Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1893-05-27

Dr. William Biddle Atkinson, secre
tary of the American Medical aSSOcia-
ton, is a firm believer in euthanasia
says the Chicago Evening Post. This
is scientific name for a pleasure
which, however seductive in reality
would hardly, it is to be believed, have
commended itself to the philosophers
of the epcurean school. DR. Atkinson
and those who believe with him hold
that dying is by no means the disagree
able experience it has been pictured.
As the end " life approaches, such
is the Doctors theory, nature often
brings her peculiar anaestholc and the
person passes off without suffering
half the agony which the sickness caus-
ing the death brought TO the patient
Even men meeting a violent death in
The jaws Of wild beasts have a few Sc
conds of calm preparation before dying,
which brings relief and a certain de
gree Of pleasure. The great trouble in
death is the sickness and pain which
carries one TO the door Of death, ami it
is at such moments that one suffers all
the torment ana agony Of a dozen
deaths
The pleasures Of dying can only be
likened TO those Of the dreamy NOR
phine eater who gradually passes of
into a semicOnscious state where every
thing seems like floating visions Of
bliss The body and nerves are numb,
and the excited, overweight brain be
comes quiet and uneXcited
The Imagination plays fancifully with
blissful pictures, ana The whole Condi-
ton of the nervous system is Of
pleasurable eXaltation The drowning
man experiences the same relief and
pleasure when the struggles are over
and the cold limbs grow stiff and
numb.
Persons frozen in binding snow
storms have reported their sensations
accurately, and they all agree that
after n certain amount of suffering,
which every one feels at first in eX-
IRENE cold, they enter into biissful
state from which they do not wish TO
be reused.
Morphine, cocaine, ether and lauda-
mum bring to the patient this same
mental ana nervous condition, and the
patients resent any attempt to rouse
them from their dreamy state. Nature
supplies her own anaeSthetic before the
important moment has arrived
Before the death rattle is heard the
convulsed frame relaXes, the signs Of
pain and suffering on the frame dis.
appear and often q smile partly opens
the lips The whole body shows signs
Of n painless moment and if the mind
wanderS and the tongue uttcrs words
they are all of pleasure and joy.
Those who have watched at hundreds
Of death beds have noticed that death
was easy, and officers in battle have
testified that the last moments Of dy-
ing soldiers were painless. People
who have been in the jaws Of wild
beasts in India and have been rescued
ut the last moment testify that n numb
ing calmnesS was experienced after the
first sharp, painful snap Of the teeth
upon them. In fact, the approach of
every creatures fate brings with it a
kindly preparation when life is bliss
ful and full Of pleasure. The last sen
sadon in the world Is then one Of Joy
and not excruciating pain.
The real knowledge Of euthanasia
certainly diminishes If it does not en-
tirely relieve, the dread Of many Of the
last struggle, which has been made SO
horrible 10y vivid descriptions Of its
agony Tie pleasures Of dying may re-
move great burden from the minds Of
hundreds who are inevitably approach
ing death. The old-fashioned notion
that death would be terrible had a
baleful influence upon those who were
fighting insidious diseases, and many
aggravated their complaints by fever
ishly dreading the pain Of the last
struggle. In this way a great deal Of
harm was done and many sufferers
hastenad their own end
Even in the case Of poisoning, the
pain suffered is only when the system
combats against the desire 70 yield to
the influence Of the drug sleep gener-
ally steals over the person, and only
the dreamy pleasures caused by the
poison and Of dying are again eXper-
fenced IN this world The greatest pain
felt is that Of the stomach pump. which
may be piled In time to recall the
suicide to life. and i'm every case they
rebel against this most emphaticallr.
That the suffering is not so terrible
may be snrrnised IRON the fact that
persons who have once attempted sui
eide frequently make tine second or
third attempt
Ii is a fact that the pa' / Of death is
frequently far less than he pain that
accompanies many diseases that are
not fatal The pain If rheumatism,
for instance, is probably more severe
than the usual pain Of dying ~ is the
pain Of neuralgia or the pain q tooth
ache
Death often, indeed comes rs silent
" ana painle-slv as sleep Those att
the bedside cannot see exactly when
the vital spark Of life gives out with