196 



may be so far impaired by the use of spiritous liquors, that the heart and 

 diaphragm might lose the power of contraction, which would bring on 

 complete asphyxia. 



The glottis, through which the atmospherical air passes in its way to 

 the lungs, is so small, that it may be readily obstructed, when the epiglot- 

 tis rising at the moment of deglutition, the substance that is sw.allowed 

 stops at the orifice of the larynx ; a grape seed may produce this effect, 

 and it was in this manner, we are told, that Anacreon, that lovely poet of 

 the graces and of voluptuousness, came by his death. Gilbert, the poet, 

 died after a long and painful agony, from the introduction of a small key 

 into his throat, during a fit of insanity. A great eater, in the midst of a 

 feast, went into an adjoining room, and did not return, to the great sur- 

 prise of all the guests. He was found stretched on the floor, without any 

 sign of life. Help, given by ignorant people, was of no use. On opening 

 the body, a. piece of mutton was found fixed in the larynx, and complete- 

 ly stopping the passage of the air. 



Sometimes a child is born, and shows no sign of life. When it is pro- 

 bable from the circumstances of the delivery, that there has been no or- 

 ganic injury decidedly mortal, it must be considered as a case of asphyx- 

 ia,* from weakness 5 and all means employed that are recommended in 

 such cases, especially blowing in air into the lungs, by means of a tube 

 introduced into the mouth or nostrils. It is thus, that the Prophet Elisha 

 restored to life the son of the Shunamite, as we are informed, in the se- 

 cond book of Kings, chapter the fourth. f 



LXXXVI. Of certain phenomena of respiration, as sighing, sobbing, 

 yawning, sneezing, coughing, hiccup, laughing, fyc. When the imagination 

 is strongly impressed with any object, when the vital functions are lan- 

 guid, the vital principle seems to forsake all the organs, to concentrate 

 itself on those which partake most in the affection of the mind. When a 

 lover, in the midst of an agreeable reverie, sighs deeply, and at intervals, 

 a physiologist perceives in that expression of desire, nothing but a long 

 and deep inspiration, which, by fully distending the lungs, enables the 

 blood, collected in the right cavities of the heart, to flow readily into the 

 left cavities of that organ. The deep inspiration, which, is frequently 



* The following case of'AspHTXiA in a child of six months old, and the manner in 

 which it was relieved, may be interesting to some of the profession. While at the 

 house of my friend, Mr. James Peale, some time since, one of the family came out to 

 Ihe door, where 1 was standing, and informed me with great consternation that the child, 

 (then labouring under pertussis,) had attempted to cough, and was suffocating, in conse- 

 quence of inability to discharge the phlegm. Hastily entering the room, I saw the babe 

 in the arms of the nurse, hanging forward, to all appearance dead ; its lips of a dark 

 purple, the eyes of the same colour, closed, and the eyeballs projecting very much. I 

 immediately applied my mouth over that of the infant, and made a strong effort to ex- 

 lumst the air from its lungs, closing the nostrils with one hand. The first and second ef- 

 forts were unavailing. Almost despairing of success, 1 placed my mouth over the mouth 

 and nostrils of the child, and made another violent inspiration, when to my great joy the 

 clot of phlegm was thrown out, and the breathing was gradually restored to its ordinary 

 state in a very few seconds. God-man t 



f The reader need not be reminded that French philosophers account for the miracles 

 related in Scripture, as they please, at least, there is no reference to such a mode of re- 

 storing life in the following sentence. 



" And he went up and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth,and his 

 eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands ; and he stretched himself upon the 

 child ; and the flesh of the child waxed warm." 2 Kings, c. iv. 34. Godman. 



