The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1881-09-15
PHENOMENA OF DEATH.

III
Erroncousness of the Popular Notion as to
The Death AgOny-Death Physiological
Process, and It and Pain Seldom Go To-
gether.
Thomas D. Spencer NJ. D., in popular Science
Monthly.
Tits our purpose to discuss, as briefly as
possible, some most important aspects OF
dissolution. Addison says that there was
nothing in history more imposing than,
nothing SO pleasing and affecting US. the
accounts Of the behavior Of eminent per-
sons in their dying hours; and Montaigne
remarks, while specializing on death. that,
Of all the passages in the annals of man
kind, those that attracted and delighted him
most were the words and gestures OF dying
men. If were q maker of books" he
continues, Il would compile register with
comments of various deaths, for he who
would teach men to die would teach them
to live. There are three elements present.
ed in this fear of death: 1. The extinction
Of lfe's pleasures, interests and hopes to
which the mind looks forward with
degree of apprehension proportionate to
the amount Of happiness they are capable
OF atfording With the young and vigorous
the loss OF these animal enjoyments is con-
templated with extreme misery; hence the
custom among the early Greeks Of bearing
the hfeless body Of youth to the funeral
pyre at break of morn, "lest the sun should
behold so sad sight as the young dead.
2. The dread of the unknown future, also
depending upon the nervous temperament
And lastly comes fear more powerful than
either, which Is the dread of pain, inherent
in nature. From time immemorial the ac-
tual moment Of dissolution has been sup
posed to be accomplished by throe Of an
guish, known as the death agony" This
is believed to occur at that moment when
the spiritual and physical forces that have
been so intimately blended for many years
are torn asunder-the one to moulder and
decay, the other to take upon itself that
new life beyond the ken of man.
This last elem ant properly belongs to the
psychologist, and as such we propose toco
slider it. Sir Francis Bacon, in one of his
essays, published for the first time in the
year 1877, gave to the world the following
thought: 1T is as as natural to die as to be
born; and to the little infant, perhaps, the
one is as painful as the other. In pro-
fundity Of thought and depth Of research
Bacon stepped IN advance of his contem-
poraries, and lived in the future. Thus
we find that, contrary to the generally re-
ceived opinion Of even this latter day, ma
ture evidently designed that the end of man
should be as painless as his beginning.
At birth the babe undergoes an ordeal
that, were he conscious, would be more
trying than most painful death. Yet he
the brain incapable of receiving conscious
impressions, his entrance into this hitherto
J unknown world is accomplished during q
state of oblivion, known as natures
an@sthesia:
PaiDlassly We come whence we know not
Painlessly we 60, whether we know not!
From tho earliest period ofhuman his
tory death has been considered as neces-
sarily accompanied by pain; SO general is
this belief that the terms death agony, :"
"last struggle" "pangs Of death" ETC.,
have been in almost universal use in every
age and under all conditions of society.
Nothing could be more erroneous; the
truth is pain and death seldom go together
we mean also last moments Of life. OF
course, death may be preceded by weeks,
or even months, of extreme suffering, as
occurs during certain incurable diseases.
So exaggerated has been this notion
that it his been considered an act of
humanity to anticipate the death struggle
by violence; for ages it was customary
among the lower classes of Europe to has
ten death by suddenly jerking the pillow
from beneath the head Of the dying, thus
throwing the head backward, strainine
the pharyngeal and thoracic muscles, rem
dering the respiration already
difficult, shortly impossible Venetian
ambassador, in the time of Queen Mary
asserted that it was common custom amol s
the country people to smother the dying ly
means Of pillow placed oven the face, up.
on which leaned or sat the nearest relative
This was founded upon the pious BELIEF
J, that short road was the best one. Thi:
custom was handed down from generation
TO generation, parents performing it TO-
their children and vice versa. But perhap,
the saddest privilege ever allowed the nea!
friends of the dying man occurred occa
sionally during the reign of Queen Eliza
beth, when, through executive clemency, II
executions by hanging, they were permitted
to grasp tie feet of the suspended crlni
nal, and, by ciinging to the extremlties
precipitate their additional weight on tn
body, thereby fastening strangulation.
is needless to say that these theories al
false in both conception and practice. Dealt
is physiological process, aud, like all 9th
er animal functions, should be painless
When the fat OF death went forth, natur
kindly provided an anesthetic for the body
As the end of life draws near, the respira
ton becomes slow and shallow, interrupted
now and then by deep, signing inspiration
as tnougn the lungs were Valnly endeayOr
ing to throw off the palsy slowly creeping
over them. AS the intervals between tn
tnspirstions grow longer the blood becomes
saturated with carbonic acid gas-the sam
that is formed from burning charcoal who's
deadly fumes have SO often aided the sui
eide painlessly to destroy life.
While the power of breathing is gradual
falling, the heart, which is III close sym
patty with the lungs, begins to contrat
with less force, propelling the blood only
short distance through it's areterial chan
nels, thus causing the extremities to gro
cold.
The blood sent to the brain is not on]
diminished in quantity, but it is lade1
with carbonic acid gas, which, acting 0
the nerve centers, produces gradual be
numbing Of the cerebral ganglia, thereb
destroying both consciousness and sensa
ton. The patient gradually sinks into
deeper stupor, the lips become purple, IL
face cold and livid, cold perspiration (deat
damp collects on the forehead, fill
creeps over the cornea, and, with or will
out commissions, the dying man sinks int
his last sleep. As the pc wer of receivin
conscious Impressions is gone, the deaf
struggle must be automatic. Even
those cases where the senses are retaine