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Show COME CAUSES FOR DROWNING. Fainting and Swallowing? Water Frequently RespoiiNlltle for Death. When a good swimmer, as so often happens, dives into deep water and is never seen again, his death is always ascribed to "cramps," says the London Mail. This view is, however, no longer accepted by careful observers. Cramp is a frequent cause, no doubt, but by no means the only one. Syncope, or fainting, for instance, is answerable for many deaths. Many people who have been splendid swimmers, but who have taken no violent exercise for a year or two, plunge in after a fatiguingwalk, and their heart simply fails to come up to the scratch; they faint and down they go. It should never be forgotten that the coolness of the water throws an immense sudden strain upon the heart, and that, if there is anything like a flaw in that organ, it is pretty sure to break down. Another cause of a large number of drowning accidents Is the entrance of water spray into the lungs. Vru are Fwimming In a choppy sea rninst the wind. Suddenly a wave breaks in your face, and the wind blows the spray down your throat. The result re-sult is a terrible convulsive effort of the hm;:s to eject the water, and instant unronseiousness. You go down, and people ascribe your loss to the one and only "cramp. |