The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-03-11

Statement by DR.. Tuffier Of the Hospital
de Ia Pitie. Paris: at is quite true that
recently we restored to life a dead man.
Il is also true that we have restored to
life fifty animals All biologists now adj
nit that dead animals can be brought to
life. This has been demonstrated over
and over. Why, therefore, cannot the
same be done for man? Death is merely
the arrest of circulation and respiration.
If this arrest be due to mechanical ac-
cident it is obvious that the obstacle can
be overcome by putin the machinery of
life abain in motion. If a physician hap
pened to be at hand at the moment. when
the circulation stops resuscitatiOn is not
difficult This resuscitation IS well known
to he often accomplished in the case Of
people who have been drowned or poison
ed by gas. or who have received a severe
blow in the epigastric region, injuring the
solar pIexus. can restore to life almost
any dead man whose heart is sound and
who is brought to me within a few min
utes after death I make an incision in
mis- breast. take his heart in my fingersh,
and by a series of delicate maniDulations
retsore the circulation of the blood and
bring the dead man 10 life again. The
circulation becomes quite normal after this
operation. Nothing could be clearer than
the case of the young man whom we re-
stored to life recently at the Hospital de Ia
Pitie. 1 was explaining a physiological
question TO ny class of some forty stu
de nts when an attendant rushed into the
lecture room and told me that a young
man had died suddenly in another part Of
the hospital Thither I took my whole
class. The man had died Of appendicitis
He was dead beyond all possibility Of
doubt In the presence of my assistant.
Dr. Dumont. and of all my pupils, 1 cut
the mans side open and pressed his heart
with nv fingers. The blood circulated, he
began to breathe. he opened his eyes, he
looked around he talked TO Us. Then l
s-o7ped and after three minutes the
younS man was dead again. I repeated
the experiment. putting the heart in bet
ter action. and the young man lived for
two hours. He might as well have lived
for .vo years or for twenty, II I had had
proper mechanical means al hand to per-
feet the reeuscication which I rad begun.
I did not keep Soulie alive permanently
simply because I had not the delicate me-
chanical contrivance necessary with which
20 work constantly upon his heart. driving
the blood 20 The body. restored life tenn
20 rarly with my hand. but I could nos
keen this up long enough 70 make his re-
c1very permanent. So had To let him
die. The mechanism 7 speak OF can be
constructed without great difficulty. Ev
cry dead person cannot be restored 70 life,
but We now know by experiments which
are beyond question THAI some dead men
can be brou-h back again. II the testi-
mony II The senses Of 50 many scientific
witnesses N the case Of young Soulie were
at fau.t such a fact would be more Won
derful than his restoration 10 lie
Statement by Or. Esbe-t Guernsey
There nave bee rs omany marvellous dis
cover.es Of la-e that. while j, r difficult
10 entirely credit the results obtained by
Dr. Tufser. I viii not say that 7 DO not
believe IT, L IS quite possible thai Il =
true. To say that q dead man can be
brought back TO life by The manipulation
Of the heart s. however, contrary 10 al
experience. Much depends upon The inter-
preta-ion Of the expression dad Il
The subject was absolutely without life;
= all circulation had STOPPED: Z what ne
can me vital spark" had fed. il seems
impossible that il should De brought hack
by human agency The heart Is aot ne
seat 0. ne. that 5 located = &c brain