The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1890-08-14
BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE
POSSIBILITY or ResUselTATINe ALL
DEAD PEOPLE.

Hives That Might lie Saved If Properly
r.o.,cd-IIow 10 Tell when Death Has
n.,,rr,J-some Cases Where the Dead
We're Brought Back to Life
Tho unfortunate case OF the mind read
or. Bishop. upon whom too previous
outcnsy was performed Is likely to erect
a lasting good to humanity. before " oc-
CURED eases Of apparent yet not reai dea'n
were held 10 he 50 extremely rare that not
one in n thousand Of the sensational re-
mort, Of such were believed by physicians
In have any foundation whatever; but
they have been carefully studying the sub
iect and making thorough investigations,
and the most Of them are now ready TO ac-
cent that persoss are too often con-idefeu
rs being dead wien they are not so IN real
itv Many such cases, absolutely anthem
tic. have been reported.
DR.. Clark, Of Indianapolis, tells OF sew
eral recent cases IN his sectioh. ono was
That OF n woman In Steubcnvllle' u VINO
was pronounced dead by six physicians,
and vet liz returned after fourteen DAYS
Another. or a woman in II. LOUIS IN
whom only slight sign OF lie was accl-
dentally discovered just before the CONN
was TO be closed NJ. Brouardel. French
physician. has written upon tins subject
and brought out much Of interest. He
considers that the newly born. also young
children and aged and enIeebled persons,
are especially predisposed to apparent
death. lie believes that in infectious DIS
eases and algid fevers there are good
many examples Of resurrection; the pto-
maines he considers 10 have characteristic
annsthetic properties; injected into
frog the latter assumes any gwen ca'i-
leptic properties that may be desired.
The physician is most apt TO I've dseeive'
BIS historical persons, who are capable OF
living like alternating animals In per-
sons convaescing from grave diseases syn-
cope Is easily induced at the moment the
patient rises; the deficient cerebral circula-
ton and venous s'acratiOn In the lower
limbs are favorable conditions 10 the oc-
currence Of apparent death. VI. Brouar-
del relates the case Of a criminal who was
hung in Boston at 10 n. m, taken down al
twenty-five minutes past 10 a. m. and
transferred to the anatomical amphithea-
ire an hour thereafter, when his pulse re
commenced to beat On opening the tho
rax the pulse was seen to beat forty min
ute, and it stopped beating at quarter 10
Sd. m. Hoffman tells of similar case.
THE DEAD BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE
During the past two years many cases OF
recovery after apparent death from cleo.
tricity have been reported, and in some OF
them there was no sign of life for be
tween two and three hours. VI. Lester re
corded seven cases where the subjects,
under the action of lightning, had re
NAMED apparently dead for periods vary
ing from several minutes to three hohr-.
Physicians who took the observations
stated that no pulse could he felt at all,
the excitation having been strong enough
to stop the hearts action. \ few years
ago scarcely a physician could be found
who believed it possible for person TO re-
turn TO life after having been buried even
for day But now the fact finds ready
acceptance that people have been buried
from eight TO fifteen days and yet been re-
suscitated.
An interesting and physiological fact
bbearing upon this subject has recently
been brought out by experiments upon
dogs with curare, the substance which the
| South American Indian uses TO poison his
arrows This poison paralyzes the lungs
| first and afterward the heart, and when
| given to dogs they generally fall apparent
| ly dead within five minutes. But in all
| instances where artificial respiration was
commenced before the heart stopped and
persisted in for "a sufficient length of time,
recovery took place, the heart being by
this means kept at work until the poison
was eliminated by the lung. Accidents IN
which occur much the same physiological
sRagflfnf pedqE9snqr qsaHFh GT these concu
sions Of value can be drawn. Deaths un-
der chloroform and ether are occasionally
reported. In this class Of cases the hope
Of resuscitaton would seem TO be even
greater than Is usual In those Of sudden
| death.
Where a person who has been under
treatment appears to have died, even Il
suddenly and Unexpectedly, 1t IS quite
common custom Of the relatives among
all classes to depend upon their own dag
nosis Of death and to at once lay out the
| body, send for the undertaken, etc
WHAT PHYSICIANS MIGHT DO.
The doctor is usually informed Of the
unhappy occurrence; seldom, however,
until several hours afterward. the princi.
pal object Of notifying him being to pre-.
vent his making another visit. Very
| likely, in consequence Of this custom, many
| lives are lost which might be saved were
| the physician called at once and efforts 20
resuscitate were made by him.
There is one point TO be considered in
this connection. In cases Of sickness people
generally show the least possible sense. IL
| Is a notorious fact that in every case Of
death. except from some such chronic dis
ease rs consumption or cancer they will
! lay the blame on the attending physician,
| if it il a possible thing 20 do. Were he
called in directly after a patient Of his had
died and he at once employed artificial
| respiration or tried to stimulate the heart
by hypodermc injections the chances are
that the relatives and friends would jump
TO the conclusion that he had been giving
a medicine in overdoses, and had poisoned
| in consequence and was now endeay0rin8
to resuscitate his victim. The more intel
| ligent reader would think this absurd, and
yet few years in the practice Of medicine
would convince him to the contrary.
DR.. Clark, in advising young physicians,
urges them in cases of death by drowning
not to fail to use electricity in their efforts
to resusctate He says that a fine point Of
differentiation as TO the probability Of re
suscitation in case Of drowning is wheth-
er it was suicidal or accidental, for "A sui
eide cannot be saved after five minutes Of
submergence, but the accidentally drowned
may be submerged twenty and possibly
thirty minutes, and yet be resuscitated
The horror and revulsion Of feeling and
fear of death Of the latter are not present
in the former, and this influence on the
mechanism Of the heart may account for
the difference "Persevere in your efforts
as life has been restored in drowning cases
after four hours wOrk.-Boston Herald.
Money for Garibaldi's Heirs.