, 1873-06-22

| cited III which the blunder was discovered onl
too late. Quite q number OF such cases ar
known, some OF which are told with details to,
romantic to entitlo them to implicit belief
while, however, many Of them show unYues
tionable signs OF authenticity There long pre-
vailed tradition. not easily traceab1e to any
source, which attributed the death OF the Abbt
Provost 70 mistake Of this kind. All hi
biographerB telate that the famous author O
"Manon Lescaut," falling senselesa from the Of
feet Of rush Of blood, in tho heart OF the fores
OF Chantilly, was supposed to be dead that the
surgeon Of the village having made an incisior
into his stomach, by direction Of the Magistrate
to ascertain the cause Of death, Provost uttered
cry, and did then die in earnest. But it has
Since been proved that the story is imaginary
and that it was made up after Prevost's death
nor do any Of tho neurological accounts, publish
cd at the time, refer it to the consequences OF a
premature autopsy: Though the account Of
Provost dssected alive seems doubtful. that is
| not the case with the story told with regard to
| an operation BY the famous accoucheur, Philip
Small. 4 woman, about to be confined, fell into
= state of seeming death. Small relates that
| when be was summoned to perform the Cesarean
| operation, the by-standers, convinced that the
woman was dead, urged him to proceed with it.
p 5s rsoa s3 af s
over her face showed no sign of respiration" !"
Then he plunged his knife iuto the body, and
was cutting among the bleeding tissues, when
| the subject awoke from her lethargy.
We cite somo still more startling instances
Thirty years ago, a resident Of the village Of
Eymes, in Uordogne had been suffering for
long time from chronic disorder Of little con-
sequence in itself, hut marked by the distressing
symptom Of constant wakofulnesg, which forbade
tho patient any kind OF rest. Worn out with this
condition, he consulted doctor, who prescribed
opium, advising great caution in its use. The
invalid, possessed with that commou-anough no
ton that the efficacy OF drug ia proportional to
its quantity, took at one time q dose sufficient
II Lawn EaR ROnf frf 1i~1fn ia 11a
which ouut,u.ieu uuuiokon ior more than twenty
four hours. The village doctor, being summon
ed, finds the body without warmth, the pulse
extinct, and, on opening the veins of both arms
blood. The day after, they prepared for his
burial. But, q few days later, closer inquiry
revealed the imprudenoe the poor wretch had
committed in taking an excessive quantity OF the
among the villagers, they insist on disintermont,
which is allowed. Gathering ina crowd at the
cemetery, they take up the coffin, open it, and
are mot by q horrible sight. The miserable man
from the two opened veins had soaked the
STROUD hiB features we1e frightfully contorted,
and bis convulsed limbs bore T:t2ees to tho
cruel anguish that had preceded DEATH Most OF
the facts Of this kind arc Of rather remote date.
The latest instances have happened in the coun-
try, among an Ignorant population, usually in
neighborhoods where no physician was called on
to ASCERTAIN the disease, TINT IL, to distinguish
the cases Of seeming doath from those OF true
death.
How, then. can We certainly know apparent
from roal death7 There is certain number Of
pocitive signs OF death; that is to say. Rigna
which. When absolutely diacorned, leave no room
for mistake. Yet some physicians, and many
people who know nothing Of science, are still so
doubtful about tho certainty Of these signs as to
wish TINT physiology could detect others of
more positive character Jealous plilauthro-
pist. quite lately, gave sum for prize Of
Funv1 4~% %1xxI "a f~1J
sign Of denth. Doubtless, the intention is excel
leut, but VIC aro safo henceforsard in regarding
the sections work without alarm; the signs al
ready known are cloar enough to Prevent any
mistake, and to mako tho fatal risk OF premature
burial impossible.
We must point out, in the first place, tho im-
mediate signs Of death. The first, and the most
decisive, is the absolute stoppage of the hearts
pulBatlons, noted for duration OF at least
tiye minutes, not BY the touch, but by the ear.
Death is certain" says tho reporter Of the !
commission named in 1918, by tho Academy Of |
Sciences, to award the prize OF competition as |
to the signs Of true death, "whon positive Cas- !
eation Of pulsations Of heart in the subject has
been ascertained, which is Immediately followed
if it has not been preceded, by cessation Of |
and of functions Of sensation and |
notion" The remote signs equally deserve at
tentlon. OF these, thrco are recognized j.: corpso-
Like rgiditT, resistance to the action Of galvauic
and putrefaction. As We have already
seen, rigidity does not begin until several hours
after death, while general and complete disap-
pearance OF muscular contractiltty, under the
stimulus Of currents, ind, last Of all, putrcfac-
lion, are only manifest at & still later period.
Those remote signs, particularly tho last, have
This advantage, that they may be ascertained by
hose unacqualned with medicine, and it is very |
veil to pay some attention to them in countries |
where physicians arc not charged with the yeri-
6cation Of tho disease, but they arc Of no impor-
;ance wherever there arc doctors to examine tho
aeart with Instruments, aud to decide promptly
md surely upon the death, from the complete
'toppage Of pulsation in that organ. At the be-
ginning Of tho century. Hufeland and several
,ther Physicians, convinced that all the signs OF
leath then known were uncertain, except putre-
action, proposed and obtained, in Germany,
he establishment OF certain number Of 1nortll-
ome time, the bodies OF deceased persons.
During the whole existence Of these establish |
nents, not one OF the bodies transported into
hose asyluns has been known to return to life, |
octorn agree. The usefulness Of such mort,1-
~ houses is still more questionable in our |
lme, when We have positive and certain
means Of recognizing real death. Those police
equations that forbid antopsies and inter-
aents until the full term OF delay for
wcnty~four hours, measured from the dec
,raton Of death, still remain prudent pre-
autions, but they do not lessen at all the GER
ainty Of that evidence furnished BY the stopping
the heart. When the heart has definitely
ossible and the Life which deserts it is prepar-
1g to enter upon new cycle.
Hamlet, in his famous soliloquy, speaks OF
that undiscovered country from whose bourne J
0 traveller returns" and 1nournful1y asks, what
lust be the dreams of the man to whom death
as opened the portals Of those gloomy regions.
10 can give no clearer answer, in the namo OF {
hysiology than Shakspoa1e's prince gives. {
hyaiology is dumb as to the destiny Of the soul {
Fter denth Of that it teachos md it can teach +
3, nothing. It is plain, and it would be child- /
Ito denyit, that any psychical or sentient man q
estation, aud any concrete representation Of the a
are impossible after death. The dis
'lution Of the organism annihilates surely, and ;
necessity, the functions Of sensation, motion, )
I'd will, which arc inseparahe from cor
III combination Of material conditions. We q
IN feel move, and will, only so far az we have t
'gans for reception, transmission, and e1ecn- >
OIL. These assurances Of science are above dis 4
tseion, and should bo accepted without reserve. a
they tollu anything OF the destiny Of the pey-
lical principles themselses2 Again We say. No, =
ID for the very simple reason that science does
IT attain to those principles; but metaphysics,
hich does attain to them, authorizes US, nay,
r$6o t. 1o1s, -. =