The Dickinson press., 1889-06-22
NO PAIN In DEATH.
A FAMOUS PHYSICIAN TALKS FREE
w ON THE SUBJECT.

| a FAMOUS PHYSICIAN TALKS FREE
LY ON THE SUBJECT.
Educated Persons Fear Death Least-Good
| Christians Who Are In No Hurry to
Leave This world-women Arc Braver
Than Men In the Last Moments.
| One day writer was sitting in the office
of DR. Shrady, editor of The Medical Record
and the physician who attended Gen. Grant
in his last illness. The death agonies of fic-
tion writers came up in the course of con.
verSation and the question, Isdcath painless'
naturally suggested itself DR.. Shrady is
man of commanding presence of aggressive
disposition. and positive in his tones.
Speaking generally" said he, "the death
agony is very rarely attended by pain, be-
cause the system is always prepared for death
by n weakening of the vital forces, by tho
circulation of impure blood through the
brain and by the obtunding of the nerves. OF
course some people have moro pain than
others, and this is largely determined by tenn
permanent a nervous man-all other things
being equal-suffers more pain than a man
who has enjoyed robust health, because tho
nervous mans scnsibilities are stronger, but
the pain of death is more in the anticipation
Of it than in the reality. The instinct for lifo
is strong in man, and the teachings of tho
present day as well as tho writings of our
novellsts do not make the majority of men
any the more ready to die. He'll fire is not
preached as much as formerly, it is an un-
popular doctrine, but it is nevertheless
taught, and often adds to the torture of dying
people,
DO NOT WANT TO DIE.
What people are the most afraid to dic7'
My own experience, strange as it may
seem, has taught mo that Christian people
are, as n rule. tho most afraid to die My
profession has brought mo into contact with
all sorts of men, and havo made study of
death from psychological standpoint, and
have found that the best Christians are tho
most willing to stop out of heaven as long us
possible. They all want to get there, but
they're in no hurry. Tho scientific philoso
pher who weighs tho chances, who knows
that death is inevitable, who recognizes that
there is no way of escape, since every one be-
forc him has had to meet tho grim visitor
meets death as bravcly as any Ho knows
that the necessity of dying is tho penalty of
living He regards it from n purely matter
of fact standpoint, and ho is fully aware of
the fact that no argument or theory will
take off its edge.
II am talking like an aSnostic, am notl'
broke i'll the doctor, parcnthetically, "but
am IL beirvcrin Christianity for all that, and
what have told you is tho result of my cx-
prrience as Il physician and quito apart from
my own preferences.
"Speakins generally" continued tho doc
tor, "mcn of education face death with greater
fortitudo than men who are not educated
Philosophy has great deal to do with tho
art of dying, although tho Christian religion
has been great comfort to tho human race
in preparing the way for death, and in Civ
ns hope of Il life hereafter amounting in
some cases almost to n realization of better
country beyond the limo of time"
Are men or women the Drawer in facing
death Z"
Women are almost always pluckicr than
men They endure pain much better. Have
You ever observed how irritable u man is
who is suffering from toothacho or neural
gia, t,uu :. woman will often suffer without Il
murmur All oth,, things being equal a
woman will face death with me- '",n,ness
and fortitudo than II man, which may be
partly accounted for from tho fact that tho
instinct for life is stronger i'll u man, and his
habits and surroundings have trained him
not TO give in so easily"
QUICK DEATH TIE EASIEST.
(Which is tho easiest kind of ,lcathl"
"'rhc quickest death is the easiest death.
In one Of the prayers of the common prayer
book we pray to be delivered from sudden
death, but i'll reality if a man is prepared to
die, sudden death is tho casst 1t is abso-
utcly painless, such deaths as result from
upopcxy, u stroke of lightning or heart dis
NV, oio &c.
easier than people suppose. The punishment
to the criminal consists in the anticipation Of
his approaching end, which is displayed in
the anxious eye, tho trembling gait, tho
quivcring lip, and depressed condition gen.
orally most firmly believe that if man
We're placed ON tho scaffold, and kept in sus-
pcnsc for five minutes he would have received
all the punishment he required, and if liber-
ntcd would never again lift his hand against
his brother man as long as he lived. Tho
agony in hanging occurs before death and
not at death In some diseases the moribund
condition lasts for hours, and in cases like
this. where there is no hope for recovery,
deaths door is opened and the patient passes
away as quietly as if going to sleep. Con
slmptives, for instance who, strangely
enough, have hope to the very lash, very
often die in this sleep, or if inclined to sleep,
just before death they will say. Doctor,
please raise the pillow little and rs tho
head is being raised there is Il faint gurgling
sound in the throat and death takes place ap-
parcntly without pain"
What death do you consider to bo tho
mos, painful"
i thlnk death from suffocation is, because
the struggle for breath and the intense desire
to overcome the impcdiments to breathing is
something terrible to contemplate and still
more terrible to experience. When astudcnt
at col eye was very nearly drowned | was
taken out of the water inscnsiblc, and so
ran speak of this kind Of death from expert
rnrc, because was virtually dead. that is to
say. if had remained in tho water a few
minutes longer the curtain that divides time
from eternity would have simply come down,
anl-well the world would have been spared
another doctor. wouldn't it," said he with
| smile
Il had heard previous to this experience Of
mine" he went on. that drowning was
very pleasant death, and that drowning per-
SONS >:s" beautiful visions as tho result Of the
circulation Of carbonzed blood, and was
waiting for them to occur, but they did not.
had read that it was a very pleasant sort
of DEATH but when | came to the scratch
undeT tue water Iouuo IL any LhlhS Dut
pleasant. and the remembrance of that terri
ble struggle for life in the water is, as you
may imagine, among my most vivid rccollec
tions. New York Mail and Express.
Turpcntine Baths for Rheumatic Pains.
Make a concentrated emulsion of black
t,ap. 2OO grammes, add thereto 100 or l2O
gramnes Of turpentine and shake the whole
vigorously until a beautiful creamy emulsion
is obtained. For bath take half of this
| MIXTURE which possesses an agreeable pine
| ntlor Al the end of e un minute. thnro ic u