148 



DROWNING. 



Dm* wcr 

 enter the 



limp? 



Drowning, pulmonary arterie* and veins were entirely filled with 



^""V^ black blood. :i. The right auricle anil u utricle of the 



heart ho found Jtill contracting and dil.itiug ; hut tlio loft 



itricle was at rc-t. though tin- auricle anil sinus \ e- 

 nosuR belonging to it still nmxi-il feebly, i. 'I'ho right 

 auricle and ventricle wore filled with Mack blood, as 

 were also the lel\ auricle and sinus ; but tin- left vi n- 

 triclo was only alxmt halt' full of the same sort of blood ; 

 and the trunks and smaller branches of the arteries pro- 

 ceeding (Venn it, contained some of this black blood also. 



I)r Cioodwyii' next object was to determine whether 

 the phenomena above described are to be attributed to 

 the effect of water entering the lungs, or only to the 

 exclusion of atmospheric air. He drowned several ani- 

 mals among ink, and afterwards some in (|iiicksilvrr, 

 and in all cases found that only a very small quantity 

 of the fluid had entered the lungs. Of four cats and 

 four rabbits which he had killed by immersion in quick- 

 silver, five drams of the fluid was the greatest quantity 

 he could detect in the lungs of any one of them. In 

 some of them, none of the quicksilver had entered the 

 lungs at all. The five dram- were found in the lungs 

 of a cat. Could this be the cause of her death ? l)r 

 Goodwyn, to ascertain the point, fixed another cat in 

 an erect posture. He made a small opening in the 

 trachea, by cutting out one of the cartilaginous rings, and 

 introduced through this opening two ounces of water 

 into the lungs. The only symptoms were a weak pulse, 

 imA difficulty of breathing ; but these soon abated, and 

 the animal lived several hours afterwards, with no ap- 

 parent inconvenience. On strangling it, two ounces 

 and a hall' of water were found in the lungs. This ex- 

 periment was repeated on two other cats, and the only 

 difference in the result was, that the difficult breathing 

 and weak pulse were somewhat more conspicuous ; but 

 in a few hours the symptoms abated, and on strangling 

 he animals, four ounces of water were found in the 

 lungs. 



From all these experiments it is inferred, that a small 

 quantity of water only passes into the lungs on drown- 

 ing ; and that this, mixing with the pulmonary mucus, 

 causes the frothy appearance mentioned by authors ; 

 that the whole of the fluid found in the lungs is insuf- 

 ficient to account for the phenomena of drowning direct- 

 ly ; and that these are produced indirectly by the ex- 

 clusion of atmospheric air. 



Kane of With Dr Cioodwyn we agree in considering the ef- 

 *. feet produced on the human system by immersion in 

 water as a disease ; and have no objection to the name 

 which he has given it, viz. Melanoma. His definition 

 is perhaps as unexceptionable as most that could be 

 proposed, Itnpedita laiigitinis vrnosi IB arterioxtim con- 

 rrrrio, cujut tiffna, tyncnpe et livor culii. Would it not, 

 however, l>e better expressed thus? Syncope, el livor 

 cvtis, ob impedifa rangiiinif venosi in arteriosiim con- 

 verxione. The usual name is Arphynia. 



Cure. Let us now proceed to state the most efficacious and 



approved remedies in this di.-casc. And here it can 

 hardly be necessary to observe, that unless the exciting 

 cause, viz. submersion, be removed in a very short space 

 of time, nil hopes of a cure will be evidently vain. 

 Death will have ensued. 



The aatatmelancfma from submersion, or the disease 

 occasioned by remaining under water, has since the year 

 attracted particular attention. The numerous ac- 

 cidcnts by water which occurred in Holland, from the 

 great abundance of water conveyance in that country, 

 la llolluid. occasioned in the above year the institution of a society 

 at Amsterdam for the recovery of drowned persons. 







inMitutunn 

 t '* ' ' 

 *(*- 



!.. ,.,.,!. 



l'lan of treatment were published, and premium.' of- 

 :.i all who should s:i\r. or c\cn attempt to save, a 

 citizen from pcri-hing by water. In the course of a 

 lew \ears, it was found that this society had succeeded 

 in recovering from apparent death l.'iO persons. The 

 humane example of the Dutch was soon followed by 

 other nations 



In 17<>K. the magistrates of Milan and Venice issued 

 orders tortile treatment of apparently drowned person-.. 

 And in the same year, a short time after, the magi- 

 strates of Hamburgh extended similar assistance, not only 

 to the drowned, but also to the strangled, tin- suffocated 

 by noxious vapours, and the frozen. The I.mpress of 

 Russia cau-ud the Dutch directions to be translated in- 

 to Hussuin ; and an edict was published in Germany in 

 ITlifi, by which directions and encouragement were 

 given to attempt the recovery of all who might be in a 

 state resembling death, provided there seemed to be a 

 possibility of affording relief. 



The magistrates of Paris adopted similar measures in 

 1771 ; and in 1773, Dr Cogan and Dr Hawes of Lon- 

 don proposed a plan for an institution to promote the 

 recovery of apparently drowned persons in these king- 

 doms. In consequence of this, the Humane Society of 

 London was formed in 177). 



The object of this society is to publish as extensively 

 as possible, the best methods for promoting the reco- 

 very of persons apparently dead ; and at the same time 

 to offer premiums to such as apply these methods to 

 practice. They undertake to distribute two guinea* 

 among the first persons, not exceeding four in number, 

 who attempt to recover any person taken out of the wa- 

 ter for dead, within thirty miles of London, provided 

 the person so taken out has not been more than two 

 hours under the water, and provided the assistants ]-r- 

 severe in using the means recommended lor two hours, 

 even though unsuccessful ; but if successful, they give 

 four guineas. This reward to include also any other 

 instance of sudden death, such as suffocation by noxious 

 vapours, hanging, ; syncope, freezing, &c. They give any 

 publican or other person who readily admits the body into 

 his house, and furnishes the proper accommodations, one 

 guinea, and secure them from the cxpcncc of burial in 

 unsuccessful cases. And they give an honorary medal 

 to such as furnish assistance gratis. This medal has on 

 one side a boy in the act of blowing an extinguished 

 torch, with the legend, Latent srintillula forxan : and 

 on the other, a civic wreath, with the following inscrip- 

 tion around it ; Hoc pretium civi servato titlit. A blank 

 within the wreath is left for the person's name who 

 may obtain the medal. 



As the directions for treatment published by this so- 

 ciety arc very generally known, we do not think it ne- 

 cessary to insert them here at full length. But as by 

 far the most important of them, in our opinion, are those 

 which relate to the restoration of heat and respiration, 

 we must beg leave to copy them. 



" When the body is taken out of the water, the 

 clothes arc immediately to lx? stripped off, if not naked 

 at the time of the accident. It must then be covered 

 with two or three coats, or a blanket, or any thing an- 

 swering the purpose, that can be most easily procured. 

 The body is then to be carefully conveyed to the nearest 

 house, with the head a little raised In cold and damp 

 weather, it should be laid on a bed in a room that is 

 moderately heated, or in summer on a bed exposed to 

 the rays of the sun, with the windows open, and not 

 more than six persons admitted. A greater number may 

 retard the return of life. The body is to be well dried 



1 



Drowning. 



Italy. 



RU.OI*. 



Fnuifc. 



England. 



Humane 

 Society. 



Direction' 



of the Hu- 

 m;inc So- 

 ciety. 



