respects there seems to be a great similarity 
between the death occasionedby immersion 
in water, and that by strangulation, sutloca- 
tion bv tixecl air, apoplexies, epilepsies, sud- 
den faintings, violent shocks of electricity, 
or even violent falls and bruises. Physicians, 
however, are not agreed with regard to the 
nature of the injury done to the animal sys- 
tem in any or all ot these accidents. It is in- 
deed certain, that in all the cases above-men- 
tioned, particularly in drowning, there is very 
often such a suspension of the vital powers as 
to us lias the appearance of a total extinction of 
them; while yet they may be again set in 
motion, and the person restored to life, after 
a much longer submersion than has been ge- 
nerally thought capable of producing abso- 
lu e death. 
De Iiaen, in his treatise on this subject, 
ascribes the diversity of opinion among phy- 
sicians to their having been so ready to draw 
general conclusions from a few experiments. 
Some, having never found water in the 
lungs, have thought it never was there; and 
others, from its presence, have drawn a con- 
trary conclusion. Some have ascribed the 
death which happens in cases of drowning, to 
that species of apop’exy which arises from a 
great fulness of the stomach. But tnis opi- 
nion our author rejects, because in 13 dogs 
which he had drowned and afterwards dis- 
sected, no signs of such a fullness appeared. 
Another reason is drawn from the want of 
the common marks ot apoplexy on the dis- 
section of the brain, and from the actual pre- 
sence of water in the lungs, lie is ol opi- 
nion, that the death of drowned persons hap- 
pens in consequence of water getting into the 
lungs, and stopping the blood in the arteries, 
and of course that blowing into the lungs 
must be hurtful, as if will increase the pressure 
on the blood-vessels. 
Dr. Cullen, in his letter on this subject 
to lord Cathcart, says, that very often the 
water does not enter the lungs, nor even the 
stomach, in any material quantity ; and, that 
in mod cases, no injury is done to the orga- 
nization of the vital parts, l ienee he argues, 
that the death which seems to ensue, is ow- 
ing to the stoppage of respiration, and the 
consequent ceasing of the circulation of the 
b'ood, whereby the body loses its heat and 
vital principle. 
In the Phil. Trans, vol. lxvi. Mr. Hunter 
advances the following theory.— The loss of 
motion in drowning seems to arise from the 
loss of respiration ; and the immediate effect 
this has on the other vital motions of the ani- 
mal, at least this privation of breathing, ap- 
pears to be the first cause of the heart’s mo- 
tion ceasing. It is most probable, therefore, 
Mr. Hunter observes, that the restoration of 
breathing is all that is necessary to restore the 
heart’s motion ; for if a sufficiency of life still 
remains to produce that effect, we may sup- 
pose every part equally ready to move the 
very instant in which the action of the heart 
takes place, their actions depending so much 
upon it. What makes it very probable that 
the principal effect depends upon throwing 
air into the lungs, is, that children in the birth, 
when too much time has been spent after the 
loss of that life which is peculiar to the fetus, 
lose altogether the disposition for the new 
life: in such cases there is a total suspension of 
the actions of life ; the child remains to all ap- 
pearance dead ; and would die if air was not 
DROWNING. 
thrown in to its lungs, and the first principle of 
action bv that means restored. 'I o put this in a 
clearer light, Mr. Hunter gives the result of 
some cruel and by no means justifiable experi- 
ments made on a dog in 1755. A pair of 
double bellows were provided, which were so 
constructed, that by one action air was thrown 
into the lungs, and by the other air was 
sucked out which had been thrown in by the 
former, without mixing them together. r l he 
muzzle of these bellows was fixed into the tra- 
chea of a dog, and byworking them lie was 
kept perfectly alive. bile this artificial 
breathing was going on, the sternum was 
taken off, so that the heart and lungs were 
exposed to view. The heart then con- 
tinued to act as before, only the frequency ol 
its action was greatly increased. Mr. Hunter 
then stopped the motion of the bellows; and 
observed that the contraction of the heart be- 
came gradually weaker and less frequent, 
till it left off moving altogether ; but by re- 
newing, the operation, the motion ol the heart 
also revived, and soon became as strong and fre- 
quent as before. T his process was repeated 
upon the same dog ten times, sometimes 
stopping for five or ten minutes. Mr. Hun- 
ter observed, that every time he left off work- 
ing the bellows, the heart became extremely 
turgid with blood, and the blood in the left 
side became as dark as that in the right, which 
was not the case when the bellows were work- 
ing. These situations of the animal, he ob- 
serves, seem to be exactly similar to drowning. 
