THE BORDERS OF LIFE AND DEATH.
A lady who died recently in England left instructions in her will that her spinal cord should be severed before burial. The chances of premature burial are extremely remote, says Everyday Science, for, in the vast majority of cases the change from life to death is obvious, and the moment when the change occurs can be stated with certainty. Yet the chance can in certain circumstances exist. Cases of suspended animation and of syncope are not uncommon, and they may be complete enough and last long enough to give an appearance of death, even to a medical man. There are wellauthenticated instances on record of both children and adults having been restored to life as much as 24 hours after life had been pronounced extinct, and in sonic countries the possibility of suspended animation is legally recognised. In France there must be an interval of 24 hours and in Germany of 48 hours between death and burial. In pathological coses the false appearance of death is never known to last longer than 24 hours at most, but Indian fakirs know more about suspended animation than we do. One of these ascetics, submitting to a test by British scientists, put himself into a trance and was then placed in a sealed (but not airtight) coffin, and the coffin locked in a cement-lined tomb. Neither tomb nor coffin was leeched for a month; at the end of that time the fakir Vas revived by his friends to full activity. Premature burial, if it ever does occur or has occurred, is due to failure Of file two simplest and generally most .sure tests—the heart-beat and the breathing. In suspended animation the breathing may become imperceptible even to the test of a mirror held over the mouth and nostrils, and in syncope the heart’s action may become so feeble that neither the stethoscope nor the ear placed on the chest (which is the better method) can detect it. To make sure by this test it is necessary to listen for the hcait s boat and the respiration for five minutes, and then, after aa interval, for another five minutes. Hence if there is any reason to suspect suspended animation or syncope other tests arc necessary.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WH19200811.2.23
Bibliographic details
Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160725, 11 August 1920, Page 5
Word Count
377THE BORDERS OF LIFE AND DEATH. Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160725, 11 August 1920, Page 5
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