THE QUESTION OF PAIN IN DROWNING. 95 



two counteract each other, and the drowning person, from the moment 

 he strikes the water, is hardly conscious of what is going on. 



A swimmer, or a person whose presence of mind enables him to 

 keep his head above water for some time before drowning, passes through 

 a different experience. But, although data are wanting on this point, 

 it is probable that his final agony is short and painless. His physical 

 exertions, kept up for a long time in the hope of relief, together with 

 his exposure to cold and wet, and the lack of nourishment, combine to 

 reduce his strength very rapidly, and it is not altogether a conjecture 

 to suppose that a single draught of water into the lungs, when he 

 finally gives up, is enough to bring on unconsciousness. His suffering, 

 too, is chiefly mental, but he experiences the additional discomforts of 

 exhaustion, cold, and hunger, if his struggle for life is a prolonged one. 



It is believed that the rapidity and painlessness of death by drown- 

 ing are due chiefly to the speedy obstruction of the circulation of the 

 blood through the lungs. In ordinary asphyxia, by the simple depri- 

 vation of air, the blood throughout the body becomes charged with car- 

 bonic acid, and the arteries as well as the veins become filled with 

 venous blood. Now, venous blood does not pass readily through the 

 capillary vessels, and, when the accumulation of impurities has become 

 so great as to prevent its passing at all, the circulation comes to a 

 standstill. But the dreadful distress of suffocation comes on long be- 

 fore this point is reached. Now, when cold water is sucked into the 

 lungs and comes in contact with their delicate and sensitive mucous 

 membrane, it must cause an instant and powerful contraction of the 

 capillaries, and obstruct the current of blood from the right side of the 

 heart, thus indirectly damming back the venous blood in the brain. 

 This state of things brings on unconsciousness rapidly, preceded by the 

 pleasurable tingling sensations, rapid succession of ideas, and flashes of 

 light and color, so often described by persons who have been rescued 

 from drowning. 



Drowning persons, then, die in different ways : 



1. By syncope, and asphyxia while unconscious. Some of these 

 die instantly. 



2. By apoplexy (usually congestive), common in plethoric and aged 

 persons, followed by asphyxia while unconscious. 



3. By asphyxia pure and simple. 



Deaths which come under the first two heads are rapid and pain- 

 less, constituting probably a half, and, according to Taylor, three-quar- 

 ters of all deaths by drowning. 



Deaths which come under the third heading we presume are not 

 accompanied by physical suffering for these reasons : 



1. Persons who have been resuscitated, after having become uncon- 

 scious, declare that they have felt no pain whatever. 



2. Death is speedy. 



3. Persons who lose their presence of mind are so occupied with 



