Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-06-12

1
| pect tor his surplus stock has opportunities
before him that may be termed golden. Al
the most startling discoveries of the age a.
| the first hint have been received with incre
! dulty, which their after success has turned ia
the discredit of the early skeptics, so that in
matters of science it would appear unsafe, nc
| doubt, to look upon any result as beyond the
| limits of the possible. For this reason We
venture no opinion on the following process
an account of which we give in the writer
own words:
'Many of your readers who know Sydney
Harbor will remember the long inlet oppo
| site the Heads known as Middle .Harbor
which, in a succession of landlocked reaches
stretches away like chain of lakes for over
| twenty miles. On one of these reaches
made more than ordinarily picturesque by
the bold headands that drop almost sheer
into the water, stand, on about an acre oil
| grassy Fat, fringed by white beach, on which
| the clear waters of the harbor lap, two low
| brick buildings. Here IN perfect seclusion
and with a careful avoidance of publicity, is
being conducted an experiment, the success
of which, now established beyond any doubt
must have wider effect upon the prosperity
of Australia than any project ever contem-
| plated. The gentlemen engaged in the en-
| terprlse are Signor Rotura, whose researches
into the botany and ma ural history of South
| America have rendered his name eminent,
and Mr.. James Grant, a pupil of the late
Mr.. Nlcolle, so long associated with Mr..
Thomas Mort In his freezing process. Next
to the late Mr.. Nicolle MIR. James Grant can
claim pre-emlnence of knowledge in the
science OF generating cold, and his freezing
chamber at Woolhara has long been known
as the seat of valuable experiments origin
| ated in Mr.. Nicolle's lifetime. 1t appears
that five months ago Signor Rotura called
| upon Mr.. Grant to invoke his assistance in a
| scheme for the transmission of live
stock to Europe. Signor Rotura averred
that he had discovered a South American
vegetable poison, allied to the well known
teOOtdrd, that had the power of perfectly sus-
pending animation, and that the trance thus
produced continued till the application of
another vegetable essence caused the blood
to resume its circulation and the heart its
functions. So perfect, moreover, was this
suspension of life that Signor Rotura had
found in a warm climate decomposition set
in at the extremities after week of this liv-
ing death, and he imagined if the body in
this inert state were reduced to a tempera-
ture sufficiently low to arrest decomposition,
the traces might be kept up for months, pos
sibly for years. He frankly owned he had
never tried this preserving of the tissues by
cold, and could not confidently speak as to
It's effect upon the after restoration of the
animal operated on. Before he left Mr..
Grant he had turned that Gentleman's doubts
into wondering curiosity by experimenting
on his dog. He injected two drops Of his
liquid mixed with little glycerine into a
small puncture made into the dogs eaG, and
in three or four minutes the animal was Der-
fectly rigid, tie four legs stretched back
ward, eyes wide open, pupils very much d.
lated, and exhibiting symptoms very similar
to those of death by strychnine, except that
there had been no previous struggle or
pain. Begging his owner to have no
apprehension for the life of his favorite ami
al u -, 49, L II
and placed him on shelf In a cupboard,
where he begged he might be left until the
following day, when he promised to call at
ten O'Clock and revive the apparently dead
brute. Mr.. Grant continually, during the
day and night. visited the cupboard, and so
perfectly was life suspended Ia his favorite-
no motion of the pulse or heart giving anv
indication of the possibility of revival, the
frame being perfectly rigid-that he con-
fesses he felt all the sharpest reproaches of
remorse at having sacrificed a faithful friend
to doubtful and dangerous experiment |
The temperature of the body, too, in the first |
four hours, gradually lowered to twenty-five |
degrees Fahrenheit below ordinary blood |
temperature, which increased his fears as to |
the result, and by morning the body was as |
cold as In actual DEATH At ten o'clock pext |
according to promise, Signor Ro-
tura presented himself, and laughing at Mr.. |
Grants fears, requested tub of warm wa
ter to be brought. He tested this with the |
thermometer at thirty two degrees Fahren-
belt, and in this laid the dogs head under.
10. Mr.. Grants objections Signor Rotura as
'ured him that, as animation must remain
entirely suspended till the administration of
he antidote, no water could be drawn into
he lungs, and that the immersion of the
BODY was simply to bring it again to a blood
leat. After about ten minutes of this bath
he body was taken out and another LIQUID
taH
Mr.. Grant tells me that the revival of Turk |
vas the most startling thing he ever wit
lessed, and, having since seen the expert
nent made upon sheep, | can fully confirm
lis statement. The dog first showed the re-
urn OF life in the eye, and after FIVE and a
lalt minutes he drew long breath and the
lgidity left his limbs In a few minutes |
more he commenced gently wagging his tail,
md then slowly got up, stretched himself,
md trotted Oft as though nothing had hap
oened. From that moment Mr.. Grant be-
anne aware OF the extraordinary issurs
opened by his visitors discovery, and prom
sed him all the assistance in his power.
lhey next determined to try freezing the
'ody, and the first two experiments were dis
ouraglng. A dog mot Turk, his master de-
Inning to experiment any further on his ia
OrteJ was put IN the treezin0-chamber at |
dr. Grants works for four days, after being
previously suspended by Signor Rotura and
Through the animal revived so far as to draw
long breath, the vital energies appeared too
for a complete rally, and the ami
nal died. The two next animals, dog and
cat died IN ike manner. In the meantime |
)r. Barker had been taken into their coun-
els, and at his suggestion respiration was en-
outraged, as IN the case of persons drowned, |
y artlhclal compression and expansion
the lungs. DIR; Barker was of the opin- !
On that, as the heart In every case COM
lenced to beat, 1T was want of vital force
set the lungs IN proper motion that caused |
cath. The result showed his surmises to be
nhrely correct. A number of animals.
those lives have been sealed up in this arti- /
clal death, have been kept in the freezing {
hamber from one to FIVE weeks, and If IS /
0und that, though the shock to the system |
rom this freezing is very great. 1t is not in
reased by duration of time. Messrs Grant |
nd Rotura then determined upon the cree :
ON OF the works just finished at Middle :
an enterprslng capitalist, Mr.. Chris Y
1pher Newton, Of Pitt street, finding the ;
ecessary funds. Arrived at the works in :
fiddle Harbor, was taken into the build :
~ that contains Mr.. Grants apparatus for :
eneratIng cold, which has already been. in :
ir. NIcolle's tune, too often and fully de- G
'rbed to require any further notice from me. G
ttached to this Is the freezing chamber, a e
nall dark room eight feet by ten feet. Here
ere fourteen sheep, four lambs and three q
lgs, stacked on their sides In a heap 'alive. c
hlch Mr. Grant told me had been In their y
resent position for nineteen days, aad were q
} remain there for another three months q
electing one of the lambs, Signor Rotura put | 4
on his shoulder and carried it outside 5
Ito the other building, where a num- q
n OF shallow cemented tanks were In t
Ie floor having hot and cold water taps d
each tank, with a thermometer hanging d
ougside. One of these tanks was quickly o
led, and It's temperature tested by the il
gncr, meantime examining with the great i,
t curiosity and wonder the nineteen DAYS a
cad lamb. The days of miracles truly Il
EN- to have come back to US, and manv Of n
ose stories discarded as absurdities seem to v
9 less improbable than this fact, witnessed "
myself. There was the lamb, to all ap- Il
arances dead, and as hard almost as L
one, the only difference perceptble to me V