Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 34, Number 86, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 June 1902 — HOW THEY DIE. [ARTICLE]

HOW THEY DIE.

When People Become the Victims of a Volcanic Ernption. An interesting question that arises in the medical mind, on reading the stories of the St. Pierre disaster, is as to the exact cause of death. The newspaper accounts suggest direct burning or overwhelming with the volcanic dust This material is commonly called ashes but It Is not correctly described by that word; it Is usually rocky matter finely divided by explosive action. A considerable proportion of the deaths might be due to suffocation by noxious gases. Among such would be carbon dioxide, commonly called carbonic acid, and sulphurous acid. The former is not actively poisonous, and would not be the cause of death unless present in considerable proportion, but the latter gas is highly irrespirable, and even a small proportion will render air so irritating that suffocation must ensue. We have but meager reports from those who have been near enough to great volcanic eruptions to appreciate the actual conditions. One of the most famous eruptions In history, that of Mount Vesuvius In A. D. 79, has been described by the younger Pliny from notes left by his uncle, who lost his life In an effort to rescue a friend. The narrator states that the death of the elder Pliny was due to fumes of sulphur. Even making allowance. for the Imperfect identification of chemical substances at that early period, we may safely assume that by such an expression sulphurous acid was Indicated, since this gas was undoubtedly familiar; indeed,* It Is mentioned In the Odyssey as a disinfectant The Roman writer further adds that the body was untouched by fire. In some of the reports from Martinique specific mention is made of the same suffocating influences. The steamship Roddam escaped through a shower of hot fragments and lost some of her crew by the Inhalation of sulphpric gases. It may be well to note that when disasters by fire occur In closed spaces suffocation by carbon monoxide and smoke is likely to occur. In this way persons In the gallery of a theater may be killed without direct injury by fire or by falling timbers. It is probable that Instances of this kind have given rise to the notion of death by “swallowing fire,” vn widespread popular belief.—Philadelphia Medical Journal.