The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-12-20
DEATH WITH PAIN.
LoCkJAw THE MOST ExCRUCIAT-
ING FORM.
Few People Know How . Man Real
iy Dfes-The Most Dfstre~sinx Ae-
ctdents Usually Produce Painie>.
Deaths-yiofent Patients Are Usu-
ally Unconscious.

The most painful forms OF death are.
curiously enough. not those that are the
most shocking or the most commonly
dreaded The most distressing accidents
usually produce painless deaths. whshs
sorne familiar and little feared diseases
result Ia intensely zsroaixing death The
machinery and the rush and hurry OF New
1ork life cause more shocking FERNS Of
deaths Ian the fortunes Of the iaagiSi-
tton.
The question as 10 what are the mos
painful and easiest deaths to die must OF
course. be deeply Interesting TO every one.
DR.. A. p. Smith. OF the Metropolitan no.
tel. a surgeon of vide experience IN New
York. said 10 a reporter.
1T Is a curious fact that few people
know how a man really dies. They have
only more or less bNndly supcrstitiouS
fear and horror OF IL. The deaths which
are to be most dreaded have rule
little or no terror for most people. Now.
70 decide what is actually the most pain
fuI death any OF US can die. We must
look somewhat into the nature OF pain or
agony.
In the first place. the greatest suffer
ing is produced not by the surface or
superficial nerves Of the body. but by q
disturbance at some important nerve cen
ter. Many of the deaths which arS sup
posed 10 be accompanied by the most ex
circulating agony are In reality Amos.
painless. because only the outer nerves
are affected.
Perhaps the upost familiar example Is
death from burning. Most people imagine
thai 10 BE burned alive or boiled alive IS
the most intense torture conceivable. As \
matter or fact. I would rather he burned
10 death than die from many OF the so-
called natural causes. This Ia also true
OF the pain produced BY most cuts and
the bruises are very severe a death caused
in this way. although very distressing. IS
not. however, nearly as painful as that
from many familiar diseases.
Most Of the railroad and trolley car ac-
cldents inture people in just This way OF
course. death from such causes Is far
more distressing to relatives. II Is griev-
Gus 10 see a body mangled or cut and
bruised often beyond recognition. And 50
people naturally dread such a death and
imagine that IL Is the most painful death
10 die. But for the victim OF such an ac-
cident the actual pain is not BY any means
as great as most people fancy.
The pain, as / said. Is IN sense super
fcial, and the center OF nervous force re-
mains undisturbcd. 30 that such a person
can retain consciousness and keep meas
urably cool-headed. IL should. besides. be
considered that any severe shock, as IN
the case OF a bad accident. produces
duning or numbIng effect upon the entire
system. This Is a most mercifui proyi-
sion or nature. A man who falls from
high place is likely to be unconscious be-
fore he reaches the ground. The victims
OF railroad disasters. a rule. have their
senses dulled in this way, and II Is much
the same with a person who is burned
alive or who meets death In any other
sudden and violent manner.
ION the other hand. some diseases cause
ha s4aH he V4N- - N
most painful death a man can die il from
fetanus. or lockia In this disease the
nerve centers are SO affected that the mus
Giles are set or knotted together rigidly.
so that the pain Is most acute. The dis
turbance in this case directly affects the
spinal cord. and this quickly spreads to
the brain. IL Is impossible for any ons
who has never seen a death from lock-
law 10 appreciate the terrors of II.
1T Is a mistake 10 believe. however.
that the most violent deaths are neces-
sarily painful AS a rule. whenever pa
ilents are violent they are delirious aud
unconscious OF their pain.
The ealsist death TO die. OF course. Is
I'm cases where the patient is absolutely
unconscious. That Is 10 say. they pass
from sleep or a condition which closely
resembles Il. into death. The great ma
jority OF deaths occur in this way. In
most diseases as the end approaches there
* a gradual fdilinE OF the faculties. 50
that the end IL quite painless.
Death from suffocation Is also very
painful In this case the agony Is not the
result OF any injury 20 the nerve cen
tiers. But the consciousness that death Is
approaching Ia spite OF ones iahored ef-
forts 10 get air IS most distres sing. Tslis
brings on intense nervous agony. or
course. in speaking o. the pain Of dying
1 refer particularly TO purely physical
suffering New YORK san.