DEATH 
ITS CAUSES AND PHENOMENA Head of Richelieu in the Church of the Sorbonne, Paris, 
from a photograph taken in 1897, two hundred and seventy-three 
years after his death. 
Frontispiece. DEATH 
ITS CAUSES AND PHENOMENA 
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE 
TO IMMORTALITY 
BY 
HEREWARD CARRINGTON, Ph.D. 
Author of "Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition," "The 
Coming Science," "The Physical Phenomena 
of Spiritualism," "Modern Psychical 
Phenomena," "Your Psychic 
Powers," etc. 
WITH FRONTISPIECE 
NEW YORK 
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 
1921 Copyright, 1921, 
By DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, Inc. 
VAIL-BALLOU COMPANY 
OIHOHAMTOM AMO H(W YORK PREFACE 
Death is that last "Great Adventure" which we must 
all experience. 
A tragedy for those left behind-those who are still 
living-death is usually considered a tragedy for the 
one who has died; yet this it cannot be! 
Death is a solemn and a terrible thing, but that is no 
reason why we should be afraid of it. Rather, we should 
regard it as the great deliverer from a life which might 
otherwise become unbearable, and when this is not the 
case, it proves, merely, that such a death has been 
premature. As such, it is not death itself which is ter- 
rible; it is the premature termination of an otherwise 
useful or beautiful life. 
The subject discussed at length in this volume-Death 
-is generally looked upon as something to be "tabooed" 
by polite society; something unpleasant, which may some 
day come upon us, but which we desire to think about 
as little as possible in the interval. There is no logical 
ground for this position, however, and, scientifically 
speaking, death may be made as fascinating a study as 
any other. Divested of the superstition and glamour 
which usually surround it, death assumes the appearance 
of a most interesting scientific problem, both from its 
physiological and from its psychological aspects. 
There is also another side to this question which must 
by no means be overlooked. I refer to the possibility 
of postponing death, on the one hand, and of rendering 
▼ vi 
PREFACE 
it more painless, on the other. Both of these results can 
only be effected by a thorough understanding of the 
process involved; and this, in turn, can only be obtained 
by a close scientific study of the problem-one that in- 
cludes all its aspects, and treats of them impartially. 
In summing up this evidence, in condensing what has 
been said-the speculations that have been offered dur- 
ing the past two hundred years (see Bibliography)-I 
believe that I have collated a considerable amount of 
interesting material; while the particular theories as to 
the nature of death which have been advanced, will not, 
I hope, be without interest, and perhaps utility. 
The present edition of this work is considerably 
abridged from the English edition, which appeared some 
ten years ago. The material relating to Psychical Re- 
search, in particular, I have condensed into a single 
Chapter. On the other hand, I have endeavoured to 
bring Part I-dealing with the Physiological aspects of 
the subject-up-to-date, so as to include the latest re- 
searches in this direction. The English edition appeared 
over the joint signature of Mr. J. R. Meader and the 
present writer, but since then, Mr. Meader has himself 
solved the Problem with which this book deals. It has 
therefore been necessary for me to revise it myself, to 
the best of my ability. Several Chapters of the original 
edition-embodying Mr. Meader's own views-have, 
therefore, been omitted; but I have endeavoured to pre- 
serve the bulk of the material in statu quo, merely adding 
such newer evidence as later researches seemed to 
warrant. 
H. C. CONTENTS 
CHAPTER PAGE 
Preface v 
I The Scientific Aspect of Life and Death ... 1 
II The Moment of Death 20 
1. The Hour of Death 20 
2. Pain at the Moment of Death 22 
3. The Consciousness of Dying 26 
4. Sensations While Falling 35 
5. Memory at the Moment of Death 36 
III The Causes of Death 39 
1. Sudden Death 39 
2. Mental Causes of Death 45 
3. Death by Poisoning 56 
4. Death by Freezing 62 
5. Death by Starvation 65 
6. Death by Asphyxia and Drowning 67 
7. Death from Shock 69 
8. Death by Electricity and Lightning . . . .70 
9. Death by Spontaneous Combustion . . . .74 
IV The Signs of Death 78 
1. General Signs 79 
2. Odor Mortis; or, The Smell of Death .... 89 
3. Rigor Mortis 93 
4. Putrefaction 97 
V Trance, Catalepsy, Suspended Animation, Etc. . . 106 
Sleep and Death 113 
VI Premature Burial 120 
1. Cases 120 
2. Efforts to Prevent Premature Burial .... 137 
PART I-PHYSIOLOGICAL CONTENTS 
CHAPTER PAGE 
VII Buriat, Cremation, Mummification, Etc. . . .142 
VIII Old Age: Its Scientific Study 158 
IX Theories as to the Nature of Death 188 
X General Conclusions 207 
PART II-PSYCHOLOGICAL 
I Man's Theories of Immortality 215 
II The Philosophical Aspect of Death and Immor- 
tality 235 
III The Theological Aspect of Death and Immortality 242 
IV The Common Arguments for Immortality . . . 255 
V The Testimony of Science-Psychical Research . 272 
VI Conclusion 287 
Appendix A. On "Vampires" 289 
B. The Death of Cells 293 
C. Superstitions, Sayings, Etc., Concerning 
Death 294 
Bibliography 297 PART I 
PHYSIOLOGICAL DEATH 
CHAPTER I 
THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF LIFE AND DEATH 
Death is universally recognized as the inevitable fate of 
every living thing-the goal towards which animate life 
is constantly tending-and yet, strange as it may appear, 
human ingenuity has not yet succeeded in formulating a 
definition that will adequately cover this last experience 
of man. We know that all things that live must grow 
old and die, but our theories concerning the causes that 
produce this phenomenon are still almost entirely of a 
speculative character. To say that death " is a cessation 
of life" is to avoid the question. Even Spencer's defini- 
tion, in which he pronounced life to be 4'the continual 
adjustment of internal to external relations, ' ' and death, 
a want of correspondence between those relations, leaves 
much to be desired. It presents the facts of life and 
death as we behold them, but it fails absolutely to trace 
these apparent effects to the causes, of which they are the 
natural manifestation.1 
As far as positive science is concerned, the only im- 
mortality that can be demonstrated is that of race. The 
individual dies, from natural causes or by accident, as the 
case may be, but, as each living thing is the direct result 
1 "Is it not obvious that this definition merely gives or states the effects 
of life-its phenomena-and does nothing to state what its real essence is 
at all ? . . . Life is that which adjusts, not the adjustments themselves."- 
Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, pp. 334-5. 
1 2 
DEATH 
of reproduction from another form, the death of the in- 
dividual has practically no effect upon the continuance of 
existence of the race. With this so-called potential im- 
mortality, therefore, science is satisfied. Beyond this it 
finds no room for certitude-no opportunity for its ex- 
periments. 
To make this position clear to the mind of those who 
have not been accustomed to the materialistic view of 
the phenomena of life and death, it may be necessary to 
explain that science recognizes no new organism in the 
product of reproduction any more than it distinguishes a 
new creation in the changes that are so constantly occur- 
ring in the form of living matter. Even a slight ac- 
quaintance with the first principles of science is sufficient 
to explain what this means, for we know that the atoms 
that constitute the human body are so lacking in stability 
that they are ever being discarded and replaced by other 
substances derived through the process of assimilation. 
In other words, the one property that best distinguishes 
living matter from dead matter is what might be termed 
the faculty of self-creation, or the ability to transform 
the dead substances assimilated into the same live sub- 
stance of which this matter is composed. Thus, as long 
as life continues, this process goes on with unceasing 
regularity. Dead matter is cast aside, just as one would 
discard a worn-out garment, and new matter is created 
to take its place. When this faculty ceases to perform 
its functions, death follows speedily. 
Both Huxley and Cuvier have used the river whirlpool 
as an exact illustration of the nature of this phenomenon 
of life, and most physiologists agree that this whirl of 
water, as seen, for example, at Niagara, is an extremely 
close reproduction of the natural process of assimilation THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
3 
and disintegration-the alternating attraction and repul- 
sion of the ever-changing particles representing the 
actual conditions of physical life. That a material sub- 
stratum is left unchanged, there can be no doubt; but 
even this theory does not modify the conclusions that 
science has drawn from this reproduction of the whirl 
of life. Though it may be true that the animal body con- 
tains permanent elements of definite composition, they 
alone are insufficient to assure the continuance of physi- 
cal existence. 
It seems to be the popular impression that this phys- 
ical body begins its work of development at birth; that 
it continues to progress until the individual has at- 
tained that rather indefinite period generally termed 
"maturity," and that, when this point has been reached, 
definite deterioration commences. This idea has been 
seriously questioned, and many practical experiments in 
biology indicate that the body begins to lose its re- 
creative powers, or the capacity to change dead matter 
into living matter, very shortly after the period of birth, 
and that, from this time, the decrease in force continues 
steadily. As one writer has said:- 
"In want of a more exact knowledge of the structure of the 
living molecule and the changes in structure that come on in 
old age, the physiologist expresses his idea of the general na- 
ture of these changes by similes and metaphors more or less apt. 
We may compare living matter to a clock, the mainspring of 
which is so constructed that, in consequence of slowly develop- 
ing molecular changes, it suffers a gradual loss of elasticity. 
In such a mechanism there will come a time when 'winding 
the clock' will no longer make it run, since energy can no longer 
be stored in the spring. We may imagine this loss of elasticity 
to develop gradually, giving stages that may be roughly com- 4 
DEATH 
pared to the periods of life. To carry out the simile, it is 
the food we eat and the oxygen we breathe that take the place 
of the winding force. In consequence of a slowly developing 
molecular change in the organism, this energy is less effi- 
ciently utilized as the individual grows older. The clock runs 
more feebly and needs relatively more frequent winding, until 
at last the elasticity is gone, the power of assimilation is 
insufficient, and we have what we call natural death." 1 
Brown, in his article on "Old Age,"2 has expressed 
this view more briefly. "The causes of death," he says, 
' ' are not to be found in the summation of many external 
injuries, but are already established within the organism 
itself, and death is simply the natural end of develop- 
ment." If this theory be true, it is very contradictory 
to the definition formulated by Spencer in his Principles 
of Biology. The latter would logically lead the student 
to conclude that "external relations" play the most 
important part in determining the length of life, and 
that, if perfect correspondence between the internal 
and external relations could be secured, existence would 
continue interminably. As has been shown, however, 
this idea is entirely contrary to the beliefs of mod- 
ern physiologists. In their opinion, man would still 
die, even though there were no injurious changes of 
environment, as the natural weakening of the assimila- 
tive powers would alone be sufficient to make death in- 
evitable. 
Of course the simile of the clock is too simple an illus- 
tration to be applied comprehensively to so complex an 
organism as the human body. In this combination of 
living matter there is no single mainspring to wear out- 
1 W. H. Howell in Reference Handbook of Medical Sciences. 
2 British Medical Journal, Oct. 3. 1891. THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
5 
no one cause of death against which man may protect 
himself-and it is due to these conditions that death 
does not come to every portion of the body at precisely 
the same moment. While it is necessarily true that 
death is actually the cessation of the normal functions 
upon which life depends, the causes which result in the 
suspension of the bodily mechanism may arise in any one 
of the several important or vital centres. According to 
the arrangement devised by Bichat, death may be di- 
vided into three classes:-(1) that which begins at the 
heart; (2) that which begins at the lungs; and (3) that 
which begins at the head. But the collapse of the vital 
force in a single one of these centres is sufficient to bring 
death with more or less rapidity to every other portion 
of the organism. 
But, while most physiologists hold that it is the 
ultimate fate of all living things to die, it must not 
be imagined that this is the only theory to which sci- 
entists subscribe, for there are some biologists who are 
inclined to accept Weismann's speculative conclusions, 
as presented in his Essays upon Heredity. 
In these papers, this eminent biologist expresses the 
opinion that all living matter once possessed potential 
immortality, and that death is a condition that came 
into the world because of the continued existence of the 
individual had assumed the proportions of a serious 
danger to the general well-being of the species. In 
other words, death is a condition that did not neces- 
sarily exist in the beginning of things, but was even- 
tually adopted for the reason that just such a safety- 
valve was necessary to permit of the perpetuation of 
the race. 
As an illustration in proof of this theory, Weismann 6 
DEATH 
draws our attention to the amoeba, one of the unicellu- 
lar organisms or protozoa, which biologists recognize as 
the lowest forms of animal life. While a complete cell in 
itself, performing all the functions of assimilation and 
reproduction, it knows no process of dissolution that can 
be compared to the phenomenon that we designate as 
death. On the contrary, its very act of reproducing its 
species is, in itself, a striking example of the possibility 
of "physical immortality," for it is the fate of this 
creature to continue to increase in size until, finally, the 
limit of growth is reached. At this point the original 
cell divides into two parts, and, where one organism 
existed, there are now two individuals, both of which 
are capable of performing the functions of life, and 
of dividing in turn into two cells-a process of repro- 
duction that, so far as science has been able to ascer- 
tain, goes on indefinitely. 
Of course, the objection may be raised-as it has 
been-that the original individual cell dies in the act 
of reproducing its offspring, and that the two cells that 
result from this physical separation of the larger body 
are actually different individualities. To this Weismann 
replied that there is no death in this change "because 
there is no corpse." In this fission we have the illus- 
tration of the continuance of life, not its dissolution, i. e., 
not its actual "death." 
It is upon this hypothesis that Weismann bases his 
theory that living matter originally possessed the ele- 
ment of potential immortality, and he explains the 
appearance of death among the metazoa by reference to 
the law of natural selection. 
If this theory be correct, the possibility of never- 
ending existence possessed by the unicellular creature THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
7 
was undoubtedly passed on to the more complex or- 
ganism which, in the process of evolution, was eventu- 
ally produced from this lowlier manifestation of animate 
life. In the course of time, however, certain new but 
important conditions arose. In the first place, death 
became a necessity to the perpetuation of the species; 
and, in the second place, the division of functions 
among the many cells of the metazoa made the immor- 
tality of each particular cell unnecessary for reproduc- 
tive purposes. 
The very name that has been applied to this law of 
evolution, "natural selection,'' gives an indication of the 
pitiless qualities that mark its operations. As its name 
implies, its tendency is always towards the promotion of 
the good of the race, without regard to the particular 
interests of the individual. Thus, when it became ap- 
parent that natural death was needed to remove those 
individuals who were not only no longer necessary to the 
welfare of the species, but were actually an adverse 
element or obstacle in the path of natural progress, 
the presence of those cells that were no longer required 
in the process of fecundity gave nature the opportunity 
to effect this adjustment in the laws governing the 
struggle for existence. 
As students of biology are well aware, bodily structures 
that are of no further use to nature soon retrograde, or 
disappear almost completely. As an example, we have 
the cave-dwelling animals and fishes, which, despite the 
fact that they show every indication of having once had 
eyes, are now sightless. That is to say, when the time 
came that they had no further use for eyes, nature 
permitted the sense of sight to degenerate, and at last, 
even the physical organs themselves deteriorated, until 8 
DEATH 
only a rudimentary record was left of the member that 
had once actually existed. 
In this illustration, Weismann finds an explanation 
of the process by which the element of immortality was 
lost by the many-celled organisms. Being not only of 
no further utility, but of positive danger to the species, 
its perpetuation would have retarded the realization of 
the purpose of evolution. Through the operation of 
the law of natural selection, therefore, death came as 
a beneficent solution to this great problem of the mo- 
ment, the limitation of the production to those indi- 
viduals who would be of service in helping to carry out 
the scheme of the perpetuation of the species. 
It must be stated in this connection, however, that 
Weismann's theory is seriously questioned at the pres- 
ent day. Thus Haeckel, in his Wonders of Life, pp. 
99-100, points out that:- 
"The immortality of the unicellulars, on which Weismann 
has laid so much stress, can only be sustained for a small 
part of the protists even in his own sense-namely, for those 
which simply propagate by cleavage, the chromacea and bac- 
teria among the monera, the diatomes and paulotomes among 
the protophyta, and a part of the infusoria and rhizopods 
among the protozoa. Strictly speaking, the individual life 
is destroyed when a cell splits into daughter cells. One 
might reply to Weismann, that in this ease the dividing uni- 
cellular organism lives on as a whole in its offspring, and that 
we have no corpse, no dead remains of the living matter left 
behind. But that is not true of the majority of the protozoa. 
In the highly-developed ciliata the chief nucleus is lost, and 
there must be from time to time a conjunction of two cells 
and a mutual fertilization of their secondary nuclei before 
there can be any further multiplication by simple cleavage. 
However, in most of the sporozoa and rhizopoda, which gen- THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
9 
erally propagate by spore formation, only one portion of the 
unicellular organism is used for this; the other portion dies, 
and forms a 'corpse.' ..." 
The fact is that each metazoon consists of many suc- 
cessive generations of cells-it really is a cell cycle- 
and can only be homologized with a cycle of protozoan 
generations, not with any single protozoan, which is 
but a single cell. Hence it follows that the death of 
an individual protozoan is not homologous with the 
death of an individual multicellular organism. Weis- 
mann committed the fundamental error of assuming the 
complete homology of the two forms of death, and thus 
reached the false conclusion that protozoa are all certainly 
potentially immortal. 
E. Maupas contended that there is a distinct loss of 
vitality in protozoa in the course of successive genera- 
tions, and that conjugation must occur at some stage to 
effect rejuvenescence. G. N. Calkins {Studies in the 
Life-History of Protozoa) takes the same view-that the 
development of the protozoa is cyclical; and this is sup- 
ported by M. Hartmann, who contends that natural death 
does occur among the protozoa. 
H. S. Jennings in his book Life and Death, Heredity 
and Evolution in Unicellular Organisms, has summarized 
the conclusions of modern science regarding the poten- 
tial immortality of such organisms, up to the year 
1920, and he concludes as follows:- 
"As individuals the infusoria do not die, save by accident. 
Those that we now see under our microscopes have been 
living ever since the beginnings of life; they came from divi- 
sion of previously existing individuals. . . . The result of 
the work so far done has been to confirm the view that the 
infusoria may live indefinitely without mating. I believe that 10 
DEATH 
we may look upon this as one of the secure results of science. 
