, 1873-06-22

and different forms Of phthisis. the oxidation o
the blood becoming impossible on account OF til
| dlsorgnnization Of the pulmonary globules. We
nous blood goes back to the heart without g3lnlns
reV1vifcatlon. In the case OF SERIOUS and Pro
epidemic or otherwise, which are, characteristic
ally, blopd-poisouings. death occurs through
general change in nutrition. This ID stu mort
the fact az to death consequent upon Ger
When these are affected, the secretion Of thost
Juices fitted to dissolve food dries up, and those
fluids 60 through the intestinal canal unen
ployed. In this case the invalid dies, Of real
starvation. Hemorrhage Is one OF the common
est causes OF death. Whenever great artery il
| opened from any cause, permitting the coploua
outflow Of blood, the ekin grows pale, warmth
declines, the breathing is Intermittent, vertigo
and dimness OF sight follow, the expression Of
the features changes, cold and elammy sweat
| gets gradually weaker, and at last the heart
stops. Virgil describes homorrhage with striking
fidelity in the story OF Dido's death.
| Sudden DEATH unconnected with outward and
accidental causes may occur in varions Wye
! Very violent Impressions on the feelings some-
times abruptly check the movements Of the
| heart, and produce mortal swool. Instances
! are well known OF many persons dying
| Of joy-Leo Z. Is ono-and OF persons who sue,
cumbed to fear. In }oudroyanf apople1y, II iaal
l
sudden occurrence OF the phenomena OF death.
The sufferer is plunged in profound Rleep, called
| by physicians coma, from which wakening 1s I'M
possible his breathing is difficult, his eyes set.
| his mouth twisted and distorted. The pu1sa-
tions Of the heart cease little BY little, mud soon
| life utterly vanishes Tho breaking OF an ancur-
ism very often occasions sudden DEATH Not less
| often the caueo OF death is found in Whist is
| culation by clot Of blood suddenly plugging up
:eme important vessel. And there are also cases
| Of sudden death still unaccounted for, in the
sense that subsequent dissection discovers moth
ing that could explain the stoppege in the opera-
tions Of life.
nomens that has received the name Of The death
agony. In most cases Of disease the beginning
Of this concluding period is marked BY sudden
improvement Of the functions. It is the last
gieam springing from the dying flame but soon
the eyes become fixed and insenaible to tho &C
ton OF Light, the nose grows pointed and cold the
mouth wide open seems to call for the air that
fails it, the cavity within it is parched, and the
lips, as Il withered, cling to the curves Of tho
teeth. The Last movements Of respiration are
spasmodic, and Wheeling, and sometimes
marked gurglinR sound, may be heard at some
distance, caused by obstruction Of the bronchial
tubes with quantity Of muous. Tho broath is
cold, the temperature OF the akin lowered. II the
heart is examined, VIC note tho weakening of it's
sounds and pulsations. The hand, placed in it's
neighbcrbood, feels no throb. Such is the
physiognomy Of person in the last moments Of
death in the greater number OF cases, that
Of some duration. The death-strngg1e is seldom
painful, and almost always the patient feels
nothing Of it. He ia plunged into comatose
Btupor, 80 that he is no longer conscious of his
senaibly from life to death, in manner that
renders it sometimes difficult to fix the exact
instant at which dying person expires. This
il true, At least, in chronic maladies, and
especially in those that consume the human
body slowly and silently. Yet, when the hour Of
death comes for ardent organizations, for great
artists, for instance, and they usually die young
there is quick and sublime new burst Of life
in the creative genius. There IL no better ex-
ample OF this than the angelic eud Of Beethoven
who, before he breathcd out his soul. that tune
full monad, regained his loat speech and
hearing, and spent them in repeating
for the. last time some o. those sweet
to God" Some diseases, moreover, are most
peculiarly marked by the gentIoness Of the dy-
ing agony. Of all the Ills that chent us while
killing BY pin-prickB consumption is that which
longest wears for us the illusive look OF health,
and best oonceals tho misery OF Irving and the
horrors Of dying. Nothing can be compared
with that hallucination OF the senses and that
hveliness Of hope which mark the last days Of
the oonsumptive. He takes the burning OF his
destroying fever for healthful symptom he
forms his plans, and srnileB calmly and cheer
fully on his friends, and suddenly, some NOR
row Of quiet night, he falls into the aleep that
never wakes.
II life ia everywhere, and il, consequently,
death OCCURS everywhere, in all the elements Of
the system, what must bo thought Of that point
in the spinal marrow which q famous phys
! iologist styled the vital knot, and in which
to lodge tho Hrneplo OF
garded as this vital knot is situated nearly
At the middle Of the prolonged spinal cord-that
is, the middle Of that portion OF tho nervo-aub-
stance which connects the brain with the spinal
dangerous e1citablity. prick, or the penetra-
tion of a needle into It, is enough TO cause the
/ instant death Of any animal whatever. It is the
very means used in physiological laboratories to
destroy Life swiftly and surely in dogs That
susceptibility is explained in the most natural
way.. This spot is the starting-point OF the
nerves that go to the lungs; the moment that
the slightest injury is produced in it, there fol-
lows check on the movements Of respiration,
and ensuing death. This vital knot Of Flourens
enjoys no sort of special prerogative. Life is
not more concentrated nor more essential in it
than elsewhere it simply comedies with the
initial point OF nerves animating one Of the or
gans indispensable to vitality, tho organ Of San
publication; and in living organisms any alter
alton OF the nerves controlling \ function
brings serious risk as to its complete porform-
ance. There is, therefore, no such thing as a
vital knot, q central fire OF life in animals. They
are collections OF an inhnity Of infinitely small
living creatures, and each ono Of these micro |
ecopic living points is its own Gte-centre for !
ITSELF Each on it's own account grows, produces |
hest, and displays those characteristic activities
which depend upon It's structure. Each one, BY |
virtue Of pre-establishod harmony, meets all |
the rest in the ways that they require but, just
as each Ives on it's own account, so on its own |
account each dies And the proof that this is 30 is
found in the fact that certain parts taken from
dead body can be transferred to living one with
out suffering any interruption in their physo1og-
ical activity, and in the fact that many organs
which seem dead can be excited anew, awakened
out Of their torpor, and animated to extremely
remarkable vital manifestations. This subject
We now proceed to consider.
Death seems to be absolute from the instant
that the pu1sationB Of the heart are stopped
without renewal, because, the circulation of the
blood no longer proceeding, the nutrition Of the
organs becomes impossible, and nutrition is de-
manded for tho maintenance Of physiological
harmony; but as ne have said above, there are
= Thousand little springs in the organism which
keep up certain degree OF activity after the
great main-spring has ceased to act. There is
an infinite number Of partial energies that out
live the ieHtruction nf the Drincinal hnarpv and