Chapter X.Of the violent Influence, or Strokes, of the Sun.Sect.152.This Appellation is applied to those Disorders, which arise from too violent an Influence of the Heat of the Sun, immediately upon the Head; and which in one Word may be termedInsolation.If we consider that Wood, Stone and Metals, when long exposed to the Sun, become very hot, and that even in temperate Climates, to such a Degree, that they can scarcely be touched without some Sensation of burning, we may easily conceive the Risk a Person undergoes, in having his Head exposed to the same Degree of Heat. The Blood-Vessels grow dry, the Blood itself becomes condensed or thickened, and a real Inflammation is formed, which has proved mortal in a very little Time. It was this Distemper, a Stroke of the Sun, which killedManassesthe Husband ofJudith. ‘For as he was among theLabourers who bound up the Sheafs in the Fields, the Heat struck upon his Head, and he was taken ill; he went to Bed and he died.’ The Signs which precede and attend this Disease are, being exposed in a Place where the Sun shines forth with great Force and Ardour; a violent Head-ach, attended with a very hot and extremely dry Skin: the Eyes are also dry and red, being neither able to remain open, nor yet to bear the Light; and sometimes there is a kind of continual and involuntary Motion in the Eyelid; while some Degree of Relief is perceivable from the Application of any cooling Liquor. It often happens that some cannot possibly sleep; and at other times they have a great Drowsiness, but attended with outrageous Wakenings: there is a very strong Fever; a great Faintness, and a total Disrelish and Loathing. Sometimes the Patient is very thirsty, and at other times not at all: and the Skin of his Face often looks as though it were burnt.§ 153. People may be affected with the Disease from this Cause, at two different Seasons of the Year; that is, either in the Spring, or during the very raging Heats; but their Events are very different. Country People and Labourers are but little liable to the former. They chiefly affect the Inhabitants of Cities, and delicate Persons, who have used very little Exercise in the Winter, and abound with superfluous Humours. If thus circumstanced they expose themselves to the Sun, as even in the Spring he attains aconsiderable Force; and, by the Course of Life they have led, their Humours are already much disposed to mount to the Head; while the Coolness of the Soil, especially when it has rained, prevents their Feet from being so easily warmed; the Power of the Sun acts upon their Head like a Blister, attracting a great Quantity of Humours to it. This produces excruciating Pains of the Head, frequently accompanied with quick and violent Shootings, and with Pain in the Eyes; notwithstanding this Degree of the Malady is seldom dangerous. Country People, and even such Inhabitants of Cities and Towns, as have not forbore to exercise themselves in Winter, have no Sort of Dread of these Strokes of the Sun, in the Spring of the Year. Its Summer Strokes are much more vehement and troublesome, and assault Labourers and Travellers, who are for a long Time exposed to the Fervour of it. Then it is that the Disease is aggravated to its highest Pitch, those who are thus struck often dying upon the Spot. In the hot Climates this Cause destroys many in the very Streets, and makes dreadful Havock among Armies on the March, and at Sieges. Some tragical Effects of it, on such Occasions, are seen even in the temperate Countries. After having marched a whole Day in the Sun, a Man shall fall into a Lethargy, and die within some Hours, with the Symptoms of raving Madness. I have seen a Tyler in a very hot Day, complaining to his Comrade of a violent Pain in his Head, which increased every Momentalmost; and at the very Instant when he purposed to retire out of the Sun, he sunk down dead, and fell down from the House he was slating. This same Cause produces very often in the Country some most dangerous Phrenzies, which are called there hot or burning Fevers. Every Year furnishes but too many of them.§ 154. The Vehemence of the Sun is still more dangerous to those, who venture to sleep exposed to it. Two Mowers who fell asleep on a Haycock, being wakened by some others, immediately on waking, staggered, and pronouncing a few incoherent unmeaning Words, died. When the Violence of Wine and that of the Sun are combined, they kill very suddenly: nor is there a single Year in which Peasants are not found dead on the Highroads; who being drunk endeavoured to lie down in some Corner, where they perished by an Apoplexy, from the Heat of the Sun and of strong Drink. Those of them who escape so speedy and premature a Death, are subject for the Remainder of their Lives, to chronical, or tedious Head-achs; and to suffer some little Disorder and Confusion in their Ideas. I have seen some Cases, when after violent Head-achs of some Days Continuance, the Disease has been transferred to the Eyelids, which continued a long Time red and distended, so that they could not be kept asunder or