Dr. Goodwyn, in a subsequent treatise on 
this subject, has endeavoured to ascertain 
the effects of submersion upon living animals 
in a still more accurate manner ; and this in- 
vestigation is accompanied with a most care- 
ful and ingenious inquiry concerning the causes 
of the different phenomena which he re- 
marked in the course of a great number of 
experiments. From a review of these Dr. 
Goodwyn draws the following conclusions: 
1. “ A small quantity of iluid usually passes 
into the lungs, in drowning. 2. This water ! 
enters the lungs during the efforts to inspire ; ^ 
and mixing with the pulmonary mucus, oc- 
casions the' frothy appearance mentioned by 
authors. 3. The w hole ol this fluid in the 
lungs is not sufficient to produce the changes 
that take place in drowning. And hence it 
follows, that the water produces all changes 
that take place in drowning indirectly, by ex- 
cluding the atmospheric air from the 
lungs. This naturally leads to an investiga- 
tion of the uses of respiration, and the effects 
of the air upon the blood and lungs in that 
action. The author begins with attempting to 
determine the quantity of air drawn in at each 
inspiration, with the proportional quantity lett 
after expiration. The experiments by which 
he endeavoured to ascertain these quantities 
seem to be more uncertain than the others, 
as indeed there are not data sufficient forthem 0 
Concerning the chemical changes produced 
in the air by respiration, and the effects ot 
the air upon the blood itself, we shall only ob- 
serve in general, that his experiments evi- 
dently show that the disease produced by- 
drowning arises entirely from the exclusion of 
the atmospheric air or its pure part ; for 
which reason he recommends inflating the 
lungs with that kind of air in preference to 
any other. 
From these different views of the matter, 
physicians have differed considerably in their 
£()5 
account of the methods to be followed in at- 
tempting tlie recovery of drowned persons, 
De Haen recommends agitation of all kinds ; 
every kind of stimulus applied to the mouth, 
nose, and rectum; bleeding; heat, both by 
warm cloths and warm water; blowing air 
into the trachea ; stimulants, such as blisters, 
warm ashes, &c. applied to the head, ankles, 
thighs, pit of the stomach, and other parts. 
Dr. Cullen’s instructions on this subject, how- 
ever, are of much more importance ; but they 
are detailed too much at length to admit of 
an adequate abridgement in this article. For 
every practical purpose, indeed, the plan of 
recovery distributed by the Royal Humane 
Society of London is sufficient. It is as fol- 
lows : 
1 . As soon as the patient is taken out of the 
water, the wet clothes, it the person is 
not naked at the time of the accident, 
should be taken off with all possible expedi- 
tion on the spot (unless some convenient 
house is very near), and a great coat or two, 
or some blankets if convenient, should be 
wrapped round the body. 
2. The patient is to be thus carefully con- 
veyed in the amis of three or four men, to the 
nearestpuhlic or other house, where a good 
fire, if in the winter season, and a warm bed, 
can be made ready for its reception. As the 
body is conveying to this place, great atten- 
tion is to be paid to the position ot the head ; 
it must be kept supported in a natural and 
easy posture, and not suffered to hang dowp, 
3. In cold or moist weather, the patient is to 
be laid on a mattress or bed before the fire, 
but not too near, or in a moderately heated 
room: in warm and sultry weather, on a bed 
only. The body is then to be wrapped as ex- 
peditiously as possible with a blanket, and 
thoroughly dried with warm coarse cloths or 
flannels. 
4. In summer or sultry weather too much 
air cannot be admitted. For tins reason it 
will be necessary to set open the windows 
j and doors, as cool refreshing air is of the 
j greatest importance in the process of resus- 
citation. 
5. Not more than six persons are to be 
present to apply the proper means ; a greater 
number will be useless, and may retard, or 
totally prevent, the restoration of life, by 
rendering the air of the apartment unwhole- 
some. It will be necessary, therefore, to re- 
quest the absence of those who attend merely 
from motives of curiosity. 
6. It will be proper for one of the assist- 
ants, with a pair of bellows of the common 
size, applying the pipe a little way up one 
nostril, to blow w ith some force, in order to 
introduce air into the lungs ; at the same time 
the other nostril and the mouth are to be 
closed by another assistant, while a third 
person gently presses the chest with his hands, 
after the lungs are observed to be inflated. 
By pursuing this process, the noxious and stag- 
nant vapours will be expelled, and natural 
breathing imitated. If the pipe of the 
bellows is too large, the air may be blown in 
at the mouth, the nostrils at the same time 
being closed, so that it may- not escape that 
way : but the lungs are more easily filled, and 
natural breathing better imitated, by blowing 
up the nostril. 
7. Let the body be gently rubbed with 
flannels, sprinkled with spirits. A warming- 
pan heated (the body being surrounded with. 
