Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1870-11-10
Sleep, Painting, Apoplexy

pulse beats and his lungs play,
but he is without sense, and you
can easily wake him up.
If a person ''faints,' he too
is without sense, but he has no
pulse and does not breathe.
Apoplexy is between the two;
the heart beats, the lungs play
as in sleep, and there is no sense
as in fainting, but you can't
shake the man back to life.
In sleep the face is natural.
In fainting fit, it has the
pallor of death.
In apoplexy, it is swollen,
turgid, and fairly livid.
If a man is asleep let him
alone, nature will wake him up
as soon as he has got sleep
enough.
When person faints, all that
is needed is to lay him down
fiat on the floor and he will
"come to" in double quick time.
He tainted because the heart
missed a beat, failed for only
once to send the proper amount
of blood to the brain. If you
place the patient in a horizon
tai position, lay him on his back,
it does not require much force
Of the heart to send the blood on
a level to the head; but if you
set a man up, the blood has to
be shot upward to the head, and
this requires much more force !;
yet in nine cases out Of ten if a
person faints and falls to the
floor, the first thing done is run
to him and set him up, or place
him on chair. .r.
In apoplexy, as there is too
much blood in the head, every
one can see that the best posi-
ton is to set manup, and the
blood naturally tends downward
as much so as water will come
out of a bottle when turned up
side down, if the cork is out.
If, then, a man is asleep, let
him alone, for the face is natural.
If a man has tainted lay him
fiat on his back, for his face is
deathly pale.
If a man is apoplectic, set
him in a chair, because the face
is turgid, swollen, livid, with its
excess of blood.
What is apoplexy? From
the suddenness of the attack
and the apparent Consciousness
of it, the Greeks connected it
in their own minds with the
idea of a stroke of lightning
as coming from the Almighty
hand ; it literally means, ga
stroke from above" As in
stantaneous assthe hurting of a
thunderbolt in a clear sky, there
| comes q loss, of sense. and feel
ing, and thought and motion ;
the heart beats, the lungs play,
but that is all, and soon they
cease forever. The Romans
considered the person to be
thunder struck" or "planet
struck :" as if it were Of an
unearthly origin.
The essential nature Of apo
/ plexy is an unnatural amount
of blood in the brain; whatever
sends too much blood to the
brain, may cause apoplexy
that is the kind of apoplexy
which seems to come without
any apparent adequate cause.
Tying a cord tightly around the
neck, or holding the head down.
wards too long can bring on an
attack Of apoplexy, by dam
ming up the blood in the brain,
and keeping it from returning
to the body.
a sudden mental emotion
can send too much blood to the
brain; or too great mental ex-
element does the same thing.
1t is the essential nature of all
wines and spirits to send an in
creased amount of blood to the
brain hence alcohol is said to
stimulate the brain.
The first effect of taking a
glass of wine or stronger form
Of alcohol, is to send the blood
there faster than common, hence
it quickens the circulation !;
that gives the red face it in
creases the activity of the brain,
and it works faster, and so does
the tongue. But as the blood
goes to the brain faster than
common, it returns faster and
no permanent harm results
But suppose a man keeps on
drinking, the blood is sent to the
brain so much faster, in such
large quantities, that in order to