There are many of the unicellular creatures, particularly the 
bacteria, in which nothing like mating is known. . . . But in 
just the same sense it is true for ourselves that every one that 
is alive now has been alive since the beginning of life. This 
truth applies at least to our bodies that are alive now; every 
cell of all our bodies is a piece of one or more cells that ex- 
isted earlier, and thus our entire body can be traced in an 
unbroken chain as far back into time as life goes. The differ- 
ence is that in man and other higher organisms there have 
been left all along the way great masses of cells that did not 
continue to live. . . . From our own personal view it seems 
unfortunate that the mass of cells which is next to wear out 
and be left behind in the chain of life is that with which our 
own selves seem to be bound up; but certain samples of our 
selves may continue to live indefinitely, like the infusorian." 
Thus it will be seen that, while the useless part of life, 
so to say-the body-is cast off or discarded at death, 
the central core of life seems to be potentially immor- 
tal. It has existed, so far as we can see, from the 
beginnings of time in the past and will continue for- 
ever into the future. This conclusion arrived at by 
materialistic biological science is surely one of the pro- 
foundest significance and importance, and, taken in 
conjunction with the doctrine of the conservation of 
energy, seems to indicate very strongly the importance 
of life and its possible subsequent persistence-its 
"potential immortality." How far this doctrine may 
logically be applied to the possible persistence of life 
apart from the physical body remains to be seen. 
Mr. Newman Smyth in his interesting book The Place 
of Death in Evolution has succinctly summarized the 
facts regarding the entrance of death into the cosmic THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
11 
scheme and its significance and value with regard to 
life. He says:- 
"The first fact which has been observed is that natural death 
does not appear immediately at the beginning of the history 
of life on the earth. . . . By isolating individual infusoria, 
and thus preventing them from renewing their power of re- 
production by meeting other distantly related forms of their 
own species, Maupas discovered among the descendants of 
the isolated individual, increasing signs of enfeebled life, 
senescence, and the loss of power to multiply; and finally 
the succession of their generations came to a complete pause, 
and a dead cell was left at the end of it. At this point natural 
death, so far as now known, first appeared." 
It is to be noted however that, experimentally, this 
point is seldom attained. Sedgwick and Wilson indeed 
in their General Biology (p. 170) say:-"In nature, 
this limit is probably seldom, if ever, reached." It is 
interesting to note also that the rudiments of sex co- 
incide largely with the beginnings of death upon our 
globe. 
Death is now known to occupy a useful, indeed nec- 
essary place in the process of evolution. Without death 
evolution would have been impossible, for as life becomes 
increasingly more organized and complex, death prevails. 
It is necessitated by the increasing complexity of life 
and the differentiation of the original protoplasm into 
separate parts or organs having separate functions. It 
has frequently been pointed out that death is the price 
we pay for this increased complexity of structure. Death 
assists in the general scheme of creation; it has a great 
utility. Unless death had supervened, the more finely 
organized and fairer forms of life would not have ap- 12 
DEATH 
peared. The course of life would have been arrested. 
Man himself would not have appeared. The earth before 
us has died that we might live. We are the living 
children of a world that has died for us! 
Death, therefore, was not introduced at the outset for 
the sake of annihilating life, but that it might help 
and hasten the progress of life, until it should reach 
its present point of comparative independence in our 
spiritual being. Only the simplest living creatures, 
which multiply by division are potentially immortal; 
but when multiplication results from some form of fer- 
tilization, with the consequent introduction of sex, this 
potential immortality of the whole mass is lost, and the 
death of the individual is necessarily introduced, in 
order to preserve and improve the species through evo- 
lution,-even at the expense of the individual organism. 
Viewed in this larger light, therefore, we must recognize 
the utility of death as a means for furthering life, and 
not for the purpose of destroying it. "I came not to 
destroy, but to fulfill." 
When we come to speak of "death," moreover, we 
must be very sure that we understand our terms accu- 
rately, as much confusion has always arisen because of 
inaccurate definition in all the sciences no less than in 
philosophy and metaphysics. We must be very sure as 
to just what we mean by "death" before we can under- 
take to argue about it; and there are some very loose 
conceptions afloat which it would be well to check at the 
outset of the investigation. Let us see what these are. 
When we cut off a chicken's head, we say that the 
chicken is "dead"; its conscious life is extinguished, 
and if it continues to move, or even to run about the 
yard, as it does sometimes, we do not assume for that THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
13 
reason that any "life" still remains in the chicken, but 
rather that ' ' reflex action ' ' causes these phenomena. On 
the other hand, if we pluck a rose, it keeps its freshness 
for several days, and, until that rose has withered and 
lost its freshness and beauty entirely, we do not say 
that the rose is "dead." In the one case, we assume 
that death has taken place instantaneously; in the other, 
that death does not take place for several days. Why 
is this? 
The difficulty arists from this fact. There are in 
reality two kinds of death, which are confused in the 
public mind until only one death is recognized-a com- 
pound of these two. And yet, to keep the problem 
perfectly clear, it is very essential that these two kinds 
of death should be kept strictly apart, and in no wise 
confused. Only in that way can the problem be under- 
stood. Let us take the two instances we have given, 
and with them, as examples, see if we cannot make this 
problem somewhat clearer, and distinguish the two, so 
that there may be no more confusion upon this important 
point. 
When the chicken's head was cut off, its conscious 
life came to a termination at that moment. It is prob- 
able that the subsequent movements were purely reflex, 
and not in any way the result of any conscious action 
and volition. The conscious life of the chicken ended 
at that moment therefore. But the body, the cells, and 
tissues of the chicken did not die at that time. The body 
of the chicken-the tissues-lived on for several hours, 
and not until the last remnant of vitality had departed 
could we say that the bird was "dead." That is to 
say, the tissues of the body continued to live on for 
several hours after the conscious life of the bird had 14 
DEATH 
ceased. This tissue or cell-life, the life of the body, is 
technically known as "somatic life," as distinct from 
conscious or mental life. Now, in the case of the rose, 
we do not as a rule say that it is "dead" until somatic 
death has taken place. It is probable that the "con- 
scious" life of the rose did, come to a termination at its 
plucking; at that moment its "conscious" life, so far 
as it can be said to have one, came to an end, while its 
somatic life did not. Since the rose does not show its 
mental life in the same way that a chicken does, how- 
ever, it is very difficult to prove this fact, and doubtless 
many would contend that no such conscious life existed 
at all. It is a question almost incapable of proof, but 
it has always seemed probable that by analogy there 
must be some sort of conscious life that is terminated at 
the moment of the picking of the flower. At all events, 
these examples will help to clear up this problem, and 
enable us to distinguish the two kinds of death-the con- 
scious and the somatic-which must be kept carefully 
in mind throughout the following discusssion.1 
1 A tissue is said to "die" when it loses permanently its power of 
responding to its appropriate stimuli. The brain and nervous system 
die, in man and warm-blooded animals, at the moment of somatic death; 
gland tissue dies very soon after. Smooth muscle retains its irritability 
forty-five minutes, skeletal muscle some hours, after death. 
"The greater the degree of interdependence existing between the actions 
of its several parts, the more is the well-being of the entire organism in- 
terfered with by damage occurring to any one of these special parts. 
Through the intervention, for the most part, of the nervous system and 
vascular system, this individuality of the entire organism is carried to 
the most marked extent in the highest vertebrata, so that the life of one 
of these creatures-regarded as a whole, or sum-total of phenomena- 
differs almost as widely as it is possible from that of some of the lowest 
animals on the one hand, and from the plants on the other. Their mode 
of death also is quite different. And as with life, so with death; we are 
perhaps too apt to form our notions concerning each from what we see 
taking place in man himself and in the higher living things."-Bastian, 
The Beginnings of Life, vol. i, p. 108. THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
15 
While science has, however, been unable to arrive at 
a positive conclusion regarding the origin or nature of 
death, it is by no means so difficult to determine the 
probable bounds or limitations to the duration of life. 
Omitting those instances which depend upon tradition 
for their verification, or that cannot be authenticated 
because of our inability to fix the unit of time used in 
making the calculations, or for any other reason, we 
occasionally find cases which show that the scriptural 
limitation of "threescore years and ten" falls far short 
of representing the greatest possible length of physical 
existence in man. Even today the death of a centenar- 
ian is not an unknown occurrence.. At the same time, 
this question of human longevity is a much disputed one, 
and many facts have to be taken into consideration 
when estimating the evidential value of such cases, and 
particularly the historic cases. Leaving out of account, 
for the time being, the Biblical records, there are cer- 
tain historical cases that have been quoted time and time 
again in proof of the possible limit of man's life; but 
these historic examples are, strangely enough, very rarely 
investigated. This is to be regretted, for such cases, 
almost without exception, when closely inquired into, 
are found to rest upon totally inadequate evidence. 
Mr. William J. Thoms investigated a number of such 
cases very minutely, going into the histories of the cases 
with extreme care, and published the results of his in- 
vestigations in a book entitled, Human Longevity; Its 
Facts and Its Fictions, etc. The author shows us how 
careless statements are frequently the cause of mistakes 
that go for a hundred years or more before they are cor- 
rected, if indeed they ever are. Mr. Thoms also points 
out several sources of error, any of which might have 16 
DEATH 
vitiated the results in many instances. Mistaken iden- 
tity may have taken place-two people of the same 
name having lived in a certain parish, etc. Again, a 
married couple may have a son who dies. They have 
a second son a number of years later, and they give this 
son the same name as the first child. These two get 
confused in memory and in record, and it is generally 
the second, or even the third and youngest son that lives 
to a "good old age"; and he, being confused with the 
first or second child of like name, becomes celebrated 
for being many years older than he really is. 
A number of such sources of error are shown, and 
backed up by several cases in which these errors had 
doubtless taken place. The inaccuracy of baptismal cer- 
tificates, tombstones, etc., is also illustrated. Mr. Thoms 
examined in detail the famous cases of Henry Jenkins, 
Thomas Parr, and the Countess of Desmond. Original 
trials, documents, army and navy registers, parish reg- 
isters, etc., were examined in every instance.1 The cases 
of Parr, Jenkins, and that of the Countess of Desmond, 
when examined, were found to be resting on quite inade- 
quate proof; indeed, there was no proof at all, that 
could properly be called evidential! The author gives 
a number of carefully-investigated cases, the results of 
which are, briefly, as follows:-Mary Billings, reputed 
112 years old, proved to be 91; Jonathan Reeves, 104, 
proved to be 80; Mary Downton, 106, proved to be 100; 
Joshua Millar, 111, proved to be 90; Maudit Baden, 106, 
1 Among other interesting documents in this connection, the reader 
may consult Evidences of the Great Age of Henry Jenkins, with Notes, 
respecting Longevity and Long-Lived Persons. Bell, Richmond, 1859. 
The case of old Thomas Parr (who was examined post-mortem by Harvey) 
is to be found in a work entitled, The Oide, Oide, Very Oide Man; or, 
The Age and Long Life of Thomas ParT, THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
17 
proved to be considerably less,-how much less is not 
certain; Thomas Geeran, 106, ditto; John Pratt, 106, 
ditto; George Fletcher, 108, proved to be 92; George 
Smith, 105, proved to be 95; Edward Couch, 110, proved 
to be 95; William Webb, 105, proved to be 95; John 
Dawe, 108 or 116, proved to be 87; George Brewer, 106, 
proved to be 98; Robert Howlinson, 103, proved less; 
Robert Bowman, 118 or 119, proved much less; Frederick 
Lahrbush, 106, proved less; Richard Purser, 112, proved 
less; William Bennett, 105, proved to be 95; Mary Hicks, 
104, proved to be 97; and several others. The author 
gives four cases, however, in which the ages 102, 100, 
103, and 101 had undoubtedly been reached, and a chap- 
ter of cases in which ages of more than one hundred might 
possibly be presumed, although the evidence was not 
strong enough to prove the fact. But after the evidence 
adduced in the former portion of the book, it is certain 
that all such statements, especially if not backed up by 
documentary evidence, are to be mistrusted. Dr. De 
Lacy Evans gives some seventy cases of persons who 
had apparently reached an age of more than one hun- 
dred (How to Prolong Life: An Inquiry into the Cause 
of "Old Age" and "Natural Death," etc., pp. 100-121, 
London, 1885) ; but none of his cases are well certified, 
and the names of several of the discredited cases figure 
prominently. The same may be said of the collection of 
forty-seven cases given by Dr. Hosmer Bostwick, in his 
Inquiry into the Cause of Natural Death; or, Death 
from Old Age (New York, 1851). There is no doubt, 
however, that certain cases of old age do sometimes 
come up. So far as I know, Captain Diamond's great 
age of 112 years has never been disproved. Metchni- 
koff gives us the portrait of an old woman of 105 years 18 
DEATH 
of age in his Prolongation of Life (p. 6) ; and it is 
stated, upon the authority of Albert Kruger, Superin- 
tendent of the Home of the Daughters of Jacob in New 
York City, that Mrs. Esther Davis, an inmate of this 
institution, was in 1908, 115 years of age.1 
It is all the more astonishing that there should be so 
few trustworthy examples of old age, when we take into 
account the fact that it is all but universally conceded 
that from 100 to 120 years should be the normal limit of 
life of the individual man and woman. The fact that so 
few actually do reach this age, proves conclusively how 
perverted are the food and other habits of the people. 
Although we know, therefore, both from experience 
and from authentic historical facts, that men and women 
do occasionally pass the centenary mark, it must be ad- 
mitted that such cases are rather exceptional, for, so far 
as modern mortality statistics are concerned, the aver- 
age length of human life is nowhere much in excess of 
forty-five years. 
Strictly speaking, therefore, practically the only posi- 
tive fact that science can teach us concerning death is 
that it is the inevitable fate of all living things. The 
law that stipulates that all those who are born must die 
is now as certain in its operation as the law of gravita- 
tion. At this point, however, materialistic science stops, 
1 In his Philosophy of Long Life Jean Finot has given a number of 
cases in which men have lived much longer than a hundred years, and 
some of them an incredible time; but his cases do not seem to rest on 
any very secure basis-many of the old cases being quoted which Mr. 
Thoms has conclusively shown to be incorrect. At the same time, I 
admit that some of his cases seem well established, while others will be 
found in T. E. Young's little book On Centenarians (London, 1899). Vor- 
onoff, in his book on Life, has again quoted several of the older (dis- 
credited) cases. THE SCIENTIFIC ASPECT OF DEATH 
19 
leaving the probable fate of the individuality, or think- 
ing-part of man, an unsolved problem. As to this '1 soul- 
part" of being, in fact, science has even questioned its 
very existence. To the ordinary scientist, death is a 
door which closes upon consciousness as the breath 
leaves the body. If there be any existence behind that 
door, his experiments have thrown no light upon it, and 
the man who is unwilling to accept these negative con- 
clusions as the last word on this subject must search 
elsewhere for the evidence in support of the hope that 
is within him. CHAPTER II 
THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
1. The Hour of Death 
That more deaths occur at some particular hour of 
the day or night than at any other time has been more 
than once maintained by statisticians, who have always 
produced figures to support their claims. A recent essay 
in this line, the investigations of Dr. H. D. Marsh, of 
New York, indicate that the wave of diurnal efficiency, 
or the range of mental and physical activity, varies with 
the habits of the individual as regards work and sleep, 
and that with inhabitants of civilized communities the 
hour of greatest efficiency is likely to be 5 p. m. Says 
The British Medical Journal (London, January 18, 
1910), in an article on this subject:- 
"This conclusion was the outcome of a special investigation 
conducted by Dr. Marsh, and curiously enough an examination 
of the records of death in New York City, likewise made by 
him, showed that during the period under examination 5 p. M. 
was also the hour at which the majority of 23,439 deaths from 
disease occurred. It is certainly notable that the period of 
the twenty-four hours at which the average man is most 
alive should be the same as that at which his death is most 
likely to occur, and the apparent inconsistency has led to 
turning over our own columns in search of previous ob- 
servations on the question of what may be called the hour 
of death. The general result is to indicate that before any 
final statement can be made as to the hour of the twenty- 
four at which caeteris paribus death is most likely to oc- 
20 THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
21 
cur in any given individual, much more extended and thor- 
ough investigations of the point will have to be earned 
out than have yet been undertaken. At present the evidence 
is somewhat conflicting. Thus it is found that Finlayson, 
writing in the Glasgow Medical Journal and using some sta- 
tistics compiled by the City Chamberlain, found that of 13,000 
deaths recorded in 1865, the greatest number occurred between 
the hours of 5 and 6 A. M., while Schneider, writing in Fir- 
chow's Archiv on deaths in Berlin, concluded that the most 
fatal hour was between 4 a. m. and 7 a. m. The number of 
deaths upon which he based his conclusions was 57,000; while 
Berens, arguing from the limited number of 1000 deaths in 
Philadelphia, and writing in the Philadelphia Medical Times, 
concluded in favour of the hour between 6 A. M. and 7 A. M. 
In 1896 Dr. C. F. Beadles published the result of an examina- 
tion of the statistics of Colney Hatch Asylum. These showed 
a difference between the two sexes as regards the hour of 
greatest mortality. Thus, among 1000 women the most fatal 
hour was between 6 and 7 in the evening, while among 3424 
men it was between 5 and 6 in the morning." 
Apparently there is a pretty wide choice here for 
those who prefer to die at the popular hour. The 
majority, however, would appear to lean toward the 
earlier hours of the day, as against the conclusion 
reached by Dr. Marsh. None of them, however, the 
writer in The British Medical Journal reminds us, give 
countenance to the popular belief that an invalid is most 
likely to succumb at about 2 a. m., when, according to 
the Duke of Wellington, the heroic attitude is most dif- 
ficult to assume. We read in conclusion:- 
"On the surface of things, it seems unlikely that any 
particular hour should be more fatal than another, and in 
any case it is clear that those who have investigated the 
matter have not always been dealing with truly comparable 22 
DEATH 
units. Precision in recording the exact hour of death is not 
easy to obtain, and, besides this, data such as the nature of 
the illness, its duration, and the age and sex of the patient, 
have, also to be considered. The observers, as a rule, seem to 
be alive to this point." 
2. Pain at the Moment of Death 
Contrary to general opinion, there is seldom any pain 
at the moment of death. A great deal of evidence could 
be adduced in support of this statement, but I shall 
content myself with citing a certain number of author- 
ities and a limited amount of evidence only. Dr. 
