Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1888-04-05
NO REASON FOR DEATH.
DR.. William Hammond Does Not Be-
lieve Death Necessity.

lieVe Death Necessity.
From the New York Mail and Express
People die through their ignorance of the
laws which govern their existence, and also
from their inability or indisposition to obey
those laws with which they are acquainted.
We are told in the first chapter OF Genesis
that before Adam ate the forbidden fruit
the life of man was to be eternal, but with
the acquisition of the knowledge of good
and evil death became his portion. 1t
seems to me that it would be more in ac-
cordance with the actual condition of af-
fairs at the present time to believe that
death came through his loss of knowledge
rather than from his obtaining it, for now
he losses his life, not through an excess of
knowledge, but through an excess of ig-
norance.
do not see that there is any physiologi-
cal reason why even at the present day
man should die. From knowledge of the
causes Of disease greater than that possess
ed fifty years ago, and from the advance of
medical science leading to better methods
of treating the deviati0ns from the nor
NAL standard of health to which we are
subject, the life of generation has within
the period mentioned been heightened
from five to six years. That is, the aver
age man, instead of living thirty years, as
he did fifty years ags, now lives nearly
thirty-six years. Looking at the question
from this standpoint only, it will be seen
that it is merely question of time when
his life will be extended to thousands of
years, and that with an eternity of time
his life also will be eternal.
I Of no fok Of ov1h oof
and we snail not, think, fail to preceive
with its requirements, death, unless by ac-
cident, will case to exist.
We know that this life is continued
through the death of the various atoms Of
the several tissues that enter into the COM
position of his body. His organs are kept
in action by force, and this force results as
does all other force-from the metamor-
phosis of matter. Thus, to obtain heat we
burn wood or coal, and ashes OF gases are
evolved in the process; to generate elec-
tricity we convert zinc or some other metal
into salt through the action of an acid,
and electricity is set free. In the body, the
brain, the heart, the liver the muscles, all
act through the destruction or rather alter
alton of the substance of which they are
composed. With every thought that
emanates from the brain, with every mo-
ton which it feels, with every act of the
will which it originates, with every per-
ception which it experiences, a certain por-
ton of the central tissue is broken down
into simple substances and through
various channels is excreted from the body.
With every pulsation that the heart makes
some parts Of the organ, small though it
may be in amount, is destroyed and is cast
out of the system to make room for new
substance. With every contraction OF
muscle, no matter how small, from the
effort required to WELD the heaviest kind
of sledge hammer, to that necessary to
lift pin or to crook finger or to wink an
eyelid, muscular tissue dies, and being no
longer fitted for the purpose for which it
was formed, is taken up by the veins, and
like that coming from the brain and the
heart and the lungs and the stomach, and
all the other organs which serve the pur-
poses of the body, is gotten rid OF through
the kidneys and the skin and the respira-
ton to be reformed outside Of the system
into other substances, which in their turn
make the food by which the body is again
nourished.
The food that man takes into his stOm-
ach ought to be of such quantity and quail
ity as would exactly repair the losses
which through the action of the several
organs his body is to undergo. Ii it is
excessive in either of these directions, or II
it is deficient, disease of some kind will
certainly be the result. If he knew
enough to adjust his daily food to the
expected daily requirements of his system
disease could never ensue through the
exhaustion of any one of his vital organs.
A large majority of the morbid affections
to which he is subject are due to lack of
this knowledge.
Suppose, for instance, that a man on rising
in the morning should say to himself ::
To-day have to read ten pages Of Black
stones Commentaries twenty pages of
Don Ouixote,' to walk three miles and
half. to pay visit of half an hours dura-
ton to nv grandmother and to take my
sweetheart to the theatre where l shall
spend two hours. To do this require
taking out his pencil and memorandum
book as he speaks) so much carbon, so
much nitrogen giving, of course, the exact
weight of these several elementary sub
stances. 1 can get those precise quanti-
ties from ounces of bread, a ounces OF
eggs. ounces of beef. 6 ounces of potatoes,
4 ounces of fish, half pint OF beef soup, .
ounces of water and s ounces OF strong col
fee to make them 90 little farther than
thew otherwise would. In case l have an
extraordinary demand made upon me for
mental or physical exertiOn, shall have
to add to these substances others which will
compensate for the increased lOss."
Now, suppose that he is exactly right IN
bis calculations and that the food taken is
neither too great nor too little, but ex-
actly compensates the anticipated losses,
the death of each cell in the brain or the
heart or the muscles, ETC., will be followed
by the birth of new cell which will take
it's place and assume its functions. Gout'
rheumatism, liver and kidney DIS
sease. heart affections softening and
other destructive disorders of the brain,
the various morbid conditions to which
the digestive organs are subject, would De
;mnossible except through the action OF
some external force, such as the swallowing
of snlnhuric acid or blow on the head or
a stab with a knife, which would come
clearly within the class of accidents, and,
of course manv of these would be avoid
able.
AGAIN let us imagine that's man knew Just
n what extent his animal appetites should
be gratifed; that he had ascertained oeaI
nitely to what extent, if at all, aiconol ana
tobacco and other stimulants and seoatives
should be used that his KNOWLEDGE IN re,
gard to clothing was perfect; that ne nad
acquired complete information OF tne man, a
ner in which his house should DO punt anu
heated and otherwise ventilated ana o,ner-
wise made sanitarily perfect; that cookery
had become one of the exact sciences 'nas
he was able to avoid the effects OF extieme