Los Angeles herald., 1907-06-16
SOUL WEIGHT
HEORY NOW
) IS D|SPROVED
Prof. TWining Makes
Interesting Tests
Experiments on Mice Show That Re-
lease Of Moisture at Death Causes
Noticeable Difference
In Weight
BY v. w. KILLrck

ht5A 6CA4OOat III a ScIlSS Ol LWCHly -llN'
very interesting experiments, has es
tablished beyond doubt that the los
of weight occasioned at the death of I
human being or animal is caused BY
combination of gas and moisture be
ingi given UP by the body at the
moment of death.
Sometime ago Duncan MacDougall
M. D., member of the Massachusetts
Medical society. made the discovery
that the body of living being gave
up a certain amount of weight imme.
diately upon expiring. Furthermore
DR.. MacDougall advanced theory thai
this loss was occasioned by the leaving
of the soul from the body.
His experiments were on human be-
ings. He had a bed arranged on 9
scale very delicately balanced, and the
dying patient placed upon it. The test
was applied In six different cases COW
ering period of six years. In each
test. just as the patient expired. the
arm Of the scales tipped. showing a
loss Of weight.
Or the six different tests the loss OF
. weight varied between one-half to one
and one-half ounces. Losses from
moisture and respiration were taken
into consideration.
A pint of air was found to weigh
about ten grams, so that in full res
piration the expulsion of air from a
mans body could not have been moro
than a minute fraction of the ounce.
Loss in Weight Noticeable
Experiments were performed under
all sorts of conditions, but every time
the loss was very noticeable at the
moment of death.
DR.. MacDougall tried several expert
ments on animals, but in these expert
p1ents It was necessary to kill the ami
NAL by injecting ether or other chemi-
calls, and for this reason the expert
fnents were worthless, as 1t was i'm
possible to obtain the exact weight of
the chemicals used
Prof. sTwining took up the expert
mentS, on mice. On account of their
slight weight one of the most delicate
scales made was procured, weighing
to ope=hundredth part of a milligram.
In the first test the mouse was placed
in "a glass retort. The retort
was then placed on the scales and ex-
actly balanced to hundredth part of
a milligram. Next a few Jumps OF
potassium cyanide were placed on the
scale pan which held the retort, and
the scales were rebalanced. When al
was ready the potassium cyanide was
picked up with forceps and placed in
the retort with the mouse. A few short
struggles and the mouse made his final
kick Immediately the lever swung
considerably, indicating a loss. From
the time of the first movement Of the
lever till it recorded the greatest
amount of loss five seconds on the stop
watch were noted. The scales were
then rebalanced, taking four milligrams
to replace the weight lost.
Mice Lose Weight
(: Several other mice were treated in
the same way, and in every case there
was loss varying between one to four
milligrams.
What caused this strange occurrence?
What matter was given up to cause
the loss of weight? To these ques-
tons Mr.. Twining concluded that the
loss of weight, speaking scientifically,
was due to either moisture, gas or some
substance we know nothing about.
Is IT was suggested that the death
struggles of the mouse generated heat,
whichsMas given up after death. This
heat would serve to expand the air in
the sretort, which action would cause
the air to weigh less Professor Twin
ing then showed the retort to contain
about half pint of air, which weighed
approximately five grams. 1t would be
necessary therefore, in order that the
entire five grams be forced out of the
sufficient quantity of heat be given off
in five seconds to drive out every atom
Of air and make vacuum.
These conditions, of course were i'm
Possible, but the fact that some of the
air might be given up and cause a
small portion of the loss was yet to be
discovered However, the greatest
value of these experiments was that
they strongly Indicated that the loss
was due to moisture. To prove this
fact was the next object of Mr.. Twin
ing's endeavor.
8 afTrIes Second Experiment
Experiment 2 consisted of putting
q mouse in an Theoretically sealed test
tube This was done by procuring a
IpnC.inarrow test tube one-half an inch
u diameter and melting the glass at
the open end, thereby sealing the tube,
making 1t impossible for any air to be
taken into the inside, and also impos-
S3ble for any moisture or air to be given
Up from the inside. The tube was then
balanced on the scales to a one hum
0redth of a milligram. The mouse
lived for three minutes in the tube be-
fpre he suffocated.
Z No loss = of weight was indicated,
Showing that the weight lost in ex-
Pertinent l was due to the giving up
Of form of matter that could not
Penetrate glass. Several similar ex-
periments were tried, with the same
result
Ins experiment several tests were
made in which a mouse was put
- a. glass retort, sealed with
Al solid rubber stopper. The ca
pacity of the retort was one
half pint. Strange to say the mouse
lived in the confinement from thirty
minutes to two hours in one case A
loss of weight was recorded, but it did
not tip the scales suddenly, as in ex-
ueriment 1. The greatest loss was no.
decd one hour after death.
This experiment became more inter-
estine when it was compared with the
one following. A mouse placed in a
fetort with one-hole rubber stopper
expired In from seven to twenty min
ltes,' no loss of weight being noticed.
Curious Problem Presented
aWhy should meuse die sooner in a
1etort with a small opening admitting
air than ina tightly corked one adj
Iilitti0g practically no air? The fact
that. loss of weight was noticed in
Che lightly corked retort and none in
the one corked with a one-hole rubber
stopper was also very strange, as it
dpnfiicted with the ideas formed in
Ibth the first two experifnents