Show IMPOSSIBLE DEATHS ON THE ST STAGE AGE NOBODY IN REAL L- L LIFE FE DIES LIKE AN ACTOR The The novelists novelist's description of disease and and death is nearly always absurd and andt t the 1 way ay the average average actor dies is enough to make a 3 hospital hopital cat laugh If Ifan an actor takes a dose flose of poison for Instance nce he may usually be seen to toas gasp iap as a few times sink rapidly d down wn and ano after lying apparently unconscious for several seconds raise himself on his elbow make a a. long speech then gasp a a. afew afew few times Umes more and lie out dead V Now t there arc are only a few poisons which can kill In the remarkably short period an actor takes to die and they do It in a very different way from that of the actor Prussic acid may be betaken betaken betaken taken as the the- type of these A A. man who took prussic acid would probably fall fail in ina ina ina a few seconds seconds often often before he has timeto time timeto timeto to put down the glass glass and and he would certainly not rise on his elbow and make a a. speech i On the other hand if the poison polson were opium the immediate result would be excitement ment and brilliancy of thought then after some time deep sleep passing passing passing pass pass- ing into unconsciousness unconsciousness while death would not ensue for several hours Yet actors often sink into immediate unconsciousness unconsciousness unconsciousness after their draught of opium Sometimes they vary the course of events with violent convulsions workIng working working work- work Ing their limbs in the most extraordinary extraordinary nary nao manner This is intended to represent represent represent rep rep- resent death from strychnine Strychnine Strychnine nine however causes a long steady slow Elow convulsion converting the muscles into so man many steel ropes and bending the back until the body r rests on the head and eels Some time ago in Paris an actress actress- Wile MIle Croisette Croisette for for the first time represented represented represented str strychnine poisoning truly on the stage She went to the great Dr Charcot and got a description of the symptoms Then she read up the subject subject subject sub sub- In medical books and poisoned a number of dogs with strychnine watchIng watching watching watch watch- ing their death struggles So successful was the lady tn in n her representation that thata a medical journal advised medical students students students stu stu- dents to go to the play and study the symptoms But she was a rare exception exception exception tion to the rule Arsenic is sometimes the pretended cause of death on the stage Here again the representation is untrue What ought really to happen is this The actor would get a violent pain in inthe inthe inthe the stomach which organ he wOl ld press with his hands while he rolled about on the floor probably screaming with agony But that would make the audience laugh so he dies in a dignified way that no one ever saw in a real case of arsenic poisoning It may be said however that in extremely extremely extremely ex ex- ex- ex rare cases arsenic causes no pain But in all cases death would not ensure for a considerable time time several several hours or 0 perhaps a day or two No audience could patiently wait for the event so the a actor tor is bound to misrepresent misrepresent misrepresent resent the action of the noison poison Shooting through the heart is a very frequent dramatic Incident Generally the actor silently collapses But in actual death by shooting through the heart beart the occurrence is of quite a dif dlf- dif dif- ferent kind kind There would probably be bea bea bea a gurgling cough blood would flow from the mouth and there would be a look of great distress in the face There would also be what is called reflex action action action ac ac- ac- ac tion of great intensity All the muscles of the body would contract violently and as the leg muscles are the strongest strong strong- est the dying man would jump in the theair theair theair air probably would wave his arms about turn half round and fall A photographer named Harry Lar- Lar kyna was shot through the heart He leaped in the air all ran along the hall hail into the garden and fell dead ead under a tree A soldier shot through the heart leaped over a stone wall and ran right Into the enemy's lines before he fell felI Nearly always there is this violent blind unreasoning action when a perSon person person per per- son is shot through the heart Death from disease is also It must be tragic and it must have a certain amount of dignity about it to suit the requirements of the stage But as a rule death really takes place very quietly and slowly In ninety-nine ninety out of a hundred cases the patient is unconscious for severa several hours before the final extinction of life He cares for nothing and lies quietly quietly like a person asleep On the stage however he is made to go through all sorts of contortions and struggles Most l actors appear appe to be acquainted ac ac- ac- ac with the convulsions of epilepsy themselves epilepsy themselves scarcely ever fatal and and so the they die of all sorts of diseases diseases dis dis- dis- dis eases in convulsions Whether it be consumption heart disease apoplexy Or OrI I shock it is all the same Camille amilIe in Dumas's pla play nearly ala always always al- al I ways a s 's dies in strong convulsions She is isI I suffering from consumption and is supped sup- sup Zed p ped ed to die from the bursting of a aDd a Dd vessel in the lung Now if a very large blood vessel bursts there might be a certain small amount of convulsive action n But as a arule arule arule rule the patient would die either from suffocation or gradually and quietly from loss of blood Heart disease again is totally mis mis- represented Death from this malady is simple and quiet quiet just just a a. profound fainting fit which rapidly terminates life But you will see an actor moan and cry beat his chest throw his arms about and give Up p. p the ghost in a strong general convulsion These are the symptoms of angina pectoris a most rare disease But lut E ut when an actor comes to represent represent represent sent a madman he r reaches the very summit of a absurdity Even the most famous actor actors go through a series of antics that are re never seen In a lunatic asylum There is nothing dramatic in insanity ty There are three great classes of in in- in sanity In In Inon on one the patient is a mere brainless idiot and has to be tended like a baby In another he is sullenly quiet and the only tragic thing he may maydo maydo maydo do Is refuse food or commit suicide whilst mania is of many varieties A maniac may tear off his clothes strike his neighbor or commit murder But in these things he le acts just like a drunken hooligan On the other hand he may have some fixed idea idea idea-as as that he is the King or Moses or a horse But this idea he Is most careful to conceal conceal conceal con con- ceal and to the casual observer he looks like an ordinary sane mortal |