614 



DEAN DEATH. 



vten- L'literrichtes in Spanien und Frankreich von ffew- 

 tuan ; Uie Blicke auf der TaubstummenbUdung von 

 Reich (of Leipsic) ; Sullo Stato dei Sordi muti, &c., 

 del Abbate Bagutti, Milan; Journal des Sourds- 

 jnuels du Bebian ; Del Education det Sourdt-muets, 

 par M. de Gerando, Paris; and Dr Watson's work al- 

 ready referred to. 



DEAN ; a corruption from decanus, Latin, from 

 decem, ten, because a decantu commanded ten men, 

 as the centuno did a hundred. This word, however, 

 has aoniireil a much more extended meaning. Dean 

 is. iii England a dignitary in most cathedral and col- 

 legiate churches, being usually the president of the 

 chapter. He is called so because supposed to pre- 

 side over ten canons or prebendaries at least. Dean 

 is also a title given in England to several heads of 

 peculiar churches or chapters, as, the dean of the 

 Ling's cliapel. Deans of colleges are, in English 

 universities, officers appointed to superintend the be- 

 haviour of the members, and to enforce discipline. 

 Rural deans, or urban deans, were, in the early ages 

 of Uie church, ecclesiastics who presided over ten 

 churches or parishes, either in the country or city 

 within which they exercised jurisdiction. The 

 French corruption of decanus is doyen, and has no 

 ecclesiastical meaning. Doyen d'dge is the eldest 

 of a society. In the chamber of deputies the doyen 

 d'dge presides until the diamber is regularly organ- 

 ized. In the academy of sciences, there are doyens 

 in the different divisions. In Germany, the head of 

 t- ach of the faculties of law, theology, medicine, and 

 philosophy, in the universities, is called decanus, and 

 is changed like the rector of the university, an- 

 nually. 



DEATH, in common language, is opposed to life, 

 and considered as the cessation of it. It is only, how- 

 ever, the organic life of the individual which becomes 

 extinct ; for neither the mind nor the matter which 

 constituted that individual can perish. That view of 

 nature which considers the whole as pervaded 

 throughout by the breath of life, admits only of 

 clianges from one mode of existence to another. 

 This change, which is called death, does not take 

 place so quickly as is generally believed. It is 

 usually preceded and caused by disease or the 

 natural decay of old age. The state called death 

 takes place suddenly only when the heart or the 

 brain is injured in certain parts. Probably the brain 

 and the heart are the parts from which, properly 

 speaking, death proceeds ; but, as the cessation of 

 their functions is not so obvious as the cessation 

 of the breath, which depends on them, the lat- 

 ter event is generally considered as indicating the 

 moment when death takes place. In the or- 

 gans of sense and motion, the consequences of 

 death first become apparent ; the muscles become 

 stiff ; coldness and paleness spread over the whole 

 body; the eye loses its brightness, the flesh its 

 elasticity; yet it is not perfectly safe to conclude, 

 from these circumstances, that death has taken place, 

 in any given case, because experience shows that 

 there may be a state of the body in which all these 

 circumstances may concur, without the extinction of 

 life. This state is called asphyxia (q. v.). The 

 commencement of putrefaction, in ordinary cases, 

 affords the first certain evidence of death. This 

 begins in the bowels and genitals, which swell, 

 become soft and loose, and change colour ; the 

 skin, also, begins to change, and becomes red in 

 various places ; blisters show themselves ; the blood 

 becomes more fluid, and discharges itself from the 

 mouth, nose, eyes, ears, and anus. By degrees, 

 also, Uie other parts are decomposed, and, last of 

 all, the teeth and bones. In the beginning of de- 

 composition', azote and ammonia are produced: in 



the progress of it, hydrogen, compounded with 

 carbon, sulphur and phospnorus, is the prevailing 

 product, which causes an offensive smell, and the 

 light which is sometimes observed about putrefying 

 bodies. At last, only carbonic acid gas is produced, 

 and the putrefying body then smells like earth newly 

 dug. A fat, greasy earth remains, and a slimy, 

 soap-like substance, which mixes with Uie ground, 

 and contributes wiUi the preceding decompositions 

 to the fertility of it. Even in these remains of 

 organized existence, organic life is not entirely ex- 

 tinct ; and they contribute to produce new vegetable 

 and animal structures. Putrefaction is much in- 

 fluenced by external circumstances, particularly air, 

 heat, and water. When Uie body is protected from 

 the action of such agents, it changes into adipocire 

 (q. v.) ; but this process requires a much longer 

 time than common putrefaction. In very dry situa- 

 tions the body is converted into a mummy, in which 

 state bodies are found in the arid deserts of Africa, 

 and on the mountains in Peru. Some vaults are re- 

 markable for preserving corpses from putrefaction. 

 It is well known to every reader, that particular 

 substances counteract putrefaction; for instance, 

 those used in tanning, and in embalming mummies. 



Death, Agony of, is the state which immediately 

 precedes death, and in which life and death are con- 

 sidered as struggling wiUi each other. This state 

 differs according to the cause producing it. Some- 

 times it is a complete exhaustion ; sometimes a 

 violent struggle, and very irregular activity, which, 

 at last, after a short pause, terminates in death. In 

 some cases, consciousness is extinguished long before 

 death arrives ; in other cases, it continues during the 

 whole period, and terminates only with life. The 

 person in this condition has already somewhat the 

 appearance of a corpse ; the face is pale and sallow, 

 the eyes are sunken, the skin of the forehead is 

 tense, the nose pointed and wliite, the ears are 

 relaxed, and the temples fallen in ; a clammy sweat 

 covers the forehead and the extremities, the alvine 

 discharges and that of the urine take place involun- 

 tarily, the respiration becomes rattling, interrupted, 

 and, at length, ceases entirely. At this moment, 

 death is considered to take place. This state is of 

 very different length ; sometimes continuing for 

 minutes only, sometimes for days. When the 

 patient is in this condition, nothing should be at- 

 tempted but to comfort and soothe him by prayer, 

 by consoling assurances, by directing his attention to 

 his speedy union with departed friends, by presenting 

 him the crucifix, if he be a Catholic, or allowing 

 him to put on the gown of a religious order, if he 

 thinks it will contribute to his salvation ; but a dying 

 fellow creature should not be disturbed in relation to 

 his particular mode of belief, at a moment when he 

 has hardly sufficient strength to collect all the ideas 

 which have been long familiar to him. The writer 

 once saw a dying Mohammedan (an Albanian) suf- " 

 fering from the mistimed zeal of a Greek priest, who 

 was near him, holding a crucifix to his mouth, and 

 conjuring him to kiss it. The Mohammedan was 

 evidently tormented, particularly as he was unable 

 to resist. The writer begged the priest to leave 

 him, and then tried to comfort the dying man, by 

 presenting ideas and conceptions with which he was 

 familiar, and a smile from his pale lips showed that 

 the words were not entirely in vain. Remarkable 

 statements are sometimes made by dying persons, in 

 the intervals of the final struggle, that they have 

 beard heavenly music, or seen departed friends, and 

 can now die quietly. As long as the dying person 

 is able to swallow, wine or other cordials may be 

 given from time to time. It is a grateful duty to 

 minister to the sufferings of those we love ; and, 



