DEATH BY ELECTRICITY.

Death from lightning is well known to occur during thunderstorms in the summer time, and in tropical climates; but now that electricity is so largely in use for furnishing power and light, accidental deaths from this fluid are more than ever common.

In some of the States of the Union this agent is used for the purpose of execution of criminals. The post-mortem appearances in these cases are not particularly marked. There is usually, in death from electricity when used for mechanical purposes, a charring and burning of the parts of the skin which have come in contact with the wires conveying the fluid. An internal examination shows little beside a general fluid condition of the blood, and death in the majority of cases is due to shock or neuro-paralysis.

In a suburban town some years ago I was cognizant of the case of a young man who had just been acquitted on a charge of attempt to kill, and as he was retiring for the night and sitting on the edge of the bed, a bolt of lightning from a thunder-cloud struck the house. Directly afterward the young man was found dead. The bolt entered his room, making a small hole as if from a bullet, directly above his head, and the only mark upon his person was a small purple spot on the top of his head.

The apparent resemblance to the tree under which the deceased had been standing at the time of receiving a fatal shock of lightning found on the body is fancied rather than real, and is only due to the rapid coming on of putrefaction and the showing of the superficial veins.

A case occurring in the year 1892, which was examined by Dr. Stedman, has the following history: This man was an employee in the powerhouse of an electric-light company. He had occasion to leave his post of duty and walk across the room, when his foot slipped. He grasped an adjacent wire to save himself; the wire was heavily charged with electricity, and the man expired almost immediately. The autopsy showed a remarkable fluidity of the blood, and slight charring of the hand which had grasped the wire. Otherwise there was an entire absence of any pathological change to account for the death.

DEATH BY STARVATION.

Cases of death from starvation are comparatively rare in this country, aside from cases of atresia of the œsophagus and cases of so-called "baby farming," where the child is either insufficiently or improperly fed, and death results either from an absence of food or from inability of the child to assimilate the food with which it is provided.

In foreign countries, and in rare instances in America, cases have been reported where attempts at prolonged fasting for pecuniary gain have resulted fatally, or where persons have lain in apparent trance, or sleep, for such a long period that death has sometimes resulted. The cases of prolonged fasting where there has been no apparent diminution in the weight of the body are always tainted with suspicion, and the imposture has often been exposed.

In cases where death has occurred from starvation the post-mortem

examination should show a great diminution in weight, a dryness and shriveled condition of the skin, and the absence of fatty tissue in general. Especially the entire absence of omental fat. The separation of the skin from the muscles is attended with difficulty. The muscles themselves are much wasted, the stomach and intestines are generally found collapsed, contracted, and empty, and their mucous membrane is thin and almost transparent. According to Dr. Martin, the intestines in some cases are not only contracted, but shrunken in length as well as caliber, and appear like a mere cord, as if the canal were obliterated. The solid viscera are small, shrunken, and anæmic. The large blood-vessels are comparatively empty. The gall-bladder is generally full and there is a cadaveric exudation of bile; the urinary bladder, on the contrary, is generally empty.

As minor signs may be noted the sunken appearance of the face, the facies hippocratica, the open, staring eyes, generally with dilated pupils, the conjunctivæ sometimes red. The mouth, anus, and other outlets are red and inflamed-looking. Such fæces as are contained in the intestines are hard like bullets, and of dark color. Dr. Woodman has found the thymus gland unusually large and persistent in infants who have been badly fed. (Tidy, loc. cit.) This author cites a number of illustrative cases, which are of interest as showing how long life can be prolonged without food.

One is a case of a prisoner at Toulouse, who voluntarily starved himself to death. He lingered till the fifty-eighth day; he, however, did drink water and urine, and died after struggling hours in convulsions. The autopsy revealed unusual pallor of the brain, natural lungs, contraction of the esophagus, but not of the stomach, which contained a little fluid; reddening and softening and injection of the lower portions of the small intestines, distention of the gall-bladder with thick, black bile, and attenuation of the muscles.

In the case of Sarah Jacob, the "Welsh fasting girl," who died after a total abstinence from food for at least seven days, and who was believed to have been an impostor at the outset of her apparent fasting, but who continued the deception for the purpose of making money until death ensued from her being unable as formerly to obtain food surreptitiously, the post-mortem appearances were not so marked. They were these: the body was plump and well formed, with signs of incipient puberty. There was a layer of fat three fourths of an inch in thickness on the average beneath the skin of the chest and abdomen. The brain was healthy and firm, but the membranes were much injected. The thoracic viscera were healthy, but contained little blood. The stomach contained about three teaspoonfuls of dark gelatinous fluid having slight acid reaction. The small intestines were empty, but the colon and rectum contained about half a pound of fæces in a hard state. The gallbladder was distended and the urinary bladder was empty, and there was nothing else unusual noted.

In the cases of death from baby farming which I have seen, the appearances have corresponded very closely with the general signs as described by Tidy: great emaciation, absence of fatty tissue, fullness of the gall-bladder, and emptiness and contraction of the alimentary canal. The eyes were also sunken, open, and staring, though the condition of the pupils has been variable.