ilO NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



Vital Point. Since it has been definitely ascertained 

 that destruction of a restricted portion of the gray substance 

 of the medulla produces instantaneous and permanent arrest 

 of the respiratory movements, Flourens and others have 

 spoken of this centre as the vital knot, the destruction of 

 which is immediately followed by death. "With our present 

 knowledge of the properties and functions of the different 

 tissues and organs of which the body is composed, it is almost 

 unnecessary to present any arguments to show the unphilo- 

 sophic character of such a sweeping proposition. We can 

 hardly imagine such a thing as instantaneous death of the 

 entire organism ; still less can it be assumed that any restrict- 

 ed portion of the nervous system is the one essential, vital 

 point. Probably a very powerful electric discharge passed 

 through the entire cerebro-spinal axis produces the nearest 

 approach to instantaneous death of any thing of which we 

 have any knowledge ; but, even here, it is by no means cer- 

 tain that some parts do but for a time retain their so-called 

 vital properties. In apparent death, the nerves and the 

 heart may be shown to retain their characteristic proper- 

 ties ; the muscles will contract under stimulus, and will ap- 

 propriate oxygen and give off carbonic acid, or respire ; the 

 glands may be made to secrete, etc. ; and no one can assume 

 that, under these conditions, the entire organism is dead. 

 We really know of no such thing as death, except as the vari- 

 ous tissues and organs which go to make up the entire body 

 become so altered as to lose their physiological properties be- 

 yond the possibility of restoration ; and this never occurs for 

 all parts of the organism in an instant. A person drowned 

 may be to all appearances dead, and would certainly die with- 

 out measures for restoration ; yet, in such instances, restora- 

 tion may be accomplished, the period of apparent death being 

 simply a blank, as far as the recollection of the individual is 

 concerned. It is as utterly impossible to determine the ex- 

 act instant when the vital principle, or whatever it may bo 

 called, leaves the body in death, as to indicate the time 



