| Show f 1 J 4 d t I WHAT IS s DEATH r A PHYSIOLOGICAL M U W tI lilt 1 U U u uI To say that death Is the separation of o oj I j and bod body Is to give what sound Uke 1 a theological rather than a 11 th definition Yet Yd thIs Is the fins final ll i definition that Is reached by Dr Leos Meunier after treating tho Question strictly from the physiologists point ot o oI oa I a view While thus tho th t existence ot of the soul Dr Meunier who t t l In Cosmos Parts Paris Novem November r 18 on The Causes and Mechanism at o Death asserts that the soul and can cen not separate until certain ph I conditions are find and lilt his liltS S endeavor Is to ascertain and i what hilt the nature ot of these conditions Is MOlt modern physiologists tell us that r these conditions differ according as the list organism In question Is composed of at a n single lIngle cell or of a complex unIon ot 01 L cells s some me gO so tar far as to deny that 1 the on celled organisms can properlY p die With a union of cells such as man manthe manthey the they tell us that the combination may maydie die while many ot of its elements Ilse Ile on ont onI t I and aM they recognize two kinds of death dath t cell death and antl body death Dr MeunIer a asserts on the authority ot of the most recent thought and Investigation that I these thle are arc on one In essence He says l j When we study stud the phenomenon of at r i deaths the only true found t among living organized I l must first to get an Idea ot of Its lam lem study stud It among simple unicellular organisms Some writers h have e assorted that thaI these have n a kind of Professor ot of Friburg has hns hasI I thus formulated this opinIon Death I he rayS Is not a primitive attribute or of matter It is 11 of secondary orIgin There are mill that never die for forI I II I instance and and andIn andIn In general all AnI An I ameba divides Into two almost equal pelts puIs each ench or of which continues to live and later divides again su that there therele le Is never neer an any corpse Death appears 1 r only amon among with differentiated cellules land and Is ik wed based solely on utility u f Individuals must give place for lor the tho good ot of species to healthy ones hence we must regard death ns as nn an op r une institution not III as 1 a necessity of lire i I 1 I vIew vl w or of which has r lJ quite celebrated among students or of biology has called forth a great deal ot of c comment It Is assorted asserted by a 11 aI I it French critic Dr to be found founded ed on an error of observation SOS Says l Dr cIting thIs author M 1 1 Maupas In his In investigation of i J the multiplication of the ciliated In lj by fission has hils shown that the tho thos s b reproduction of these organisms by t p fission extended though It may seem to toJ J be b has its limits sooner or later It r J gives the rise only to imperfect IndIviduals j which lire are Incapable of perpetuating Si 1 4 them themselves eJes without recourse to a 0 pro prop prof f p Ir cess to that of fecundation y j i among amoni beings And D Del I b ur who has discussed these facts In ine 1 r e t the has shown 1 how little value mUst be attached to them t f In man and other hIgher organisms a the h author goes on to say sa death Is af a ai i 1 f destruction ot of coordination among the I cellular elements These elements do donot donot not die at the same time and may even een evena f a take up an Independent course courso ot of life h rl f The classical assertion that death must f 1 take alee place through heart lungs luns or I j brain Is Inexact Dr Meunier tolls tells us r 1 Suppression slon or of the functions of any ono one of these organs omans may Indeed cause death but b t only when prolonged As to the ther i r unIcellular organisms they dIe with fir 1 v the destruction of their correspondence 1 t tt I with the nutritive elements In the tho sur ThIs may be lost b by bythe h the action ot of chemical physical or m mI me mey I y agents The most frequent I general cause of death Ileath In animals Is the ther r t poisoning of the cells b by the nutritive medium According to Dr Darth Barth are a re recent I I 11 cent writer this rna may take place In Iny inI I y various arlous ways WIlYS For Instance the blood I may not Mt be able to bring to the cells I the matter for tor their renovation because t I or of Inanition or Indigestion II In other otherl othera l It a G Words assimilation does not take place K 1 r Or owing to lung or heart trouble I I t oxygen In sufficient quantities Is not c 4 brought to the cells and poisoning by bye II Ii e 1 carbonic odd takes place Again tall fall ore Ire of nutrition may result In the ac acI I r of all sorts ot of waste waster r products In the tissues preventing the ther r throwing off art of at useless substance from t the cells This ma may result from rant Injury to the large glands such os as the liver or 4 r t the kidneys Thus Thull the mechanism of death can always be traced back to one h t source bath b th In the simplest Vii 4 and In the highest namely I t t S Ing Dr Darth Barth Is quoted on this point nl as follows Modifying the usual formula we wema weil il ma may say then Death Is the result of at ofa atIf If a an arrest ot of cellular the pros pro s either becoming Incapable ble of 4 giving rise to the double movement of h j assimilation and or the tho e medium In which the cells eXit under undergoing r 1 k going modifications that render ex 4 changes Impossible t The Thc arrest ot of nutrition Is a general phenomenon that Is applicable to nil all 1 Creatures With nil all It takes lakes place by byne ne or of the two mechanisms m Indicated I above but In the higher or It la II lat t S produced In more awl more complex corresponding to the In tre complexity of the apparatus charged with keepIng up tho activity of the protoplasm and with the renava or of the organic environment Dr makes the tho following comment In closing As AI the catechism teaches us death Is characterized 1 by the separation of soul and aM body but we must recognize the fact that It begIns with n a condItions of the organs that renders them Incapable ble bie ot of following and manifesting the will trill ot of their master Life may be only suspended den death th becomes definitive when the cellular elements profoundly altered are aro positively unable to obey nn any made matle for The Tho Literary Digest VV i is k kr ky I y r r 4 f r rk k t tt t i 1 t s 1 q I Ir Ir r r I Iy y r rI I x k j 1 w 7 0 s t r o oF F v 4 tie J t pt q I x xI 1 a p 5 L F Ft t ii ti I fr f tZ I i BRINGING UI BOER REINi O QC e v |
