THE PHENOMENA OF DEATH. 397 



is in close sympathy with the lungs, begins to contract with less force, 

 propelling the blood only a short distance through its arterial chan- 

 nels, thus causing the extremities to grow cold. 



The blood sent to the brain is not only diminished in quantity, but 

 is laden with carbonic-acid gas, which, acting on the nervous centers, 

 produces a gradual benumbing of the cerebral ganglia, thereby de- 

 stroying both consciousness and sensation. The patient gradually 

 sinks into a deep stupor, the lips become purple, the face cold and 

 livid, cold perspiration (death-damp) collects on the forehead, a film 

 creeps over the cornea, and, with or without convulsions, the dying 

 man sinks into his last sleep. As the power of receiving conscious 

 impressions is gone, the death-struggle must be automatic. Even in 

 those cases where the senses are retained to the last, the mind is usually 

 calm and collected, and the body free from pain. 



" If I had strength to hold a pen, I would write how easy and de- 

 lightful it is to die ! " were the last w^ords of the celebrated surgeon, 

 William Hunter ; and Louis XIY is recorded as saying with his last 

 breath, " I thought dying had been more difficult." 



That the painlessness of death is due to some benumbing influence, 

 acting on the sensory nerves, may be inferred from the fact that un- 

 toward external surroundings rarely trouble the dying. 



On the day that Lord Collingwood breathed his last, the Mediter- 

 ranean was tumultuous ; those elements which had been the scene of 

 his past glories rose and fell in swelling undulations, and seemed as if 

 rocking him asleep. Captain Thomas ventured to ask if he was dis- 

 turbed by the tossing of the ship. " No, Thomas," he answered, " I 

 am now in a state that nothing can disturb me more I am dying ; 

 and I am sure it must be consolatory to you, and all that love me, to 

 see how comfortably I am coming to my end." In the " Quarterly 

 Review " there is related an instance of a criminal who escaped death, 

 from hanging, by the breaking of the rope. Henry IV of France 

 sent his physician to examine him, who reported that after a moment's 

 suffering the man saw an appearance like fire, across which appeared 

 a most beautiful avenue of trees. When a pardon was mentioned, the 

 prisoner coldly replied that it was not worth asking for. Those who 

 have been near death from drowning, and afterward restored to con- 

 sciousness, assert that the dying suffer but little pain. Captain 

 Marry at states that his sensations at one time w^hen nearly drowned 

 were rather pleasant than otherwise. " The first struggle for life once 

 over, the water closing round me assumed the appearance of waving, 

 green fields. ... It is not a feeling of pain, but seems like sinking 

 down, overpowered by sleep, in the long, soft grass of the cool 

 meadow." 



Now, this is precisely the condition presented in death from dis- 

 ease. Insensibility soon comes on, the mind loses consciousness of 

 external objects, and death rapidly and placidly ensues from asphyxia. 



