He had met with several fatal
cases of apoplexy which had occurred in the theatres, or a few hours
after leaving them, and he had been led, with some success, as he
alleged, to investigate the cause. It appeared to him "that the strong
vivid light evolved from the numerous gas-lamps on the stage so
powerfully stimulated the brain through the medium of the optic
nerves, as to occasion a preternatural determination of blood to the
head, capable of producing headache or giddiness: and if the subject
should at the time laugh heartily, the additional influx of blood
which takes place, may rupture a vessel, the consequence of which will
be, from the effusion of blood within the substance of the brain, or
on its surface, fatal apoplexy." From inquiries he had made among his
professional brethren who had been many years in practice in the
Metropolis, it appeared to him that the votaries of the drama were by
no means so subject to apoplexy or nervous headache _before_ the
adoption of gas-lights. Some of his medical friends were of opinion
that the air of the theatre was very considerably deteriorated by the
combustion of gas, and that the consumption of oxygen, and the new
products, and the escape of hydrogen, occasioned congestion of the
vessels of the head.
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