242 DEATH. 



absurd as it would be for a geometer to speculate on the 

 probable state of geometry, if the three angles of a tri- 

 angle amounted to only one, instead of two right angles. 



Dr. B. Man is what he is, not because he possesses 

 this organ or that, but because he is the general result 

 or product of a certain system of organization. 



Such is the history of organic beings ; it only remains 

 for us now, to behold their natural termination in death. 

 The animal functions first feel the approach of the " grim 

 destroyer," and are one after another gradually extin- 

 guished before the organic are sensibly affected. The 

 muscles lose the power of action, till the limbs and trunk 

 are motionless. The senses lose their acuteness ; vis- 

 ion grows dim and the eye-lids close ; the ear is insensi- 

 ble to sound ; the voice is weak and husky. The intel- 

 lectual faculties soon participate in the decay of the sen- 

 ses. The memory is obliterated ; judgment errs ; and 

 the consciousness of the world without fades from the 

 mind. Respiration, circulation, and the other organic 

 functions still continue, till death finally seizes upon 

 them. Respiration is slackened ; the motions of the 

 heart are feeble and irregular ; the blood retires from 

 the vessels of the skin to the central organs, where it stag- 

 nates and dies. Thus proceeding from the circumfer- 

 ence to the centre, life is gradually extinguished through- 

 out all the system. The body is now subjected to the 

 ordinary laws of matter ; putrefaction and decomposition 

 commence ; and this admirable machine, which but a 

 moment before, as it were, was charged with youth, 

 beauty and intelligence, is scattered to the elements. 



