The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-01-21
WHEN DEATH oFrENEsr OCCURS.
The Night Hours Not so Fatal as the
Day.

AHS NAgnt hours NOT so Fatal as the
Day.
Dr.. John Francis Burns, in the Nelg York
Medical Journal
a very general opinion is entertained by
medical practitioners and others engaged in
caring for the sick that tho greatest num-
Der Of deaths occurring in individuals af-
hicted with disease takes place during the
hours Immediately succeeding midnight
and preceding the dawn This opinion
most probably originates in parts from i'm
perfect observation and partly from a mis-
apphcatlon OF the physiological law govern
ing the lowest period of vitality in the
healthy individual. The rule is said to be
particularly true in those suffering from
chronic exhausting diseases, and deductions
nave been made from these impressions
which have served to regulate
the administration of stimulanus in
such cases, it being said, IF six ounces
Of whisky be needed in twenty-four hours,
four should be administered from to g
o'clock a. m, for then is vitality in the hui
man being at its lowest and more deaths
occur at these hours than at any other
period" Such expressions may be found
scattered through works on materia medica
and therapeutics, and in many of the text
DOCKS ON the practice Of medicine. The
Idea finds expression also in the lectures of
teachers In our colleges. aud usually leaves
a Weu-grounded impression on the minds of
the medical student, which is apt to remain
permanent one. | accepted this teaching
at college, because l had neither the means
nor the time to verify or disprove it to my
own satisfaction. Yet always doubted the
correctness of the conclusions drawn, and,
to settle the doubt in my mind, since enter
ing on my duties at the hospital, have col
lected statistics, which | find do not agree
with this generally accepted idea. There
are many circumstances that should
greatly tend to increase the death-rate at
night in large hospital, principal among
which is the great vitiation of the atmos-
phere during this period. During the night
all the patients are confined to the ward
and ventilation is apt to be neglected. This
must certainly have a very depressing
effect on those suffering with pulmonary
affections, and on those in whom disease has
effected extensive alterations in the physical
| and chemical characters of the blood. This
| alone should greatly tend to increase the
number of deaths at night, and, if there was
| any truth in the accepted notion, the records
should show quite preponderance of deaths
happening at night. t
The contrary Is, however, the rule, the
figures showing twenty-seven fewer cases
during the hours from D. m. to a. m.
than for the corresponding twelve hours of
the day. Again, from 3 to 6 p. IN. there
were sixty-slx more deaths than from to
a. m. The total number Of deaths in the
list of acute diseases for the twelve hours
from p. m. to 6 a. m. is 1859 less than for
the corresponding period during the day.
| The hours from to 6 a. m. in this list show
| fifty-three cases more than for the CORE
spending period in the afternoon; this in
| nearly 1000 cases is very slight. In the
| chronic cases the greatest number of deaths
at any one hour was at p. M, with
2 and o'clock p. m. and o'clock a. IN.
| closely following. The greatest in the acute
list was at o'clock a M, with II o'clock
a. m. and p. m. closely following The low
est number in the acute list was at II O'Clock
m. (midnight), that hour SO dreaded in the
sick room by attendants, and to which a
good deal of superstition attaches. 1t is
noticeable that the number for this hour is
exceedingly low-about half of the average
number. In the chronic cases the lowest
| number appears at 8 o'clock a. m.
From these 1900 cases, extending over
period of twelve years, it would appear that
| death occurs seemingly without any par
ticular prediction for any certain hour,
and that the number of deaths for each
hour is very evenly proportional, consider
| ing the large number of cases taken at the
time covered. The only very positive con-
illusions l have formed by the figures are:
/. That the idea that more deaths take
place in the early morning hours is an
erroneous one. 2. If stimulants are to be
pushed in disease during these hours, the
practice must be justified upon some other
ground than to avert the possibility of dan
ger supposed to be very probable at this
period. 3. That the vitality OF an indi-
vidual in diseases is not regulated by the
same influences or subject to the same laws
that governs the vitality of a healthy human
being, the normal equilibrium maintained
in health between the mental and physical
states being altered.