The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-12-18
SURE SIGNS OF DEATH.
There Arc None, and the Most skil1fu
Doctors May Make Mistakes.

There Arc None, and the Most skil1ful
Doctors May Make Mistakes.
"Apparent death from an electric
shock, {" said physician, "is one Of
the most deceptive things in the
world. Those who opposed the en-
ployment of electricity for the in.
Fiction of capital punishment in
New York were able to cite the
opinions of some Of the most emil
,ient authorities on this subject,
among them Sir Benjamin Ward
Richardson, who, in an address be-
fore the Medical Society of London
some years ago on The Absolute
Signs of Death, took a strong posi-
ton against the employment Of cleo.
tricity in the case of murderers and
asserted that as the result of a se-
ries of careful experiments he had
been forced to the conclusion that It
could not be relied upon to produce
death.
''The fact is that when we are
asked to say definitely what con-
stitutes death, so for as outward
and visible signs 60, we doctors
must confess with the rest of man.
kind that we can make no oonolu-
sive answer any more than we can
if you ask US to define life. Except
where decomposition has set in or
where body is SO injured as to put
the matter beyond question there is
always a possibility of error. No
physician should sign q death certif-
icate in the case of patient unless
he was present at the final moment
or unless he has made an examina-
tion after death is reported by those
in attendance, although know this
precaution is not always taken. I
have never had any cases Of recov-
cry after apparent death in my own
practice, but I have known of them,
and many others are recorded.
"For example, there is the in
stance Of a physician in New York
city who was called to see student
at a young ladies' seminary. BE
was unable to respond Immediately,
and upon his arrival he was met at
the entrance by one of the young
woman's fellow students, who said,
'It's no use now, doctor; she is
gone. He went to the room, where
he found the girl lying as if dead.
Her face was white, and her heart
had ceased to beat. The other ply
sioian in attendance, who was pres
emit when the change took place,
pronounced her dead. But the girl,
as the doctor learned, was subject
to attacks Of what is known as
grave hysteria, and it was during
one of these attacks tn at she had
apparently passed away. Consider
ing that under the circumstances
the evidences Of death were by no
means conclusive, he resorted to ar
tifoial respiration, with the result
that the girl recovered completely
and became strong and healthy
woman. Examples Of this kind,
while by no means common, are suf-
fioiently numerous to show the dan
ger in which friends and physicians
are constantly placed of making
mistakes Of the most shocking ma
ture.
"some years ago an award which
had been placed in its hands by a
professor in the University of Rome
was made by the Academy Of Sol
enoes of Paris for an essay on the
question, What Is an Infallible Sign
of Death?' In the essay for which
the award was made 1t was asserted
that death could always be deter
mined by a prolonged absence of
beatings of the heart upon ausoul-
tation; that is to say, by listening
either with or without the stetho-
scope. It was required, of course,
that the ausoultation should be per-
formed by physician, but this test
was soon shown to be unreliable by
numerous cases in which it was
tried. The Paris Academy of Medi-
cine has had for a number Of years
a standing prize of several thousand
francs bequeathed to it by some
marquis for a solution Of the same
great problem, but it has never been
awarded. Chicago Tribune.