open. It has also been known, that some Persons have been struck by the Sun into aDeliriumor Raving, without a Fever, and without complaining of a Head-ach.Sometimes aGutta Serenahas been its Consequence; and it is very common to see People, whose long Continuance under the strong Light and Influence of the Sun, has made such an Impression upon the Eyes, as presents them with different Bodies flying about in the Air, which distract and confuse their Sight.A Man of forty two Years of Age, having been exposed for several Hours to the violent Heat of the Sun, with a very small Cap or Bonnet; and having past the following Night in the open Air, was attacked the next Day with a most severe Head-ach, a burning Fever, Reachings to vomit, great Anguish, and red and sparkling Eyes. Notwithstanding the best Assistance of several Physicians, he became phrenitic on the fifth Day, and died on the ninth. Suppurated Matter was discharged from his Mouth, one of his Nostrils, and his right Ear, a few Hours before his Death;upon Dissection a small Abscesswas found within the Skull; and the whole Brain, as well as all the Membranes inclosing it, were entirely corrupted.§ 155. In very young Children, who are not, or never should be, exposed for any long Time to such excessive Heat (and whom a slight Cause will often affect) this Malady discovers itself by a heavy deep Drowsiness, which lasts for several Days; also by incessant Ravings mingled with Rage and Terror, much the same as when they are affected with violent Fear: and sometimes by convulsive Twitchings; by Head-achs whichreturned at certain Periods, and continual Vomitings. I have seen Children, who, after a Stroke of the Sun, have been harrassed a long Time with a little Cough.§ 156. Old Men who often expose themselves imprudently to the Sun, are little apprized of all the Danger they incur by it. A certain Person, who purposely sunned himself for a considerable Time, in the clear Day of an intermitting tertian Fever, underwent the Assault of an Apoplexy, which carried him off the following Day. And even when the Disease may not be so speedy and violent, yet this Custom (of sunning in hot Weather) certainly disposes to an Apoplexy, and to Disorders of the Head. One of the slightest Effects of much solar Heat upon the Head is, to cause a Defluxion from the Brain, a Swelling of the Glands of the Neck, and a Dryness of the Eyes, which sometimes continues for a considerable Term after it.§ 157. The effect of too much culinary, or common Fire, is of the same Quality with that of the Sun. A Man who fell asleep with his Head directly opposite, and probably, very near to the Fire, went off in an Apoplexy, during his Nap.§ 158. The Action of too violent a Sun is not only pernicious, when it falls upon the Head; but it is also hurtful to other Parts; and those who continue long exposed to it, though their Heads should not be affected, experience violent Pains, a disagreeable Sensation of Heat, and a considerable Stiffness in the Parts that have been,in some Manner, parched by it; as in the Legs, the Knees, the Thighs, Reins and Arms; and sometimes they prove feverish.§ 159. In contemplating the Case of a Patient,Sun-struck, as we may term it, we must endeavour to distinguish, whether there may not be also some other joint Causes concurring to the Effect. A Traveller, a labouring Man, is often as much affected by the Fatigue of his Journey, or of his Labour, as he is by the Influence of solar Heat.§ 160. It is necessary to set about the Cure of this Disease, as soon as ever we are satisfied of its Existence: for such as might have been easily preserved by an early Application, are considerably endangered by a Neglect of it. The Method of treating this is very much the same, with that of the inflammatory Diseases already mentioned; that is, by Bleeding, and cooling Medicines of various Kinds in their Drinks, by Bathings, and by Glysters. And 1. If the Disease be very high and urgent, a large Quantity of Blood should be taken away, and occasionally repeated.Lewisthe XIV. was bled nine Times to prevent the Fatality of a Stroke of the Sun, which he receivedin Hunting in 1658.2. After Bleeding, the Patient's Legs should be plunged into warm Water. This is one of the Applications that affords the most speedy Relief; and I have seen the Head-ach go off and return again, in Proportion to the Repetition, and the Duration, of these Bathings of the Legs. When the Disorder is highly dangerous, it will benecessary to treat the Patient withSemicupia, or warm Baths, in which he may sit up to his Hips; and in the most dangerous Degrees of it, even to bathe the whole Body: but the Water in this Case, as well as in Bathings of the Feet, should be only sensibly warm: the Use of hot would be highly pernicious.3. Glysters made from a Decoction of any of the emollient Herbs are also very effectual.4. The Patient should drink plentifully of Almond EmulsionNº. 