Thomas D. Spencer, writing in the Popular Science 
Monthly, some years ago, said:- 
"At birth the babe undergoes an ordeal that, were he 
conscious, would be more trying than a most painful death; 
yet he feels it not. Born in an unconscious state, the brain 
incapable of receiving conscious impressions, his entrance into 
this hitherto unknown world is accomplished during a state 
of oblivion, known as 'Nature's anaesthesia.' From the ear- 
liest period of history, death has been considered as necessar- 
ily accompanied by pain; so general is this belief, that the 
terms 'death agony,' 'last struggle,' 'pangs of death,' etc., 
have been in almost universal use in every age and under all 
conditions of society. 
"Nothing could be more erroneous; the truth is, pain and 
death seldom go together-we mean the last moments of life. 
Of course, death may be preceded by weeks or even months 
of extreme suffering, as occurs during certain incurable dis- 
eases. 
"The blood sent to the brain is not only diminished in 
quantity, but is laden with carbonic- acid gas, which, acting on 
the nervous centres, produces a gradual benumbing of the 
cerebral ganglia, thereby destroying both consciousness and THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
23 
sensation. The patient gradually sinks into a deep stupor, 
the lips become purple, the face cold and livid, cold perspira- 
tion (death-damp) collects on the forehead, a film creeps over 
the cornea, and, with or without convulsions, the dying man 
sinks into his last sleep. As the power of receiving conscious 
impressions is gone, his death struggle must be automatic. 
. . . Even in those cases where the senses are retained to the 
last, the mind is usually calm and collected, and the body 
free from pain." 
Professor Tyndall stated that death by lightning must 
be quite painless, and, from an experience of his own, 
in which he was shocked into insensibility, on one oc- 
casion, he should be entitled to speak upon this point 
with exceptional authority {Fragments of Science). 
Dr. Edward Clark, in his book on Visions, asserted that 
"death is no more painful than birth." Dr. James M. 
Peebles stated that in all cases of death from shock, 
there could be no pain-consciousness being obliterated 
too suddenly. Henry Ward Beecher asserted that 
"there is no pain at the last moment." An article in 
the Medical National Review, some years ago, pointed 
out that death, in cases where a rifle ball passes through 
the brain, etc., must be painless. Many other cases 
and statements to like effect could be adduced, if it 
were necessary.1 
Of course there is pain in a certain number of cases; 
of that there can be no doubt. In a few cases, notably 
in those who "fight for life," self-consciousness, with 
pain, is present, but such cases are very rare. In most 
cases, "nature's anaesthetic" is doubtless operative, and 
there is no pain. 
3 See MacKenna, The Adventure of Death; Mercer, Why Do We Diet 
etc., for late testimony upon this point. 24 
DEATH 
Regarding this question of pain at the moment of 
death, Dr. Osler has said:- 
"I have careful records of about five hundred death-beds, 
studied particularly with reference to the modes of death 
and the sensations of the dying. The latter alone concern us 
here. Ninety suffered bodily pain or distress of one sort 
or another, eleven showed mental apprehension, to positive 
terror, one expressed spiritual exaltation, one bitter remorse. 
The great majority gave no sign one way or the other; like 
their birth, their death was a sleep and a forgetting." 1 
Says M. Finot2: - 
"The pains which accompany death are chiefly imaginary. 
Even putting on one side accidental death caused by the 
breakage of nerves, apoplectic strokes, and diseases of the 
heart, in which pain is absent, the cases in which we suffer 
at the approach of death are very rare." 
It is a curious fact that pain is generally lost when 
nature ' ' gives up the fight. ' ' In cases of cancer, e. g. 
pain is experienced so long as there is life and activity, 
but this pain almost invariably passes away a few hours 
before death. So long as there is pain, some attempt 
is being made to repair the vital damages; but when 
pain ceases, then nature has given up the fight. 
It is certainly a noteworthy fact that shock to the 
nervous system or the mind will induce a sort of stupor, 
and render pain absent, for the time being. Thus, Dr. 
Livingstone, the African traveller, relates that on one 
occasion he saw a lion which was just in the act of 
springing upon him:- 
1 Science and Immortality: quoted by Dickinson, Ie Immortality De- 
sirable? p. 11. 
2 The Philosophy of Long Life, pp. 225-6. THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
25 
"He was on a little height. The animal caught him1 by 
the shoulder as he sprang, and they both came to the ground 
together. Growling horribly close to his ear, he shook him 
as a terrier dog does a rat. The shock produced a stupor 
similar to that which seems to be felt by the mouse after 
the shake of the cat; it caused a sort of dreaminess in which 
there was no sense of pain nor feeling of terror, although he 
was quite conscious of all that was happening. It was like 
those experiences which patients partially under the influence 
of chloroform describe-who see all the operation, but feel 
not the knife. He claims that this condition was not the 
result of any mental process. The shake annihilated fear, 
and allowed no sense of horror on looking around at the 
beast. Fortunately he was rescued from his perilous condition 
without receiving any serious injury." 
Biit, while it is generally asserted that the law of 
painless death is universal, unfortunately it must be 
admitted that there are some striking exceptions to this 
rule. Even very aged persons, who seem to view the 
approach of death with calm serenity, occasionally fight 
strenuously against it when the moment of final dissolu- 
tion arrives, just as the convicted murderer, who knows 
that nothing can save him from the fate that is awaiting 
him in the person of the executioner, sometimes struggles 
so violently that the keepers find it necessary to drug 
him into a temporary state of semi-insensibility. 
It is a remarkable fact that in certain cases the 
nearer the patient is to the point of death the more in- 
different to it does he become. There are many instances 
on record in which the patient has fought against the 
oncoming of death for many hours or even days, but 
shortly before death occurred assumed a placid and 
1 Related in the third person, and re-written from dictation. 26 
DEATH 
peaceful expression and even attitude of mind. In some 
cases this is doubtless due to the accumulation within 
the system of carbon-dioxide and other toxic substances, 
which serve as deadeners to the sensitive nerves, and 
induce practical insensibility. But there are also cases 
on record in which the mind has remained apparently 
clear to the last, and yet no aversion to death has been 
manifested by the patient, though he was in terror of 
it before. Examples of this will be found in the next 
section. 
3. The Consciousness of Dying 
"Sir Benjamin Brodie states that he has been curious to 
watch the state of dying persons, and is satisfied that where 
an ordinary observer would not for an instant doubt that 
the individual is in a state of complete stupor the mind is 
often very active even at the very moment of death. 
"Dr. Bailie once said that 'all his observations of death-beds 
inclined him to believe that nature intended that we should go 
out of the world as unconscious as we came into it.' 'In all 
my experience,' he added, 'I have not seen one instance in 
fifty to the contrary.' Yet even in such a large experience 
the occurrence of 'one instance in fifty to the contrary' would 
invalidate the assumption that such was the law of nature 
(or 'nature's intention,' which, if it means anything, means 
the same). The moment in which the spirit meets death is 
perhaps like the moment in which it is embraced by sleep. 
'It never, I suppose' (says Mrs. Jameson, whose observations 
we quote), 'happened to any one to be conscious of the im- 
mediate transition from the waking to the sleeping state.' "1 
A letter on this subject is to be found in the Journal of 
the (English) Society for Psychical Research, June 1898, 
1 Mysteries of Life, Death and Futurity, by Horace Welby, p. 147. THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
27 
pp. 250-55, and I quote that part of it which bears upon 
the problem before us. It deals particularly with the 
subject of the consciousness of dying. 
. . From the materialistic point of view it would seem 
difficult, if not impossible, to account for such a phenomenon 
(as the consciousness of dying). Thus, if materialism be true, 
death must be the extinction of consciousness. It would seem 
that it must be impossible ever to be conscious of dying; that 
is, conscious that consciousness is being extinguished. Con- 
sequently, materialism would seem to make impossible the 
phenomenon which is at least an apparent fact. . . . 
"I have stated the a priori difficulty in supposing the fact, 
and this is the circumstance that direct proof must be found 
in the experience of the individual himself who is dying, and 
external observers can only conjecture the condition of con- 
sciousness of the dying. But there is another difficulty. 
Often enough a person fears that he is dying when he is not, 
and also we often observe cases where persons evidently near 
death think that they are dying, when, in fact, they may 
survive hours, days, weeks, or even recover altogether. When, 
therefore, we measure such instances against those which 
happen to be connected with actual death, we may raise the 
question whether they are not after all merely inferences 
on the part of the decedent, and not immediate cognitions of 
it. Then, again, in favour of materialism and against the 
hypothetical assumption here made, we have to meet the al- 
legation that we can be conscious of going to sleep, which on 
a materialistic theory ought to be as impossible as any alleged 
consciousness of dying, though the fact of going to sleep is 
perfectly consistent with materialism. Hence, if I can be 
conscious of going to sleep, which may be only a temporary 
suspension, as death is the permanent suspension of conscious- 
ness, why, the materialist will ask, may it not be possible 
to be conscious of dying? All these facts throw the burden 
of proof on the anti-materialist." 28 
DEATH 
The writer (Dr. Hyslop) attempted to meet these 
arguments in several ways. First, he pointed out that 
many persons are never conscious of going to sleep. Yet 
one might be conscious of going to sleep without being 
conscious of dying. But it would appear, at all events, 
that a consciousness cannot be aware of its own suspen- 
sion. It might be aware of its own withdrawal, but not 
its extinction; and the obvious inference to be drawn 
from this fact is that consciousness is probably with- 
drawn in both cases-sleep and death. This would 
agree with the traditional conception of the departure 
of the soul from the body. Certainly there seemed to be 
a consciousness, and a distinct consciousness, of dying in 
the case observed by him. And what is significant 
about the case is that his father (who was the patient 
observed) afterwards "communicated" through Mrs. 
Piper, apparently, and confirmed some of these infer- 
ences regarding the moment of death and the conscious- 
ness of dying! To be conscious of a thing we must 
possess a large amount of consciousness, and be able to 
reason clearly; and if consciousness were being extin- 
guished at that time it would seem quite impossible for 
any person ever to be conscious of dying. The inability 
to express thought in motor action might be present, but 
that is a very different thing from an extinction of con- 
sciousness. Sometimes, indeed, there may be an in- 
tensely active consciousness, and yet it may be totally 
unable to express itself. In paralysis this is often the 
case; and when certain drugs are administered the body 
is unable to show any signs of consciousness, and yet all 
the senses and the mind are painfully active. It may 
be the same here. It is probable that at death there 
is a partial extinction of consciousness owing to the THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
29 
shock and wrench of death, and in the majority of cases 
this would doubtless prevent the individual spirit from 
exhibiting any external signs of consciousness; indeed, 
there was but little there-though we must always bear 
in mind the great distinction between the state of being 
conscious and the ability to express that consciousness in 
motor action. This is a distinction which is frequently 
overlooked by psychiatrists, but it should receive their 
careful attention. This subject of the consciousness of 
dying persons should certainly receive most careful at- 
tention from all physicians and others who have oppor- 
tunities for studying the dying.1 A tremendous mass of 
valuable psychological information might be gained in 
this manner, and it might throw light on the human 
spirit, its destiny and its potentialities, that could be 
obtained in no other way. 
In one case known to me, a most interesting and sug- 
gestive phenomenon took place. The patient, who knew 
that she was dying, was dictating her last wishes- 
verbally-to those about her. Within a few minutes 
of her death she became too weak to speak, and requested 
that a pencil be placed in her right hand, and a pad of 
paper under the point of the pencil, so that she might 
write without hindrance. Her hand then proceeded to 
write out her dying wishes in a perfectly clear hand- 
writing. The hand seemed to possess remarkable 
strength-a force of its own-the writing being bold 
and distinct, and the ideas conveyed were consistent and 
logical to the end. While this writing was going on, 
however, the patient completely lost control of her body; 
the breathing became stertorous, and she passed into a 
1A number of such cases are to be found in a little book entitled 
X-Rays, by Gail Hamilton. 30 
DEATH 
state of seeming unconsciousness. This state grew 
deeper and deeper, until the patient passed into a con- 
dition which might have been pronounced "death." 
The pulse and respiration ceased, to all appearances; the 
temperature fell; a limpness of the whole body ensued; 
the face became deathly pale, and yet her right hand and 
arm continued to write and write, and correct, and give 
clear and intelligible messages, which could only be 
interpreted as issuing from a sound and alert conscious- 
ness-in full possession of all its faculties. Where this 
intelligence resided I cannot say, but there can be no 
question as to its actual existence during the dramatic 
scene. The dead, inert body on the bed, the right hand 
and arm alive, mobile, active-writing out the behests of 
that consciousness-the whole scene came as closely as 
anything well could to a distinct utilization of a dead 
body by a living "spirit." It seems to me to bridge the 
gulf which separates normal, conscious influence from 
the automatic writing of an entranced medium. 
Another fact of considerable interest in this connec- 
tion, and bearing more or less directly upon the problem, 
is the question of sensations (mental operations) by 
those who thought they were dying, and who, as a mat- 
ter of fact, revived, after they had lost consciousness. 
In connection with this question of the existence of 
consciousness, and of its relation to the organism during 
the time of sleep, trance, etc., I desire briefly to refer to 
the argument by F. R. C. S. in his article, "Hora Mortis 
Nostrae," in the Contemporary Review for August, 1905. 
After emphasizing the fact that there is probably no 
pain at the moment of death in the majority of cases, 
and quoting Sir James Paget, who was even inclined to 
the opinion that if we were conscious of death it would THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
31 
be a pleasure-he states his own opinion-which is, that 
it is a condition involving neither pain nor pleasure, but 
is, on the contrary, a condition of total unconsciousness. 
In support of this he cites certain facts, observed by 
himself, of the effects of anaesthetics upon patients. 
Here he points out that after the senses have been oblit- 
erated one by one, there probably comes a moment when 
the patient is conscious of but one fact still left standing 
-that he is he. At that moment, if he be of a log- 
ical turn of mind, he may expect that he will now get 
behind the veil, see things as they are in themselves, 
contemplate pure Being, stand before the merum ens of 
his philosophy-and then somebody says, "He'll be all 
right now; it's a good thing he had it done"; and be- 
hold he is back in bed sick and sore, and drunk, pain- 
fully sorting unpleasant phenomena, and as far as ever 
from pure Being! 
The writer turns to what he conceives to be the 
likeness between anaesthesia and death. He asks if we 
can find any clue to the nature of death in such states, 
and he is inclined to think that we can. His conclusion 
is in favour of materialism, as against the possible per- 
sistence of consciousness after death. He insists that 
these phenomena conclusively prove that no such thing 
as a soul-entity existing apart from the body is possible. 
He says:- 
"To the notion of the soul as an invisible personage, made, 
and put into the body at birth, and extracted from it at the 
end of life, they [these facts] are utterly opposed. The an- 
aesthetized body contains nothing save that which is bodily; 
no spark or vestige of consciousness; there it lies, still work- 
ing, but without an occupant; just pumping the blood through 
the vessels, and maintaining the physical interchanges of the 32 
DEATH 
tissues; and if the loss of consciousness be due, not to an 
anaesthetic, but to injury, or disease of the brain, it may last 
an interminable time. Here, in these cases, is the best object 
lesson in materialism ever given to the world. ... No amount 
of corpses can advance materialism, but to watch day after 
day a case of profound unconsciousness, the body a mere log, 
fed through a tube, fouling the bed, a physiological machine, 
a thing with no more thought in it than a dummy figure, and 
to see men and women brought to a like state in a few minutes 
by chloroform or ether, and kept there, just as part of the 
day's work; and to see the process reversed, and the lost owner 
of the body spirited back into it by an operation on his 
brain-here are the arguments ready made for materialism 
to be used with effect." 
The writer sees no way out of this difficulty, since, as 
he says, if the mind be still there, in the anaesthetized 
body, with consciousness suspended, what is this mind, 
and where ? To these questions he can find no answer. 
Now it seems to me that a solution of these facts may 
be found, were we to conceive the relation of conscious- 
ness to organism from a different point of view than is af- 
forded by present-day physiology, and the current "pro- 
duction" theory of consciousness. If the brain were the 
actual producer of consciousness, as is taught, of course 
its annihilation would be the only rational conclusion at 
which to arrive from these facts; but there is another 
way of viewing and interpreting these same phenomena. 
Consciousness might exist apart from the body, be en 
rapport with it, and merely manifest through it. On 
that theory the brain and nervous system, and even the 
body as a whole, would act merely as its transmitter, or 
vehicle for expression, and the paralysing of any centre 
in the brain by means of drugs, chemicals, etc., would THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
33 
mean simply that we have rendered impossible the motor 
expression of consciousness; we have rendered its man- 
ifestation to our sense perception impossible, but we 
have by no means proved that we have annihilated con- 
sciousness. We could take the same facts, and merely 
interpret them in a different manner. The conclusion 
which the author has drawn is therefore unwarrantable, 
and all his facts might be just as readily explained on 
the theory of an external consciousness or soul, which 
is active at the time elsewhere, and which persists after 
the death of the body. 
Let me illustrate this point:- 
Dr. Stephens {Natural Salvation, pp. 179-80) says:- 
"What happens at death? 
"First, the interlacing neurons let go their hold on each 
other, and self-consciousness of the person vanishes. It goes 
out, as flame vanishes when atoms of carbon and oxygen no 
longer combine. 
"What next? 
"The heart no longer propels the life-tide of refined food in 
the blood to the brain-as in sleep-and after a few minutes 
the neurons themselves die from suffocation and starvation. 
All those thousands of little individual lives vanish, as did the 
larger self-consciousness of the person; for in each the con- 
stituent bond of living molecules, atoms, and ions is disrupted. 
"What next? 
"The dissipation of the brain as cadaver is a somewhat 
slower, more homogeneous process, involving invasions of bac- 
teria, disintegration, and reduction to more stable compounds, 
but tending ultimately to a return from the highly complex 
living substance, with all its maze of organization, to the 
abysmal base of the primeval ions and their lowly endowment 
of life-potential." 34 
DEATH 
Here, it will be seen, we have as the first and most 
important condition the abolition of self-consciousness. 
