Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-08-23


carried to her home for preparations for
"A the grave. Fortunately agtgupts wara
made 10 restore her 90 life. and. after
: several houzs Of unweRried labor. thew
were successful, and the little child 10 =
snort lime was as full Of life and aniuna-
tloE as she bad ever been. Now. what
would have been her fate had not kind
friends intsrpOsed and restored SUSPENDED
animation We cannot sag with GER
tallty, but il IS more than probable that.
siter short tfme-perhaps after she had
oeen lRf0 In her.e0ffin, sealed I'D forever
ron Lhe Torid-nature would have re-
sum ga aer functions, and the little glrl
J would have awakened only 10 undergo
the unendHrabfe oppression of the lTI15s-
tne rigid enbrsce Of the narrow hoUse.
I tne 9iacknsss Of night, and the unseen
death. l4sl''- "
! Now, II life Is suspended Ia case Of
! drowning, Why may It not happen when
other causes produce death, or what h
Laksn Tor Il May it not be that the
Vltat power, though not diseernible, fs
not extinct, when is sppears 10 those
wno surround the death bed that the
signs Of life have departed ?
Y Inc two diseases which most nearly
simulate death are ezseieosy and tha
srata OF trance or prolonged syucope. In
tne nrst Of these diseases, death Is not 40
perfectly eounterfeited as in the last.
me parent II quote from good author
teyl Hes immOvaDle and apparently IN
conscious; the limits are rigid and cold.
the eyes are fixed, sometimes remaining
open, and the jaw sometimes droDs. Bue
the resemblance Of death goes no fur
ther. The body and head retsin their
usual warmth; the pulse and breathing
can always De noticed IL particular at
tentiCn 10 paid to them.
The latter disease - the ea1se of uaucb
more error, because 10 more closely re-
sembles death and its cOnsequenees Fba
D2lent Is mOtlOnIsss, and apparently uD-
co1Rciousi although he is usually aware
OF what II passing sroUad him. The
p1isztlOn OF the heart and arteries. and
the breathing, gradually diminish in
fOFee and frequency, until thew bsccu1a
at last quite impercepti5Ie the whole
surface OF the body grows cold. and all
THIS may last for many days. How The
writer asks from whom I Quotel Is one
Ia such q condition known nOs to Do
dead?
There are various wsvs known In mad
iesl men by which the dead body can Be
distinguished from the Lying person-by
ascuItstion, by microscope exannips-
tions OF the blood, and by what Is called
dynamoscOns, that is, the buzzing.
ummlng noise which is heard all over
tne oody OF the living all these meth
oOs nave In some cases proved fallaeiOus.
the last named, which has
been proposed il cases Of cataiepsy sud
synceps.
Now, there is one test which never
fails, which is alike significant 10 the
eye, ss well as 20 medical sci
-
IaI or deceive. I5 Is invariably certain.
That test is pUtrefaetiOn or moStifeatfoD
q the system. When this is Observable.
.here Is no longer room to doubt and it
Is question which concerns every living
human being whether, in ali eases.
'lgns OF decomposition should not Dc
before the remains are con-
iigned to the tomb; or, which il the
.ame thing, before the undertaksF screws
ioWn the coffin lid. The writer OF this
irticie ls eoiyuizsnt Of two instances
Fhere the remains were, within a few
lours' aLter slgas OF life disappeared, en-
Ase0 Ia 2 couoie eotfiu for EFansporta-
ron 70 the place Of Observation-Disclosures
hundreds Of miles fr0m the place OF
-eath. Happily, both for the survivors,
nc the dead, the cOffius were opened. AZ
ne place OF bG-ial, and no signs Of pre-
nature . embrace OF the narrow hCuse -
Fere visible.
Great cadtiOn should be observed in
his regard snd the writer OF this artj-
ie, who may meet his death in some
1eaLiy distant from ais plses OF inter-
1ent, most devoutIy prsys that it nav
OF Dc ais late TO WAke up ia his coffin to
ad the eiinging OF the death gar
lents" about him, the " blackness OF
osoiute night, and q silence like q sea
lat OverWhelasD