4; of Limonade, which is a Mixture of the Juice of Lemons and Water, (and is the best Drink in this Disease) of Water and Vinegar, which is a very good Substitute for Limonade; and of, what is still more efficacious, very clear Whey, with the Addition of a little Vinegar. These various Drinks may all be taken cold; Linen Cloths dipt in cold Water and Vinegar of Roses may be applied to the Forehead, the Temples, or all over the Head, which is equivalent to every other Application used upon such Occasions. Those which are the most cried up, are the Juice of Purslain, of Lettuce, of Houseleek, and of Vervain. The DrinkNº. 32is also serviceable, taken every Morning fasting.§ 161. Cold Baths have sometimes recovered Persons out of such violent Symptoms, from this Cause, as have been almost quite despaired of.A Man twenty Years of Age, having been a very long Time exposed to the scorching Sun, became violently delirious, without a Fever, and proved really mad. After repeated Bleedings,he was thrown into a cold Bath, which was also frequently repeated; pouring cold Water, at the same Time, upon his Head. With such Assistance he recovered, though very gradually.An Officer who had rode Post for several Days successively, in very hot Weather, swooned away, immediately on dismounting; from which he could not be recovered by the ordinary Assistance in such Cases. He was saved however, in Consequence of being plunged into a Bath of freezing Water. It should be observed however, that in these Cases the cold Bath should never be recurred to, without previous Bleeding.§ 162. It is past Doubt, that if a Person stands still in the violent Heat of the Sun, he is more liable to be struck with it, than if he walks about; and the Use of white Hats, or of some Folds of clean white Paper under a black one, may sensibly contribute to prevent any Injury from the considerable Heat of the Sun; though it is a very incompetent Defence against a violent Degree of it.The natural Constitution, or even that Constitution, which has been formed from long Custom and Habit, make a very great Difference between the Effects of solar Heat on different Persons. People insensibly accustom themselves to the Impressions of it, as they do to those of all the other Bodies and Elements, which are continually acting upon us; and by Degrees we arrive at a Power of sustaining his violent Heat with Impunity: just as others arrive at the Hardiness ofbearing the most rigid Colds, with very little Complaint or Inconvenience. The human Body is capable of supporting many more Violences and Extremes, than it commonly does. Its natural Force is scarcely ever ascertained among civilized Nations; because their Education generally tends to impair and lessen it, and always succeeds in this Respect. If we were inclined to consider a purely natural, a simply physical Man, we must look for him among savage Nations; where only we can discover what we are able to be, and to bear. We certainly could not fail of being Gainers, by adopting their corporal Education; neither does it seem as yet to have been infallibly demonstrated, that we should be great Losers in commuting our moral Education for theirs.39
Chapter X.Of the violent Influence, or Strokes, of the Sun.Sect.152.This Appellation is applied to those Disorders, which arise from too violent an Influence of the Heat of the Sun, immediately upon the Head; and which in one Word may be termedInsolation.If we consider that Wood, Stone and Metals, when long exposed to the Sun, become very hot, and that even in temperate Climates, to such a Degree, that they can scarcely be touched without some Sensation of burning, we may easily conceive the Risk a Person undergoes, in having his Head exposed to the same Degree of Heat. The Blood-Vessels grow dry, the Blood itself becomes condensed or thickened, and a real Inflammation is formed, which has proved mortal in a very little Time. It was this Distemper, a Stroke of the Sun, which killedManassesthe Husband ofJudith. ‘For as he was among theLabourers who bound up the Sheafs in the Fields, the Heat struck upon his Head, and he was taken ill; he went to Bed and he died.’ The Signs which precede and attend this Disease are, being exposed in a Place where the Sun shines forth with great Force and Ardour; a violent Head-ach, attended with a very hot and extremely dry Skin: the Eyes are also dry and red, being neither able to remain open, nor yet to bear the Light; and sometimes there is a kind of continual and involuntary Motion in the Eyelid; while some Degree of Relief is perceivable from the Application of any cooling Liquor. It often happens that some cannot possibly sleep; and at other times they have a great Drowsiness, but attended with outrageous Wakenings: there is a very strong Fever; a great Faintness, and a total Disrelish and Loathing. Sometimes the Patient is very thirsty, and at other times not at all: and the Skin of his Face often looks as though it were burnt.