The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-07-13
PHENOMENA-0F DEATH
EFrunsOusnsss Of the Popular No.
ton as to The Death Agony"
Death a Physiological Process, and
It and Pala Seldom Go
together.


-
Thomas D. Spencer, Y D., in the Popular eslOr,
Monthly Tor July
Theresssu to be no sHbjsct from VbiG
the mind 60 instinetively ahrinks, IL,
thouRhts more repsllant to the SIuI, an
no dread vision Of the night, hoWSoevs
lsntas'i c 1t be, that presents TO the imaRI
nation 60 formidable an aspect 10 that O
death, Indesd, with this oil nature seem
at variance. The EuSIiAh ivy crespiOI
over fallen ruins, or the iresh mOsa cover
ing the PROSTATE trunk Of some forsl
oak, seems as II s~pdsSvoliDg to hide iron
view the havoc which death has made
Beyond the merely %instinc i've dssire 4
exist, the dread OF death 10 a matter o
education. Never does a child fIrget hi
hrst eight Of . corpse; the daTkene'
oh mbsr, the storm Of grief, the whit
facs 81 d rigid features, oil combine to Torn
An indelli6ls impression on the mind.
It's probably the extensive parGpheE
MALTA Rttendirg the iunersl OF The pFesen
day that renders death gu formidable, i
wsr-oD lhs baul Geld, where death a.
sumea its m0Et sApguinaTy GapeCt-th'
mind nj the soldier, from constant a.Aoci
alton, b,Cjmss % inuFed that It ceases u
bsimpTeSSpd with natural and dealt
.seus bnt another foe 10 be met ant
COT quered. Although the consideration
o ttLii to"ic be repr giant to the naturally
healthy MUD, theIs come times In thu
life Of every Individual that might b.
'elmed periods VI sell consciousness
duIiRg which 'hs mind brushes aside thl
more vulgar affairs Of lie, and grspplsl
SiIh theOWe inspiring mysteries Of death
AS these phenomena are considered ON
alter another In their mSni'Old Aspects
the mind, owing TO the association oil ideas
uvCl mes involved In such an intricat,
tsbyiinIh OF thought thar, after WanderinI
here aud there, vainly e%ndeAvoring Il
solve the problem Of death, 1t Rives II VI
AZ q hopeless ConundIum.
II Ia our purpose to dACuss, ss briefly o.
possible, some oil the
MOST IMP iRTANT ASPECTS OF DISSOLUTION
Addison said that there was nothing IL
history more imposing than, nothing 81
pleasing and stfec Ing as, The accounts o
the behavior oil eminent persons in lhei
dying hours; and Montague remarks
while speculatiI z on dsAth, that, Of allihI
passages in the annals Of mankind, lhos,
which attracted ard dsIighied him mos
we're the words and gestures Of dtinI
men. ut | were q msker Of books" bl
continues, Il wonld compile a rpgistel
Vllh comments Of various deaths, for h.
who should teach msn to die would teach
hem to live" There are three elemeniI
presented 10 lhia fear OF dskth: First, thu
: I motion n Hfe's pleasures, Interests
and hopes, TO which the mind looks for
ward with q degree Of apprehension pro
porlionate to the amount Cf happinssl
they are capable Of ttfndiDg. With thu
young aud vigorous the loss Of these aDi
NAL enily menis IL contemplated with sG
IRENE misery, hence the custom, smnnI
he y, fly Greeks, Of bearing the liItlssI
body OF youth to the funeral pyrs at th,
break OF morn, "lest the sun should he
hold 70 sad 9 sight "a the young dead
Secapd, the dread OF the unknown iuture
also depending on the nervous temper
ameDt. And, lFsly, comes . fear more
powerful than either, which 10 the dreAC
Il pain, inherent 10 Nature. From t'mt
immemorisl the sexual moment OF dlsso.
utiOn has beeu supposed tn be sCCompAn
led by 9 throe Of anguish known as
THE death AGONY"
This 10 believed to cCCur at that momen
when the spiritual aud physical iorcet
hst have been go intimately blended fol
msny ears are tom asuudsr,-the one Il
moldeT ahd DECAY, the other to take npor
nsslf hat new lie beyond the ken Of man
This last element properly belorg 81 Il
he phyI iologist, and ~ such we propose
10 consider It. Sir Francis Bacon, Ia ont
Of bis ssssyp. published for the first tint
ia the year 1917. gave to the world The
following profound thought: ut Is a:
na,ursl 10 die NJ to be born: and to the
little infant, perhaps, the one Is 40 painiu
4s the othet." Ia pfofl 1dily Of tb' uShl
and d tpth VI research B con stepped IL
advance Of bis contemporaries, and liveC
ia the irtute. Thus we hud that, con
trAry to the generally received opinion {,
wen this latter day, nstuiB evidently de
.igned that the end VI man should be 81
painless % HE beginning.
AZ birth The babe untefgoes an erdea
tSSt, were be conscious, would be mort
Il wing than . mott psipiul death; yet b
tsels II not. Burn In an unconscious B'Rte
The btsin incapable CfreCeivipg contclouI
impiessions, bis entTApCa into this hitherto
unknown world Ia accomplished during
state Of oblivion, known % kAtars's snsD
thetia:
tSnhn'v We eoue yh nee ue kooW not
r. IAt Saly w'gh With " We knVW no
From the earliest period OF human hts
.ory death bas b.en considered "a necea
Qatily accompanied BY pain On general 4
This bvliet that the teims "deAth .agnnyI
.lRat struggle" "pangs Of deAth,n e'c.
have been In almost universal usa in ever,
AGE and uudpr all conditions of society.
FNnthiny could be mora erroneous; tht
truth ie, no.
pAtS AND DEATH lELDoN 90 TOGETHER,
We mean the last moments Of lie. o
curse, death may be preceded nv weeks
or even months of extreme suffering, a
occurs uull'R CHLthin Fethtg'
30 exaggerated has been this Dotlot
that II has bsen Considered an act o
humsni,y IN anticipate the death strug
vtsn By violence, for ages II was custom
aty among the lnWer classes n Europe Il
hasten death BY snddenly jarking thu
inflow from b%eneaththe head Of the dyirg
ihua throwing the head hack wArd, strain
ing the phatyngsal and thorscic MUSCLES
rendering the respiration, already dlfi
cuIt, shortly impossible. A venetiar
Amhassador, in the time Of Q teen Mary
asserted that II was . common Cu'tnu
among the county people 10 smother Ii,
dyirR by means o, a pillow placed ovei
The face, upon which leaned or sat the
npatpst relative. This was founded upot
The ptous belief that 4 short toad va,
ihe beat ore. This custom was handet
down from generation 10 generAtion,a.
PARENTS performing Il Tor theit chill
d,on and vice versa. But, per