Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1885-10-10
SLEEP AND HER COUSIN DEATH.
The Relatfohship Between the Two
Conditions o. UmeOnscfousness.


From the British Medical journal
The relationship between sleep, "the cousin
OF DEATH" and death ITSELF Is probably real as
well as apparent The distance which sepa-
rates them IL great, but there are intermediate
connections grades OF dissolution as Of devel-
opment. Among these the similar states Of
trance and Information are worthy Of special
notice. For sleep and for trance, one cause, the
exhaustion chiefly OF the nervous matter, but
more or less Of every organ and tissue, il as
signabie. The hysterical stupor Is the sleep Of
nerve centers worn ont with the assault
and conflict Of stormy reflex action. Healthy
with the same strain applied more gradually.
sCases have been recorded in which somno-
fence. continuing for days without cessation,
mas resembled trance In its duration, while
sleep. Various facts support US in associating
the Information Of animals with the same train
OF organic or runctional changes as the other
sidering. It comes like o habit; it has, one
may say, annual return; Its apparent cause is
it affects are mostly those which, from their
bodily structure or habits, are subject TO great
periodic variations Of temperature. Vital It's
pended, probably because the numbness of cold
mas taken hold upon the radtcles Of the outer
circulation. and Of that Of the br In surface
which Is connected with 1t by numerous anas-
tomoses. In such q case anseunia would seem
TO be the cause of the winter sleep, as there Is
evidence to show that 1t Is also the cause OF
without arresting its action, In the natural re-
pose of each night
We may even regard the lethargy, ended by
death, into which man falls when exposed to
great cold, as q short and mortal Information.
Ihe same influence acts upon him as upon the
bear or fish; but the power of Its shock is greater
on his inner ana less accustomed senses than on
their comparatively coarse organization. SO
likewise in other regions and forms of life, N
D8fAIVStS. atrOnbV and PaNgrGno
and In their decay, beginning In the terminal
twfgs, the same teaching Is evident, that vascu-
lar nutrition, in its periodic variations, Is the
parent Of activity and of rest, as its absence Is
prising to meet with occasional instances in
which death is simulated by some deep degree
OF stupor.
The case Of George Childet, . laborer, living
| at Bridgewafer, which was lately recorded In
| this kind. The trance-like state developed
| tives for death. Some slight degree Of warmth
| in the apparent corpse induced the clergyman
In attendance to refuse burial In spite Of the
decided wish Of the relatives that 1t should take
place. After eight days the signs Of animation
were re-established, and the subject of this sim
| guar experience slowly recovered. In all such
cases there Is an element OF mystery; and one
to physiological or pathological conditions, or
to some external agency. We are not informed
| of the antecedents In the present instance, and
cannot say how much hard work, under-fced-
| do with the result. The state described, If
really one of trance, affords a striking example
| of the difficulty which sometimes, though very
rarely, arises in proving the final point In dag
nOsis, and warning that the most trivial sign
| of vitality should not be overlooked in deter
mining the fact of death.