The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1869-09-07
Restoration Of Persons Apparently
Dead From Drowning

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE TREATMENT.
AS we promised, we herewith give the
philosophy of the method prescribed by
Dr. Benjamin Howard, published in our
last issue i Scientific American.
Death from drowing is caused not be
cause of the presence of water, as such,
but because of the absence Of fresh air
from the chest
Whether excluded by water, as in
drowning; By cord closing the wind
pipe, as in hanging; by dense smoke,
as in burning building by foul gas,
as in an old we'll, or from escape of orr
dinary burning gas into close room
whether by burying the face in soft
pillow, Or by a piece of tough meat
lodged in the throat, corking up the en-
trance to the windpipe-in all cases the
immediate cause of the death is one and
the same.
The breath IS the life. Let it be shut
out from the chest, or anything else be
entirely substituted for it. and sufocation
at once begins, and this continued al
ways ends in death.
To avert death, then, and re awaken
life in all these cases, you must not be
gin by giving a little stimulus, or some
thing reviving,' as it is called not by
applying hot blankets, or putting the
patient into nice, warm bed. The first
ia, TO
give breath until the patient is sufficient
ly recovered to lie able to take breath
for himself. This alone can start life
again, and maintain it in action. If the
draft and door of u stove is long kept
tightly closed, the fire dies away to an
interior spark. If in this condition you
begin to put in more coal, your distur-
banee is very likely to completely ex-
tin guish the remaining spark
To apply heat in any form TO the out
side around the stove would be simply
absurd and ridiculous. If, on the con
trary, you should open the draft, rake
away the ashes and dead Goals from the
moath of the draft up TO the interior
spark, open the damper and set IA cur
rent Of air in motion through the stove,
or, in great emergency, add few gen
tie steady puffs from the bellows, you
would be adopting what all experience
proves to be the most sensible and on
ly successful way to rekindle your fire
to brightness and warmth.
The relation of fresh air to tue burn
ing Of fire is precisely what it is TO the
revi>ing and continuance of life. There
fore, if the friction, the breeze, and the
| slap upon the nerves of the stomach, as
directed in Rule 1, fail to startle and re-
vive the patient, then it is necessary to
see at once that the track from the
mouth to the chest is clear, so that the
passage Of air to the chest be not OBJ
structed.
BY following the directions of Rule 2,
! fluids accumulated in the stomach, chest
or throat, are removed. The stomach,
at greater elevation than any other
part Of the track is pressed between the
roll of clothing and the spine, whence
water OF Olifer ACCOMMODATIONS nave a
complete drainage down to and out Of
the mouth, which is the lowest point.
The next step is to induce air to enter
the chest by what is called artificial
breathing or respiration Rule 5 pre-
vents the tongue tumbling back into the
throat, to choke it up as by piece of
dead meat, and provides for It's tip be-
ing kept out and to one side of the
mouth. Also by keeping the arms well
stretched back, helps to keep the chest
somewhat expanded.
The actual breathing is effected by
the directions in Rule 4 In order to
understand this, it must be remembered
| that the chest containing the elastic
lungs is an open work, ribbed, bony
box, which above the bottom of the
breast bone is scarcely movable, ex-
cept by ones own will, the ribs being
fasten ed both in front to the breast bone
and behind to the spine. The ribs be-
low the breast bone-known as the short
ribs are fastened only behind to the
spine they are very elastic and loose
and thus are called the floating ribs.
It is this that enables any foolish wo-