The organ of the temperance reform. (Cincinnati, O. [Ohio]) 1852-1853, 1852-08-20
NUMBER 81.
FRAME

| To carry out the inevitable decree that "alI
| must die, the Creator has ordained that be-
sides the casual accidents by which human
life may be suddenly arrested, certain agents
of slow decay should begin to operate from
the time man arrives at maturity, to that when
he returns to the dust whence he arose. This
slow but never -ceasng process is best exem-
plified in those individuals who are said to
''die with old age" that is to say, in persons
who yield up the breath Of life without eX-
hibiting the smallest outward sigl OF disease
or disoTganization. In contemplating race
of this kind, it may be naturally asked, "What
is the process by which nature provides for the
gradual extinction of life with us, when con-
stitution naturally sound, which eighty re-
turning suns have found and left in the en-
joyment of health, at length approaches its
natural close2' The answer is, that nature
effects her object by process OF hardening
the materials and vessels Of the human frame.
In childhood, even the bones are softer than in
maturity; and arc thus, by wise ordination
of nature less liable, from their elasticity, to
be broken when exposed to the accidents dur
ing the incautiOus years Of childhood. In
maturity they are of Just sufficient consisten-
cy to obey the impulses Of a manly spirit
with promptitude and vigor. From that per-
iod-during the descent Of the hill OF life
the hardening process continues while, how.
ever, the caution increases, and balance OF
chances against accidents is nicely kept up
In old age the bones become crisp and dry,
from the continued hardening by which nature
effects her allotted work Of decay.
1t is not alone, however, by the hardening
of the bones, neither is it by their immediate
deterioration, that life ceases it is by the har-
dening of the finest Of the apparatus for cir
culating the blood, to which plianey IS essen
tial The muscles may and do stiffeu, the
nerves also lessen in sensibility, with no other
bad result than local inconvenience; but the
arteries to perform their functions with proper
effect must be sufficiently pliable to adapt
themselves to the varying rapidity and mo-
| mentum Of circulation, which are the neces-
sary consequences Of exercise, Of mental emo
ton, or the satisfAeti0n OF our Oppetites 1t IS
| plain, therefore, that as these vessels harden,
they fulfil their offices less and less efficient
| ly; till one of them, whose functions arc Of a
| vital nature refuses its office, and the work
| ings of the human machine are stopped
| This most frequently happens to the finest aud
most exquisitely organized of our arteries
those of the brain, though it often takes a
long course of years for hardening or ossify-
ing process to reach them The decaying
inroads usually commence in the aOrta, or
large artery issuing from the heart and its
three earliest branches AS life advances, this
Ossifying process ereeps into the remotest
branches OF the arterial system, and when it
arrives at the vessels of the brain, it produces
is contray to popular opinion, the most perfect
ly natural Of all modes OF decay.
How splendid picture does this present of
the unbOunded love and tenderness OF the Gre
ator toward his creatures The body must per-
ish; but in the truly normal mode of decay,
death is effected by a process which, in one
instant, destroys all sensation and all con-
seriousness? Nor is this always premature
mode of departure from the world; in some
cases the lamp of life is not suddenly eXtin-
guished. 1t burns down to the socket, and in
the most wonderful manner extinguishes itself.
As an illustration of this DIR. Gregory men,
tions the following case:
A lady at Bath-a relation Of my own-One
of a family remarkable for longevity, had
reached the age of eighty nine; weak in body,
but perfect in possession OF all her faculties
On May q, 1884, Just six weeks ago, she was
sitting ona sofa, talking to nurse who called
to visit her, in the enjoyment Of her usual
health, when suddenly she bent forward with
ont groan or sigh. From that moment con-
sciousness and sensation ceased. She was
| bled and and leeehed, and all the appliances
| Of human skill were ably directed, but she
| never revived. "'The body writes my fair
| correspondent, remains motionless, No food
| is taken. The lungs act; the pulse beats; and
the ebody; am told, is living on itself. For
seven long days has this lasted. We feel that
our relative has been dead for a week. We
have her body, it is true, but it is only her
body that remains with us-warm instead OF
cold.
| it proves that the decay Of the frame, and the
| ultimate extinction Of life, are regulated by the
same consummate skill as that which presides
| at the birth, and which mOulds into symme-
| try the growth of the body.
Other modes of death there are, like ape
pIexy, referable to the hardening process
| tI,oeo Ia cd he mos
frequent, palsy, aneurism, angina Pectoris, and
| dropsy. Palsy is only minor degree Of apo
| plexy. In angina pectoris the process Of
| decay is slow, and accompanied with severe
suffering. The heart is slowly being convert
ed into bone. As if to make amends, nature
has ordained that the extinction of life here
should be instantaneous and painless The
deposit of osseous matter in the interior Of the
heart, especially about the valves Of the aOrta,
| is an exceedingly common mode Of natural
| decay. The immediate effect of it is to pre-
| vent that free aud equitable distribution of
blood which lis essential to health and life,
| and ultimately to bring on dropsy, Dropsy,
| therefore, is another Of the modes OF natural
decay.
A second provision Of nature for the extinc-
tion Of life, is to extend the hardening process
! tothe organ Of respiration. Air being as neces-
saFy to mans life as the blood OF nervous
| influence, is sometimes interrupted in its pas
sage along the vessels for receiving and dis
tributing it through the lungs, but in this
mode Of decay the structures do not simply
harden, but take on certain diseased action,
which set up acute inflammation, producing
bronchitis, thus putting an end to existence BY
shutting the air from access 20 the lungs. But
| when nature-generally so indulgent--fails
to set up the bronchial inflammation death is
effected BY means ofexhanstion, the senses re.
manning entire, and even the breathing vessels,
to all outward appearances, unimpaired; the
active cause being fluid effusiOn from some Of
them, which hardly affects respiration, bul
exhausts the system Of blood, til the last drup
in the body has been used up.
Warksd nocl.et- ho05l.rcL;of. 40 doo,,.;