It is considered the sine qua non. Yet we have seen 
that in many cases this self-consciousness is not abo- 
lished in the manner supposed at all; but that it is con- 
scious and aware of all that is going on. As I have 
argued, this does not look in the least like extinction, 
but rather transition. And again, it would be most 
difficult to account for many of those cases in which 
the subject had dropped dead instanter. Are we to sup- 
pose that the interlacing neurons let go their hold on 
each other all at once? Or would it not rather appear 
to be an instantaneous process complete in itself, and 
that this "letting go" phenomenon was merely one of 
the many physiological processes that resulted from 
death, rather than the one that caused it? We must 
be most careful to distinguish between cause and effect 
here. Does consciousness cease because the neurons no 
longer function; or do the neurons cease to function 
because consciousness is no longer present? Of course 
that is always ground for debate, and is a question that 
has not yet been settled-opposite schools taking op- 
posite views-and although I cannot claim that the facts 
tell in favour of my theory, yet I must insist that they 
do not tell in favour of the opposing theory either. 
And there are certain analogous facts which would 
seem to indicate that the cessation of mental activity 
is the primary and most important phenomenon-the 
nervous activity following it. Thus, Professor Mosso has 
shown that when a subject awakens from sleep, mental 
operations begin at once, and the increased flow of blood 
to the brain follows as a secondary phenomenon. Here 
it is not the afflux of blood which insures the mental ac- THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
35 
tivity, but the greater activity of consciousness which 
necessitates the increased flow of blood to the brain. As 
William James says in his Principles of Psychology 
(Vol. I, p. 99) : - 
"Many popular writers talk as if it were the other way about, 
and as if mental activity were due to the afflux of blood. But 
as Professor H. N. Martin has well said, 'That belief has no 
physiological foundation whatever; it is even directly opposed 
to all that we know of cell-life.' " 
It will be seen, therefore, that these facts point just 
as strongly in one direction as in the other. Decisive 
"proof" pro or con is still lacking. 
4. Sensations While Falling 
Remarkable flashes of memory have frequently been 
recorded, while the subject was drowning. There are 
a few cases on record in which similar mental flashes 
have been observed by persons falling great distances, 
and it is probable that we should have a larger number 
of such examples if more people who had fallen great 
distances had lived to tell the tale. The following cases, 
however, cannot fail to be of interest in this connection. 
The following is a typical example of a case of this 
character. The psychological interest is remarkable. 
It runs, in part, as follows:- 
"Although I fell backward from a tremendous height, I 
experienced none of the anxiety which occasionally attacks us 
in dreams at supposed falling accidents; on the contrary, I 
felt as if I were carried downwards slowly on giant wings that 
protected me against collision. During the whole time of this 
fall, consciousness never left me. Without feeling the least 
bit embarrassed or frightened, I reviewed my situation and 
the future of my family; and the various features of my own 36 
DEATH 
life passed before me with unequalled rapidity. I have heard 
people say that, in falling a great distance, one loses his 
breath; I never lost my breath, and when my body finally 
bounded against the rocks at the foot of the glacier, I became 
unconscious without experiencing any pain whatever. I felt 
nothing of the many wounds on head or limbs received dur- 
ing my journey down the precipice from coming in contact 
with rocks and masses of ice. The moments when I stood at 
the brink of a future life were the happiest I ever experienced. 
I remember reading the provisions of my life insurance policy 
with my mind's eye; the big sum of money which death was 
bound to bring to my loved ones I saw before me counted out 
on a green table-cloth, all in crisp bills and shining gold." 
Dr. Heim gives the following description of his fall 
down a mountain side, which he fully expected would 
end in certain death:- 
"Quick as the wind I flew against the rocks to my left, 
rebounded, and was thrown upon my back, head downward. 
Suddenly I felt myself carried through the air for at least 
a hundred feet, to finally land against a high snow wall. At 
the instant I fell, it became evident to me that I was to be 
thrown against the rock, and I did my utmost to avoid that 
calamity by digging with my fingers in the snow and tearing 
the tips of them horribly without knowing it. I heard dis- 
tinctly the dull noise produced when my head and back 
struck against the different corners of the rock; I also heard 
the sound it gave when my body bounded against the snow 
wall, but in all this I felt no pain; pain only manifested itself 
at the end of an hour or so." (Encyclopedia of Death, vol. 
ii, pp. 384-5). 
5. Memory at the Point of Death 
These apparently supernormal flashes of memory and 
conscious activity at the moment of death are of very THE MOMENT OF DEATH 
37 
great interest from many points of view. If memory 
be a purely physiological process, as materialistic psycho- 
logy would have us believe, how comes it that such in- 
stantaneous and vast recallings are possible-at a time 
too, when the brain is supposed to be in a lessened con- 
dition of activity? It is not that the brain is preter- 
naturally stimulated at such times, precisely the reverse; 
it is practically inert and unresponsive to external stim- 
uli; and, one would think, would be in no condition to 
think and remember normally, far less recall such im- 
mense numbers of facts in so short a period of time. 
And not only is the time remarkably brief on such oc- 
casions, but facts are often recalled which had entirely 
passed out of the conscious mind, and would never have 
been remembered in the normal course of the conscious 
life. It would almost seem that nothing is forgotten- 
a statement which agrees with De Quincey's estimate of 
the case. In his Opium-Eater, he says:- 
"Of this, at least, I feel assured, that there is no such thing 
as forgetting possible to the mind; a thousand incidents may 
and will interpose a veil between our present consciousness 
and the' secret inscriptions of the mind; accidents of the same 
sort will also rend away this veil; but alike, whether veiled or 
unveiled, the inscription remains for ever, just as the stars 
seem to withdraw before the common light of day, whereas, 
in fact, we all know that it is the light which is drawn over 
them as a veil, and that they are waiting, to be revealed when 
the obscuring daylight shall have withdrawn." 
Similarly, the author of the Hasheesh Eater says:- 
"De Quincey's comparison of it to the palimpsest manu- 
scripts, while it is one of the most powerful that even that 
great genius could have conceived, is not at all too much so 
to express the truth. We pass, in dreamy musing, through 38 
DEATH 
a grassy field; a blade of the tender herbage brushes against 
the foot; its impression hardly comes into consciousness; on 
earth, it is never remembered again. But not even that slight 
sensation is utterly lost. The pressure of the body dulls the 
soul to its perception; other external experiences supplant it, 
but when the time of the final awakening comes, the resurrec- 
tion of the soul from its charnel of the body, the analytic 
finger of inevitable light shall search out that old impression, 
and to the spiritual eye, no deep-graven record of its earthly 
triumphs shall be clearer! " 
Surely this closely resembles the Book of Judgment of 
Theology! CHAPTER III 
THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
In the present chapter I propose to give a brief resume 
of the main (known) causes of sudden death. Our chief 
interest is the study of natural, and not unnatural, 
death-as all sudden deaths are. When death results 
from any disease, it is tolerably clear Io us what the 
actual cause of the death is, in that case. We can at all 
events form a mental picture, in rough outline, of what 
has taken place; but the same is not true in cases of 
sudden and unexpected death. Often the cause is most 
difficult to find, and it must be acknowledged that, even 
here, much is still uncertain and unknown. Much less 
is known of the nature and cause of "natural" death- 
as we have seen, and shall see further. Before we pro- 
ceed to a consideration of this last and most vital ques- 
tion, however, we must first of all consider sudden death, 
arising from various causes-when such causes are 
known. 
In the first place, then, it may be said that such a 
thing as "sudden death" does not, strictly speaking, 
exist at all! In those cases where it is supposed to have 
taken place, it can almost invariably be shown that some 
cause or causes, acting for considerable periods of time 
upon the body, have produced these results. Says Dr. 
Brouardel:- 
1. Sudden Death 
39 40 
DEATH 
"Why does sudden death occur? No one dies suddenly, 
apart from the effects of violence, so long as all the organs 
are sound; but there are some diseases which develop slowly 
and secretly, without the attention of the patients having 
been called to them by any pain or by any feeling of illness, 
and without a physician ever having been called in, and 
which terminate naturally by a rapid death. ... We will 
define sudden death as 'the rapid and unforeseen termination 
of an acute or chronic disease, which has in most cases devel- 
oped in a latent manner.' . . . However carefully we may 
perform every autopsy, however minute our exploration of the 
body may be, however thorough may be our knowledge of the 
causes of death, we sometimes meet with cases which it is 
impossible to explain. The proportion is about 8 or 10 per 
cent." 
This is a very significant admission, of which I shall 
have occasion to remind the reader at a later stage of 
our investigation. 
Turning now to the causes of natural death, we find 
the first place occupied by lesions of the heart and cir- 
culatory system.1 And we read that "a lesion may 
remain latent during the greater part of life, and be only 
revealed by accident" (p. 74). Lesions of the heart 
may result from a number of causes-(1) fatty over- 
growth of the heart; (2) fatty degeneration of the mus- 
1 If an artery breaks, that is said to be the cause of the death of the 
individual, but few stop to ask, "Why should the artery break? " Would 
it not be more accurate, strictly speaking, to say that the real cause of 
the person's death was that cause which so weakened the wall of the 
artery that its rupture was possible? Or, if death takes place owing to 
some central inhibition, would it not be better to seek the cause of the 
inhibition rather than rest content with the mere verdict of "heart fail- 
ure" ? To all thinking persons, the true causes of death lie deeper than 
the mere effect or resultant-the "last straw that broke the camel's back" 
in very truth I Strictly speaking, the cause of death, in such cases, is 
the cause of thia last cause; and, what that is, I have tried to show in 
another place.-Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition (pp. 324-31). THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
41 
cular tissue of the heart; (3) fibroid degeneration of the 
heart; (4) lesions of the coronary arteries; (5) syph- 
ilitic affections of the heart; (6) rupture of the heart, 
etc. Then we have lesions of the pericardium. Fol- 
lowing this, as causes of sudden death, we have mitral 
and tricuspid incompetence, endocarditis, angina pec- 
toris, and neoplasms of the heart. 
In looking up the literature on death I came across 
a rare manuscript, viz., lectures on medical jurispru- 
dence given by Sir Douglas Maclagan in 1888. This 
manuscript is in pen and ink, and is doubtless the only 
one of its kind in existence. Amongst a variety of inter- 
esting topics, the subject of death in its various forms is 
treated by the author at great length, and certain facts 
are detailed in this manuscript that I have not discov- 
ered in any book printed and on the market. There 
are, however, certain statements contained in the book 
with which I can by no means agree. Thus, our author 
includes under "natural death," deaths due to hemor- 
rhage, diarrhoea, wasting diseases, deficient power, or- 
ganic lesions, apoplexy, toxaemia, epilepsy, mental emo- 
tion, perforation of the viscera, closure of the glottis, 
congestion of the lungs, effusion in the lungs, diseases 
of the spine, paralysis, and tetanic spasm. With the 
single exception of deficient power, I should hesitate to 
class any of the above deaths as natural. Deaths due 
to disease are invariably unnatural and premature. It 
is for this reason that I have not included in this volume 
deaths due to disease, murder, suicide, and infanticide. 
(It may be well to state in this place also, that I have 
omitted all discussion of death from the medico-legal 
point of view, this seeming to me out of place in a work 
of this character.) 42 
DEATH 
We next come to lesions of the arteries. Here we find : 
Congenital lesions, arteriosclerosis, aneurisms, spontan- 
eous rupture of the aorta. Of the veins: various rup- 
tures, also air in the veins. There are also lesions of 
the capillaries, miliary aneurisms, meningeal haemor- 
rhages, capillary embolisms, local disturbances of the 
circulation. Some of these, it may be said, can hardly 
be classed as causes of sudden death, in the orthodox 
meaning of that term. 
A large number of sudden deaths are due to lesions of 
the cerebro-spinal system and the major neuroses. Here 
we may classify meningitis-tubercular, chronic, cerebro- 
spinal, etc. Abscesses of the brain, cerebral tumours, 
lesions of the spinal cord, lesions of the nerves, epilepsy, 
hysteria, inhibition, and sudden death from emotion or 
mental causes. I shall have occasion to recur to this 
latter cause of death, when we come to consider its 
character in cases of "natural death." 
There is, next, a whole set of causes of sudden death 
due to lesions of the respiratory system. Among these 
we find: lesions of the larynx, of the trachea, of the thy- 
roid body, of the mediastinum, pulmonary congestion, 
pneumonia, dapillary bronchitis, pulmonary phthisis, 
cancer of the lung, emphysema of the lungs, pleurisy, 
rupture of the diaphragm, and compression of the 
chest. 
Next, we have lesions of the digestive system. These 
are:-Lesions of the pharynx, of the oesophagus, of the 
stomach (which might include a number of subdivisions), 
lesions of the liver, of the spleen, of the pancreas, and of 
the suprarenal capsules. Among doubtful causes (to me) 
are included corpulency, climatic excesses of heat, cold, 
etc. These can hardly be called causes of sudden death; THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
43 
rather, occasions of sudden death-when the organism 
is already in such a state that life can easily be termi- 
nated by a very slight mal-adjustment of external cir- 
cumstances. 
In the female there are also special causes of death, 
to which the male is not subject. Among these are: 
vaginal examination, extra uterine gestation, recto-uterine 
haematocele, rupture of the uterus, vulvo-vaginal var- 
ices, syncope arising out of uterine conditions, etc. 
There are also many cases of sudden death in fevers 
and kindred states-in anthrax, mumps, diphtheria, 
acute rheumatism, typhoid fever, plague, etc., etc. A 
very full study of death from some of these conditions 
will be found in Dr. John D. Malcolm's Physiology of 
Death from Traumatic Fever (London, 1893). Sudden 
death may also be due to haemophilia. 
Sudden death may take place in various diseases 
which cannot of themselves be said to be the cause of 
the death-e. g., in diabetes, uraemia, gout, dropsy, as 
well as in cases of alcoholism. In children, sudden death 
may result from syncope, convulsions, asphyxia, pul- 
monary congestion and various intestinal disorders. All 
of these classes are subject to various subdivisions. 
They will all be found discussed in full in Dr. Brou- 
ardel's book on Death and Sudden Death, to which ex- 
cellent manual I would refer the reader for further par- 
ticulars regarding such cases. 
Death from Burns and Scalds.-A great intensity of 
heat is not required to destroy vitality of the skin. The 
danger to life is much more in proportion to the extent 
of surface of the body exposed to the action of the fire 
than to its intensity. Sometimes it may prove fatal by 
setting up inflammation of the internal tissues. In the 44 
DEATH 
case of corrosions with acids, the marks are generally 
of a dirty brown colour. 
Death by Haemorrhage.-The body is blanched. On 
dissection, the great venous trunks are flabby and empty. 
The large regions internally are pale. We may find 
hypostasis in the inferior parts of the lungs, even when 
death is caused by haemorrhage. We may find evidence 
of haemorrhage in the internal parts, generally partly 
fluid and partly clotty. It is often quite impossible to 
detect from what vessel the blood has come. 
Dr. Harrison, writing years ago on death from haemor- 
rhage, said, in his Medical Aspects of Death:- 
"Death may be said to begin at different parts of the body; 
and it will be found that the nature, symptoms, and peculiar- 
ities of the act of dying are determined by the organ first mor- 
tally attacked. The alterations which directly occasion dis- 
solution seem principally effective either in the arrest of the 
circulation or the respiration. 
"As the heart is the great mover in the circulation, we can 
easily conceive that whatever brings it to a stop must be fatal 
to life. Extensive losses of blood operate in this manner, 
and they furnish us with a good illustration of the manner 
in which death takes place. The sufferer becomes pale and 
faint, his lips white and trembling; after a while the breathing 
becomes distressed, and a rushing noise seems to fill the ears. 
The pulse is soft, feeble, and wavering; the exhaustion and 
prostration are more and more alarming. Soon a curious 
restlessness takes place, and he tosses from side to side. At 
length, the pulse becomes uncertain, and the blood is feebly 
thrown to the brain. The surface assumes an icy coldness; 
the mind is yet untouched, and the sufferer knows himself to 
be dying; in vain the pulse is sought at the wrist-in vain 
efforts are made to re-excite warmth-the body is like a living THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
45 
corpse. Now, a few convulsive gaspings arise, and the coun- 
tenance sets in the stiff image of death. Such are the more 
striking phenomena which attend the fatal haemorrhages. 
"The failure of the vital powers, from the withdrawal of 
blood, may be regarded as a sort of type of this mode of death, 
since the various symptoms which have been named arise from 
the cessation of the healthy circulation. 
"A dread of the loss of blood may almost be considered as 
an instinctive feeling; at any rate, its importance is early im- 
pressed on the mind, and is never forgotten. In childhood, 
it is looked at with alarm; and the stoutest mind cannot but 
view with horror those perilous gushes of blood which bring 
us into the very jaws of destruction." 
2. Mental Causes of Death 
Disease and death are more frequently the effect of 
mental causes than might be supposed. Whenever there 
exists a predisposition to apoplexy, close mental appli- 
cation is always attended with the utmost danger, es- 
pecially in the latter part of life. Epilepsy is another 
disease of the nervous system that may be induced, or 
exaggerated, by the state of the mind, and extreme men- 
tal dejection, hypochondria, and even insanity, may 
sometimes result from these causes. Many individuals 
distinguished for their special talents and learning have 
been subject to such unhappy maladies, and yet it is 
difficult to determine how much of the disease may 
justly be ascribed to the abstract labours of intellect, 
and how much to mental anxiety, for it is known that 
undue strain upon the emotions-either excitement or 
depression-may be productive of these results. 
Thus, in the case of Sir Walter Scott, the extreme 
literary labours that he performed do not seem to have 46 
DEATH 
had any injurious effect upon his health, until the 
brightness of his fortune had become overcast by the 
clouds of adversity. When, with his mental tasks, were 
mingled the agitating emotions of anxiety, resulting in 
irregularity of habits, his physical health began to break, 
and the fatal disease of the brain soon brought a tragic 
ending to his life. 
While there may be occasions when even the ordinary 
exertions of the brain are attended with danger, their 
effect upon the health is usually comparatively slight, 
unless they are combined with one or more of the nu- 
merous feelings, pleasurable and painful, which, ac- 
cording as they are mild or intense, are known to us as 
emotions or passions. 
