Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-04-24

De applied for the purpose Of breath
ing renewed life into bodies which ar
l~iefless, or apparently l~ifeless. T,
use the words of the inventor. 1t is al
aerotherapeutical apparatus. A yes
sci into which water is poured is sur
rounded by an air chamber and hal
nxed In 1t an upright tube surmountet
by a globe. In the center of the tube
Is a vacuum gauge. When the proper
valve is turned water in the upper
tube moves upward and downward
producing alternate inhalations ant
exhalations in another tube leading tc
the free air. By suitable mouth oil
nasal pieces the latter tube is to be
attached to the body of the subject
The instrument being attached and
put into operation, the lungs will be
nlled with air and emptied at alternate
intervals, corresponding in regularity
with the natural expansion and CON
traction of the chest In normal breath
ing. Thus the blood may be supplied
with its necessary oxygen, and unless
decomposition has set in life may be
kindled anew.
Still another invention of this class
is that of a Brooklyn physician. 1t is
an air-tight chamber, suitable in size
for the accommodation of a mans
body. 1t is connected with an air
rarefier and compressor, the c%ontroll-
ing mechanism of which is worked by
a rotary shaft and crank. 1t is claim
ed that the subject inside may be made
to breathe when the interior at
mosphere is alternately rarefied and
compressed, his lungs, as well as the
chamber itself. being filed and then
emptied as the valves are kept work.
ing.
still another invention. hat of a
Buffalo man, is a bellows and tube. the
latter to be connected with the mouth
I'M nostrils. The tube before reach
ing the subject passes through a small
stove, which heats the air IN the
proper temperature.
An odd apparatus which may be in
cluded in this category, is a sort of
corset. patented by a California man.
which while encircling the chest. may
be made to automatically compress and
let free the muscles of the thorax.
which control respiration.
The examining board of the life
saving service has been considering the
advisability of adopting a resuscitating
machine, known as an i%nsufnator. for
reviving drowned persons. It in
wolves an air pump, nasal and mouth
pieces, and a hypodermic apparatus.
Should the future develop improve
ments in the direction toward which
these inventions as well as the theories
of reliable medical specialists are
pointing we may yet see the day when
our friends may be brought back to
life after several deaths and when life
may begun again by an external rather
than an internal force. When this
happy day arrives the physician will
visit the deathbed, resuscitator in
hand, maintaining artificial circulation
and respiration, while at the same
time repairing or replacing the worn
OUT OIBdub. LII IilCoC WOAuCllul udy6
of scientific achievement there seems
to be no reason why the vital flame,
because once extinguished, cannot be
reignited to once more put the delicate
animal mechanism in motion.
Up to this time physicians have ac-
complished little by attempts at re-
s~uscitation, except in cases of cata-
lepsy, syncope, a few kinds of poison
ing. drowning, hanging and other
forms of asphyxia and electrocution.
The old-fashioned or direct method
now generally applied in such cases is
to place the patient upon his back and
to compress and expand his chest cav
ity by pressure of the hands. Renewed
life has been breathed into young chill
dren by what is known as the mouth
to-mouth Insulation. The operator
places his mouth to that of the patient,
and by keeping up a systematic pro-
cess of exhalation and inhalation
starts the latter's lungs to working
again.
Physicians now have hopes of resus-
citating a drowned man after life has
been apparently extinguished for an
hour. Mar appears to be more FORUM
ate than the dog in this respect.
In the course of experiments some
time & to determine this degree Of
comparison dogs which had been held
wholly under water for a minute and
a half never recovered and their s.>arts
stopped beating four minutes after
breathing had ceased. The testimony
oil persons resuscitated after drowning
indicates that such a mode Of death
is not nearly so painful as n might
imagine. "A tickling in the throat Is
about the only pain which is usually
experienced.
Physicians have recently made OBJ
servations which lead to new theories
considering the possibilities Of resus-
citation in cases of death from electric
ity. If a person should take a sufti-
cient dose of nitro-glycerine or nitrate
of amyl just before contact with the
current the fatal effect might be coun-
teracted. Electricians are yet puzzled
to locate the course which an electric
current usually takes on enterting or
coming in contact with the body.
There have been cases Of resuscitation
from death by electricity, which doc
tors have previously supposed to be
hopelessiy fatal. The New York u
thorities are frequently bothered by
specialists offering to resuscitate cleo
srocuted criminals. Or. Augustine
Goelet, a high authority on such sub