The daily journal. (Salem, Or.) 1899-1903, 1900-11-03
SURE SIGN OF DEATH.
ONE SIMPLE TEST THAT, IT IS Al
LEGGED, NEVER FAILS.

A Physician who Says lie Has Tried
II In More Than Thousand Cases
Explains His Method of PreventInE
Premature BurInI.
The question Of nm absolutely sure
Sign OF denth has troubled mankind
from ancient times. II has been most
yariously answered, but never TO EN-.
tire satisfaction. The difficulties we
meet with are: First. that not all or
gans OF the body die In one moment,
and second. that the action OF some Of
the vital organs may be SO diminished
That by ordinary means II appears al.
most impossible 10 decide whether the
life in them ie "a fact extinct or not.
The uctaul cnGses OF physiological
death are three First, cessation of
brain function, second, cessation Of
respiration or failure OF the lungs;
third failure OF the heart
The llrst. Involving immediate death
Of the central on animal nervous sys-
TEN only, Is not at once followed by
the inactivity Of the peripheral nervous
system uud It's special so called vegeta-
tive ceuters as long ago was demon
strated 10y l'rowu-Sequard, Schin and
others so The lungs may continue to
contract and expand, the heart may
continue 10 beat. even II with greatly
diminished power. We know further
that the life OF the skin ls not extinct.
Hair aud nails continue to grow, the
stomach continues To digest. the. liver
10 secrele bile. etc. Respecting the sec
lnd cnuse of death. we well know that
respiration re uay cease for quite awhile
II the brain Is not affected and the cir
culatlon not interrupted. And OF the
third cause, by heart failure, the same
may be said So we see that we may
speak OF true. absolute physiological
death anly after the cessation OF func-
ton OF the three organs together or at
least OF two OF them, the lungs aud the
heart, without the life action OF which
the brain certainly cannot operate.
Now, as regards respiration. we have
very simple neans TO demonstrate It's
cessation. 50 remains, In fact, as the
only one 10 show Its true death the
heart This 10 prove indeed with abso-
lutte certainty Is quite a difficult prob
lem. Upon the absence therefore OF
any and all traces OF circulation IN tho
body have been concentrated most ex-
periments. And as regards the same
we have TO take Into consideration that
by disease the heart beats might be d.
mlnished TO but so few faint pulsatiOns
per minute, might become so lmpercep-
tible, that without the aid OF special In
struments and long continued observa-
tlons nothing OF their existence may be
detected
In the following | shall give the sim
pie means by which any person easily
enough may convince himself OF the abb
sence or presence even OF the slightest
traces OF circulation;
II we ligate tight a member OF the
body-best, for example, "A finger be-
tween the FIRST and second Joint--in the
living we VIII soon notice, beginning al
most at once. a reddish cOlOratlon OF the
portion above the llgature. II becomes
darker and darker red and finally as
entire upper portion viii be thus az
'ected. and only directly around the llg-
ature there will be a small. colorless.
white ring. Now, as sure as this dis
sOloration viii be observed IN the living
being as sure viii all traces of Il be
absent In the dead. The blush dlseOlor-
alton occasionally observed Of aad
around the nnger nails In some cotpses
Is OF 40 influence upon. nor does it In
.erfere In the slightest with. the phe-
lomenon and its correct Interpretation.
The phenomenon OF course Is easily
enough explained In the living by the
stagnatiOn OF the hlood In the veins
and the capillaries when a new supply
through the arteries and the backfiOw
through the Yelns Is cut on by the iiga-
ture The white ring around the latter
Is produced hy the partial arterlal, par.
tial venons an@mia
la place OF a finger, A. as Il at times
may happen, the skin seems too thick
aud horny 10 show the phenOmenon
plainly. though this viii but seldom Oc.
eur, one may use the toes. the earlaps.
even the tip VI the nose. II desired. The
member must be only thin enough In
order TO make the ligature as tight and
perfect as possible,
! have used this means 10 about I. l.030
10 L0to eases previous 70 post mortem
examinations.
In one case only observed the men.
tioned discoloration, though Il was
impossible 10 notice any heart action
by any means. | al once Fesorted to
veneseetion. and, sure enough. the
blood nowed, and after a short time