CHAPTER XII. 



PATHOLOG Y— continued. 



MODES OF DEATH. 



Following the example of Dr. AVilliams, Sir Thomas Watson, 

 and other writers upon medicine, I purpose very briefly to con- 

 sider the chief varieties of the modes of death. 



An inquiry into this subject, says Watson, " is not one of 

 merely curious interest, but has a direct bearing upon the proper 

 treatment of disease. It will teach us what we have to guard 

 against, what we must strive to avert in different cases." 



A continuance of " life is inseparably connected with the con- 

 tinued circulation of the blood. So long as the circulation goes 

 on, life, organic life at least, remains. When the blood no 

 longer circulates, life is presently extinct ; and our investigation 

 of the different modes of dying resolves itself into an investiga- 

 tion of the different ways in which the circulation of the blood 

 may be brought permanently to a stand. 



" Observe tlie ample provision that is made in the construc- 

 tion of the body for carrying on and maintaining this essential 

 function. First, there is an extensive hydraulic apparatus 

 distributed throughout the frame, consisting of the heart 

 and other blood-vessels. Next, there is a large pneumatic 

 machine, forming a considerable part of tlie whole body, com- 

 posed of the lungs and the case in which they are lodged. 

 Lastly, the power by which this machine is to be worked and 

 regulated is vested in the nervous system. Each of these 

 systems must continue in action, or the circulation will stop, 

 and life will cease. The functions they respectively perform 

 are consequently called vital functions ; and their main organs 

 — the heart, the lungs, the brain — are denominated vital organs. 



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