New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-12-12
TESTS OF DEATH.
METHODS BY WHICH PHYSICIANS MAKE
SURE LIFE IS REALLY GONE.
A CHICAGO DOCTOR ADDS A NEW ONE TO THE
LIST TO PREVENT THE POSSIBILITY
OF BURIAL. ALIVE.

From The Chicago Tribune.
A true and unfailing test Of death. means by
which burial alive may be made an imposSlp'ty. W
which a Chicago man believes he has discovered;
Dr. Chalmers Prentice of this city is about &c 10
communicate 10 the medical world a discovery tla INA
he believes bound to prove a boon to humanity ana
to rob death Of this one OF us terrorI, hnmn
found how. he says. to read death In inc human r
eye to tell by the appearance of veins and ar'r rr
les whether fe has dePar neSo Er c STAIN
For centuries man has been haunted with thG aGar
sense Of his awful position Many times graves
have been opened for some reason OF otnci, hi."
riied tn discover that the deceased had recovered
from the trance which had seemed af,'n ,on mes
plainly indicated BY the contortcd posi''oh Vi '''
This fear was always present with the late Emma
Abbott and the will Of the prima donna directed
that dagger be puhsen s h,S der be satisfied that
During recent years many methods for detecting
he presence OF life in the supposedly dead body
have been suggested and tried fayornc m snS
mirror over the mouth Of the person. the idea DC
Ing that the slightest breath will be RECORDED upon
the polished glass in the shape OF steam bnt thiS
method is crude at best. and while suicient TO
dstGs' er ysn IN sSms Of anmaon "
Another method IS TO open an artery. in the belief
self by the squirting Of the blood. This method Is
founded upon the fact that the instant the crculn-
ton OF the blood through the heart ceases death
occurs But. unfortunately, there are cases OF
suspended animation where The circulation Is so
arterial blood when the lance is inserted. In other
It Would from vein indicating nothing.
In Germany ana in some other European coun-
a finger Of the dead With string that is brought
TO the surface and attached TO a bell. watch
cxhuming the body should the bell ring. While
this is all right in theory. in praciice' 80 Tar as
can be learned it has never saved a HE.
In this country and in France and England a
plan has been adopted that Is more rational. Al
though barbarous in the extreme; u IS 70 PROVIDE
mortuary chambers. where the bodies OF ia" re
untu All possbili,y Of revival is past but it has
been objected that this method Is inhuman. since
Iniiy be Killed without recovering conscionsncss.
owing to the chill and damp OF ne surroundings.
survive these conditions and come T." ne
the horror Of the sitG1ion wSq ,b sSo5 10
presence OF the spark Of Ife might be detected by
The Of the ray. Much credit has been given
this theory. still. while the conclusions OF me
been proved. and an almost insurmOun'ahl" OBJ
stacle TO the extensive use Of this method hes IN
thu difficulty Of providing the apparatus at the
The galvanic battery in It's infancy was regarded
much In the Light OF the y ray Of to-day-that Is;
It thought capable Of almost any WONDERLAND
the proposition was advanced that 10y it's use the
causc OF suspended animation could be shocked
into sensiblity Il was found. however, that ,nS
might produce the contrary effect TO that desired
IL is therefore a matter Of more than slight i'm
portance If DR. Prentice has succeeded in cstab-
fishing unvaryInC test OF tn' Tf'Hlfe oi lH' III
suspected death. Being an oculis the doctor was
naturally in a position to be impressed win phe-
nonena OF the eyes OF the dead that would pass
unnOticcd by the general practitioner.
1t il known to the medical fraternity that the
arc the least rourished OF any In the human body
For that reason feeble circulation ought immedi-
atoy to be noticed. whore it exists when an eh-
animation Is made OF the rctina by means oil an
opht ha lmoscope.
During life the arteries and veins that ineracc
IN the reina which Is the sac ha m ,En
have a distinct characteristic Examined by light
thrown into the eye by the ophthamoscope. the
arteries to contain bright crimson blood.
while the veins contain the dark blood The Two
at tho posterior or ba tx part OF the ball OF the eye
The eye of a person with the breath OF life in
him must present this appearance. even though
blind In case OF a man whose eye had been in.
jured such an extent that an Opaque Him had
grown over the cornea no ray OF light could pcnc-
trate hence OF course the cOursng OF blood In the
veins could not be seen. But. aturallv. ne or
death cannot bc told by the eyes unless the subject
DIR Prentice says he noticed that tho eyes Of the
dead Immediately after dissolution took on an en- |
tirely different and unms. taxable aspect. Within
few moments the distinction between the color OF
the blood in the arteries and tn veins entirely dis
place that the doctor found in many cases the
phenomena occurred absolutely simultaneously
The fluid In arteries and veins he found TO have |
been transformed into IA uniform pinkish color:
due to the fact that circulation had stopped ana
the blood could no longer secure aeration I'm the
lungs.
Prentice began twenty years ago to make an ex
haustive investigation. He systematically visited
ahe dhd h p Of o. an a bod da
persons. At first he feared that there might be !
numerous exceptions to the rule. but as the years
passed and experience ripened he came TO the be-
lief that the rule was infallibe. lie recorded all |
Of his experiments and sought far and wide for
light
To put his theory to practical test the doctor
tried to find cases Of suspended animation. But
such cases are exceedingly rare In any one physi-
clans practice, although considerable number in |