224 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



from the human subject. Dr. De Marmon, of King's Bridge, New 

 York, has specially proved this fact in some instances of poisoning by- 

 whiskey in young children. In one of these examples the temperature 

 of the body fell from the natural standard of 9S Fahr. to 94, in 

 another to 93-J . 



Through all the three stages noticed in the above, the decline of 

 animal heat is a steadily-progressing phenomenon. It is true that in 

 the first stage the heat of the flushed parts of the body is for a brief 

 time raised, but this is due to greater distribution of blood and in- 

 creased radiation, not to an actual increment of heat within the body. 

 The mass of the body is cooling, in fact, while the surfaces are more 

 briskly radiating, and soon, as the supply of heat-motion fails, there is 

 fall of surface temperature also ; a fall becoming more decided from 

 hour to hour up to the occurrence of the fourth and final stage, of 

 which I have now to treat. 



The fourth degree of alcoholic intoxication is one of collapse of the 

 volitional nervous centres, of the muscular organs under the control of 

 those centres, and of some of the organic or mere animal centres. It 

 is true that, while the body lies prostrate under alcohol, there are ob- 

 served certain curious movements of.the limbs, but these are not stim- 

 ulated from the centres of volition, nor are they reflected motions 

 derived from any external stimulus ; they are strange automatic 

 movements, as if still in the spinal cord there were some life, and they 

 continue irregularly nearly to the end of the chapter, even when the 

 end is death. 



Through the whole of this last stage two centres remain longest 

 true to their duty, the centre that calls into play the respiratory ac- 

 tion, and the centre that stimulates the heart. There is then an interval 

 during which there are no movements whatever, save these of the dia- 

 phragm and the heart, and, when these fail, the primary failure is in 

 the breathing-muscle : to the last the heart continues in action. 



The leading peculiarity of the action of alcohol is the slowness with 

 which the two centres that supply the heart and the great respiratory 

 muscle are affected. In this lies the comparative safety of alcohol : 

 acting evenly and slowly, the different systems of organs die after each 

 other, or together, gently, with the exception of those two on which 

 the continuance of mere animal life depends. But for this provision, 

 every deeply-intoxicated animal would inevitably die. 



It happens usually, nevertheless, that under favorable circum- 

 stances the intoxicated live : the temperature of the body sinks two or 

 three degrees lower, but the alcohol diffusing through all the tissues, 

 and escaping by diffusion and elimination, the living centres are slowly 

 relieved, and so there is slow return of power. If death actually 

 occurs, the cause of it is condensation of fluid on the bronchial sur- 

 faces and ai*rest of respiration from this purely mechanical cause. The 

 animal is literally drowned in his own secretion. Such are the stages 



