The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-08-09
nlanitowof pilot.
THURSDAY, AUGUST $, 1888.
WAY Peonla Die.

Way People Die.
"The ideal DEATH said a physician
in charge of one of the New York city
that of NV uncle. He was n hail, hearty
man of so, a bachelor, wealthy, and
surrounded with every comfort in a
beautiful home not far from New York.
He arose one morning apparently in
perfect health. His buoyancy of spir-
its was noticed. He was singing some
of the quaint old Scotch songs of his
boyhood. He expected visit from me,
and he arose from the table after q
hearty and partial meal, saying that he
would drive down to the depot, not far
away, and bring me to the house. He
had the servant bring the ponies to the
door, and refused to let the man go
with him, saying he preferred to drive
himself. He mounted the box and
drove off at u smart pace. The old gen
tleman had not driven more than few
rods from his own house when he was
met by neighbor who noticed some
thing strange in his appearance. His
horses stopped. The neighbor dis
mounted, and went to the side of his
carriage and spoke to him. The old
gentleman did rot answer. He sat up
right in his seat, holding the reins in
his hand. He was dead. He had passed
away without shock of any kind.
There was no apparent cause of his
death, which was probably occasioned
by heart disease"
DR.. L. L. Seaman, physician-in-chief
of Charity hospital, BlackwelPs Island,
took great interest in observing the
much vaunted death scenes of Sarah
Bernhardt, and when once started on
the subject he is apt to give a judgment
Of the great actress performances
somewhat different from the general
conclusions of the dramatic critics.
Speaking on this subject the other day,
DR.. Seaman said that Mile. Bernhardt
had seven ways of dying, and all of
them were totally unlike anything he
had ever seen in medical practice
covering many thousands of cases of all
kinds of death.
s'Of course | do not hold myself re-
sponsible for the deaths in my hospital
any more than for the births, "said DR..
Seaman. MY patients come in when
they are almost in the last moments of
life. Many are known to be absolutely
beyond hopes OF recovery. But my OBJ
servation convinceS me that the drama
fist and actors have far over-estimated
the pains of death. and especially the
possibilities of great mental effort Just
previous to the moment of dissolution. p"
at is, in fact, about as difficult to
tell when q man dies as to determine
when he goes to sleep. Death is a
gradual, not sudden process. l am
speaking now of death by disease, not
of violent death. Possibly in the rep
resentation of violent death the actors
may come somewhere near the truth,
but generally their pictures of death by
disease, are, to one who knows the
truth, simply ridiculous. Dissolution is
as painless and unconscious as birth.
The approach to it may be protracted
and painful. There may be long and
agonizing scenes resulting from disor-
dered Imagination. Death destroys one
organ after another, not all at once.
The last organs to yield are the lungs,
which show their oppression in the
breathing, and produce what is termed
the death rattle. As soon as the lungs
cease to act, the black venous blood is
no longer changed to arterial blood, but
is propelled unpuritied from the heart,
and thus poisons the body like mar
cotic. The energies of the brain are
gradually lulled as in the approach OF
sleep, and unconscious cerebral action
produces the murmur of friends, or rec.
oil lf o-- 1Yf -
whatever has passed through the mind.
But that there is pain in natural death
| have long ceased to believe
The death of a healthy person is
always very different thing from the
death of a diseased person. In cases Of
accident, where persons know they
must die in a very short time, unless
the shock has not been too great, they
preserve their customary trains o.
thought; they direct their affairs with
composure.
''Have you ever known persons to die
in a comical moodP"
There are historical cases. Douglass
Jerrold is reported to have said: why
torture dying creature, doctorP anC
everybody remembers the dying joke o.
Robert Burns-Don't let the awkward
squad fire over me.
ut must be remembered, however
that what are called the last words O
great men may have been uttered 6
considerable time before death-eithel
hours or days. Some allowance must
be made for the impossibility of procur.
ing testimony. When the late DR.
Beard died, after having become widely
known as an intelligent and educated
skeptic, his sister proclaimed that he
had recanted on his death-bed, and had
indicated his hope in heaven by point
| ing upward, and saying: Higher, higher.
But the attendant, who was beside DR.
Beard, said the words, Higher, higher,
had no reference to a future state of ex
istence, but were simply an indication
that the doctor wished to be raised or
his pillow IN. Y ,Sun