As Dr. William Sweetser said, in his work, Mental 
Hygiene:- 
"The agency of the passions in the production of disease, 
especially in the advanced stages of civilization, when men's 
relations are intimate, and their interests clash, and their ner- 
vous susceptibilities are exalted, can scarcely be adequately ap- 
preciated. It is doubtless to this more intense and multiplied 
action of the passions, in union, at times, with the abuse of the 
intellectual powers, that we are mainly to attribute the greater 
frequency of the diseases of the heart and brain in the culti- 
vated than in the ruder states of society. Few, probably, ever 
suspect the amount of bodily infirmity and disease resulting 
from moral causes-how often the frame wastes, and prema- 
ture decay comes on, under the corroding influence of some 
painful passion. ... In delicate and sensitive constitutions, 
the operation of the painful passions is ever attended with the 
utmost danger; and should there exist a predisposition to any 
particular form of disease, as consumption, or insanity, it will 
generally be called into action under their strong and continued 
influence." THE CAUSES OP DEATH 
47 
While it is undoubtedly true that some passions act 
most obviously upon the heart, others on the respiration, 
and some on the digestive organs, it has been clearly 
proved that, so far from being limited to one particular 
organ, a number of the organic viscera are almost in- 
variably included within the influence of a strong emo- 
tion. At the same time, such a close correspondence 
exists between the mental or moral feelings and the 
physical body, that the condition of the former may 
either determine or be determined by that of the latter. 
For example, indigestion may sometimes be the cause, 
and sometimes the consequence of an irritable or un- 
happy temper. "Sour stomach" may either occasion or 
result from a sour disposition. To sweeten one is certain 
to have a neutralizing effect upon the other. It is, there- 
fore, obvious that an unhealthy mental state imparts an 
unhealthy influence to the bodily organism, and, if such 
evidence were needed, scores of historical facts might be 
cited to establish the truth of this fact. 
The pleasurable emotions-love, hope, friendship, 
pride, joy, etc.-may, if properly experienced, produce 
an expansion of vital action, and yet even these emotions, 
if felt intemperately, exert a very contrary effect. The 
expression that "joy kills" has a basis in fact, for, as 
Haller says, in his Psychology, "Excessive and sudden 
joy often kills, by increasing the motion of the blood, 
and exciting a true apoplexy." It is said that Pope 
Leo X died from the effect of extravagant joy at the 
triumph of his party against the French; and Dr. Good, 
in his Study of Medicine, cites the case of a clergyman 
who, at a time when his income was very limited, re- 
ceived the unexpected tidings that some property had 
been bequeathed to him. "He arrived in London in 48 
DEATH 
great agitation; and, entering his own door, dropped 
down in a fit of apoplexy, from which he never entirely 
recovered. ' ' 
If such facts are true in regard to the pleasurable pas- 
sions, there is much more danger of injurious results 
when the emotions are of a painful character. To quote 
Dr. Sweetser again :- 
"The painful passions act immediately upon the nervous 
system, directly depressing, disordering, expanding, and 
sometimes even annihilating its energies. . . . Although the 
general effect of the painful emotions is to induce a contrac- 
tion or concentration, and a depression of the actions of life, 
yet, in their exaggerated forms, they are sometimes followed 
by a transient excitement, reaction, or vital expansion, when 
their operation, becoming more diffused, is necessarily weak- 
ened in relation to any individual organ. Under such cir- 
cumstances, the oppression of the heart and lungs is in a 
measure removed, and the circulation and respiration go 
on with more freedom. Hence it is that when anger and 
grief explode . . . their consequences are much less to be 
dreaded than when they are deep, still, and speechless, since 
here their force is most concentrated." 
Thus, in extreme paroxysms of anger, the physical 
phenomena are most apparent. The face becomes dis- 
torted and repulsive, the eyes sparkling with brutal fury. 
All the vital actions are oppressed, and often are nearly 
overwhelmed. The blood retreats from the surface; 
tremors and agitations appear in the limbs, or perhaps 
in the entire body, and there is frequently indication of 
excessive nervous affections, sometimes giving place to 
sobbing and hysteria, and sometimes to convulsions and 
spasms. The action of the heart is also affected, becom- 
ing feeble, laboured, irregular, and even painful. The THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
49 
effect upon the respiration is shown in the short, rapid, 
and difficult breathing, which produces a feeling of 
suffocation, a tightness that is felt in the whole chest, 
and that occasionally extends to the throat, choking, and 
otherwise interfering with the power of speech. If not 
noticed at the moment of anger, the influence of this 
passion almost invariably proceeds to the abdomen, as 
indicated by the subsequent distress appearing in the 
region of the stomach, this being due to the disturbance 
of the stomach, liver, and bowels. 
Almost innumerable instances are known in which 
fainting has resulted from violent anger, and in many 
cases life itself has paid the price of this paroxysm of 
the emotions. According to John Hunter, the eminent 
physiologist, death from anger is as absolute as that 
caused by lightning. In such cases, the muscles remain 
flaccid and the body passes rapidly into putrefaction. 
Dr. Hunter himself is one of the historical victims of 
anger. Though a man of extraordinary genius-as all 
medical men know-he was subject to violent passions 
which he was never able to control. When engaged one 
day in an unpleasant altercation with his colleagues, 
some of whom had peremptorily contradicted him, he 
became too angry to continue speaking, and, hurrying 
into an adjoining room, instantly fell dead. The direct 
cause of his death was, of course, the affection of the 
heart from which he had long been a sufferer, but there 
can be no question but that the final stroke was super- 
induced by anger. 
Tourtelle, the French physician, asserted that he had 
"seen two women perish-one in convulsions at the end 
of six hours, and the other suffocated in two days-from 
giving themselves up to transports of fury." 50 
DEATH 
Anger destroys the appetite and interferes with the 
functions of digestion, and Dr. Beaumont, who was first 
able to look into the human stomach through the open- 
ing caused by a fistula, discovered that anger or other 
severe mental emotion, "would sometimes cause its inner, 
or mucous, coat to become morbidly red, dry, and irri- 
table, occasioning at the same time a temporary fit of 
indigestion. ' ' 
The unpleasant dryness of the throat caused by anger 
-a condition which occasions the frequent swallowing 
action of the muscles-is due to the inspissation of the 
saliva; and some authorities have even gone so far as 
to assert that such an exhibition of emotion may cause 
the fluid of the mouth to acquire poisonous qualities 
"capable of provoking convulsions, and even madness, 
in those bitten by a person so agitated." 1 
It is well known that haemorrhages from various parts 
of the body-the nose, lungs, and stomach-as well as 
inflammations of different organs, may be produced by 
severe attacks of anger; and Dr. Sweetser asserts that 
he himself has "now and then met with instances of 
erysipelatous inflammation about the face and neck, 
induced by paroxysms of passion." 
Irritability and moroseness of temper, when long con- 
tinued, may also cause inflammatory and nervous dis- 
orders, and it is well known to physicians and surgeons 
that the fretful and fractious patient recovers less 
promptly, and is more exposed to relapses, than he who 
is possessed with a quiet resignation to existing condi- 
tions. Wounds that have healed have even been known 
to break out afresh as the effect of unfavourable men- 
tal conditions. 
1 Broussais' Psychology. THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
51 
Fear, like anger, has its degrees; and its effect upon 
the health depends upon its intensity. When extreme, 
however, the results are often astonishing. Thus, in 
acute fear, the respiration becomes immediately and 
most strikingly affected. At the first impulse, a sudden 
inspiration occurs, owing to a spasmodic contraction 
of the diaphragm, and this is immediately followed by 
an incomplete respiration, cut short apparently by an 
internal spasm-either of the throat, windpipe, or lungs. 
The effect upon the respiration is to make the breath 
short, rapid, and tremulous. The voice trembles, and, 
because of the diminution of secretions of the mouth 
and throat, becomes thick and unnatural. At times, 
even speechlessness may follow. 
Naturally the heart suffers from the effect of such 
an acute sensation. Being oppressed, or constricted, it 
flutters or palpitates, and in other respects is visibly 
agitated. Consequently, the pulse also becomes irreg- 
ular. The viscera of the abdomen experience disagree- 
able effects from the sensation of fear, and these fre- 
quently show themselves in spasmodic contractions, or in 
a morbid increase of secretions. Occasionally vomiting, 
but more frequently a somewhat involuntary diarrhoea, 
occurs. The urine also, though increased in quantity, 
becomes pale and limpid, and there is an urgent if not 
absolutely irresistible desire to void it frequently. 
These latter symptoms, it may be added, are frequently 
shown in other forms of serious attack upon the nerve 
force. 
In time of fear, the blood leaves the surface so per- 
ceptibly that the face becomes pallid, while the skin, 
sometimes in all parts of the body, grows cold and rough, 
or, as we commonly say, like "goose-flesh." Frequently 52 
DEATH 
this apparent chill breaks forth in a cold sweat on the 
forehead, and often in other parts of the body as well. 
Even the hair of the head may become elevated, and the 
general tremor or shuddering, that attacks the limbs, 
proceeds to the teeth, producing a chattering sound very 
similar to that which is exhibited under conditions of 
extreme cold, or in a paroxysm of fever. As in the case 
of anger, fear may induce most painful and unnatural 
contortions of the countenance, with convulsive sobbing 
and, in the case of women especially, tears; or, under 
extremely violent emotions, hysteria. Even in men, 
however, the depressing effects of fear sometimes include 
the entire chest and upper part of the abdomen within 
their field of influence, and if the sense of constriction 
becomes too agonizing, syncope and sometimes death it- 
self may follow. Just as a sudden though brief attack 
of anger may arrest digestion and disarrange the entire 
nervous organism for a whole day, so fear exerts a most 
dangerous effect upon the nerves and muscles, some- 
times even acting as a sudden cathartic. 
If the expression, "frightened to death," is no idle 
jest therefore-and there is no lack of examples to prove 
that hundreds of persons have been literally frightened 
out of existence-this fear, when severe, but less pro- 
nounced, may exert a distinctly contrary effect. Thus, 
while convulsions, epilepsies, and even insanity, have 
resulted from this emotion, these, as well as many other 
affections, have been immediately suspended or entirely 
removed, by a strong expression of this feeling. It 
sometimes surprises us to note how quickly a toothache 
stops when we enter the dentist's rooms, but we seldom 
analyse the mental process carefully enough to determine 
that it is the fear of the greater pain of extraction that THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
53 
makes the minor nervous affection less. What is true 
in regard to the toothache also applies to many other 
ills, including sea-sickness, hypochondria, etc. 
The horror which we feel in the presence of insects, 
reptiles, and other creatures known to be entirely harm- 
less, is but another form of fear, and its effect upon the 
physical organism is almost as distinctly pronounced. 
Thus, there is the same sudden paleness and coldness; 
the contraction of the skin and elevation of the hair; 
the chills and rigours of the body; the panting and 
oppression of heart and lungs. When greatly aggra- 
vated, the conditions of deadly fear-the convulsions, 
epilepsy, and even instant death-are realized. Thus, 
Broussais refers to the case of a woman who, on feeling 
a living frog that had been dropped into the bosom of 
her dress, was seized with profuse bleeding from the 
lungs, and survived but a few minutes. 
Such antipathies may be innate, like the terror that 
so many individuals feel at the sight of mice; and yet 
grown persons as well as children have been thrown 
into convulsions, and have even derived serious nervous 
injury, by being subjected to the immediate influence of 
objects that have been a source of repugnance or horror 
to them. 
Grief, whatever its cause, is essentially a mental pain; 
and it is inevitably productive of physical phenomena. 
In its simplest forms, or when produced by the loss of 
kindred, friends, property, or other things that are 
generally deemed desirable, it is usually subdued by the 
healing balm of time; but when, as often happens, it is 
complicated with some one of the malignant emotions 
of the heart-hatred, revenge, jealousy, etc.-the men- 
tal pain is accentuated, and the deleterious effect is 54 
DEATH 
increased. As we cannot escape this suffering when we 
give way to the sentiments of envy or revenge, we pun- 
ish ourselves by our hatred far more than we injure 
the object of these vicious feelings. 
When grief is acute, it is usually transient in char- 
acter. When it becomes chronic, it develops into melan- 
cholia. In its acute stage its symptoms somewhat re- 
semble those of anger, for all passions founded on pain 
are closely related as to their effect upon the bodily 
functions. For example, there is the same agonizing 
feeling of impending suffocation; the sense of oppression 
and stricture at the heart and lungs. The entire chest 
feels as though tightly bound, and the demand for air 
to alleviate this oppression is indicated by the long-drawn 
or protracted inspirations. The greatest distress, how- 
ever, is experienced in the heart, and, in moments of 
thrilling distress, this heart-agony becomes so great, 
that it is not uncommon for its victims to die-broken- 
hearted. 
As in cases of anger, or fear, the influence of the emo- 
tion of grief also extends to the throat and mouth; it 
affects the circulation, weakening the pulse perceptibly, 
and, finally, proceeds to the organs of the abdomen, be- 
ing experienced especially in the pit of the stomach. 
The appetite fails; the powers of digestion are impaired, 
or suspended, and the throat becomes so contracted that 
it is impossible for the victim to swallow food without 
frequent draughts of liquor to "wash down" every 
mouthful. 
Those exhibitions of bodily anguish known as "sob- 
bing," or "crying," represent one of the greatest safe- 
guards in moments of grief. Thus, death from grief is 
said to be unknown in cases where the sorrow has been THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
55 
attended by copious weeping, for the tears relieve the 
oppression of the head and lungs, forming a sort of nat- 
ural crisis to the paroxysm, just as sweating is the crisis 
to the paroxysm of fever. 
Insanity and monomania, as well as many other ner- 
vous affections, not uncommonly follow in the wake of 
grief, just as they attend upon the emotions that we may 
term anxiety. In other words, worry also kills through 
its continued depressing effect upon the heart and other 
vital functions. Palsy, chronic inflammation, dyspep- 
sia, are some of the various ills that may be induced by 
the protracted operation of the sentiments known as 
sorrow, anxiety, or worry, and from any of these disor- 
ders man may die. 
In his Philosophy of Long Life, M. Jean Finot de- 
votes a number of pages to a consideration of the prob- 
lem: "Will as a means of prolonging life." He says 
in part:- 
"The forces of the mind, well utilized, may render us most 
important services from the point of view of the prolongation 
of life, as we have demonstrated elsewhere. It is suggestion 
ill-employed which undoubtedly shortens it. Arrived at a 
certain age, we drug ourselves with the idea of the approach- 
ing end. We lose faith in our powers, and they abandon us. 
Under the pretext of the weight of age upon our shoulders we 
take on sedentary habits We cease to busy ourselves actively 
with our occupations. Little by little our blood, vitiated by 
idleness, together with our ill-renewed tissues, opens the door 
to all kinds of diseases. Premature old age attacks us, and 
we succumb sooner than we need in consequence of a harmful 
auto-suggestion. 
"Let us try to live by auto-suggestion instead of dying by 
it. . . . Evil suggestions surround us on all sides. . . . Just 
as the hypochondriac begins to beam with happiness by con- 56 
DEATH 
tinually repeating that he is gay, so persons obsessed by the 
thought of old age and death will think calmly of their ap- 
proach. The unreasoning fear of them, by demoralizing their 
consciousness, only quickens their destroying march. Man, 
arrived at a certain age, or even at a certain mental state, un- 
dergoes a sort of auto-suggestion of death. He then believes 
himself to have reached the end of his days, and feeds as 
much on the fear of death as on daily foods. From this mo- 
ment onwards death fascinates him. He hears its call with 
terror everywhere and always. The philosophic and salutary 
consciousness of a hereafter gives place to a cowardly and 
nervous fear of separation from life. The victim feeds upon 
this fear, intoxicates himself with it, and dies of it!" 
3. Death by Poisoning 
It is customary to classify poisons as irritant, cor- 
rosive, or neurotic, according to their effect upon the 
system. At the same time, certain poisons are so com- 
plicated in their action upon the human organism, that 
one seems to present the characteristics of another. 
Thus there are some irritant poisons that exert a cor- 
rosive effect, although many do not, and, under certain 
conditions, every corrosive may act as an irritant. 
Most irritant poisons belong to the mineral kingdom- 
being both metallic and non-metallic-although the 
vegetable kingdom supplies a few, while some of the 
gases also come within the province of irritants. Neu- 
rotic poisons, according to Taylor, "act upon the ner- 
vous system. Either immediately, or some time after, 
the poison has been swallowed, the patient suffers from 
headache, giddiness, numbness, paralysis, stupor, and, 
in some instances, convulsions." "But," as Griffiths 
says {Police and Crime, vol. ii., 159-60)- THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
57 
''The symptoms of all kinds of poisons intermingle, and the 
irritants may produce the same as the neurotics, and some- 
those especially which are derived from the vegetable king- 
dom-have a compound action. But one and all are defined 
in legal medicine as substances which, when absorbed into the 
blood, are capable of seriously affecting health or of destroy- 
ing life." 
To again quote the same authority:- 
"First among the irritants we may take sulphuric acid, or 
oil of vitriol, a poison often used in suicide, and in the form 
of vitriol-throwing to do injury without actually causing 
death. Nitric acid is the aqua fortis of the Middle Ages, of- 
ten mentioned in the annals of poisoning. With nitric acid 
may be classed hydrochloric or muriatic acid, which was given 
by a servant at Taunton to her mistress in beer. Oxalic acid 
is a vegetable acid, generally very rapid in its action, and 
leaving, as a rule, little trace. Tartaric acid and acetic 
acid, although irritants in large quantities, are not commonly 
classed with poisons." 
Cases of poisoning by phosphorus, an irritant poison, 
have been known for long in England, but are more 
common in France, the substance having generally been 
obtained from the tips of common lucifer matches. A 
girl at Norwich put some compound of phosphorus used 
for vermin-killing into the family teapot with murder- 
ous intent, but when hot water was poured upon the 
leaves the smell betrayed the poison. A woman put some 
phosphorus into soup she gave her husband, who began 
to eat it in the dark, when the luminosity of the liquid 
showed something was wrong. 
Arsenic is the best known of the metallic irritants. 
There are so many preparations of it, that it is easily 58 
DEATH 
obtained; it is not difficult to give, for it imparts no 
particular flavour to food. The symptoms vary; they 
are shown within eight hours, but sometimes not for 
five or six days. This poison may be administered in 
small quantities, and spread over some length of time, 
so as to constitute chronic poisoning. 