§ 153. People may be affected with the Disease from this Cause, at two different Seasons of the Year; that is, either in the Spring, or during the very raging Heats; but their Events are very different. Country People and Labourers are but little liable to the former. They chiefly affect the Inhabitants of Cities, and delicate Persons, who have used very little Exercise in the Winter, and abound with superfluous Humours. If thus circumstanced they expose themselves to the Sun, as even in the Spring he attains aconsiderable Force; and, by the Course of Life they have led, their Humours are already much disposed to mount to the Head; while the Coolness of the Soil, especially when it has rained, prevents their Feet from being so easily warmed; the Power of the Sun acts upon their Head like a Blister, attracting a great Quantity of Humours to it. This produces excruciating Pains of the Head, frequently accompanied with quick and violent Shootings, and with Pain in the Eyes; notwithstanding this Degree of the Malady is seldom dangerous. Country People, and even such Inhabitants of Cities and Towns, as have not forbore to exercise themselves in Winter, have no Sort of Dread of these Strokes of the Sun, in the Spring of the Year. Its Summer Strokes are much more vehement and troublesome, and assault Labourers and Travellers, who are for a long Time exposed to the Fervour of it. Then it is that the Disease is aggravated to its highest Pitch, those who are thus struck often dying upon the Spot. In the hot Climates this Cause destroys many in the very Streets, and makes dreadful Havock among Armies on the March, and at Sieges. Some tragical Effects of it, on such Occasions, are seen even in the temperate Countries. After having marched a whole Day in the Sun, a Man shall fall into a Lethargy, and die within some Hours, with the Symptoms of raving Madness. I have seen a Tyler in a very hot Day, complaining to his Comrade of a violent Pain in his Head, which increased every Momentalmost; and at the very Instant when he purposed to retire out of the Sun, he sunk down dead, and fell down from the House he was slating. This same Cause produces very often in the Country some most dangerous Phrenzies, which are called there hot or burning Fevers. Every Year furnishes but too many of them.§ 154. The Vehemence of the Sun is still more dangerous to those, who venture to sleep exposed to it. Two Mowers who fell asleep on a Haycock, being wakened by some others, immediately on waking, staggered, and pronouncing a few incoherent unmeaning Words, died. When the Violence of Wine and that of the Sun are combined, they kill very suddenly: nor is there a single Year in which Peasants are not found dead on the Highroads; who being drunk endeavoured to lie down in some Corner, where they perished by an Apoplexy, from the Heat of the Sun and of strong Drink. Those of them who escape so speedy and premature a Death, are subject for the Remainder of their Lives, to chronical, or tedious Head-achs; and to suffer some little Disorder and Confusion in their Ideas. I have seen some Cases, when after violent Head-achs of some Days Continuance, the Disease has been transferred to the Eyelids, which continued a long Time red and distended, so that they could not be kept asunder or open. It has also been known, that some Persons have been struck by the Sun into aDeliriumor Raving, without a Fever, and without complaining of a Head-ach.Sometimes aGutta Serenahas been its Consequence; and it is very common to see People, whose long Continuance under the strong Light and Influence of the Sun, has made such an Impression upon the Eyes, as presents them with different Bodies flying about in the Air, which distract and confuse their Sight.A Man of forty two Years of Age, having been exposed for several Hours to the violent Heat of the Sun, with a very small Cap or Bonnet; and having past the following Night in the open Air, was attacked the next Day with a most severe Head-ach, a burning Fever, Reachings to vomit, great Anguish, and red and sparkling Eyes. Notwithstanding the best Assistance of several Physicians, he became phrenitic on the fifth Day, and died on the ninth. Suppurated Matter was discharged from his Mouth, one of his Nostrils, and his right Ear, a few Hours before his Death;upon Dissection a small Abscesswas found within the Skull; and the whole Brain, as well as all the Membranes inclosing it, were entirely corrupted.§ 155. In very young Children, who are not, or never should be, exposed for any long Time to such excessive Heat (and whom a slight Cause will often affect) this Malady discovers itself by a heavy deep Drowsiness, which lasts for several Days; also by incessant Ravings mingled with Rage and Terror, much the same as when they are affected with violent Fear: and sometimes by convulsive Twitchings; by Head-achs whichreturned at certain Periods, and continual Vomitings. I have seen Children, who, after a Stroke of the Sun, have been harrassed a long Time with a little Cough.