Sudden accession of heat has already produced one fatal, and more than one severe, case of sunstroke

Scientific American, Vol. XXXVII.—No. 2. [New Series.], July 14, 1877 by Various, is part of the HackerNoon Books Series. You can jump to any chapter in this book here. Sunstroke.

Sunstroke.

The sudden accession of heat has already produced one fatal, and more than one severe, case of sunstroke in the metropolis. Probably the affection so designated is not the malady to which the term coup de soleil can be properly applied. The condition brought about is an exaggerated form of the disturbance occasioned by entering too suddenly the "hot" room of a Turkish bath. The skin does not immediately perform its function as an evaporating and therefore cooling surface, and an acute febrile state of the organism is established, with a disturbed balance of circulation, and more or less cerebral irritation as a prominent feature of the complaint. Death may suddenly occur at the outset of the complaint, as it has happened in a Turkish bath, where the subject labors under some predisposition to apoplexy, or has a weak or diseased heart. It should suffice to point out the danger and to explain, by way of warning, that although the degrees of heat registered by the thermometer, or the power of the sun's rays, do not seem to suggest especial caution, all sudden changes from a low to a high temperature are attended with danger to weak organisms. The avoidance of undue exercise—for example, persistent trotting or cantering up and down the Row—is an obvious precaution on days marked by a relatively, if not absolutely, high temperature. We direct attention to this matter because it is obvious the peculiar peril of overheating the body by exertion on the first burst of fine weather is not generally realized. It is forgotten that the increased temperature must be measured by the elevation which has recently taken place, not the number of degrees of heat at present recorded. The registered temperature may be more or less than that which occurred a year ago; but its immediate effects on the organism will be determined by the conditions which have preceded it and the violence of the change.—Lancet.

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