REAL AND APPARENT DEATH. 407 



Allowing a few hours to elapse aftei* apparent death, so that an 

 equilibrium may be established between the carbonic acid in the air- 

 chambers and the atmospheric air, if death is real the amount of this 

 product exhaled from the anterior opening of the air-passages will ex- 

 actly correspond with that transpiring from an equal area of the skin ; 

 but, if the slightest vital action continues, the proportion thus expired 

 in a given time will far exceed the whole cutaneous transpiration. Col- 

 lecting it at its point of exit, by a suitable contrivance, into a small 

 transparent vessel containing clear lime-water, its merest presence, in 

 contrast to any other reagent, will change this fluid at once, on shaking, 

 into an opaque, milky solution. 



The innervation test is rendered practicable through the insepa- 

 rable connection of this attribute with muscular contraction ; for, even 

 if contractility is inherent in muscle, its excitation is possible only 

 through the incorporation of nerve-elements. As this manifestation 

 of nervo-muscular energy can always be sensibly excited by electrifi- 

 cation during the persistence of the feeblest vitality, the utter fail- 

 ure to obtain such a result in parts the activity of which is essen- 

 tial to life, affords conclusive evidence of vital extinction. The re- 

 spiratory arrangements of the glottis present a favorable opportunity 

 for prosecuting this special mode of experiment. At every inspiration 

 the contractions of the associated muscles stretch and separate the vocal 

 chords, thus, nearly doubling the area of aperture. In expiration the 

 muscles relax, allowing the parts by their elasticity to resume their 

 natural collapsed appearance. These changes can be observed by 

 placing the body before a bright light, and introducing a laryngoscope 

 well back into the pharynx, so as to bring the superior laryngeal aper- 

 ture into view. After death the rima glottidis presents the elongated 

 narrow form, from the close approximation of its chords. If, under 

 the repeated transmission of intense electric currents, properly directed, 

 there is no responsive contraction so as to sensibly widen the aperture, 

 death is certain. 



The circulatory test, or the attempt to excite an actively congested 

 state of the cutaneous capillaries, is preeminently the best, as it requires 

 only simple and easily procurable appliances, which always yield de- 

 cisive results either in the living or dead subject. The application of 

 heat and the act of cupping are both effective topical means for per- 

 ceptibly arousing this preternatural activity of the cutaneous circula- 

 tion, even in the most languid condition of the system compatible with 

 vitality. The entire absence of such distinctive physiological reactions 

 and the occurrence of merely physical alterations, under the proper use 

 of these respective measures, is undeniable proof of death. Over the 

 heart is the most suitable region whereon to operate, as there the skin 

 longest retains its vital warmth ; but corroborative experiments may 

 be performed over other parts of the trunk. 



Hold the flame of a candle close to {but not in contact with) the 



