858 THE PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF LIGHTNING. 
results of some of his researches, and of his summary of the 
effects of lightning shock the following is an abstract. 1. 
Absence of evidence of action of the heart: though it must 
be remembered that the heart-beat might continue, although 
it could not be heard. 2. Absence of reflex action; in 
batrachia, however, this did not always indicate death. 3. 
Diminution of the animal temperature in the cavities of the 
body. 4. Absence of colour in the semitransparent struc¬ 
tures: this was not a reliable test. 5. General muscular 
risiditv was sufficient evidence of death: but not local or 
partial rigidity, unless it affected the muscles essential to 
life, as the respiratory. 6. Coagulation of blood in the veins 
was a sure sign of death. If, on opening the largest vein 
that could be reached, the blood wxre found coagulated, there 
was no hope of restoring respiration. 7. Decomposition 
was the final proof of actual death.— Marks of various kinds 
had been described as being left on bodies struck by light¬ 
ning ; and the accounts of some of these had been regarded 
as chimerical or exaggerated. These marks were : 1,burns; 
2, impressions of metallic substances; 3, ecchymoses; 4, 
supposed impressions of such objects as trees or fences; 3, 
loss of hair.— 1. Burns were more likely to be severe when 
life was not destroyed than when the shock was fatal; they 
varied in extent, from mere singeing to extensive cau¬ 
terization. Pins and other metallic articles of dress often 
led to severe local injuries—the parts injured being those 
lying between the metallic points.—2. Impressions of Me- 
tallic Substances.. The occurrence of these had been 
doubted by Faraday and others; but Dr. Richardson had 
found, by experiment, that tlie impressions of ornaments, 
&c., might be faintly struck on the surface of the body. 
The mark was a pure ecchymosis; and for its produc¬ 
tion, resistance on the opposite side was necessary. It 
w’as not a burn from heated metal; as, under favorable con¬ 
ditions, a simple electric spark would produce it.—3. EccJiy- 
moses were sometimes found; as was observed in the case of 
Professor Reichmann of St. Petersburg, who was killed by an 
electric discharge in 1733, while performing experiments.— 
4; Arborescent 7narJcs, wrongly supposed to be impressions of 
trees, &c., were sometimes found. They were in reality, as 
was pointed out a hundred and ten years ago by Beccaria, 
the outlines of the superficial veins of the body. Dr. 
Richardson had succeeded in bringing out the outline of the 
veins in the ear of a rabbit, by means of the discharge from a 
Leyden jar.—3. Loss of hair was observed in some cases wffiere 
the nervous system w'as affected.— Po 2 ndar Science Review. 
