The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1881-10-20
the PHENOMENA OF DEATH.

lHE nEMUMENA Ut UEAlH,
1t is our purpose to discuss, as briefly
as possible, some of the most important
aspects of dissolution. Addison said
that there was nothing in history more
imposing than, nothing SO pleasing and
affecting as, the accounts of the behavior
of eminent persons in their dying hours;
and Montaiens remarks, while spec1llat-
ing on death, that, of all the passages
in the annals of mankind, those which
attracted and delighted him most were
the words and gestures of dying men.
"H were maker of books" he con-
tinues, "I would compile register with
comments of various deaths, for he who
should teach men to die would teach
them to ive." There are three elements
presented in this fear of death: First,
the extinction of life's pleasures, inter
ests and hopes, to which the mind looks
forward with degree Of apprehension
proportionate to the amount of happi-
ness they are capable of affording.
With the young and vigorous the loss of
these animal enjoyments is contemplate
ed with extreme misery; hence the GUS
tom among the early Greeks of bearing
the lifeless body of youth to the
"lest the sun should behold so sad
sight as the young dead" Second, the
dread of the unknown future, also de-
pending upon the nervous temperament.
And lastly comes fear more powerful
than either, which is the dread of pain,
inherent in nature. From time imme-
mortal the actual moment of dissolution
has been supposed to be accompanied
af 11ch b7,n tho
"death agony" This is believed to
occur at that moment when the spiritual
and physical forces that have been SO in
timately blended for many years are torn
| asunder-the one to molder and decay,
the other to take upon itself that new
life beyond the ken of man.
This last element properly belongs to
the Psychologist, and as such we propose
| to consider it. Sir Francis Bacon, in
one of his essays, published for the first
time in the year 1877, gave to the world
the following profound thought: 1t is
as natural to die as to be born; and to
the little infant, perhaps, the one is as
painful as the other" In profundity of
thought and depth of research Bacon
stepped in advance of his ccntempora-
ries, and lived in the future. Thus we
find that, contrary to the generally re-
ceiyed opinion of even this latter day,
nacure evidently designed that the end
of man should be as painless as his be-
ginning.
At birth the babe undergoes an Or
deal that, were he conscious, would be
more trying than most painful death.
Yet he feels it not. Born in an uncon-
scious state, the brain incapable of re-
ceiving conscious impressions, his en-.
trance into this hitherto unknown world
is accomplished during a state of OBJ
ivion, known as natures anasthesla
Painless we come, whence we know not
Painless we go, whittier we know notl
From the earliest period of human
history death has been considered az
necessarily accompanied by pain Sc
general is this belief that the term
thagony, last struggle, "pang
of DEATH" etc., have been in almos
universal use in every age and under al
conditions of society.
Nothing could be more erroneous
the truth is, pain and death seldom g.
together-we mean the last moments O
life. Of course, death may be preceded
by weeks and even months OF extrem
suffering, as occurs during certain in
durable diseases.
So exaggerated has been this notiol
that it has been considered an act c
humanity to anticipate the "deatl
struggle" by violence; for ages it wa
customary among the lower classes o
Europe to hasten death by suddenl.
jerking the pillow from beneath the heat
OF the dying, thus throwing the heat
backward, straining the pharyngeal ant
L..
tion, already difficult, shortly impossi
BILE. A Venetian Ambassador, in tn
time of Queen Mary. asserted that j
was a common custom among the coun
try people to smother the dying b.
means of pillow placed over the face
upon which leaned or sat the neares
; relative. This was founded upon tn
pious belief that the short road was tn
best one. This custom was handle
. down from generation to generation
!, parents performing it for their chjldre
and vice versa. But perhaps the sad
: dest privilege ever allowed the friends {
Z dying man occurred occasionally dul
: ing the reign of Queen Elizabeth whe
through executive clemency-executlor
= by hanging-they were permitted
grasp the feet of the suspended crlmlni
ny ClchChluB ~ uhO OAcASAtAAoaST
. precipitate their additional weight @
i the body, thereby fastening strangul'
!. ton. It is needless to say that thes
a theories are false in both conceptio
4 and practice. Death is physiolog-c
process, and, like all other animal fun
tions, should be painless.
When the fiat of death went forth. N
J ture kindly provided an an@sthetic Il
e e the body. As theend of life draws nea
u u the respiration becomes slow and sha
Z low, interrupted now and then by
q deep, signing inspiration, as though Il
lungs were vainly endeavoring to thro
off the palsy slowly creeping over the1
,e As the intervals between the lnsplr
1t tions grow longer the blood becom
.e saturated with carbonic-acid gas-t
,. same which is formed from burnil
ii charcoal, whose deadly fumes have
often aided the suicide painlessly to q
stroy life.
no While the power of breathing is gra
h ually failing, the heart, which is in Gle
i. sympathy with the lungs, begins
er contract with less force, propelling
blood only short distance through