WAKENING THE DEAD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2779, 19 June 1907, Page 80

WAKENING THE DEAD.

Many cases of suspended animation which heretofore have been considered hopeless may now, it is believed, be treated with perfect success. It is no exaggeration, in other words, to say that the dead, or at least, very many cases dead, may be actually restored to life. Men who have been killed to all appearances by asphyxiation, narcotic poison, or drowning come under this class, as well as those who fail to recover from the effect of anaesthetics. Men who have apparently been frozen to death are also readily treated, and last, bnt n6t' least,' cases of utter intoxication may be quickly restored to sobriety in a few minutes.

The machine used in this extraordinary work is modelled upon the human heart, and it is a complicated looking affair, which in no way resembles the organ of life, although its function is very similar. The machine consists of two cylinders, which correspond exactly to the right and left ventricle and to the right and left auricles of the heart. Each of these has an inlet and an outlet valve, so that the work it performs is very similar to that of the human heart. Each cylinder has its piston like any ordinary engine, and these are made to work simultaneously, pumping poisonous gases or water, as tho case may be, out of the lungs and again pumping oxygen into them.

The patient is treated by applying the pipes connected with the machine to the nostrils. The machine is connected with a tank containing oxygen and with a glass jar filled with water, and into tln.s is inserted in turn the tubes connected with the cylinders. Two long tubes made of gas stove tubing are also connected with the- cylinders, while inlet and out'et valvea are attached at the operating ends. The subject's mouth is incidentally kept closed while th»» gases are pumped out and the oxygen^ .is being forced in.

Experiments with the machine were first of all made on a white rabbit, which had been treated with two and a-half grains of morphine, the injection being made in its leg. Seven ounces of ether -was then administered. In a few minutes the rabbit showed absolutely no signs of life. A careful examination failed to reveal any heart action.

The test was carried so far as to place a, mirror at the little animal's mouth and nostrils, but absolutely no breathing was indicated. After 15 minutes the- doctors | present declared that they could not detect the faintest sie;n of life in the rabbit. The apparatus was then set in motion. The tubes- connected with the cj'linders were applied to the rabbit's nostrils, and the cylinder pumps were started. After five minutes' vigorous action not the slightest oign of life was visible. Shortly after, however, a slight breathing motion became visible. The apparatus was kept jn energetic motion. After 10 minutes had elapsed the body of the rabbit was seen to quiver. It was something less than 15 minutes after the action had been commenced upon this "dead" rabbit when the little animal staggered to its feet. The action of the rebpirator was then stopped, and the rabbit continued to improve very quickly. In something less than half an hour after the injection had been made the '"dead" rabbit was as lively as ever, and it was only with some difficulty that it could be held long enough to satisfy the photographers who were present to photograph the proceedings. In the case of human beings the time lequiied to restore life was found to be somewhat . longer. — Scotsman.