Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1868-05-08
Natural Causes of Death.

| From the commencement OF life to the
| moment of death there are mechanical and
| chemical changes constantly and uninter.
ruptedly going on in our bodies. For ex.
ample, we eat and drink for the express
purpose Of providing materials for repair.
ing the waste of matter resulting from the
working of the machinery. A soft, oily
fluid is poured into the joints to prevent
friction, just as oil is poured into an axle
box of a car wheel to prevent it from
wearing away the metal. Our bones are
all frequently renewed as wellas our flesh,
from infancy to age; but not in day or
an hour, Nature acts persistently, but ac-
complishes nothing by spasmodic efforts.
AS soon as a particle of lime which was
held in solution in food is placed in the
propriate vessels, and from thence con-
veyed into artery to be distributed to a
point where most needed in some bone.
There the little particle is deposited, and
becomes incorporated with the substance
of the hard structure where it was left. 1t
becomes vitaliZed in its new connection.
brick, is detached from the wall to give
place to new one. 1t is carried out OF
the body as useless matter, as its vitality
has been expended So particles are per-
petually changing places. This is vigorous
life and health SO long as this process is
regularly performed. s8ssz. 81
In the lapse of time the vital artisans,
such as the liver, spleen, kidneys, hearts,
stomach, ETC., are weary by years Of inces-
SAINT toll, and fail to act with that syste-
matte activity characteristic of younger
days. By this relaxing new particles are
not sent forward often enough, nor are the
efete ones removed quickly, and conse-
quently there is mechanical irregularity,
and chemical one ALSO Thus we wear
away, and finally die of old age. When
disease sets in, it is sudden clog of the
wheels, as it were. The vital action by
which life and consciousness is maintained
cannot be suspended but a moment at
| furthest, without the hazard of DEATH
When man is drowned the machine stops
| If however, certain measures are quickly
| adopted, provided respiration has been
suspended but few minutes, life may pos
sibly be recalled That is, the heart may
| be urged into contraction and the lungs
| once more commence filling and collaps-
| ing.
When there are no violations of the vital
laws great longevity is attainable. Few,
however, are so careful and discreet as not
to trespass upon themselves in some form,
the penalty of which is sickness, suffering
and premature death.
Whales, sharks, and some few of the
land animals whose food is invariably easy
Of digestion, and whose habits, regulated
by instinct, are Interchangeable as nature
herself, live to immense long periods. 1t
is the opinion of some naturalists that the
balaeaaa, or white whale of the Arctic re-
gions, may reach the patriarchal age of a
thousand years. Sharks whose skeletons
are not bones, but flexible cartilaginous
levers, are also supposed to continue
several centuries if not destroyed by enc.
mics Pa As es @EM
Notwithstanding the universal desire fo1
| life, which is Instructive we thoughtlessly
| hasten the approach of the very calamity
| we so much dread With all the light Of
| modern science, in an age, too, remarkable
| for intelligence, we pursue practices daily
which we know to he destructive to life
Each thinks himself removed from the
dangers which threaten others; and, act.
| ing upon the idea that all others are mortal
but ourselves, we at last fall, as generations
have before us, to be remembered no more
| forever. &&tsSSu ~ 3G lz
Youth may reach three score and ten by
simply conforming to those natural laws
which give health and happiness. A de-
Walton is perilous; hence it behooves
| those who love life to shun every inf1u
ence which might interfere with the enjoy
| ment of the most valuable of all blessings
"a sound body and a clear mind.-Har
pe1's Weekly. J5AGGst