The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-03-27
A Very Easy Thing to Die.

Is death painles,f The best medical
authorities have about agreed that the
last moments Of q dying man are COM
paratively free from pain, and William
Hunter, the greatest of English physio.o-
gists, upon his death bed, as he felt his
end approaching said: "If I could grasp
a pen l would write how easy thing it
is to die." But the last grasps, the stiff
fening of the muscles, the death rattle,
are they painless? Is death really a
cessation of pain? These are questions
vet unanswered. No man has ever taken
the fatal step to come back and relate
his experience. Death from strychnine
poisoning is generally supposed to be the
most painful of all deaths. The agonies
of the terrible tetanic spasms have been
pictured as most horrible. From the
"American Cyclopedia" the following is
condensed;
"The symptoms it produces are difficulty
of breathing and q sense of suffocation,
twisting of the limbs and tetanic convul-
sions, the body becoming arched in the
back, often resting on the head and heels.
The features are conYulsed, attended by
spasms of the jaws and choking. The
attack occurs in paro1yisms, between
which the intellect is often clear at first
but becomes clouded after succession
of paroxysms. Death occurs after an
interval of suffering, lasting usually
about three hours"
But the poionsing isnot always attended
by suffering. G. G. Cook, the special
State House policeman and night
watchman, it will be remembered, took
a dose of strychnine by mistake about a
month ago. He was found in the State
Library lying upon the reading table,
perfectly unconscious, his back arched
and his head almost reaching his heels
in a violent tetanic conyulsion. Medical
aid was summoned, aud after three hours
of pumping and rubbing, in which he was
knotted in spasms, he recovered. His
first request was for a chew of tobacco,
and in an hours time he was apparently in
his customary health, and with the e1-
ception of a feeling of soreness in his
muscles, he felt comparatively well.
He slept remarkably sound that night
and got up in the morning none
the worse for his evenings blunder. He
described his sensations upon that occa-
sion toa News reporter this morning.: .
"After had taken the stuff walked
down the street to the Metropolitan
Theatre and took seat. / had hardly
settled myself when l felt so strangely.
was hot all over; grew dizzy and light
headed; everything turned white, and |
felt so queer that 1 got up and walked
down stairs. l went to the State Libra
ry and laid down on the reading table,
That was the last 1 knew until ! was
brought too. 1 didn't suffer any particle of
pain, not bit. After came to 1 asked
for some tobacco, got up and walked
around, and if hadn't been a little
weak and sore, would have felt better
than I do now. 1t is an experience
don't want to have again, though.
There is too much danger in it to suit
me-" A prominent physician and a
professor in the medical college wau
talked to about the case, and gave it a,
his opinion that it was very remarkable.
The absence of pain does not occur more
than once in thousand cases.-Indidnap-
oils Neus.