§ 156. Old Men who often expose themselves imprudently to the Sun, are little apprized of all the Danger they incur by it. A certain Person, who purposely sunned himself for a considerable Time, in the clear Day of an intermitting tertian Fever, underwent the Assault of an Apoplexy, which carried him off the following Day. And even when the Disease may not be so speedy and violent, yet this Custom (of sunning in hot Weather) certainly disposes to an Apoplexy, and to Disorders of the Head. One of the slightest Effects of much solar Heat upon the Head is, to cause a Defluxion from the Brain, a Swelling of the Glands of the Neck, and a Dryness of the Eyes, which sometimes continues for a considerable Term after it.§ 157. The effect of too much culinary, or common Fire, is of the same Quality with that of the Sun. A Man who fell asleep with his Head directly opposite, and probably, very near to the Fire, went off in an Apoplexy, during his Nap.§ 158. The Action of too violent a Sun is not only pernicious, when it falls upon the Head; but it is also hurtful to other Parts; and those who continue long exposed to it, though their Heads should not be affected, experience violent Pains, a disagreeable Sensation of Heat, and a considerable Stiffness in the Parts that have been,in some Manner, parched by it; as in the Legs, the Knees, the Thighs, Reins and Arms; and sometimes they prove feverish.§ 159. In contemplating the Case of a Patient,Sun-struck, as we may term it, we must endeavour to distinguish, whether there may not be also some other joint Causes concurring to the Effect. A Traveller, a labouring Man, is often as much affected by the Fatigue of his Journey, or of his Labour, as he is by the Influence of solar Heat.§ 160. It is necessary to set about the Cure of this Disease, as soon as ever we are satisfied of its Existence: for such as might have been easily preserved by an early Application, are considerably endangered by a Neglect of it. The Method of treating this is very much the same, with that of the inflammatory Diseases already mentioned; that is, by Bleeding, and cooling Medicines of various Kinds in their Drinks, by Bathings, and by Glysters. And 1. If the Disease be very high and urgent, a large Quantity of Blood should be taken away, and occasionally repeated.Lewisthe XIV. was bled nine Times to prevent the Fatality of a Stroke of the Sun, which he receivedin Hunting in 1658.2. After Bleeding, the Patient's Legs should be plunged into warm Water. This is one of the Applications that affords the most speedy Relief; and I have seen the Head-ach go off and return again, in Proportion to the Repetition, and the Duration, of these Bathings of the Legs. When the Disorder is highly dangerous, it will benecessary to treat the Patient withSemicupia, or warm Baths, in which he may sit up to his Hips; and in the most dangerous Degrees of it, even to bathe the whole Body: but the Water in this Case, as well as in Bathings of the Feet, should be only sensibly warm: the Use of hot would be highly pernicious.3. Glysters made from a Decoction of any of the emollient Herbs are also very effectual.4. The Patient should drink plentifully of Almond EmulsionNº. 4; of Limonade, which is a Mixture of the Juice of Lemons and Water, (and is the best Drink in this Disease) of Water and Vinegar, which is a very good Substitute for Limonade; and of, what is still more efficacious, very clear Whey, with the Addition of a little Vinegar. These various Drinks may all be taken cold; Linen Cloths dipt in cold Water and Vinegar of Roses may be applied to the Forehead, the Temples, or all over the Head, which is equivalent to every other Application used upon such Occasions. Those which are the most cried up, are the Juice of Purslain, of Lettuce, of Houseleek, and of Vervain. The DrinkNº. 32is also serviceable, taken every Morning fasting.§ 161. Cold Baths have sometimes recovered Persons out of such violent Symptoms, from this Cause, as have been almost quite despaired of.A Man twenty Years of Age, having been a very long Time exposed to the scorching Sun, became violently delirious, without a Fever, and proved really mad. After repeated Bleedings,he was thrown into a cold Bath, which was also frequently repeated; pouring cold Water, at the same Time, upon his Head. With such Assistance he recovered, though very gradually.An Officer who had rode Post for several Days successively, in very hot Weather, swooned away, immediately on dismounting; from which he could not be recovered by the ordinary Assistance in such Cases. He was saved however, in Consequence of being plunged into a Bath of freezing Water. It should be observed however, that in these Cases the cold Bath should never be recurred to, without previous Bleeding.