Arsenic is sometimes called "the fool's poison," be- 
cause it so generally betrays its presence in the human 
body, even after long periods have elapsed. The body 
of Alice Hewitt-poisoned by her daughter-was ex- 
humed after eleven weeks, and 154 grains of solid ar- 
senic were found in her intestines alone. Other still 
more remarkable cases are recorded-one in which the 
poison was found in children after eight years' burial; 
a second case is quoted after twelve years had elapsed, 
and a third fourteen years. Arsenic has also the in- 
convenient action (from the murderer's point of view) 
of preserving the body and resisting decomposition. 
This has been exhibited for months, nay, years, after 
interment. It was seen to a marvellous degree in the 
case of Pel's wife, and in the Guestling poisoning. And 
yet again in St. Celens (France), where ten bodies were 
exhumed and found well preserved. Zinc chloride is 
another powerful preservative: it retards putrefaction 
by combining with the tissues. Palmer's wife was ex- 
humed after twelve months' burial, and all organs had 
been preserved by the antimony with which she had 
been poisoned. Chloride of lime had the same effect 
in the case of Harriet Lane.1 
The facility with which arsenic or some of its com- 
pounds can be purchased has no doubt multiplied its 
felonious use: this, and the plausible excuse so generally 
1 For details of quoted cases see Griffiths, Police and Crime, 1899. THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
59 
put forward when buying it, that it is to kill rats and 
other vermin-an excuse as old as Chaucer. Lady 
Fowlis, when indicted for witchcraft and poisoning in 
1590, was accused of giving " eight shillings money to 
a person for buying rateoun poison. ' ' 
Tartar emetic is a substance with an evil reputation 
in the chronicles of poisoning. Two famous cases are 
on record, although both are mysteries to this day- 
surrounded with such strong doubts that they should, 
perhaps, be removed from the records of crime. 
Dr. Smith Ely Jelliffe, writing in the Encyclopedia 
Americana, admits that a strictly scientific definition of 
the word "poison" cannot be given. 
"In general it is said," he adds, "that a poison is any sub- 
stance which brings about a change in the molecular composi- 
tion of an organ, or organs, causing its functions to depart 
very distinctly from the normal. But what grade of molecular 
disturbance is necessary to make a substance a poison, and 
how far from the normal must be the functional alteration, 
it is impossible to say. 
"It is believed that for practically all forms of poison a 
distinct alteration in the character of the cells of the body 
takes place, as well as a change in the chemical composition 
of the poisonous substance. ... It is rarely that the reaction 
between the body-cell and the poison is purely of a physical 
nature, yet this very frequently happens in many poisons 
that act on the blood. By some of the poisons-the anilines, 
for example-the blood undergoes changes, not so much due 
to new chemical compounds formed as in the physical changes 
in the tension of the blood serum and the blood corpuscles, 
whereby the blood-colouring matters stream out into the 
plasma, and the oxygen-carrying function of the blood is 
lost. Similar types of poisoning result from some of the 
metals, and the poison of the cholera organism is thought to 60 
DEATH 
act in a like manner. In other poisons there is a direct un- 
ion of the ions of the poison with some constituents in the 
cells of the body, making new chemical compounds, and thus 
interfering with the molecular activities of the cells." 
The following is a summary of some of the most com- 
mon types of poisoning:- 
Poisoning by the mineral acids-nitric, sulphuric, 
hydrochloric-is not uncommon. In these there is a 
marked caustic action, with intense burning pain when 
taken by the mouth. The lips are stained yellow, black, 
or white respectively, according to the poison taken. 
There is nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea, with all the 
symptoms of an intense gastro-enteritis, with collapse, 
pale face, cold sweating extremities, small, feeble pulse, 
rapid respiration; and the patient dies in intense agony. 
Poisoning by alkalies is infrequent. Occasionally 
sodium hydrate, or potassium hydrate, is swallowed. 
Lime is also taken by accident; so (rarely) is ammonia. 
The symptoms are much like those of poisoning by the 
mineral acids, except that there are no marked discol- 
orations. The halogen compounds are very markedly 
poisonous as gases, notably chlorine, bromine, fluorine; 
and the iodides and bromides cause forms of chronic 
poisoning. 
The heavy metals as such are not poisonous, but their 
soluble compounds are all poisonous. They vary widely, 
however, in strength. In order, from the strongest to 
the weakest, they are caustic or astringent. In all the 
symptoms are analogous; there is severe gastro-enteritis, 
with symptoms of collapse. According to the solubility 
or insolubility of the poison, the burning is more or less 
deep. 
Arsenic and phosphorus are poisons that give very THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
61 
similar symptoms: acute gastro-enteritis, with nausea, 
vomiting, purging; then some grade of apparent recov- 
ery, to be followed after a few days with a recrudes- 
cence of the gastro-enteritis and the development of 
secondary blood-vessel changes, which may cause minute 
haemorrhages in any part of the body. Then follow 
fatty degeneration and death. 
Practically all of the anaesthetics and hypnotics be- 
long to the alcohol group, and produce allied symptoms. 
Phenols form a distinct group, in which carbolic acid 
may be taken as a type. This causes gastro-enteritis, 
with severe pain, white scars on lips and throat, buzzing, 
dizziness, smoky to blackish urine, pale, bluish face, 
weak heart, quick breathing, coma, and sometimes con- 
vulsions. 
Another large group of poisons, the anilines, include 
many of the more modern drugs, such as acetanilid. 
Closely allied are different aniline dyes; also phenacetin, 
antipyrin, etc. In these the characteristic signs of 
poisoning are somewhat similar to those seen in the 
phenol group, but in the more pronounced ones of this 
series the main changes occur in the blood. There is 
blueness of the skin and lips, difficulty in breathing, 
sometimes pinkish to purplish urine, rapid and feeble 
heart action. 
Alkaloidal poisons are numerous. The commonest 
forms of poisoning from these-the most powerful 
poisons-are morphine (opium, laudanum, paregoric), 
strychnine (nux vomica), atropine (belladonna), co- 
caine (coca), aconitine (aconite), and nicotine (tobac- 
co). In acute cases of opium poisoning the classical 
symptoms are drowsiness, coma, small pin-point pupils, 
loss of pain, slow breathing (6 to 8 to a minute), moist 62 
DEATH 
skin, dry mouth, rousing with more or less active con- 
sciousness, and quick relapse. Strychnine poisoning 
causes twitching of muscles, cramps, irregular muscu- 
lar movements, convulsions at slightest jar or touch, 
fixation of muscles of breathing, with cyanosis. Bella- 
donna poisoning shows wide-awake, restless conscious- 
ness, sometimes active, busy, delirium; dry mouth, skin 
hot and flushed, pupils widely dilated and paralysed to 
light and accommodation; rapid, feeble heart, and rapid 
respiration. 
Another group of poisons-the glycosides-is char- 
acterized by a great similarity in action. Many of these 
are used in medicines, and some were used on arrow- 
points by wild natives. This group contains digitalin 
(digitalis), strophanthin (strophanthus), convallarin 
(lily-of-the-valley), bryonin (bryonia), apocynin (dog- 
bane), oleandrin (oleander), scillain (squills), etc. 
They are all heart poisons. They first quicken the heart, 
then slow and regulate it, hence their usefulness in many 
heart diseases; but in overdose they paralyse the heart. 
Toxic albumins form a group of special character, and 
all are very violent. Some are of vegetable and others 
of animal origin. The most important are abrin (in 
jequirity seeds), ricin (from the seed-coats of the castor- 
oil bean), phallin (in poisonous mushrooms), rattlesnake 
poison, cobra poison, and the poison of lizards, etc. 
4. Death by Freezing 
Let us now examine a few of the numerous cases that 
have been reported in which individuals have frozen to 
death-and almost died, but afterwards recovered to 
tell of their sensations. We have objective evidence in THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
63 
the former case; subjective in the latter; and needless 
to say, the latter is by far the more valuable. The objec- 
tive indications of freezing are surely too well known 
to need re-statement-the whitening and deadening of 
the parts; the numbness and stupor which gradually 
creep over the body-all this can be observed by an out- 
sider. But let us turn to the subjective or interior 
state, meanwhile, and see in what that consists. A few 
summarized cases will do for our present purposes. 
Thus, one person who almost froze to death, but subse- 
quently recovered, writes as follows:- 
"The process of dying, arising from freezing and the con- 
sequent benumbed feelings and sleepy sensations, is undoubt- 
edly painless. When a person feels exceedingly drowsy, he 
dislikes to be disturbed, and, when freezing, he seems to be 
oblivious to the great dangers that threaten him. This, as 
a natural consequence, arises from the weakness of the will- 
however that may be caused-and a disposition to quietly sub- 
mit to the domineering actions of the feelings. Sleepiness 
caused by freezing is enervating; the brain ceases to be stimu- 
lated in the proper manner, and the vague dreams, accom- 
panied by strange illusions, succeed the active energies and 
thoughtfulness of the mind. In extreme cold, the physical 
system is outside of its sphere or its normal healthy element, 
the same as it would be if thrust into water, in a well where 
gas would stifle it, or in an oven, where it would gradually 
roast. . . . Freezing may be denominated the 'sleep of death,' 
for a sleep, calm and peaceful, precedes the final dissolu- 
tion, and the awakening can only be in that region towards 
which all are tending. Of course such a death, after the first 
tingling sensations have quietly passed away, must be pain- 
less. Few, however, seek that method to commit suicide. 
The first exposure to the cold is very disagreeable, and those 64 
DEATH 
intent on self-murder hesitate before they expose themselves 
to its initiatory influence-hence they oftener use the pistol, 
or poison, or jump into the water." 
Another, narrating the sensations while ' ' dying, ' ' thus 
describes them:- 
"Thousands of coloured lights danced before her eyes;1 the 
roar of a thousand cannon was sounding in her ears, and her 
feet tingled as if a million needle-points were sticking into 
them as she walked. Then a feeling of drowsiness came 
over her. A delightful feeling of lassitude ensued-a free- 
dom from all earthly care and woe. Her babe was warm and 
light as a feather in her arms. The air was redolent with the 
breath of spring. A delightful melody resounded in her ears. 
She sank to rest on downy pillows, with the many coloured 
lights dancing before her in resplendent beauty, and knew 
nothing more until she was brought to her senses." 
Still another writes:- 
"The bitter cold does not chill and shake a person, as in 
damper climates. It stealthily creeps within all defences, and 
nips at the bone without warning. Riding along w'ith busy 
thoughts, a quiet, pleasurable drowsiness takes possession of 
the body and mind, the senses grow indistinct, the thoughts 
wander, weird fancies come trooping about with fantastic 
forms, the memory fails, and, in a confused dream of wife 
and home, the soul steps out into oblivion without a pang or 
a regret." 
There are several distinguishing marks between rigor 
mortis and a body that has been frozen to death. In 
cadaveric rigidity the skin is soft and pliant; in the 
frozen body it is not. In cadaveric rigidity, when we 
move the limbs there is no sound; but in frozen bodies 
a crackling sound is emitted. 
i It is related in the third person. THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
65 
The length of time it is possible to live without food 
varies greatly in warm- and cold-blooded animals. 
Chossat found that in different warm-blooded animals 
death resulted when the body had lost about 40 per 
cent, of its normal weight. He found that in animals 
undergoing starvation the symptoms observed during the 
first half or two-thirds of the period are those of calmness 
and quietness; the temperature then becoming elevated, 
restlessness and agitation prevail; and when life is 
terminated by the rapid fall of the temperature, stupor 
supervenes. There can be no doubt that individuals 
can subsist without food far longer than is usually sup- 
posed-many cases of sixty-day fasts, and even fasts 
of longer duration, being recorded from time to time in 
various medical works. These cases have been studied 
from the point of view of starvation pure and simple; 
and, when the individual is normal at the time of com- 
mencing such starving process, there can be no doubt 
that the effects noted would be such as are indicative of 
harmful or destructive results to the organism. 
Starvation only occurs, as a matter of fact, after a 
much longer time than is generally supposed. A man 
may exist for two or even three months without food, 
under certain conditions; and, during the first part of 
that time may even receive benefit from the abstinence. 
That is while fasting, however, and not during the pe- 
riod of starvation. The two processes are very different, 
as I have elsewhere tried to show at considerable length. 
(See Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, p. 564.) When 
fasting ends, starvation begins, and that is a very differ- 
ent thing. Then the tissues shrink, the body wastes, and 
5. Death by Starvation 66 
DEATH 
the mind becomes impaired. The moral faculties also 
become blunted, there is good reason to believe; cases 
of cannibalism among civilized people would seem to 
indicate this. Dr. N. E. Davies, writing some years ago 
on this question in the Popular Science Monthly, 
said:- 
"Reasoning by analogy, we find that, in many cases of 
bodily disease, the state of the mind is the first indicator of 
the mischief going on in the system. Take even such a 
simple thing as indigestion, which, as every one must know', 
is only a manifestation of a deranged stomach, and what 
do we find? That the lowness of spirits induced by the in- 
fection may vary from slight dejection and ill-humour to the 
most extreme melancholy, sometimes inducing even the dispo- 
sition to suicide. The sufferer misconceives every act of 
friendship, and exaggerates slight ailments into heavy griev- 
ances. So in starvation, the power of reason seems para- 
lysed, and the intellectual faculty dazed really before the 
functions of the body suffer, or even the wasting of its tissues 
becomes extreme. Such being the case, the unfortunate indi- 
vidual is not accountable for his actions, even if they be 
criminal in character, long before death puts an end to his 
sufferings." 
It should be noted, however, that newer researches and 
observations have tended greatly to modify these earlier 
views. It has now been shown that man can not only 
live for a far longer period of time than was formerly 
supposed-as the cases of MacSwiney and other ' ' hunger 
strikers" prove conclusively-but also that the mental 
and moral faculties may remain practically unimpaired 
throughout the period of starvation, provided the Will 
be sufficiently strong. In their cases, as we know, all 
of them showed a high standard of moral and mental THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
67 
stability throughout, and although MacSwiney suffered 
from spells of delirium during the latter part of his pe- 
riod of starvation, his sanity and steadfastness of pur- 
pose were unimpaired. Evidently, therefore, death from 
starvation depends, with regard to many of its symp- 
toms, upon the character and the mentality of the pa- 
tient. Even in Death, the human Will may be supreme! 
6. Death by Asphyxia and Drowning 
In asphyxia there is more or less complete loss of 
consciousness, because of imperfect oxidation of the 
blood. The symptoms may be developed rapidly or 
slowly. In sudden occlusion of the air passages, such 
as is caused by a foreign body in the larynx, or com- 
pression of the throat, as in hanging, there is usually 
a quiet period of from twenty to thirty seconds, after 
which respiratory movements both of inspiration and of 
expiration follow. These gradually increase in fre- 
quency and depth until, in about a minute, powerful 
expiratory convulsions occur; convulsive movements of 
inspiration are also produced, but these are usually 
milder in character. A period of exhaustion sets in, 
the respiratory movements become slower and more ir- 
regular, and gradually cease. During this period the 
face has become pallid, and then deeply cyanosed and 
flushed, the lips blue to purple, and the body tempera- 
ture, at first increased, gradually diminishes. The 
blood-pressure is at first increased, and then falls grad- 
ually to zero. Unconsciousness develops about a minute 
after the occlusion, although there is great individual 
variation; the sphincters relax and the urine and faeces 
are passed. There is a loss of muscle tone, and the re- 
flexes are abolished. In asphyxia both lack of oxygen 68 
DEATH 
and increase of carbonic acid gas in the blood are im- 
portant factors. 
Among the most important phenomena that are to be 
observed are the following:-The cooling of the body is 
generally slower in all forms of death from asphyxia. 
Then in asphyxia the blood is always very fluid, and few 
clots are found in the heart or great vessels. Owing to 
this fluidity, hypostasis is well marked. The blood is 
generally very dark in colour. The next point is the 
congested condition of the lungs. Small patches ap- 
pear at the root of the lungs. Tardieu considers them 
distinctive of suffocation, but in this he is probably too 
dogmatic. 
In strangulation we have the circulation to and from 
the brain impeded. The face is commonly pale and 
placid; prominent eyes are not uncommon. Protrusion 
of the tongue appears frequently; the hands are often 
clenched. 
"Death by asphyxia begins at the lungs, almost simultan- 
eously paralysing the muscles of the body. The victim is 
deprived of the power of action, while still retaining con- 
sciousness. Not even an outcry is possible, and death ap- 
proaches inch by inch-relentlessly entangling the agonized 
victim in its skeins, from which there is no escape, unless 
timely help arrives before the last stage in the passive strug- 
gle. While still conscious, the brain, in its attempts to break 
the chains of death, pictures the past and present in vivid 
colours, flashing like lightning over the memory, which still 
has a conception that the end is coming." 
This picture-forming faculty of the mind at the mo- 
ment of death is supposed to be most common in cases 
of drowning. The past will come up before the mind 
with marvellous rapidity and detail, at such times; and THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
69 
the latter would seem to know no limitations of time 
or space. This is a most significant fact. In cases of 
death from strangulation, asphyxia, etc., the blood be- 
comes nearly black, by reason of its passing through the 
lungs several times without aeration. When death re- 
sults from the taking of opium, and certain other drugs, 
it is said that consciousness of the entire body is lost 
before the senses or intellect become dulled; but this 
seems to me very doubtful. 
7. Death from Shock 
It is asserted that, in many cases of this character, 
the patient may be brought back to life by careful and 
persistent treatment-on the line of "first aid to the 
injured." Resuscitation may be affected, it is claimed, 
just as in cases of drowning, in many instances. Shock 
of this character may produce "death" in either one of 
three ways: First, by producing destructive tissue 
changes, when death is absolute; second, by producing 
sudden arrest of the respiratory and heart muscles 
through excitement of the nerve centres, when death is 
only apparent-in other words, animation is merely 
suspended; or, third, by a temporary exhaustion of 
nerve force-the result of a violent, sudden, and exces- 
sive expenditure of it. The subject may be aroused 
from this syncope if efforts at resuscitation are not too 
long delayed. In cases of this character, the oxygen 
treatment is sometimes very efficacious. Electricity or 
even cold water may be applied with great success in 
cases of "shock." 
The symptoms of shock vary greatly according to the 
type of cause and the individuality of the patient. 
