The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1934-11-15
Today's Science
~ DAVID DIETZ

TINE BRAIN not the heart IS the great prooleh III
Il attempts to revive the dead. ACCORDING 10 Ut.
e 7 Wirrers professor Of physiology at the western
Reserve university medical School ana one u ule
rrs chief authorities on the subject OF the heart
T2estarting a heart which has stopped beating IS
no GREAT trick according to DR.. WlggerS IL Is cone
daily in physiological laboratories all over lhe
United States as routine procedure oAlis aliiii''
instrumentation. ~
DR. Wirrers himself invented a method for doing
this several years ago. but simpler method per-
fected By DrS. Hooker. KouWenhovven ana Lang
worthy az Johns HOPKINS uili'eIsl'S' HO" - NV
one. however. the flow Of blood to the brain is
s+o,rsd the cells OF the brain begin 10 oeterorate
and perhaps actually diSintegrate- IneSe Chahses.
DR. Wiggers says DO not even requira that the heaTe
he actually stopped merely that its action become so
disorcanized or feeble that blood Is no longer
pumped into the brain -.
II II we're possible. DR.. Wggers believes, 10 start
into action the heart Of a man who had been oead
four minutes the man would be only breathing
machine He would be an absolute idiot. PERHAPS lie
would be blind. deaf or dunno He might De par
italy paralyzed.
Anv scheme to restore life to a dead man would
have 10 be applied and carried 10 success within TWO
minutes after the heart had stopped, Dr. NlggeTS
says.
DR WIGGERS sees no hope for the program sug-
IL eested by DR.. E. Cornish 10 revive convlc'S VINO
have been executed by lethal gas The methoo Sug-
ceSted bv Dr. Cornish. who first came INTO PROM
4 California. Is as follows: .,
Inject nethylene blue as an antdote LOT cyanioe
poisoning Put the victim on a teeterlng BOARD
sort Of see-Saw as means Of getting the olooo oach
into circulation Apply artificial respiration inject
a fluid into the victims arteries as means OF ap-
pylnr a pressure 10 the heart and starting u INTO
action Inject adrenalin as means OF constructing
the arteries and further increasing the blood pres
sure
The trouble with this program, ACCORDING 10 Ut.
wiggins is that IL won't work
To begin with" he says the usefulness OF
metayene blue IS extremely doubtful. Most expert
enters today think that il is useless The teeterlng
board Likewise seems useless 70 me.
THE heart can stop in three ways. One is
Il nervous inhibition This Is what happens when
a prizedghter is knocked out by blow 10 the solar
plexus or the jaw.
second type OF stoppage is due 70 failure OF the
pacemaker Methods for reviving the pacemaker
have been invented by DR.. Joseph Granger and DR..
A s LYMAN But DR.. WiggerS regards these as use
less because he believes that a rule the pacemaker
fails last.
The type Of heart stoppage which is the most i'm
portant Is known ventricular fertilization. In this
the ventrcles of the heart beat with rhyth
mic tempo and instead fiutter and pusate irregu-
larry and wildly.
Circulation OF the blood ceases. the person be-
comes unconscious. and II the fertilization is not
stopped. death and stoppage Of the heart follow.
When 4 convict IS electrOcuted ventricular hbrilla-
ton IS the cause Of death