The Portland daily press., 1900-03-27
TO RESTORE THE DROWNED.
Experiments OF DR.. Lsborde--strange
Cases and Ia Queer Machine.

I
II IL difiioult 70 form . correct idea Of
the persistence of latent life In the case Of
the asphy xiatsd. 10 is populasly believed
that, n the subject oannos be brought
back 10 lite after ten minutes applIca-
tion of the usual methods, all further
Efforts are useless. That 10 . most un-
fortunate error, and IL should be guarded
against 1t is an ignorant prejudice that
has sent many people TO their graves,
who might have been savsd BY the sxer-
else Of o little patisnee.
Some years ago . coast guard named
Agnel was ON duty al Q point called
rAnss du Prophsse, on the southern
coast Of France. He heard cries Of dis
trsss. A cabin boy of one Of the vefssis
ct anchor was drowning. The master Of
the craft plunged into the water 10 save
the boy. The effort was too much for
him. He became exhausted and both
were about TO sink, when the coast
guard came to their assistsoe. With
difficulty be managed to bring the man
ashore. bus the boy disappeared under the
water. Agnsl swan out again to the
RAHOo WnoEo buN wy 1ahAg 8hht 1AtOt ~
peated dives, ct last Succeeded In bring
Ing the little fellow 20 the surface. The
boy had been under the water for more
than ten minutes. He gave NO sign Of
life Rspiratfou was suspended COM
pletely. Bot Agnsl, n m smbering the
Instructions In the circulars Of 1894. given
by DIR. Laborde of the Academy Of Aedi-
cine, tried regular fractions Of the tongue
and continued them for three hours. His
nrats aVvorfh PARLIAMENTARY VAS drowned
with success. Inspiration was at last
re-established and the boy recovered. The
case IL mentioned In the official report Of
N. Vautier, chief Of the customs service
Of Marssilles to the Directsur Generate.
Until 1898 no physioioeist and no med
cal man would dare to assert that In 81 Oh
Q case latsnt life could subsift for hours.
But : hres hours does not mark the ex-
IRENE limit. As matter OF fact, We
DO not yet know the length Of time that
separates apparent death from real death.
1t varies according to the subjects. But,
survive, or latent life, always exists In
the case Of subject whose organs are
sound. Exterior or apparent death, re-
vealed By the suspension of the functional
manifestations, especially by the sup.
preston Of the cardio-rsspiratoryfu function.
is not the final and real death "Whils
the organism ceases tolivs on the surface"
lives inside" That is to say life CON-
tinues In a latent state By the persis-
tencs Of the functional properties of the or
ganio elements aud tissues. The sensi-
tive properties are the first to disappear.
then follow the motor-nsrve functions
and finally m VASCULAR coutraotility. Com
piete death demands time.
In short. the general mechanism may
TO stopped by the cessation of a primer
dial function, like that OF respiration;
but, II the organs are not injured, they
can be started again and be made to re-
sumo their normal action. While latent
life exists, one should never despair OF
son. While latent life exists, one should
never despair of saving o drowned or
asphy xiAted person. The most indispen.
satle function to arouse IL that of respir
alton, the primordial function Of life, 1t
is necessary to e1olte the respiratory re-
fisk which, according to DR.. Laborde,
possesses extraordinary vital power and
endurance. Z
Now what IL the duration Of the latent
life of the rsspira tory rehexP The above
mentioned case shows that it can last for
three hours. DIR. Laborde reports a
experim snts on dogs. He selected In one
casa strong bull terrier. and chloro-
formed tho animal until respiration was
completely stopped. The dog was sp-
parently dead. Fifteen minutes traction
revived him. The experiment. with
ohloroform was renewed and continued
until all the evidence Of complete ashyxia
was estabIiahed. The fractions were be-
qua i've minutes later. The dog was
called Lazarus, singularly appropriate
name. This time he appeared TO be- sure
enough dead. After two hours OF trae-
lions he gave ne sign Of life. DIR. Laborde
gave the case up; but an smploys Of the
I.k -
was very fond Of poor Lazarus, contin-
ued the fractions. He noticed that the
tongue began to rsddep, which 10 the
sure sign OF tbs return Of the fret reI pira-
tory movements. After Two and half
hours OF fractions q respiratory hiccouGh
was established foil owed by gasps, and
at last regular breathing bfgan. Lazarus
astonishmsnt. lie recovered completely,
and finally died OF the mango some years
after his resurrection.
1t may be asserted with confidence that
the respiratory reflex subsists. ready to
go Into action again, for at least three
hours after the condition Of apparent
death. That IL an important faot which
should not be forgotten. some people
may be astonished at the idea Of lIngual
fractions continued for three hours. The
coast guard Agnel posse ssed the niece ssary
patience ana perseverance to accomplish
the tehUi nut IL ID clear Jnhb IL Is not
within the reach OF everybody. DIR. La.
horde set about replacing the hand and
piece of linen by little automatic ma
china. NJ. Augusta Mo uchsl. the Town
Clerk of Valogres (Manche,) who was
present at many Of the experiments made
by II. Laborde, made little machine,
set In motion BY olookwork, which gave
twenty fractions minute with the re-
quired rythmical intermittancs. But 1t
had to be wound mp every five minutes.
Now this Inconvenience has disa ppeared.
A little electric motor fed by some &C
oumulators, 10 attached to the machine.
and 1t can work for three hours. This
does away with he necessity Of touching
the trantor.
This important method discovered by
n. LAb0rde for reviving subjsots appar-
emily dead, has afso the advap tage Of
being able to establish real death with
absolute certainty. Death 10 clearly
proved when the respiratory reflex IL
abolished after i've or six hours.
Formerly all hope OF saving drowned
person was given mp when, after half an
hour. all the ordinary old msans of res
toration were exhausted. But now when
q bather 10 taken out Of the water, APP