OP DEATH. 1059 



to so low a condition that they are no longer distinguishable, is by no means in- 

 compatible with the persistence of vitality. A surer test, however, is afforded 

 by the condition of the Muscular substance ; for this gradually loses its irrita- 

 bility after real Death, so that it can no longer be excited to contraction by 

 electrical or any other kind of stimulation ; and the loss of irritability is suc- 

 ceeded by the appearance of cadaveric rigidity ( 333). So long, then, as the 

 muscle retains its irritability, and remains free from rigidity, so long we may 

 say with certainty that it is not dead ; and the persistence of its vitality for an 

 unusual period affords a presumption in favor of the continuance of some de- 

 gree of vital action in the body generally ; whilst, on the other hand, the en- 

 tire loss of irritability, and the supervention of rigidity, afford conclusive evi- 

 dence that Death has occurred. The most satisfactory proof, however, is given 

 by the occurrence of Putrefaction ; this usually first manifests itself in the blue- 

 green coloration of the cutaneous surface, especially the abdominal ; but it speedily 

 becomes apparent in other parts, its rate being usually in some degree of accord- 

 ance with the external temperature, though also much influenced by the previous 

 condition of the solids and fluids of the body, these having been sometimes left 

 by diseased actions in a state that renders them peculiarly prone to disintegra- 

 tion ( 418). 



1070. With the final restoration of the components of the Human Organism 

 to the Inorganic Universe, in those very forms, or nearly so, in which they 

 were first withdrawn from it, the Corporeal Life of Man, of which it has been 

 the object of the foregoing Treatise to sketch the leading features, comes to a 

 final close ; but the Death of this Body is but the commencement of a new Life 

 of the Soul, in which (as the religious physiologist delights to believe) all that 

 is pure and noble in Man's nature will be refined, elevated, and progressively 

 advanced towards perfection, whilst all that is carnal, selfish, and degrading, 

 will be eliminated by the purifying processes to which each individual must be 

 subjected before Sin can be entirely subjugated, and Death can be completely 

 " swallowed up of Victory." 