§ 162. It is past Doubt, that if a Person stands still in the violent Heat of the Sun, he is more liable to be struck with it, than if he walks about; and the Use of white Hats, or of some Folds of clean white Paper under a black one, may sensibly contribute to prevent any Injury from the considerable Heat of the Sun; though it is a very incompetent Defence against a violent Degree of it.The natural Constitution, or even that Constitution, which has been formed from long Custom and Habit, make a very great Difference between the Effects of solar Heat on different Persons. People insensibly accustom themselves to the Impressions of it, as they do to those of all the other Bodies and Elements, which are continually acting upon us; and by Degrees we arrive at a Power of sustaining his violent Heat with Impunity: just as others arrive at the Hardiness ofbearing the most rigid Colds, with very little Complaint or Inconvenience. The human Body is capable of supporting many more Violences and Extremes, than it commonly does. Its natural Force is scarcely ever ascertained among civilized Nations; because their Education generally tends to impair and lessen it, and always succeeds in this Respect. If we were inclined to consider a purely natural, a simply physical Man, we must look for him among savage Nations; where only we can discover what we are able to be, and to bear. We certainly could not fail of being Gainers, by adopting their corporal Education; neither does it seem as yet to have been infallibly demonstrated, that we should be great Losers in commuting our moral Education for theirs.39
Of the violent Influence, or Strokes, of the Sun.
Sect.152.
Sect.152.
This Appellation is applied to those Disorders, which arise from too violent an Influence of the Heat of the Sun, immediately upon the Head; and which in one Word may be termedInsolation.
If we consider that Wood, Stone and Metals, when long exposed to the Sun, become very hot, and that even in temperate Climates, to such a Degree, that they can scarcely be touched without some Sensation of burning, we may easily conceive the Risk a Person undergoes, in having his Head exposed to the same Degree of Heat. The Blood-Vessels grow dry, the Blood itself becomes condensed or thickened, and a real Inflammation is formed, which has proved mortal in a very little Time. It was this Distemper, a Stroke of the Sun, which killedManassesthe Husband ofJudith. ‘For as he was among theLabourers who bound up the Sheafs in the Fields, the Heat struck upon his Head, and he was taken ill; he went to Bed and he died.’ The Signs which precede and attend this Disease are, being exposed in a Place where the Sun shines forth with great Force and Ardour; a violent Head-ach, attended with a very hot and extremely dry Skin: the Eyes are also dry and red, being neither able to remain open, nor yet to bear the Light; and sometimes there is a kind of continual and involuntary Motion in the Eyelid; while some Degree of Relief is perceivable from the Application of any cooling Liquor. It often happens that some cannot possibly sleep; and at other times they have a great Drowsiness, but attended with outrageous Wakenings: there is a very strong Fever; a great Faintness, and a total Disrelish and Loathing. Sometimes the Patient is very thirsty, and at other times not at all: and the Skin of his Face often looks as though it were burnt.
§ 153. People may be affected with the Disease from this Cause, at two different Seasons of the Year; that is, either in the Spring, or during the very raging Heats; but their Events are very different. Country People and Labourers are but little liable to the former. They chiefly affect the Inhabitants of Cities, and delicate Persons, who have used very little Exercise in the Winter, and abound with superfluous Humours. If thus circumstanced they expose themselves to the Sun, as even in the Spring he attains aconsiderable Force; and, by the Course of Life they have led, their Humours are already much disposed to mount to the Head; while the Coolness of the Soil, especially when it has rained, prevents their Feet from being so easily warmed; the Power of the Sun acts upon their Head like a Blister, attracting a great Quantity of Humours to it. This produces excruciating Pains of the Head, frequently accompanied with quick and violent Shootings, and with Pain in the Eyes; notwithstanding this Degree of the Malady is seldom dangerous. Country People, and even such Inhabitants of Cities and Towns, as have not forbore to exercise themselves in Winter, have no Sort of Dread of these Strokes of the Sun, in the Spring of the Year. Its Summer Strokes are much more vehement and troublesome, and assault Labourers and Travellers, who are for a long Time exposed to the Fervour of it. Then it is that the Disease is aggravated to its highest Pitch, those who are thus struck often dying upon the Spot. In the hot Climates this Cause destroys many in the very Streets, and makes dreadful Havock among Armies on the March, and at Sieges. Some tragical Effects of it, on such Occasions, are seen even in the temperate Countries. After having marched a whole Day in the Sun, a Man shall fall into a Lethargy, and die within some Hours, with the Symptoms of raving Madness. I have seen a Tyler in a very hot Day, complaining to his Comrade of a violent Pain in his Head, which increased every Momentalmost; and at the very Instant when he purposed to retire out of the Sun, he sunk down dead, and fell down from the House he was slating. This same Cause produces very often in the Country some most dangerous Phrenzies, which are called there hot or burning Fevers. Every Year furnishes but too many of them.
