Evening journal., 1888-11-21
is DEATH PAINLESS2
WHAT PHYSICIANS GIVE AS THE
RESULT OF OBSERVATIONS.

They Agree That Death, rs General Rule,
10 Painless-Tho Appearance of Physical
Suffering bIoro Seeming Than Real.
Some cnses.
DR.. r. B. Ridley said: 81 think it depends
upon tho cause Of death. think after pro
tracted sickness where the strength is ex-
hausted, as in long fevers, and tho nerve
forces arc weakened, death is painless. l
think sudden death IS painless. have seen
patients WHO died, l am satisfied in physical
distress. just at the moment when death re-
leased tho body, believe it is painless.
Dr. q. g. Roy said: ut is my opinion that
death N tho 'articulo norris is painless, and
my reason for this is that vitality has so
Waned that there IS not enough nerve force
lell TO produce the sensation Of pain. You
viii see death come in this way A child or
grown person win stretch himself with his
hands clenched and face distorted as if in
great agony, and just as soon as death comes
there viii be a complete relaxation. with per-
feet callnness and placidity Of every feature .
DIR. f. II. Orme "Is death painless .
Certainly-as sleep is painless Death il
the extinction Of sensibility, release from
pain. The experience of persons approach
ing death is a different thing, and differs
with the disease, the ago and other circnm-
stances The road 10 death is often rourb
and hard, but its asperities are GENERALLY
soltened III proportion as tile end is near. ana
obtunded or paralyzed sensibilities are the
result 1t IS in the early stage OF fatal sicl;-
ness that suffering and apprehension are the
greatest-relaxation and indifference usually
Following toward the close The idea Of a
death struggle ID fiction, and the death
rattle Is due to paralysis
DR.. W. Q. Jernigan said "Ttisowine vary
much to tho cause Of death. Some cases nre
evidently painful, but l think the great n,a-
Jority are painless. remember tho cosa ~
one prominent merchant who had congestion
OF tho bowels. He felt no pain, and a half
hour before his death it was difficult to CON
vince him that he was dying. He, laughed 81
tho idea, and he sat up in bed and signed bia
Will IN as legible characters as he ever made.
writing beautiful hand.
Il have seen cases of death by violence
that We're apparently very painful. hut
doubt worry much whether those persons suf-
Tered any very great pain at the time. The
appearance Of suffering is more in the naturo
OF reflex action than the result of pain.
thlhk you may say that in the great majority
OF cases death is painless. am speaking in
reference to the article of death. the net ar
PAM In cases of hemorrhage there is no
dying. In sudden death think there il no
PAM u IS more tired feeling than anythin,
else. The death OF consumptives ns mn
ordinary thing, is comparatively painless
They really seem to welcome death. Death
from any exhausting disease is more a tired
feeling than ono Of pain"
DIR. w. d. Bizzell said: II have seen man
die from almost everything, and think the
most shocking death is that in a raalicnant
case Of yellow fever The man seems abso-
lutely Indifferent to his terrible condition
and lies there, seeing the black vomit and re-
aHzing what It means, seeming to be in his !
senses and answering questions inteuigently. |
but apparently not caring at all
The pain or painlessness Of death is n |
question that engaged my attention a good |
deal in my earlier practice. remember |
going through a hospital with a professor
when was a student We came upon n NOR
fellow who was in the last agony Of daatb |
from consumption. The professor. who was
onco thought to have CONSUMPTION and aftar- |
ward died OF lung trouble, seemed 10 have |
special interest in the case, and remarked Ia |
the students, We'll, gentlemen, death has ia |
terrors to most men as long as IL remains al |
a distance, and We rarely have the privilege /
OF choosing the route by which we shall io,ir- |
ney to meet it. Hero you see a man who Is
travelling, In my opinion, as easy route as a
man can so. With his senses about him. tb,
passage from life into death is SO easy thai
there is scarcely a jar TO shake his nervous
system The poor fellow looked up and said
Wen, doctor, when you get where am Won
went think So
In few cases that can recall death
seemed to have terror for its victims. who
would call to the physician Doctor, don't LET
me die-for Gods sake, don'tp Fortunately
such cases arc rare, and, whether saint or
sinner, man usually sinks, as it were, into
ilumber, sort OF dreamy unrest and SO
passes away into death, confirming almost
me ancient doctrine that death and sleep arc
wins.
There is strange thing about death. A
'hila mas the most intense horror Of death,
int looks upon it Gs the most supreme catas-
rophe, paS es q man passes the meridian Of
life and his friends drop of one by on. ond
le finds himself with the minority instead ~
he majority Of his generation. and when
ares and disappointlaents arc nultinlio1
-eatA has little terror for him. In fact. death
GEMS to be relief. The natural death from
VI ege-the enc we rarely sec in nature
'here the wheels Of life cease to revolve. tba
cart ceases to beat, and the body, from sheer
lek q vital power, without any known
lsease wears out, death is painless.
TIE mental condition Of a man approach
lg death is frequently a strange thing. A
Celebrated jurist, eminent in church ard
tate, died about a year ago under my obser-
st.oa During the earlier period Of his AL
rum he would exhort, pray and deliver
plaions from the bench, but as the disease
enetrated the more remote recesses Of the
rain he seemed to lose the impressions of
ecent events, and pass backward over his
areer as young attorney pleading at the
ar just befsro bis death he seemed 70 ~ i
3 It were, in his youth again, and his soul
cd already rcjuvenated itself before his final
Kit I
Another curious thing connected with dis
so is that persons who die from diseases
bove the diaphram arc composed and Of $
neerful mind, and usually die quietly. but
ersons with disease OF the liver, kidneys or
Elections Of that sort apt to be noroso and
ont take az cheerful view OF things a.
lose who have Diseases above the diaptrarn. .
Atlanta Constitution Interviews.