The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-06-23


some subject for contemplation. Most
people seem to ignore it altogether I'M
til It is forced upon their attention by
the taking off of some one more or less
closely connected with them. But it
is clearly not the part Of wisdom to
close the mental eye and decline to
consider future event. merely because
of a preconceived notion that it is 60
ing to be painful and generally I'M
pleasant. Especially is this true when
that event, like death, is wholly in
eyitable and may occur at any mo-
ment. Besides, the scientific study of
death can in no way affect the event
itself. and may serve to change for the
better our present ideas concerning
the final dissolution of our material
bodies. My object in this article is
to strip, if possible, this change caned
death of some of the groundless terrors
with which Ignorance, superstition, and
tinnid and fanciful sentimentality have
clothed and presented it to the lmagl-
nation of this and past ages.
Foolish nurses sometimes frighten
children by picturing to them bogy-
man, and the children are afterward
afraid in the dark until they know
better, Theologians, with their art,
music, and literature, have made death
the bogy-man of adult life. The fear
of physical death is nothing but the
fear of physical pain-of the death
agony'-which is supposed to attend
the closing moments Of life. 1t used
to be considered an act of humanity
to anticipate nature by violence. For
ages it was the custom to remove with
a. jerk the pillow from under the head
of the dying in order to hasten death
and thus prevent the supposed agony
of the last struggle" 1t is with natural
sleep and physical death, and with
nothing else, that I am to deal in this
article.
All our boasted' science and philoso-
ply can not give better definition
of death than that it is cessation
of life. This is no definition at all
because it is false; for if we keep IN
mind the law of the conservation or
forces and the closed circle of marerl-
aIism, there can be no such thing as
the cessation of life. There can be,
and constantly is, change in the form
and manner of expression of the phe-
nomenon called life, but never an ap-
sence of it. When that aggregation
of atoms and chemical elements-that
| little eddy in the great Whirling cos
mos of matter-called a human Dodv Is
| no longer a fit instrument through
which human life can express ltseif
Those atoms and chemical elements are
at once becoming suitable vehicles foI
the expression of life in other forms;
and this very becoming" is itself an
expression, to say nothing of other al
yantages, if this word death" which
as we have seen, has no definition
could become obsolete. The WORD
/ change" which exactly describes the
phenomenon under consideration
should take it's place. The forms nee
Iessarv to express the various moods
and lenses readily suggest themselves
For instance, instead of those disgust
| full. horrible, and unmeaning words
died and deaths, in mourning type al
the head of the obituary column, there
should appear in ordinary type the
word Changed, or Changes. Inc news
columns would read something IKE
this: John Doe changed at BelleVue
| Hospital today, as a result of pistol
/ shot wound of the chest received IN
| fight on the Bowery last night OF
| .Richard Roe, the millionaire manuIac'
| turer (don't leave out mllllonalre1s i
/ changing at his home in this CITY, IRON
/ injuries received in an automobile az
! cident in Central Park last Saturday,
and so on.
No study of death can be in any de
gree complete without at least SONS
| consideration of sleep. For, as VIII Of
seen farther on, sleep is closely relatee
ia death. in fact, is death in degree
The mental activities of the Waklne
hours. followed by the repose and IN
consciousness of the night, complete
the cycle of a day, and this cycle O
a day corresponds in many respects u
the cycle of a lifetime. Indeed, com
nlete day may justly be called a ne
time in miniature.
There are two separate ana olstihc
| sets or systems OF nerves, OA5 CO.,
muscles in man and the higher am
mails. The first is the sensitive system
II is through this that we perceive
| act. think, and are connected with th'
external world around US. The secone
is the vital system, or that by Whlcl
/ the first or sensitive system IS main
/ tanned. 1t is important that the reaae
shall understand these two systems an'
/ the laws that govern them, otherWls'
he will be unable to get clear 1des
fof sleep and death, and can not ap
preciate these phenomena ana tnei
H noints of likeness. l shall therefor
Il on into some detail to make this par
H of the subject clear.
Seeing. hearing, tasting, smellIls' an
Il feeling. or the sense of touch, are III
means by which we become connecte'
with the material universe ana gai
information concerning it. THESE nv
senses. together with the mental fuhc
l tions, such as thought, memory ana d
/ conscious intelligence, form the sens
II+ive nervous system All the functioh