§ 154. The Vehemence of the Sun is still more dangerous to those, who venture to sleep exposed to it. Two Mowers who fell asleep on a Haycock, being wakened by some others, immediately on waking, staggered, and pronouncing a few incoherent unmeaning Words, died. When the Violence of Wine and that of the Sun are combined, they kill very suddenly: nor is there a single Year in which Peasants are not found dead on the Highroads; who being drunk endeavoured to lie down in some Corner, where they perished by an Apoplexy, from the Heat of the Sun and of strong Drink. Those of them who escape so speedy and premature a Death, are subject for the Remainder of their Lives, to chronical, or tedious Head-achs; and to suffer some little Disorder and Confusion in their Ideas. I have seen some Cases, when after violent Head-achs of some Days Continuance, the Disease has been transferred to the Eyelids, which continued a long Time red and distended, so that they could not be kept asunder or open. It has also been known, that some Persons have been struck by the Sun into aDeliriumor Raving, without a Fever, and without complaining of a Head-ach.Sometimes aGutta Serenahas been its Consequence; and it is very common to see People, whose long Continuance under the strong Light and Influence of the Sun, has made such an Impression upon the Eyes, as presents them with different Bodies flying about in the Air, which distract and confuse their Sight.
A Man of forty two Years of Age, having been exposed for several Hours to the violent Heat of the Sun, with a very small Cap or Bonnet; and having past the following Night in the open Air, was attacked the next Day with a most severe Head-ach, a burning Fever, Reachings to vomit, great Anguish, and red and sparkling Eyes. Notwithstanding the best Assistance of several Physicians, he became phrenitic on the fifth Day, and died on the ninth. Suppurated Matter was discharged from his Mouth, one of his Nostrils, and his right Ear, a few Hours before his Death;upon Dissection a small Abscesswas found within the Skull; and the whole Brain, as well as all the Membranes inclosing it, were entirely corrupted.
§ 155. In very young Children, who are not, or never should be, exposed for any long Time to such excessive Heat (and whom a slight Cause will often affect) this Malady discovers itself by a heavy deep Drowsiness, which lasts for several Days; also by incessant Ravings mingled with Rage and Terror, much the same as when they are affected with violent Fear: and sometimes by convulsive Twitchings; by Head-achs whichreturned at certain Periods, and continual Vomitings. I have seen Children, who, after a Stroke of the Sun, have been harrassed a long Time with a little Cough.
§ 156. Old Men who often expose themselves imprudently to the Sun, are little apprized of all the Danger they incur by it. A certain Person, who purposely sunned himself for a considerable Time, in the clear Day of an intermitting tertian Fever, underwent the Assault of an Apoplexy, which carried him off the following Day. And even when the Disease may not be so speedy and violent, yet this Custom (of sunning in hot Weather) certainly disposes to an Apoplexy, and to Disorders of the Head. One of the slightest Effects of much solar Heat upon the Head is, to cause a Defluxion from the Brain, a Swelling of the Glands of the Neck, and a Dryness of the Eyes, which sometimes continues for a considerable Term after it.
§ 157. The effect of too much culinary, or common Fire, is of the same Quality with that of the Sun. A Man who fell asleep with his Head directly opposite, and probably, very near to the Fire, went off in an Apoplexy, during his Nap.
§ 158. The Action of too violent a Sun is not only pernicious, when it falls upon the Head; but it is also hurtful to other Parts; and those who continue long exposed to it, though their Heads should not be affected, experience violent Pains, a disagreeable Sensation of Heat, and a considerable Stiffness in the Parts that have been,in some Manner, parched by it; as in the Legs, the Knees, the Thighs, Reins and Arms; and sometimes they prove feverish.
