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

Is death painlcss7 The best medical
authorities have about agreed that the
last moments OF a dying man are COM
paratively free from pain, and William
Hunter, the greatest Of English physiolo-
glsts, upon Ills death bed, as he felt his
end approaching said: "If could grasp
a pen | would write how easy thing it
is to die" But the last grasps, the stiff
feniDg of the muscles, the death rattle,
are they painless? Is death really q
cessation OF pain? These are questions
yet 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 aoonies
of the terrible tetanic spasms have been
pictured as most horrible. From the
American Cyclopt liza" the following is
condensed;
The symptoms it produces are difficulty
OF breathing and sense Of suffocation,
twisting of the limbs and tetanic conyul-
sions, the body becoming arched in the
back, often resting on the head and heels.
The features are convulsed, attended by
spasms of the jaws and choking. The
attack occurs in paro1yisms, between
which the intellect il often clear at first
but becomes clouded after a succession
of paroxysms. Death occurs after an
interval Of suffering, lasting usually
about three hours"
But the poiot ing isnot always attended
by suffering. y. c. Cook, the special
State House policeman and night
Waterman, it will be remembered, took
dose of strychnine by mistake about e
month ago. He was found in the State
Library lying upon the reading table,
perfectly unconscious, his back archcd
and his head almost reaching his heels
In violent tetanic convulsion. Medical
aid was summoned, and after three hours
Of ofpumping and rubbing, in which he was
knotted in spasms, he recovered. His
first request was for n chew of tobacco.
and in an hours time he was apparently in
his customary health, and with the ex-
ception ofa feeling of soreness in his
muscles, he felt comparatively we'll.
He slept remarkably sound that night
and got up in the morning mono
the worse for his evenings blunder. He
described his sensations upon that occa-
sion toa Necs reporter this morning:
After had taken the stuff l walked
down the street to the Metropolitan
Theatre and took u seat. had hardly
settled myself when l felt so strangely.
l was hot all over grew dizzy and light
beaded; everything turned white, and
felt 80 queer that got up and walked
down stairs. l went to the State Libra
ry and laid down on the reading table,
That was the last l knew until / was
broughttoo. didn't suffer any particle OF
pain, not bit. After | came to asked
for some tobacco, got up and walked
around, and if hadn't been q little
weak and sore, would have felt better
than l do now. II is an experience
| don't want to have again, though.
There Id too much danger in it to suit
me-" A prominent physician and a
professor in the medical college war
talked to about the case, and gave it a.
his opinion that it waa very remarkable
The absence Of pain does not occur more
than once in u thousand cases.-.lhdianap.
oils Ne,Ds.