Death and Dissolution of the Organism 359 



the more rapid disintegration of the young animal with 

 a greater metabolism. 1 Without wishing to doubt 

 Child's interesting observations the writer is not 

 quite certain whether the more rapid disintegration 

 of the younger forms is not a result of the fact that the 

 walls of membranes in the young are softer than those 

 of the older animals, and hence are more readily lique- 

 fied. Such a difference could be due to mere chemical 

 constitution, e. g., the increase in Ca in the membrane 

 with the increase in age. In old age in man the deposit 

 of Ca in the blood-vessels is a frequent occurrence. 



These facts may help us to understand the nature of 

 death and dissolution of the body in higher animals. 

 Death in these animals is due to cessation of oxidations, 

 but the surprising fact is that if the oxidations have 

 been interrupted but a few minutes life cannot be 

 restored even by artificial respiration. This suggests 

 that the respiratory ganglia in the medulla oblongata 

 suffer an irreparable injury or an irreversible change 

 (comparable to that just described in the cells of Cteno- 

 labrus) even when deprived of oxygen for only a short 

 time. As a consequence of the irreversible injury to 

 the medulla the respirations cease permanently, the 



x It is a fact that in the early cells of Ctenolabrus the dissolution of 

 the cell walls through lack of O precedes death, since when oxygen is 

 admitted early enough the cells recover again. In infusorians the 

 bursting of the animal due to lack of O occurs suddenly, while the animal 

 is still moving, and this bursting is the cause of death, and not the 

 reverse. 



