DROWNING. 



hartshorn, arc directed to be thrown 

 into the stomach in a fluid state, as also 

 to be injected by the anus. Motion, 

 possibly, may be'of service ; it may, at 

 least, be tried; but as it hath less effect 

 than any other of the usually prescribed 

 stimuli, it is directed to be the last part 

 of the process. The same care in the 

 operator, in regulating the proportion of 

 every one of these means, is here di- 

 rected, as was formerly given for the 

 application of heat. For every one of 

 them, our author observes, may possibly 

 have the same property of destroying 

 entirely the feeble action which they 

 have excited, if administered in too great 

 a quantity : instead, therefore, of increas- 

 ing and hastening the operations on the 

 first signs of returning life being observ- 

 ed, as is usually done, he desires they 

 may be lessened, and advises their in- 

 crease to be afterwards proportioned, as 

 nearly as possible, to the quantity of pow- 

 ers as they arise. When the heart be- 

 gins" to move, the application of air to 

 the lungs should be lessened, that 

 when the muscles of respiration begin to 

 act, a good deal may be left for them to do. 

 Mr. Hunter absolutely forbids blood- 

 letting in all such cases : for as it not on- 

 ly weakens the animal principle, but les- 

 sens life itself, it must consequently, he 

 observes, lessen both the powers and 

 dispositions to action. For the same rea- 

 son he is against introducing any thing 1 

 into the stomach that might produce 

 sickness or vomiting : and, on the same 

 principle, he says, we should avoid 

 throwing tobacco fumes, or any other 

 such articles, up by the anus, as might 

 tend to an evacuation that way. The 

 following is a description of instruments 

 recommended for such operations by our 

 author. First, a pair of hellows, so con- 

 trived with two separate cavities,that, by 

 opening them when applied to the nos- 

 trils or mouth of a patient, one cavity will 

 befille'd with common air, and the other 

 with air sucked out from the lungs, and 

 by shutting them again, the common air 

 will be thrown into the lungs, and that 

 sucked out of the lungs discharged into 

 the room. The pipe of these should be 

 flexible ; in length a foot, or a foot and a 

 Jialf, and at least three eighths of an inch 

 in width. By this the artificial breathing 

 may be continued while the other opera- 

 tions, the application of the stimuli to the 

 stomach excepted, are going on, which 

 could not be conveniently done, if the 

 muzzle of the bellows were introducced 

 into the nose. The end next the nose 



should be double, and applied to both 

 nostrils. Secondly, A syringe, with a 

 hollow bougie, or flexible catheter, of 

 sufficient length to go into the stomach, 

 and convey any stimulating matter into it, 

 without affecting the lungs. Thirdly, A 

 pair of small bellows, such as are com- 

 monly used in throwing fumes of tobacco 

 up by the anus. 



Within these few years great numbers 

 of drowned people have been restored 

 to life by a proper use of the remedies 

 we have enumerated, and societies for 

 the recovery of drowned persons have 

 been instituted in different places. The 

 first society of this kind was instituted in 

 Holland,where,from the great abundance 

 of canals and inland seas, the inhabitants 

 are particularly exposed to accidents by 

 water. In a very few years 150 persons 

 were saved from death by tfiis society ; 

 and many of these had continued upwards 

 of an hour without any signs of lite:, after 

 they had been taken out of the water. 

 The society was instituted at Amster- 

 dam in 1767, and, by an advertisement, 

 informed the inhabitants of the United 

 Provinces of the methods proper to be 

 used on such occasions ; offering rewards 

 at the same time to those who should, 

 with or without success, use those me- 

 thods for recovering persons drowned, 

 and seemingly dead. The laudable and 

 humane example of the Dutch wasfollow- 

 ed, in the year 1768, by the magistrates of 

 health in Milan and Venice ; afterwards 

 by the magistrates of Hamburg, in the 

 year 1771 : by those of Paris, in the year 

 1772 ; and by the magistrates of London 

 in 1774. 



The following directions are given for 

 the recovery of drowned persons by the 

 society at London : 1. As soon as the pa- 

 tient is taken out of the water, the wet 

 clothes, if the person is not naked at the 

 time of the accident, should be taken off 

 with all possible expedition on the spot, 

 (unless some convenient house be very 

 near,) and a great coat or two, or some 

 blankets, if convenient, should be wrap- 

 ped round the body. 2. The patient is 

 to be thus carefully conveyed in the arms 

 of three or four men, or on a bier, to the 

 nearest public or other house, where a 

 good fire, if in the winter season, and a 

 warm bed, can be made ready for its re- 

 ception. As the body is conveying to 

 this place, a great attention is to be paid 

 to the position of the head; it must be 

 kept supported in a natural and easy 

 posture, not suffered to hang down. 3. 

 In cold or moist weather the patient is. 



