Evening star., 1900-08-18
BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH.
Line That i. Sometimes Not Well
Marked.

From the Edinburgh Scotsman.
The first point to which our attention may
be directed is the collecting of evidence re-
garding the Immediate effect of severe and
mortal injury the subject thereof. One
of the best-known illustrations of the fact
that such injury does not produce immedi-
ate death. at least that absolute cessa-
ton of all movement which We popularity
recognize the main feature of Efe's end
ing. is that afforded by the case of Capt.
Nolan The captain headed the famous
charge of the Light Brigade at BalakIava.
In the course of his duties he was struck
in the chest by part of a shell. the missile
tearing the chest open and wounding the
heart kinglake gives a graphic account
Of the incident. The sword he says,
dropped from his hand. but the arm with
which he was waving it the moment before
still remained high uplifted in the air, and
the grip of the practiced hOrseman. remain
ing as yet unrelaXed. still held him firm in
his saddle. Missing the perfect hand of
his master and finding the accustomed
governance now succeeded by the dangling
reins, the horse all at once wheeled about
and began to gallop back upon the front
of the advancing brigade. Then, from
what had been Nolan-and his form was
st1i erect in the saddle, his sword arm still
high In the air-there burst forth a cry so
strange and appalling that the hearer who
rode nearest him called it unearthly. And
human will, but rather from those spas
modic forces which may act upon the bod
lily frame when life as a power has ceased.
The firm-seated rider, with arm uplifted
and stiff. could hardly be ranked with the
living The shrek men heard rending the
air was scarce other than the Shrek of
corpse The dead horseman rode till
he passed through the interval OF the 18th
Light Dragons. Then at last he dropped
from the saddle"
G L. kilmer, who passed through the
civil war in America. in his turn gives
Interesting parallel case to that of Nolan.
He tells US that sergeant in charge of
the 9Th Corps on the confederate works
east of Petersburg leaped on the parapet.
and. with his cap in his left hand and his
gun in the right. cheered his comrades on
ward. y shell decaptated him at this mo-
ment ''as completely as knife could have
done says Mr. kilmer but the tall form
Continued erect for some seconds, the arms
still waving frantically. but with ever les
SEEMING sweep and power until the forces
Of the body collapsed. when the headIess
trunk toppled over to the ground"
We may regard as facts the circum-
stances above noted-that men killed in
stantly. in the popular acceptance of the
short term may continue to execute appar-
entity definite and purpGsive movements. A
somewhat ghastly recital referring to
guillOtined man has been generally credited
TO the renown OF the Paris School of Medi-
cine. and relates to the same curious feat
ures that mark the battlefield. The Pari-
sian case was that OF DIR. DE la Pommerais,
who guill1tined for the crime OF rnur-
der by poisoning The story goes that
some Of his cOnfereS waited on De la Pom
merais before his execution. and. inform
Ing him that II their desire in the in
tereSts Of science to test whether any de-
gree of consciousness remained in ,he de-
capitated head just after execution, asked
him. If possible, to agree to give some sign
or token by way of solving the problem
De la Pommerais acquieSCed in the suggeS-
ton. and it is said that securing posses
sion of his head as it fell. and preventing
further hemorrhage. the doctors shouted
into the ear Of their former confrere, de-
manding of him to give some response.
One of the eyes was said to slowly open
and shut, and then all symptoms of life
ceased A writer remarks that a freshly
guillotined head has been known to make
gestures of the mouth and to move the
eyes when a bystander taunted II. 1 have
been unable to trace either the truth of the
De la Pommerais story or the source of the
last named incident. but there is rea-
son why both should not have been cor
rectly reported. Much would depend on
the rapid flow Of blood in the case of the
head OF the gullotined criminal in respect
of the existence of movement or conscious
ness.
We see a very distinct reflection of the
duality Of our vital state in the very ar
rangement of our nervous system The
chief masses Of that system, as every one
knows, consist of the brain and the spinal
cord. and a second system of nerve masses
called the sympathetic system also exists,
and is found lying a double chain of
nerve knots or ganglia down the front of
the spine. Now. II Is evident that as the
brain is the most important part of the
nervous apparatus. the spinal cord and the
sympathetic system must together oc-
cCpy secondary position. This is unques-
tionabIy the case. and the plan on which
our nervous affairs have been ordered rep
resents the well known principle of the
division Of labor" With a complex body
to look after. our nervous system exhibits
clear specialization of its duties. II there
are parts in the brain whose duty 1t is TO
think" there are other parts whose func-