rr.ATii rr.02i fright. 399 



pain experienced in the extraction of a tootli, or the extirpa- 

 tion of a ^Ya^t or corn, as in some persons to produce syncope, 

 retching, or convulsions. Xor must the effect of mental 

 emotion he left out of account, as this is sometimes sufficient 

 of itself to cause death without any injury to the hody what- 

 ever. Many years ago the janitor of King's College, Aberdeen, 

 had rendered himself in some way obnoxious to the students, 

 and they determined to punish him. They accordingly pre- 

 pared a block and axe, which they conveyed to a lonely place, 

 and having dressed themselves in black, some of them prepared 

 to act as judges, and sent others of their company to bring him 

 before them. When he saw the preparations which had been 

 made he at first affected to treat the whole thing as a joke, 

 but was solemnly assured by the students that they meant it 

 in real earnest. They proceeded to try him, found him guilty, 

 and told him to prepare for immediate death, for they were 

 going to behead him then and there. The trembling janitor 

 looked all round in the vain hope of seeing some indication 

 that nothing was really meant, but stern looks everywhere 

 met him, and one of the students proceeded to blindfold him. 

 The x3oor man was made to kneel before the block, the execu- 

 tioner's axe was raised, but instead of tlie sharp edge a wet 

 towel was brought smartly down on the back of the culprit's 

 neck. This w^as all the students meant to do, and thinking that 

 they had now frightened the janitor sufficiently, they undid the 

 bandage which covered his eyes. To their astonishment and 

 horror they found that he was dead. 



Another case is related by Mr. Travers,* who saw a man 

 suffering from strangulated hernia expire suddenly on the table 

 during the steps preliminary to the operation wdiich, from the 

 state of the symptoms and of the bowel as ascertained by 

 examination after death, might be said to afford the fairest 

 prospect of relief. 



The cases of shock of which we have so far spoken are 



perhaps more likely to come under the notice of the surgeon 



than of the physician. The state of shock, or collapse as it is 



more frequently called in medical practice, occurs when the 



• Travers, ojp. cit., p. 23. 



