COMING BACK TO LIFE.

Grey River Argus, 3 April 1922, Page 6

COMING BACK TO LIFE.

WHEN ARE WE DEAD I he recent case of a woman in Yorkshire who showed signs of returning to life a quarter of an hour after the d< ctor said she was dead is an instance oi tempera ri ]y suspended animation (writes a physician in a London paper). ( cssation oi circulation and respiration tor any but a brief interval ot time is in. itself sulficienl as a rule to determine tin* reality of death. Other signs are—coldness of the borv, rigor mortis, changes in the eyes, and changes in the skin. Occasionally the apparent suspensi' n <»f the functions of the heart and lungs occurs, but they must be quickly reestablished if lift' is to continue. There is authoritatively recorded a wellknown case in which the heart’s action was suspended by an act of will. Ihis subject possessed Hu* power of so suspending the action oT the heart that he could pass intn a deep sleep or stupor in which neither the puls? nor the heating of the heart could be felt. A few hours after one of these experiments, however, he died. Another case is recorded'in which for eight minutes no heart sounds could be dctecti'd, hut after 20 minutes the pulsation became full and regular. It is pretty certain that the heart may in certain cases continue to beat feebly without any s'und being perceptible through the stethoscope, but generally speaking apparent cessation of cardiac movement for 30 minutes, as ascert ainod by r(‘|k*:it<•<l slot hoscopie examinations, may be considered as absolute proof of death. Stoppage of respiration is proved 1»y various tests. Absence of visible movements of < host and abdomen for a maximum period. Five minutes may be taken as the maximum. I here are some popular fests, such as holding a mirror over Hie mouth to ascertain if any moisture fr<>ni the breath is condensed on the glass; suspending a feather over the mouth and nostrils to indicate any breathing by its movement. These are fairlv useful tests it carefully carried out, hut Ihev are quite unnecessary in The case of medical men. There is a prevailing idea with some members ot the public that premature burial occasionally takes place, but the instances have always proved to ho nothing more than the delusions of superstitious or ignorant people plus a big degree of exaggeration. Cases have certainly occurred in which persons in a cTmdition of insensibility from concussion, coma, syncope, catalepsy, ( r exhaustion have been pronounced dead by the bystanders, simply because there was no outward signs of circulation or respiration, but the warmth of the body remains and the heart and lungs continue to act, though perhaps feebly. We are adequately protected by the medical certificate of death and its causes. Of course no burial should he allowed to take place until after the lapse ot 24 hours, and only then upon the certificate of a medical practioner who has examined the body.