The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-23

They speak of delightful visions, beautiful
phantasms, and musical murmurng Sounds
and these fascinations are the last Of
their recollections, until the rough methods
of restoring consciousness remind them
of the fact that they are still in a world
of trouble Now, who can pretend that they
have not experienced all that is to be met
with in the act of dying? 1t is not only i'm
probable, but impossible, that 1t should be
otherwise. That stage of semi-consciousness,
Of loss Of sensation, OF dreamy review, oi
beautiful visions, results from certain con-
dition of the brain--a congestion, perhaps
which always occurs, and must occur, IN cases
in which oxygen is not supplied to the lungs;
and therefore, in every case of death bysuffoca-
tion. in whatever form. As the cause continues
and increases IN intensity, so must the effect
As the air is more and more entirely ex-
cluded from the lungs, so must the loss
of sensation and consciousness become
more and more complete, until both are
gone; and they can never return so long
as the cause of their removal remains at
work.
Such, then, are not the pains, but the plea
sures, of dying. The pain, we assume to be
preliminary to death, and mostly the consti-
tuent of what has been called the first stage.
1t may be produced by the tedious wasting of
the chronic, or the fierce onset of the acute
disease, by the bullet, the knife, or the rope.
"Many are the WAYS that lead
To his grim cave, all dismal yet TO the sense
More terrible at the entrance than Within
But when nature begins to yield the
struggle with her antagonist, then we
assume that pain begins to subside.
This period we call the second stage, and,
short though it may be, we assume that it
exists, and, in it, little or no pain. Now the
brain, either deprived of its wonted supply of
blood. or furnished with blood poisonous for
want of air, allows sensation to become
blunted, and, not equal to the task Of con-
nected thought, originates those delirious
fancies which furnish the delight of opium
eating and intoxication. This may be said
with truth, for the physical effects of opium,
alcohol, and chloroform upon the brain are
the same as those produced by suffocation.
In all these cases, oxygen is deficient in the
blood In this stage of semi-delirium occur
occasionally those bright visions of angels
and of spirits of departed friends, and those
sounds of sweet music from which surround
ing friends are wont to solace themselves
with brighter hopes for the departed. In
certain temperaments the visions are of an
opposite character, as is also sometimes the
case in intoxication from other causes In
this stage the dying person appears to be
rapidly sinking, for the most part uncon-
scious of his surroundings unwilling to be
aroused from his delightful trance, but ex-
hibiting by his countenance but little of what
is passing in his mind. In the third stage,
if it occurs, we assume that consciousness
and sensation are entirely gone: that the
convulsions are only the automatic move
ments of an animal organization after its spi-
ritual organization has left, and that, there
| fore, the act of dying is not painful.
A story is told of certain criminal who
had experienced all the legal formalities of a
death upon the gallows. He had been sus-
| pended by the neck, and was pronounced
| dead in due form by the physicians. His
apparently inanimate body found its way, as
| is sometimes the case, to a neighboring dis
secting-room. There, in the midst of in
cipient anatomists and future surgeons,
stimulated by the first few pricls of the
scalpel, to their utter surprise and in
dignation, he returned to life. His
subsequent conduct might be regarded
as peculiar under the circumstances. Instead
of expressing delight at his resurrection, as
might have been expected, he poured a
shower of imprecations on the heads of those
surrounding him for arousing him from such
| a pleasant trance as he had experienced. This
anecdote may serve as an illustration of some
things that have been said, though its truth
is not vouched for. In respect to credibility,
| it may be classified with another,
which relates how Peter the Great
a
lead coffin, carrying his head under his arm.
The man evidently had never been dead; for,
judging from his profanity, and what we
knew of his antecedents, the temperature OF
his post-mortem abode would have been such
as to have made the cooler atmosphere of a
dissecting-room highly desirable
Leaving the anecdote just related out of
consideration, we infer, from all that has
been said, that the convulsive efforts of the
criminal undergoing execution on the gallows,
upon which newspaper reporters dilate as an
evidence of extreme suffering and as an
argument against capital punishment, and
from which the spectators estimate the pre-
else amount of torture the victim is under.
going, take place either when the poor wretch
is in complete oblivion of all his surroundings,
or in that state of delirious dreaming and free
dom from sensation which would make the idea
of dancing upon tight rope" not entirely
incompatible with his mental condition. The
shock of the sudden drop, in ordinary cases
of death upon the gallows, is probably severe
enough to stupefy the victim; and insensi-
bility from this cause occupies the first stage
otherwise one of sensation and conscious.
ness. Before sensibility has had time to re-
turn, he is in the second stage, the period OF
visions and halucnation, and this is all he
experiences, whatever commissions his frame
may be undergoing. These commissions dc
not occur, if a certain portion of the
spinal cord near the base of the brain
is iniured-if that, which which is popularly
supposed to be fracture of the neck, takes
place. When this occurs all motion is pre-
vented, and the man not only dies, but the
muscles are deprived of the power of giving
any indication of what is going on, or any evi