
AN INTERESTING QUESTION DIS
cUSSEo BY A PATAOLoGiST.

Leave No Marks--Mere Physical Strength
Does Not Cut Any Figure-In This Coun-
try Fright Alone Causes Few Deaths
Can a man or woman in ordinary good
health be killed by sudden fright just as by a
bullet, knife wound or falls
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 it has been impossible to diagnose one Of
these cases Fright, II 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 enables
the physicians to deter mine the cause.
But in the case Of death by fright there is
| no lesion on the brain nor is there any condi-
| ton Of the organs that definitely marks the
cause Of demise. Nevertheless a majority Of
| the best physicians agree that fright alone
| will cause death. DR.. William A. Ham,
mond, the specialist in nervous disorders.
holds this view and most of his colleagues
agree 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.
Inc pnySlcidn WHO SPOKE UlOSL Gil
the subject was Condlct W. Cutler, who has
charge of the New York dispensary, the old
est in New York city, and one in which some
l25, 200 patients are treated every year for
all manner of diseases. DR.. 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
,i,,tnt St,rb avt1.. lxy ro-
1T is a question that has been widely
stuG.ed 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 he set
down as a cause of death unaSsisted by any
| other"
But is there not usually some other COM
| plicationi some heart or nervous trouble or
some other organic weakness"
Not necessarily OF course in most cases
there is, but death might result from fright
| alone even if there existed no organic trou-
bles. Nor has the mere physical strength Of
| a man or woman much to 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 can
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
of steel, and who delight in the most difficult
| operations"
But how can it DO determined that a per-
SOL has died from fright alonef'
From general conditions" said the doctor
"Ot 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 of the shock upon that organ. Nor
| ara there any other marked conditions that
| enable one TO make satisfactory autopsy
| Ii fact have never been called upon to do
| 50, although have watched the discussion Of
| this question with interest. But to make it
| plain. it is agreed that where it is known that
u 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
| healthy condition, it would appear at once
that death was the result of fright. You
know alcoholism is put down as a cause of
| death. and yet it 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 is Q
cause of death" I
NERVOUSNESS CONTAGIOUS J
"But Is not death from fright very rare"
Extremely So" was the reply. ''As have
| said, | never had one come under my per-
| sonal observation, although l believe that
such deaths sometimes occur.
There are" continued DR.. Cutler, cases
where persons suffering from heart troubles
have had death fastened by some sudden
fright or shock, but even these cases are not
| common"
But is Tot insanity sometimes the result
Of frightg' q
Sometimes, but it is more frequently
caused by some other kind of severe shock.
But both causes produce but 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 pathologists generally are naturally
interested and concerned. If it be possible
to finally settle the question whether person
can be frightened to death or not something
important will have been done. 1t is a 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 "a
women are driven into Mysteries. But there
is not much fear Of death, even in such cases"
"You do not think fright alone is worth
considering very seriously as cause of death