Northern tribune. [volume] (Cheboygan, Mich.) 1875-1885, 1885-05-14
DOES DEATH STING.

An Answer from Medical Point of View
Medical and Surgical Reporter.
DR.. G. l.. Beardsley concludes that the
dread of dying 10 quite as intense as the
instinct Of self preservation. IRdeed, il
is not improbable, adds the doctor, that
numbers would care less about living
were the modes of leaving the world a
theme for happy contemplation, or an
innovation to the routine of plOdding
that was agreeable. One Is remarkably
exempt from the crime OF hasty induc-
tiOn if he affirms that there is no sane
or healthy mortal who anticipates his
extinction with any degree of pleasure.
The function Of dying is actually vege-
tative-we fall to pieces like flower.
This very fact that the plOcsss il chem
ical confirms us in the conclusion that
the final thrOe Is as painless as the in
convenience Is nothing to the fetal Pill
grim when he touches On daylight. A
moments examination of the way we
are to die will show marks of goodness
in our taking off. The degree of sensI-
bility is proportional to the integrity Of
the tissues An inflammation heightens
it; age depreciates it, Any defect in
nutrition disturbs the comfort of the in {.
tel in the LIBERALIZATION of the blood be-
comes no longer displaced The sensOry
ganglia everywhere part with their ir-
ritability by virtue of this poison, and
cease to conduct currents. The eriteria
of death are being satisfied, and the pro-
cess is eOnsummated when this extinc-
mate filimeats. During the progress of
- Inf of IA 10
creeping on of the numbness of death,
the individual is rapidly passing into a
condition of repOse. and instead of tor
ture and pangs, a degree of self salts
faction, OFT approaching to enthusiasm,
is realized. The sensations peculiar to
the therapeutical operation of opium,
hasheesh, ether etc, are rot improbable
akin to the mental activities of the dy-
ing. Barring the Authorizations sxpe-
rienced in the stupOr as it gained Oh the
subject, the mOribund is familiar with
naught that borders on suffering. This
earbOEic acid has poisoned or narcOtiZed
the several ganglia, and reflex prOduc-
tiOns are interdicted. A cOnsummate
analgesia prevails. Ia short, the notion
of pain is forbidden the instant that any
stimulus fails to excite response. The
condition to this irritability 8 that the
nerve center and the track be sound. If
this vigor yanishes, reflex phenomena
are at an cad, and suffering, physiology
cally speaking, is impossible, because Of
the arrest of the function of the sympa-
thetic. Fortunately, for wholesome
study of ones demise, there are assuran-
ces abundant for vivisection, the testi-
m0ny of those who have been restored
to consciousness and the affirmatiOns Of
the dying tina there is no physical re-
coil from death. BurHey tried hard to
resist the efforts made to resuscitate him
from drowning, so bewitched was he by
his prolonged slumber. DR.. SOlander,
the traveller, was SO delighted with the
excessive cold that he was the first to
lie down in the snow to realize the lux
ury Of such death. William Hunter
was sorry that he was not able to write
how easy and delightful 1t is to die"
Infants die as sereRely as they breathe,
and not a few among the advanced in
years treat death as friend to their in
frmities. Hanging is naturally rated
next to crucifXiOn, most distressing
procedure. But it is reported of, those
who have been saved from strangulatiOn
that the agony promised to be brief and
was rapidly replaced by Authorizations
of a fascinating variety. One would
faiu believe that the kind God who suf
fered us to feel NO sigh in coming would
take no delight in turning our farewell
into writhing-nay, He does not quit us
at the last. He ia our greatest berefac-
tor in allowing us to sleep out of weari-
ness. Death is, assuredly no tax col
lectOr; its Jaws are not the clutches Of
an assailant; there is no victory 10 the
grave;" the ghost speeds away from us
as it entered, with no ruffle. The sense
of death, as Shakespeare has it. is most
in apprehension. 1t is the fear of the
lonely night. not the thrOes of nature,
that makes the leaving painful.