Sometimes the symptoms begin at once; under other cir- 70 
DEATH 
cumstances the alleged results may be delayed for a long 
period. Surgical shock is, perhaps, one of the most se- 
vere. The symptoms of all forms of shock are very 
similar. The face usually becomes blanched and pale, 
the body becomes cold, and is covered with a clammy 
perspiration; the hands and feet usually become icy, 
the brain seems to be in a whirl, consciousness is lost, or 
much clouded. The pulse is usually quickened; the 
eyes sunken and listless. 
All such cases bring before us very forcibly the pos- 
sibility of body resuscitation. Various devices have 
been employed to this end, some of which have been 
mentioned above; and there are yet others-artificial 
bellows, methods for restoring the circulation, and sim- 
ilar means-besides the well-known methods classed 
under "first aid to the injured." Injections of certain 
saline solutions into the veins have sometimes been ac- 
companied with remarkable results. Perhaps the most 
powerful of all these measures, however, is cardiac mas- 
sage. It has been asserted that, by this means, a heart 
has been made to beat after having stopped for several 
minutes. A long series of experiments should be con- 
ducted along these lines, and the results made public. 
So far as I know, no experiments have ever been made 
in which the efficacy of suggestion-hypnotic or other- 
has been tried, at the moment of death. 
(I must except Poe's tale, The Case of M. Valde- 
mar-a work of pure fiction, as Poe afterwards ad- 
mitted.) 
8. Death by Electricity and Lightning 
While it might almost be said that the body died first 
in cases of freezing, and that consciousness was only ex- THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
71 
tinguished slowly at the end, precisely the reverse of this 
is present in all cases of electrocution, or death by elec- 
tricity. In such cases, the consciousness is certainly 
obliterated at once, but the cell-life of the body as cer- 
tainly persists for a long time after the electrocution 
takes place and the body ultimately putrefies, as in other 
cases. But these are questions which require much in- 
vestigation in order to settle them satisfactorily. 
It has been asserted that a large proportion of cases 
of electrocution might be resuscitated if the proper 
measures were adopted at once. This may be very true 
in certain instances, but it is certainly not true in the 
great majority of cases, as electrocution is performed 
today. A most remarkable instance was reported, how- 
ever, from Pittsfield, Mass., where, on 23rd October 
1894, James E. Cutter, working in the testing-room of 
the Stanley Electrical Manufacturing Company, acci- 
dentally received 4600 volts of electricity, and was aft- 
erwards resuscitated by two fellow electricians, who 
treated him in the same manner as one would be treated 
who had become unconscious through drowning. At 
the end of seven minutes he recovered. Writing of the 
incident, he afterwards said:- 
"For a brief instant there was a sensation as if I were 
being drawn downwards by the arms, and then everything 
became blank. For several minutes there was no sign of life. 
. . . Then slowly I began to regain consciousness and to make 
incoherent remarks about the accident. Half-an-hour after- 
ward I could recall every incident before and after the seven 
minutes' interval, which was a total and painless blank. The 
accident occurred about ten o'clock in the morning. For 
the remainder of the day I was quiet, but on the following 
day I was around as usual. I have experienced no ill effects 72 
DEATH 
other than the scars from the burns, one of which went to 
the bone." 
As is well known, one of the most important safe- 
guards of the human body against the passage of elec- 
trical currents through it is its high degree of resist- 
ance. This degree of resistance, however, is subject 
to a considerable amount of variation. If the skin is 
dry, the resistance is from five to twenty times as great 
as when the skin is wet. From what is known of the 
amount of electrical current necessary to cause death 
in man, it is probable that 1600 volts of electro-motive 
force of a continuous current is sufficient to bring about 
this end, and that an alternating current of half this 
voltage would probably be fatal. In fact, the general 
deduction has been drawn from the experiments con- 
ducted in electrocution work at the Sing Sing prison, 
that no human body can withstand an alternating cur- 
rent of 1500 volts, and 300 have produced death, while 
for the continuous current it may be necessary to pass 
3000 volts, in order to bring about fatal results. 
The number of deaths from lightning is larger than 
would be ordinarily supposed. The injuries produced 
by it often simulate external violence. The clothes are 
frequently torn off the body, and part of the clothes or 
the bodies themselves thrown great distances. Again, 
we may find metallic things about the body fused, and 
any iron thing is rendered magnetic. Marks like prints 
of trees or foliage may occasionally be found on the 
body after it has been struck, as though photographed 
upon it. This is an undoubted fact. Many of these 
caprices of lightning are very striking. At one time 
a stroke of lightning set fire to a man, and he blazed 
like a sheaf of straw; at another it reduced a pair of THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
73 
hands to ashes, leaving the gloves intact; it fused the 
links of an iron chain as the fire of a forge would do; 
and, on the other hand, it has killed a huntsman without 
discharging the gun which he held in his hand; it has 
melted an earring without burning the skin; it has 
consumed a person's clothing without doing him the 
slightest injury, or perhaps destroyed his shoes or his 
hat; it has gilded the pieces of silver in a pocket-book 
by electro-plating from one compartment to another 
without the owner being aware of it; it has demolished 
a wall six or eight feet thick in a moment, or burned a 
chateau a hundred years old, yet it has struck a powder 
factory without causing an explosion. 
Dr. John Knott, writing in the New York Medical 
Journal, says:- 
"The materialistic nineteenth century does not fail to find 
an explanation in what has since been recognized as return 
shock. Every substance capable of conducting the mysterious 
electrical fluid, on being placed in the vicinity of an electri- 
fied ('charged') body-and not connected with the same by 
a conducting medium-becomes charged with electricity of 
the opposite kind, and to approximately the same potential 
or electromotive force. In accordance with the physical neces- 
sity which determines this process, a man may stand within 
a moderate distance of a thunder-cloud, which holds an enor- 
mous charge of, let us say, positive electricity. In such 
position, his body necessarily becomes charged with negative 
electricity, by the influence of what is known as induction. 
While the state of equilibrium is maintained, without any 
abrupt disturbance, he feels no ill effect or inconvenience 
whatever. But when that cloud discharges its electricity in 
an opposite direction, the inductive influence instantaneously 
ceases; the induced negative charge is (in the same instant) 
neutralized by drawing an equal quantity of positive from 74 
DEATH 
the 'universal reservoir' of the earth. The shock corresponds 
in intensity to that producible by the discharge of the cloud 
itself, and passes through the nervous system with such effect 
that the individual drops dead instantaneously, and without 
a single trace of injury on or around his person." 
In cases of direct contact with the lightning flash, 
burns, more or less extensive and penetrating, have been 
noticeable; but as a rule there is nothing very remark- 
able about them. One of the most characteristic signs 
of the post-mortem conditions in cases of death by light- 
ning is that when the shock has been direct and very 
powerful, the blood fails to coagulate after the normal 
fashion. (After electrocution, imperfect coagulation of 
blood has been noticed, giving rise to the supposition that 
the subject is not really dead. Such, however, does not 
follow, as we have seen.) 
9. Death by Spontaneous Combustion 
Dr. Trail, in his Hydropathic Encyclopedia, vol. ii, pp. 
179-80, says:- 
"This is a condition of general combustibility of the body, 
produced by the use of alcoholic drinks. Examples of spon- 
taneous combustion, as having occurred in persons long ac- 
customed to the immoderate employment of spirituous liquors, 
are too well authenticated to be longer doubted. The condi- 
tion of the body liable to this strange phenomenon may prop- 
erly be called alcoholic diathesis. In a majority of the cases 
recorded, females advanced in life are the subjects of the 
malady. In some cases the self-consuming flame has arisen 
without any obvious exciting cause; but in others a fire, a 
lighted candle, the heat of a stove, or an electric spark, has 
ignited the inebriate body. It is a remarkable fact that the 
flame which decomposes and reduces every fragment of the THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
75 
bodily structure to ashes does not essentially injure the com- 
mon furniture or bedding with which it comes in contact; 
and more marvellous still is the statement that water, instead 
of quenching the fire, seems rather to quicken it! " 
Again, Dr. Joel Shew, in his Family Physician, pp. 
717-18, says of this condition:- 
"That the living body becomes at times, in consequence of 
long-continued intemperance in the use of alcoholic drinks, 
liable to combustion, easily excited and spontaneous, is abun- 
dantly proved. The condition, however, is a rare one. Some 
doubt the facts, but, as a French writer has observed, 'it is 
not more surprising to meet with such incineration than a 
discharge of saccharine urine or an appearance of the bones 
softened to a state of jelly.' 
"This condition of the system will appear more remarkable 
when it is remembered that in all other states, whether of 
health or disease, the body is with difficulty consumed by fire, 
even at a high temperature. . . . 
"This phenomenon seems to have taken place for the most 
part in the night time, and when the sufferer has been alone. 
It has usually been discovered either by the fetid, penetrat- 
ing scent of sooty films, which, as we are told, have spread to 
a considerable distance; or by the blue flame that hovers over 
the body; or the unnatural heat, which, however, is not very 
great. The patient in all cases has likewise been found either 
dead or so far consumed that life appeared to be extinct; 
and in no instance has recovery been known to take place 
after the appearance of this most singular of all pathological 
states." 
There is practically no belief in spontantous combus- 
tion in these days, but it is admitted that in certain 
cases the body may acquire preternatural combustibility. 
This is founded on the assumed fact that much of the 
body has been found consumed while surrounding ob- 76 
DEATH 
jects are not much consumed. In nearly all well-authen- 
ticated cases there has been some source of fire near, 
probably setting the clothes on fire, usually when the 
sufferer was habitually drunk and so could not help 
himself. 
It is of interest to note, in this connection, that a case 
in which somewhat similar phenomena occurred after 
death recently came under my own observation. The 
patient was a child who had died of acute indigestion 
caused by eating a large quantity of chestnuts without 
properly masticating them. After a day spent in the 
chestnut grove the child returned home, and about three 
o'clock in the morning died in terrible convulsions. As 
this occurred in the country, the neighbours volunteered 
to prepare the body for burial, and it was while the work 
of making the shroud was in progress that it was dis- 
covered that the entire body was, to all appearance, on 
fire. The glow extended from the head to the feet, and 
could not be extinguished, although it finally died out, 
disappearing altogether. "While the heat from the bluish 
flame which enveloped the body was quite perceptible, it 
was not sufficient to burn the body or even set the bed 
on fire; and yet, when the corpse was removed from the 
sheet on which it had been placed, it was found that the 
latter was scorched in such a manner that the outlines 
of the human figure could be plainly distinguished. In 
this case, it will be noted, alcohol played no part in the 
production of the phenomenon, but there can be no doubt 
that the chemical changes were similar in character to 
the cases previously cited. 
In another case known to me, a kitten remained upon 
a rug for an hour or so after death; when removed, a THE CAUSES OF DEATH 
77 
distinct outline of the kitten's body was left upon the 
rug. This was doubtless due to some chemical action, 
but as to its precise nature I do not feel competent to 
speak. CHAPTER IV 
THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
Many years ago the Marquis d'Ourches offered, 
through the Paris Academic de Medicine, two prizes, one 
of twenty thousand francs, the other of five thousand 
francs, for some simple, certain sign of death. The sec- 
retary, Dr. Roger, reported on the competition. One 
hundred and two essays were sent in, but none was 
deemed worthy the first prize; The second was divided 
between six competitors. Five hundred francs was given 
to M. de Cordue for his observations on the effects of 
the flame of a candle on the pulp of the finger. M. 
Larcher was rewarded for his observations on the eye 
after death. (As the result of examining nine hundred 
patients, he found the occurrence of a shaded or grey- 
ish spot, first on the outer portion of the sclerotica, and 
gradually involving the whole surface.) M. Poncet re- 
ceived an honourable mention for his observations on 
the discolouration of the fundus of the eye; M. Molland, 
for his observations on cadaveric lividity; and MM. 
Bouchut and Linas for their observations on the tem- 
perature of the body. But nothing definite or deci- 
sive was discovered. 
Passing in review the various signs of death, M. Brou- 
ardel has this to say:- 
"The combination of signs of death gives us almost com- 
plete certainty of death. . . . But I believe that it is right 
to remain in a state of philosophic doubt; we know that ap- 
78 THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
79 
parent death may last for a longer or shorter time, and that 
in three cases at least . . . persons considered to be dead have 
been called to life. . . . The verification of death should 
therefore always be entrusted to a physician, who alone is 
competent to estimate the value of the different signs that 
we have just been examining. ... I believe that accidents 
will then be, if not impossible, at any rate infinitely rare, 
and I am obliged to add that though there is a great improba- 
bility of a living person being buried alive under those condi- 
tions, in which actual death is, or rather is not, complete,- 
still, it is impossible to assert that the direful contingency 
might not happen" (pp. 61, 62). 
1. General Signs 
Let us, then, see what these signs are, which are sup- 
posed to render death certain, and thus prevent these 
unfortunate ' ' accidents, ' ' or this ' ' direful contingency. ' ' 
In death, intelligence is absent; but so it is in trance 
and syncope. 
In death, insensibility is complete; but it is also prac- 
tically complete in certain cases of hysteria in which 
there is complete anaesthesia. Surface insensibility is 
complete, and the patient does not react to the most 
painful tests, on occasion. All sense of hearing and 
smell are also absent. The eye presents some very inter- 
esting tests. It was noticed that there was an immed- 
iate lessening of the tension of the globe of the eye, 
just after death, owing to the fact that the blood-ves- 
sels were emptied of blood. But this proves, merely, 
that the heart has stopped beating-not that death has 
taken place; and we know that persons can often be re- 
vived long after the heart has ceased to beat. Bouchut 
contends that atropine and eserine have no effect after 80 
DEATH 
death. The pupil dilates at the moment of death, but 
afterwards returns to its normal condition and size, and 
the iris is thrown into folds. It is also asserted that the 
eyeball is harder after death than during life. 
One very characteristic sign is the sclerotic speck that 
appears after death; the conjunctiva also assumes a 
brown hue. Commenting on these signs, Dr. Hartmann 
wisely remarked, "All these signs prove that the circu- 
lation has stopped; not that it cannot be started again." 
It will be of interest to refer here to a peculiar fact, 
the explanation of which is still somewhat uncertain, 
which caused a tremendous sensation some years ago 
when it was first made public. It was announced at 
the time that in persons dying suddenly the eye pre- 
served the impression of whatever object was in front 
of it at that moment. It was suggested that murderers 
might be traced in this manner-since it is to be sup- 
posed that the murderer would be the last object seen 
by the murdered man, in most instances. The case was 
somewhat overstated, and many persons totally disbe- 
lieve in the possibility of the fact at all. There is, 
however, some ground for the belief. Kiihne of Heidel- 
berg placed a grating in front of a rabbit, then killed the 
animal rapidly, removed its eye, exposed the retina, and 
photographed it. The cross-bars of the grating were 
clearly seen in the print. In the case of a more com- 
plicated object, such as a table or a chair, the outline 
was much more blurred and indistinct, but yet recog- 
nizable. In such eases the animal must be killed immed- 
iately, and the retina photographed very soon after 
death. For these reasons, it would be difficult to obtain 
definite results in a human being. Certainly, no visible 
trace of any scene would be found on the retina twenty- THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
81 
four hours after the death of the subject. This is a 
question of great importance that should be followed 
up closely; but, until some of the prejudices of the 
public are overcome, it is unlikely that any definite re- 
sults will be obtained in this possibly fruitful field. 
At death the immobility of the body becomes pro- 
nounced, and the lower jaw falls on to the breast. But 
these signs are not constant, and it has been pointed out 
that in tetanus and in hysteria the mouth may remain 
closed. Complete rigidity of the corpse may sometimes 
be found before rigor mortis supervenes. After death, 
as the body cools, the muscles, especially of the face, 
continue to contract in odd ways, and sometimes the 
face will be pulled into various shapes, and give the 
appearance, perhaps, of the patient having died in the 
greatest agony. Such may not have been the case at 
all; the death may have been perfectly painless. Rich- 
ardson attached considerable weight to the fact that live 
bodies usually respond to an electric stimulus, while 
dead bodies do not. But this test also has been found 
inconclusive. 
Respiration ceases at death; yet the respiratory test 
is quite variable in its results. In some cases the pa- 
tient may be in a trance, and appear not to breathe at 
all, and yet be alive. On the other hand, a patient may 
be dead, and the gases moving about within his body 
give the appearance of life. The old test of holding a 
mirror to the lips is known to all; the idea of placing a 
glass full of water on the |epigastrium of the patient is 
not so well known. If this overflows the patient is 
supposed to be alive; if not, he is dead. The test is 
inconclusive for the reasons indicated above. 
Brouardel, in his excellent manual on Death and Sud- 82 
DEATH 
den Death, thus enumerates the sources of error in at- 
tempting to assure oneself of the fact of death by ob- 
servations upon the circulation:- 
"Bouchut, who has studied all these questions with great 
care, has rightly said that one must not be satisfied with 
feeling the pulse, but must go higher and consult the heart 
also. In a memoir published by him, and submitted to the 
Academy of Science, he states that an interruption of the 
action of the heart, lasting for two minutes, was sufficient to 
render the diagnosis of death certain. Andral, who was ap- 
pointed to report on Bouchut's memoir, believed that this in- 
terruption should be prolonged for five minutes. Later on, 
he was obliged to acknowledge that even this length of time 
was inadequate, since in the interval he had met with a 
woman who returned to life some hours after the action of 
the heart had ceased to be perceptible; it is true that a few 
contractures could be perceived from time to time, but they 
vanished to reappear later. 
"Bouchut thinks that the heart should be listened to for 
half-an-hour. There are at least two sources of error here. 
You cannot listen to a heart for half-an-hour continuously. 
Try to do so; in five or six minutes you will hear buzzings and 
murmurs of all sorts, and at last you will hear the beating of 
your own heart. A second source of error is as follows: 
When an animal is dying, and you practise auscultation, you 
hear very plainly the two sounds of the heart, then only one 
sound, which presently disappears also. If the animal is 
opened the heart is found still beating. Therefore, it is es- 
sential that the heart should beat with a certain degree of 
energy in order that its beats should be heard" (pp. 50, 51). 
He also points out that the acuteness of hearing is not 
alike in all. 
If the absence of the heart-beat cannot be considered 
a certain sign of death, perhaps some of the other signs THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
83 
connected with the circulation might. If the vein be 
opened immediately after death no blood will issue 
therefrom; but blood will issue in the course of a few 
hours if the wound be left open. The arteries contract, 
and force the blood through the capillaries into the veins. 
