44 ON DEATH. 



On the Influence, of the Death of the Lungs upon that 

 of the Brain. 



Q. How does death of the lungs influence that of the 

 brain in asphyxia? 



w2. In the death of the lungs the failure of their chemi- 

 cal functions sends black blood to the heart; the heart 

 sending it to the brain, the latter penetrated by black 

 blood, dies. 



Q. Some curious experiments confirm this deleterious 

 action of black blood on the brain, what are they? 



*#. Arterial blood from the carotid of one dog, was 

 thrown into the carotid of another dog which had a liga- 

 ture next to the heart; the animal lived. Venous or black 

 blood was then used in the experiment, and the dog was 

 killed at once. The black blood did not excite the brain, 

 or was poisonous to it. 



Q. Is not the death in the case above stated owing to 

 the want of pulsation or arterial motion in the brain ? 



A. It is not; because, in the process of asphyxia in 

 animals, the aorta. pulsates black blood into the brain; in 

 this then, there was no want of cerebral motion from the 

 blood. 



Q. On what part does asphyxia first produce death? 



*ft. On the brain ; animal life first suffers. Those who 

 have escaped suffocation complain of drowsiness, a general 

 numbness, head-ache, paralysis, even convulsion, all evi- 

 dently seated in the brain. 



