Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-11-10


true OF victims Of cholera. Sometimes
one would think that an epidemic OF
premature burials was in progress; STORES
of them are told so often and retoiu
again. being added TO with each telling
I'm almost all cases where burials are
said to have been premature they nave
been investigated by unscientific persons.
Physicians do not make any :ests OF
death ordinarily when a patient dies, IL
Is altogether unnecessary for them 10 90
so. A scientific man Is never In doubt
in his practice as TO whether a patient
Is really dead or not. l don't think
there can be such a thing as premature
burial, when body can be examined by
a scientific physician. The physognomy
of death Is so well known that IL hardly
needs n description. In truth. II seems
almost absurd to talk about II. There is
the pallid lip, the dropped jaw, the 'ustre-
less eye, and so on. Besides. any old
nurse can see the approach Of death.
The poet speaks of II as gray veil. and
that describes Il about as accurately as
anything.
"Of course. death approaches Inherently
in different sets of diseases; sometimes IL
comes through the brain. sometimes
through the heart. and again through the
lungs. All signs in each are well UNDER
stood by physicians. and death Is ex-
pected by them. Death comes as resu-
lar. logical conclusion. and l nave never
vet heard of a scientific doctor pro-
nouncing a live patient dead.
Ceases of apparent death are very rare,
so. of course, cases OF premature buriai
are still rarer. There are conditions Oh
trance where patients are apparently
dead for days at a time, to the ordinary
observer. A person In such a condition
might be buried alive out on the plains or
in the woods. or We might say that a
miner could fall in a cataleptic state ana
be buried prematurely by his fellow
miners. but these possibilities would not
be realized once I'm a million cases. There
are too many conditions to take into ac-
count.
1.-THE seat Of vital power Is the heart.
When that ceases TO beat a person Is as
dead as Julius Caesar. An imaginative,
excitable layman could not listen to the
heart and distinguish a case Of apparent
from real death, but a doctor has no
trouble In doing this. We have all sorts
of talk about how long the heart can
stop and then resume its beating; 1t Is a
question most difficult TO prove. 1t Is
said of cases OF drowning that after near
ly three minutes the heart has resumed
beating, but that is hardly creditable. fot
Il would have TO be proved that the pa
tlent was actually immersed all that pc
riod. 1t is a well-known fact that in cases
of accident in the water persons on shore
|. lose all idea of time. and say that they
have been there an hour when In reality
they have not been there a quarter OF ar
hour Very often the heart goes through
convulsive throbbings even after 1t mas
ceased to beat, just as the body Is giver
to gaspings after death. II looks, tneh
as IL nature dreaded to give up her task
and the heart was saying: Il am no
done yet
The greatest danger of premature bu
rial If there Is any at all, Is in cases oil
sudden death in times of epidemic. Over
a century ago several mortuary chambers
were established in Germany. The frs
was at Wemar, and the second at Mu
mich. Dead bodies were brought to these
places and watched closely by medica
men,. During the first forty-eight hours
after death a bell-rope Is attached TO tn
hand OF the corpse, so that in case deatl
was not real the slightest movement VII
ring the bell. In all OF these hundred
years only once has the sound OF a bel
been heard in any Of those mortuar>
c0dfnDtTe, anu lucil IL was AbV ~ NhN
Taxation OF the stiffened hand OF a corpse
ITO distinguish apparent from rea
death many things have to be taken int
account. The signs of real death arr
manifold. There is respiration; breathing
| however. often stops before the hear
ceases to beat. The disappearance OF TN
| pulse at the wrist is another sign. Amos
| the instant that death occurs the ey
| loses its lustre, the pupil dilates, and
| film comes over the eye. Hippocrates, tn
| father of medicine, thought the moVin
| I'D and down of a patients Adam app
an infallible sign of real death. That mo
ton is due to paralysis OF the respirator
| centre, and patients never recover afte
this condition Is reached. Inability [
| swallow. which shows the inability OF IN
| nerve centre to preside over the inheren
| vital forces. also points TO the approac
| Of death. But all these signs, except IN
| ceasing OF the heart to beat, are merel
corroborative. That by itself Is an infal
| ible sign of real death.
',rhere are a great many tests G
| death. The glass test to get the Napo
| OF the breath, is the most common.
was first applied by the old Germa
| nurses. and laid the foundation for man
horrible superstitions and stories, an
| after all 1t is no test, for often som
| signs of decomposition are mistaken 10
| life. patient may gasp and the vapo
| be on the glass to prove that he wa
| alive. even after decomposition had SO
in. This expulsion OF air from the lung
| is due to the fact that the stomach bt
| comes bloated and filled with gases afte
decomposition sets in. These gases arts
and expel the latent air from the lung
| Another test is to tie a string aroun
the finger. II the heart continues TO &C
| the finger becomes congested. On
method OF distinguishing death is to bur
| the body with a hot needle or hot han
mer. IL no inflammation results, bt
merely plain blister, the patient Is dea'
Mustard plasters and blisters also al
applied as a test The flame of a cana
sometimes is placed a little wav frol
the finger. IL the patent is dead the hei
raises an air blister.
persons who fear premature buri
often make a request TO be bled, In ord'
TO be sure that death Is real. one ma
know of left a request in his Will tn;
one of his toes be amputated, and IN
was done to carry out the provisions
his will. There is a fallacy about III
bleeding test, however. Immediate
after death one Is not apt TO bleed; lat
the blood oozes out on account OF q
pressure Of the gases on the heart al
other organs.
The eye becomes relaxed at the momel
of real death, but not at that OF apparel
death. The tension Of circulation Is TAKE
Off and a peculiar speck comes on u
white Of the eye which has the appea
ance Of a speck on parchment. This inc
cation Of death was observed nrst
fshwomen, who used to watch the ey
of their fish. One, might say, absolu
sign of death, is a blue spot In the rig
groin; this is almost infallible. There
a peculiar odor about the body even
the moment of death. 1t Is not that
decomposition. for II is too early Tor O
| a.a...ai,inn thnnoh when the body on