§ 159. In contemplating the Case of a Patient,Sun-struck, as we may term it, we must endeavour to distinguish, whether there may not be also some other joint Causes concurring to the Effect. A Traveller, a labouring Man, is often as much affected by the Fatigue of his Journey, or of his Labour, as he is by the Influence of solar Heat.
§ 160. It is necessary to set about the Cure of this Disease, as soon as ever we are satisfied of its Existence: for such as might have been easily preserved by an early Application, are considerably endangered by a Neglect of it. The Method of treating this is very much the same, with that of the inflammatory Diseases already mentioned; that is, by Bleeding, and cooling Medicines of various Kinds in their Drinks, by Bathings, and by Glysters. And 1. If the Disease be very high and urgent, a large Quantity of Blood should be taken away, and occasionally repeated.Lewisthe XIV. was bled nine Times to prevent the Fatality of a Stroke of the Sun, which he receivedin Hunting in 1658.
2. After Bleeding, the Patient's Legs should be plunged into warm Water. This is one of the Applications that affords the most speedy Relief; and I have seen the Head-ach go off and return again, in Proportion to the Repetition, and the Duration, of these Bathings of the Legs. When the Disorder is highly dangerous, it will benecessary to treat the Patient withSemicupia, or warm Baths, in which he may sit up to his Hips; and in the most dangerous Degrees of it, even to bathe the whole Body: but the Water in this Case, as well as in Bathings of the Feet, should be only sensibly warm: the Use of hot would be highly pernicious.
3. Glysters made from a Decoction of any of the emollient Herbs are also very effectual.
4. The Patient should drink plentifully of Almond EmulsionNº. 4; of Limonade, which is a Mixture of the Juice of Lemons and Water, (and is the best Drink in this Disease) of Water and Vinegar, which is a very good Substitute for Limonade; and of, what is still more efficacious, very clear Whey, with the Addition of a little Vinegar. These various Drinks may all be taken cold; Linen Cloths dipt in cold Water and Vinegar of Roses may be applied to the Forehead, the Temples, or all over the Head, which is equivalent to every other Application used upon such Occasions. Those which are the most cried up, are the Juice of Purslain, of Lettuce, of Houseleek, and of Vervain. The DrinkNº. 32is also serviceable, taken every Morning fasting.
§ 161. Cold Baths have sometimes recovered Persons out of such violent Symptoms, from this Cause, as have been almost quite despaired of.
A Man twenty Years of Age, having been a very long Time exposed to the scorching Sun, became violently delirious, without a Fever, and proved really mad. After repeated Bleedings,he was thrown into a cold Bath, which was also frequently repeated; pouring cold Water, at the same Time, upon his Head. With such Assistance he recovered, though very gradually.
An Officer who had rode Post for several Days successively, in very hot Weather, swooned away, immediately on dismounting; from which he could not be recovered by the ordinary Assistance in such Cases. He was saved however, in Consequence of being plunged into a Bath of freezing Water. It should be observed however, that in these Cases the cold Bath should never be recurred to, without previous Bleeding.
§ 162. It is past Doubt, that if a Person stands still in the violent Heat of the Sun, he is more liable to be struck with it, than if he walks about; and the Use of white Hats, or of some Folds of clean white Paper under a black one, may sensibly contribute to prevent any Injury from the considerable Heat of the Sun; though it is a very incompetent Defence against a violent Degree of it.
The natural Constitution, or even that Constitution, which has been formed from long Custom and Habit, make a very great Difference between the Effects of solar Heat on different Persons. People insensibly accustom themselves to the Impressions of it, as they do to those of all the other Bodies and Elements, which are continually acting upon us; and by Degrees we arrive at a Power of sustaining his violent Heat with Impunity: just as others arrive at the Hardiness ofbearing the most rigid Colds, with very little Complaint or Inconvenience. The human Body is capable of supporting many more Violences and Extremes, than it commonly does. Its natural Force is scarcely ever ascertained among civilized Nations; because their Education generally tends to impair and lessen it, and always succeeds in this Respect. If we were inclined to consider a purely natural, a simply physical Man, we must look for him among savage Nations; where only we can discover what we are able to be, and to bear. We certainly could not fail of being Gainers, by adopting their corporal Education; neither does it seem as yet to have been infallibly demonstrated, that we should be great Losers in commuting our moral Education for theirs.39