3 io 
Painless Death . 
[April, 
often been his desire to receive, accidentally, such a shock, 
and that his wish had at length been gratified. But while 
making this explanation the appearance which his body pre- 
sented to himself was that of being in separate pieces. His 
arms, for example, seemed to be detached from his body and 
suspended in the air. Memory and the power of reasoning 
and speech were complete long before the optic nerve reco- 
vered from the eledtric shock. The Professor dwelt upon 
the absolute painlessness of the shock, and believes there 
cannot be a doubt that to a person struck dead by lightning 
the passage from life to death occurs without consciousness. 
It is an abrupt stoppage of sensation, unaccompanied by a 
pang . — National Medical Review . 
