The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-15
a REMARKABLE DISCOVERY.

4 REMARKABLE DISCOVERY,
The London Times reproduces from an Aus
t,.liari paper long and Interesting account,
i .shich has all the appearance OF authenticll u,
II miraculous discovery made by Signor
uoat,tra, q botanist, who has made q special
Sst,,dy of South American aora for some years
rsst. Ills discovery Ii nothing less than u
nrocess Of suspending animation II animals
~ ii, indefinite. period. and Of restoring IL at
pleasure.
According to the accounts, Slgnor Rostura
~ been operating for some time, and with
I'M most satisfactory results, In connection
,dth Mr.. Grant, who has refriReratinR es.
tahlshment on one Of the headlands OF sgd
nov harbor, New South Wales His experi-
roa1ts upon domestic animals have resulted
n the most perfect success, and all question
= 10 Signor Rostura's ability to do all that he
cairns appears to BIO at an end. The process Ia
very sinpnse one, both to suspend and restore
animation, and the two results are respect
lyely produced by q vegetable poison and its
antidote, both OF which were discovered lii
south America Two drops Of the poison are
injected In the ear with hyperdermic syr-
inre and In few minutes vitality Ii sus-
nended; the heart ceases to beat, the eyes
becone glazed and the body rigid as III death.
II even seems that the ordinary process OF
decay supervenes as In case OF actual death,
ia III order to prevent this, refrigeration
hss TO be resorted to. The subject is frozen
Viii It becomes as brittle az glass, ana Ii
laid away In refrigerator for weeks, or
dtateit. The subject ID then placed Id warm
rster until q normal blood heat is obtained
when d few drops OF the antidote are injected
III d few minutes vitality IL restored and the
subject Ii returned to precisely the same con-
dltons of life that existed when animation
was suspended. The practical result
AL which the inventor aimed, and
which Interested Mr.. Grant In his
experiments. was the transportation Of live
stock from Australia to Europe. The advan-
tages Of the process Id this respect can be
readily appreciated. But 1t IL not lii this CON
1 nection that this wonderful discovery assumes
i IT'D most interesting phase. IL appears that
II the inventor has been induced by the success
Of his experiments on dumb animals to re-
quest the government to allow him to operate
In condemned criminal. This request, 1t
keems, was granted, but while the expert
knent, by reason Of fortuitous circumstances,
Jailed to realize the results expected, still the
failure served to prove the infallibility OF the
process, even more satisfactorily than COM
plete success would have done. The facts of
the case were, succinctly, a. follows:
The person subjected to this treatment was
development. To physical beauty, intellectual
development and utter absence of moral
sense he appears, from the account, to have
been sort OF naturalization Of Bulwer's
Nurgrdue, the souless man Of "A Strange
Dtory." His crimes were innumerable and Of
sAch an atrocious and diRbolical character,
that the processes Of the law, which had
merely rescued him from popular fury, al
though they resulted Id his condemna-
Hon to death, were the merciful means
M protracting his existence. He
was selected as the subject for
the experiments of Signor Rostura for two
reasons -iirst, because Of the utter absence Of
my palliation for his crimes; and, secondly,
because of bis purely physical terror and fear
i. Of death, which, however, appeared to be at
tended by no sort OF consciousness OF hisguilt
Or remorse for the cruelties he had perpe-
trated. The object OF the Governor General,
who could not release the criminal from the
penalty Of the law, In turning him over to
Signor Rostura, appears to have been merely
to allow him To escape from the absolute ter
ror which possessed him, expecting him to be
revived at the last moment to euifer the
punishment he had incurred.
This was the understanding with 6tgnor
Rostura, and this was what the latter under
took to perform. The first process was com
plete success but, 30 great was the Vitality q
] the subject, not until he had been subjected to
second injection. he was placed In the re-
friRerated room Of Mr.. Grants establishment
and frozen stiff and stark. Had he remained
4 In this condition the experiment would have
proven q complete success and the criminal
would have suffered the penalty of his crimes
But II seems that Mr.. Grants system Of re.
frigeration was defective. He did not use Ice,
but the same process which ID used In our Ice
manufactures. His machinery broke down,
Or his supply Of ammonia was exhausted
At any event, for several days he was unable
to keep the temperature OF the apartment be.
low freezing, though. for not less than forty.
eight hours preceding the day fixed for the
resuscltation and execution Of the criminal,
he had again been frozen hard and stiff.
When the appointed time came Signor Ros-
/ tura applied the antidote and succeeded 10
resuscitating the subject, but only after re-
peated efforts and with the utmost difficulty
The first indication OF revival was the sudden
and violent onenin9 OF the mouth, with q
sudden and cracking sound, % u the lower
jaw had been jerked down with violence. Inc
/ tongue burst out of the mouth with sort q
explosion. CLEAN OF intelligence eho'
Into the eve. only to be euffused In