Further, the gases formed within the body force the 
blood to the surface, so that, if the skin be cut, blood 
will sometimes flow. This was the origin of many of 
the stories of "vampires" to which I refer elsewhere.1 
Coagulation is also a very uncertain sign. Ligature of 
the finger, cupping and leeching, have been resorted to; 
but the same objection may be raised to all, viz., the 
fact that the heart's action has ceased does not guaran- 
tee that it cannot be set in motion again. 
After death, little livid spots appear on the surface of 
the body. They are known as cadaveric sigillations or 
lividity, and are caused by the exudation of blood into 
cellular tissue from the veins. It is an almost invariable 
sign. Dr. Molland, who examined 15,146 cases, never 
found it absent once. Nevertheless, it may be absent 
in cases where there has been abundant hemorrhage 
before death; and, on the other hand, they may ap- 
pear before death in certain cases-in cholera, uraemia, 
and asphyxia. This sign is also, therefore, incon- 
clusive. 
The temperature post-mortem has been considered a 
very important sign; but it is a very uncertain one. 
When the surrounding temperature is high, the body 
may take a very long time to cool, though death may 
have taken place; and certain diseases also hinder the 
cooling of the body. On the other hand the body may 
cool considerably in trance, and certain states of a kin- 
1 See Appendix A. 84 
DEATH 
dred nature, and yet life may be preserved and revived. 
In slow deaths cooling is a gradual process, and varies 
much in rapidity. The trunk may remain warm, while 
the limbs are cold. The cooling is slow if the body is 
covered with warm clothing, or bed clothes. Wool is a 
bad conductor. The bodies of young persons, which 
have generally a subcutaneous layer of fat, take longer 
to cool than those of thin, old persons. In wasting dis- 
eases the heat is low in the last hours before death. It 
has been supposed that cooling takes place more rapidly 
in cases of death from hemorrhage, but this is rarely 
true. In all cases of death by suffocation, cooling seems 
to be retarded. Casper's rule as to the cooling of the 
body is as follows: "A body found on the highway with 
clothes on (the air being at a medium temperature), 
still warm, has been dead probably not more than three 
hours. A body found in bed and still warm has been 
dead at most for ten or twelve hours. ' ' 
Another sign of death that can sometimes be obtained 
is the following. A patch of skin is removed, and, in 
the course of some hours, the exposed surface will be- 
come parchment-like in appearance, and will yield a 
sharp sound when tapped. I do not know if this has 
ever happened in a case of trance; and we have, con- 
sequently, nothing to guide us in this respect. 
A sign that was for long considered certain was that 
of burning or blistering the body. If a live body be 
burned, a blister will be raised, surrounded by a red- 
dish areola. In dead bodies this is supposed not to 
exist. But is that the case? M. Brouardel states that 
blisters may very readily be raised on dead bodies:- 
"Let a drop of melted sealing-wax fall on to a limb that 
has just been amputated, and you will succeed in pro- THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
85 
ducing a blister." The test of burning is therefore a 
doubtful sign.1 
Dr. Franz Hartmann, in his excellent manual, Buried 
Alive, has summarized quite exhaustively the various 
signs of death. I abridge his account of those tests 
that other authors have omitted to mention. 
Immobility of a needle stuck in the pericardium:-This 
indicates that the heart has ceased to beat; not that the 
person is beyond recovery. 
Emptiness of the central artery of the retina; disap- 
pearance of the papilla of the optic nerve; discoloration 
of the choroid and retina; interruption of the circula- 
tion of the veins in the retina; emptiness of the capil- 
lary vessels:-All these signs are open to the objection 
just pointed out. 
Corpse-like face; discoloration of the skin; loss of 
transparency of the hands:-"These signs are now so 
well known to be delusive, as to require no further at- 
tention." Emptiness of the temporal artery:-This 
only indicates that the heart has lost the power to send 
the blood to that artery; but it is no sign that it may 
not recover its strength. 'White and livid colouring at 
the points of the fingers:-An antiquated and mislead- 
ing sign. 
Relaxation of the sphincters and the pupil; glazed 
eyes and haziness of the cornea; insensibility of the eye 
in regard to the action of a strong light; bending of the 
thumb towards the palm of the hand:-All given up 
nowadays as unreliable. 
1 The author just cited states that he has found an excellent way of 
reviving those in syncope; it is to place a hammer just dipped in very hot 
water on the epigastrium. Patients nearly always revive. It is doubt- 
ful if this would succeed in every case, however-especially where the 
vitality is very low; and indeed the author intimates that it would not. 86 
DEATH 
Disappearance of the elasticity of the muscles-also 
takes place in dropsy and other diseases. 
Non-coagulability of the blood:-Unreliable; in scurvy 
and certain other diseases the blood remains incoagul- 
able for several days. 
Absence of a humming noise in the auscultation of the 
finger points:-Unreliable. If the finger is not held in 
just the right position, nothing will be heard, even if 
the patient be alive. Further, humming noises, inter- 
nal noises in the body of the physician, etc., are apt to 
be mistaken for the sounds going on in the body of the 
patient. 
Galvanism has been considered insufficient to furnish 
a test that is certain. Irritability is extinguished first 
in the left ventricle; then in the intestines and stomach, 
next in the bladder, afterwards in the right ventricle, 
then in the oesophagus, and after that in the iris. The 
muscles of the trunk finally give way-the extremities 
and the auricles. The collapsed edge of a wound in a 
dead body, in distinction from a gushing wound in 
a living one, is the result of a peculiar irritability-the 
extinction of which is one of the indications of death. 
Flaccidity is an uncertain sign of death; putrefaction is 
unequivocal. 
Within recent years, several novel tests have been de- 
vised. X-ray machines have been employed to ascertain 
whether any vital action was taking place within the 
body. It was found that, if all the internal functioning 
had come to a complete standstill-bowels, liver, lungs, 
heart, etc.-the shadow cast on the screen would come 
out clear and distinct; if, on the other hand, some of 
these organs were working (and consequently moving) 
the outline or shadow would be blurred and indistinct. THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
87 
I do not know to what extent this test has been carried; 
and its value and reliability would depend (1) upon the 
clearness of the shadow; and (2), upon the extent to 
which the internal organs can suspend their function- 
ing, in such states as trance, and yet life be present, or 
possibly recalled. We must always remember that the 
entire vital machinery might stop, for a short time, and 
yet be enabled to resume its functioning. This fact must 
be taken into consideration when discussing this test. 
On the other hand, Dr. Elmer Gates has published an 
article in the Annals of Psychical Science (June, 1906), 
entitled, "On the Transparency of the Animal Body to 
Electric and Light Waves: As a Test of Death and a 
New Mode of Diagnosis, and a Probable New Method of 
Psychic Research." He says in part:- 
"Several years ago ... I discovered that certain wave 
lengths of electric waves (not X-rays or ultra-violet light) 
pass more freely through the body of a dead than a living 
organism, and I proposed this as a test of death. This greater 
transparency at death I found to be due to the absence of the 
normal electric currents, which are always present in func- 
tionally active nerves and muscles. . . . When the body is 
alive, it is a bundle of electric currents, and electric waves 
cannot pass through these currents; but when they cease, at 
death, the body becomes transparent to electric waves." 
How far these electric currents would be reduced in 
trance and kindred states, is a matter for further in- 
quiry. The objections previously raised must not be 
lost sight of in this connection. 
There is yet another test of death of a somewhat 
' ' occult ' ' character, which its votaries declare infallible! 
It is the following:- 88 
DEATH 
"The Aura after Death.-It will readily be understood that 
death produces an immediate great change in the human auras. 
All the higher principles, together with the auric egg that 
envelopes them, disappear, leaving the doomed material body 
with only its lifelong and inseparable etheric double floating 
over it; the caloric aura gradually ceases with the disappear- 
ance of animal heat; the pranic aura, which had begun to 
fade before the actual dissolution, turns to an ashen-grey light; 
all the electric emanations, already broken up during the 
sickness, cease; the magnetic flow alone continues, though in 
a sluggish and stationary manner; the Tatwic ribbons lose 
their colour, leaving only dead, colourless lines, as in mineral 
matter, whereby it can be said that the auric manifestation 
which remains around the body is only that which belongs to 
the dead material compounds, until decomposition sets in. 
Then the auric effluvium again becomes alive, and assumes 
the aspects and hues of the new lives that issue out of death. 
Thus, the study of the human aura will bring out new and 
more reliable signs of real death, because to a psychic sight, 
the aura of a person in coma or cataleptic trance-however 
well this may otherwise simulate death-will never be mistaken 
for that of a body in which life is really and positively ex- 
tinct. ..."1 
Without discussing the reality of these phenomena in 
this place, it may only be said that the difficulty of find- 
ing a seer possessing the requisite psychic sight might be 
sufficiently difficult to render this method of diagnosis 
impractical under all ordinary circumstances! Of 
course, such theories would have to be rigorously dem- 
onstrated before science could even tolerate them, in a 
life and death problem such as this. 
1 The Human Aura, by A. Marques, pp. 55, 56. THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
89 
2. Odor Mortis; or, the Smell of Death 
In the Cincinnati Clinic of September 4, 1875, was 
published a paper on "Odor Mortis; or, the Smell of 
Death,'' read by Dr. A. B. Isham before the Cincinnati 
Academy of Medicine, August 30, 1875. The paper was 
based upon observations made while he was in one of 
the surgical wards of the Stanton Hospital, Washington, 
during the summer of 1863, as well as upon instances in 
which the ' ' odor ' ' had been met with in private practice. 
The characler of the odour was muskiferous, yet it ap- 
preciably, though almost indescribably, differed from 
that of musk. In this paper he presented two recent 
instances where this odour attracted notice, together 
with some new observations concerning it. 
Instance 1.-July 13, 1878, on the eve of Dr. Barthol- 
omew's departure for Europe, Dr. Isham was requested 
to assume charge of his patient, Mr. . The patient 
was unconscious, with irregular, noisy respiration, with 
only a feeble trace of pulse, indistinguishable at times, 
and was dying slowly from effusion within the membrane 
of the brain, the result of chronic alcoholism. He was 
with him through the middle of the night, and during 
this time he noticed upon his right hand a smell resem- 
bling that of musk. This hand was exclusively used in 
examining the patient's pulse and in noting the tempera- 
ture of the body. Earlier in the night there had been 
no smell upon it. The left hand acquired the same 
smell from handling the body, and it was also communi- 
cated to the handle of a fan held in the hand. A gentle- 
man from Chicago, who had volunteered as a night 
watcher, and whose attention had been called to the 90 
DEATH 
odour without any suggestion as to its character, 
promptly distinguished it. The ladies of the household 
did not use musk, and no perfumery had been in the 
room or about the patient. Neither had Dr. Isham 
handled nor come in contact with anything other than the 
patient from which the odour could have been derived. 
Death occurred thirty-three hours later. 
Instance 2.-About midnight, May 21, 1879, Dr. 
Isham was called to see Mrs. G. She had several months 
previously been under his care with acute duodenitis, 
but with impaired digestion and defective assimilation; 
but she had subsequently passed into the hands of an 
irregular practitioner. He found her in articulo mortis, 
with general anasarca, the result of blood dilution. 
Upon entering the room there was a plainly perceptible 
musky odour. There was no musk about the house, nor 
had any other perfumery been employed. Death en- 
sued in about half-an-hour. 
The smell, as stated, was closely allied to that of musk, 
yet the impression on the olfactory organs was more 
delicately subtle. Besides, there was an indescribable 
feature pertaining to it which seemed to impress the 
respiratory sense and trouble respiration-a vague sensa- 
tion of an irrespirable or noxious gas. To the convales- 
cent loungers of sharp olfactory sense about the wards of 
Stanton Hospital the smell was familiar, and was termed 
the death smell. It was not uncommon to hear the ex- 
pression, ' ' Some one is dying, for I smell him! ' ' 
It was rare to find the odour widely diffused, and 
where it appeared to be it was probably due to a con- 
tinuance of the first impression upon the olfactory or- 
gans. As commonly encountered, it has suggested the 
idea of gaseous aggregation or body containing odorifer- THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
91 
ous particles possessing an attraction for each other, 
and so held together. In the hospital ward, while pres- 
ent in one place, it was not experienced in another 
slightly removed. It also quickly disappeared from 
the first place-probably moved along by atmospheric 
waves. The vapour in which the odorous molecules 
were suspended appeared, in some instances at least, 
heavier than the atmospheric air. Thus, Dr. Isham had 
sometimes recognized the smell in lower hallways-the 
patient occupying the upper portion of the house; and 
in "Instance 1," already detailed, it was only detected 
on handling the body. This affords one explanation why 
it may not claim more recognition. From its heaviness 
it subsides, and does not enter the nose. Other reasons 
why it may escape attention are, that the olfactory sensi- 
bilities may be blunted by long continuance in an ill- 
ventilated, bad-smelling sick-room; or the air currents 
may carry the odour in a direction not favourable to 
observation. 
The only mention of an odour which might be analo- 
gous is reported by Dr. Badgely, of Montreal, in a report 
on "Irish Emigrant Fever." It is thus quoted by Drake 
in his work on the "Principal Diseases of the Interior 
Valley of America," as taken from the British Medical 
Journal:- 
"I hazard the idea that the ammoniacal odour emanating 
from the living body, so strong on opening the large cavities 
and so striking on receiving some of the blood of the vessels 
-arteries as well as veins-into the hand, were all due to the 
same condition of this fluid-the actual presence of ammoniacal 
salts, one of the surest proofs of the putrescent condition of 
the vital fluid; in fact, to speak paradoxically, of the existence 
of death during life.'* 92 
DEATH 
Here the source of the smell is indicated as coming 
from the development of ammonia in decomposing blood. 
It is known that musk contains ammonia largely, together 
with a volatile oil. Robiquet holds that its odour de- 
pends upon the decomposition of the ammonia, liberating 
the volatile matters of the oil. The blood also contains 
a volatile oil, and it is well known that it possesses odour. 
This odour may be developed by adding sulphuric acid to 
blood and boiling it. This process was formerly resorted 
to in order to distinguish blood in questionable cases, but 
it has been rendered obsolete since the discovery of the 
blood corpuscles by the microscope. Such a method 
would be well suited to drive off the ammonia, free from 
decomposition, together with the volatile oil-to which 
substance the odour is very likely due. 
Originally, Dr. Isham was inclined to limit the occur- 
rence of the manifestation to within a very short time of 
death. That it cannot be so restricted is evidenced by 
"Instance 1," when it was noticed thirty-three hours 
before death. The conditions here were not unfavour- 
able for its development. From the state of circulation, 
chemical changes were evidently proceeding in the blood, 
elevating its temperature and liberating those matters 
to which we would ascribe the origin of the death smell. 
Richardson and Dinnis have shown by experiments 
that ammonia salts added to blood preserve its fluidity 
by preventing the decomposition of fibrin. This is not 
without a bearing upon the origin of the odor mortis. 
In gradual death coagulation commences first in the 
capillaries, and proceeds towards the heart. The escape 
of ammonia from the blood in the peripheral vessels, 
liberating the volatile principles and engendering smell, THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
93 
permits local decomposition of fibrin long before the 
heart has ceased its action. 
But Lange has more recently investigated the action 
of ammonia in living and dead blood. He found that 
carbonate of ammonia added to living blood was only 
given off at a temperature of 176° F. to 194° F. When, 
however, ammonia was added to blood from a dead 
animal, it was evolved at a temperature of from 104° to 
113° F. It is well ascertained that in many diseases, 
just previous to death, the blood temperature is raised 
above the lowest figure given by Lange. In some dis- 
eases, too, the blood falls below the normal bodily tem- 
perature. This affords another and principal explana- 
tion why the odor mortis may not be appreciable. These 
experiments of Lange also show why this smell is not 
developed by diseases characterized by great elevation of 
temperature-simply because the blood has lost none of 
its vital properties. 
Sir William Ramsay has stated that:- 
"Perspiration consists of caproate of glyceryl, mixed with 
free acid, I believe. It does not smell nice; but pure cap- 
roates are very fragrant if the right alcoholic base is combined. 
I fancy that woodruffe and verbena are of the same nature as 
turpentine, and have probably the same percentage composi- 
tion. However, so far as I know, they have never been in- 
vestigated." 
3. Rigor Mortis 
Next to putrefaction, rigor mortis may be considered 
the surest sign of death that we know. Unless the 
burial clothes are put on the corpse soon after death, 
it is almost impossible to get them on at all owing to 94 
DEATH 
the stiffening of the body. Yet it is contended by cer- 
tain authorities that frequently there is no rigor mortis 
whatever. Bichat found that in cases in which an indi- 
vidual had been struck dead by lightning, or had been 
suffocated by charcoal, there was no rigor mortis. When 
complete, rigor mortis is very severe; the body becomes 
as stiff as a board, and it is next to impossible to bend 
or flex the arms and legs. 
Generally, it may be said that rigor mortis appears 
in from three to six hours after death. Quite fre- 
quently it appears before the bodily heat has passed away. 
Niederkorn gives us the following table, the result of 
103 cases observed by him:- 
Rigor mortis within 2 hours after death, 2 cases 
From 2 to 4 " " " 45 " 
" 4 to 6 " " " 24 « 
" 6 to 8 " " " 18 " 
" 8 to 10 " " " 11 " 
" 10 to 13 " " " 3 " 
Total 103 
It is evident, therefore, that the length of time that 
elapses between death and rigor mortis varies consid- 
erably. It is asserted that "after poisoning by a large 
dose of strychnine, rigor mortis follows immediately 
upon the phenomena of contracture with existed at the 
time the patient died." 
"With regard to the duration of rigidity," says Dr. Brou- 
ardel,1 "we are also obliged to make allowance for different 
influences. It lasts on an average twenty-four to forty-eight 
hours. It may, however, last for a few hours only; at other 
times, it persists for five, six, or seven days. Our data with 
1 Death and Sudden Death, p. 66. THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
95 
reference to this subject are very scanty. We know that in 
exhausted individuals, such as those dying with cancer or 
phthisis, rigor mortis appears early, but does not last long; 
on the contrary, in an individual dying while in good health, 
it appears late, and is of long duration. . . . Cadaveric rigid- 
ity appears first in the muscles of the lower jaw, then in 
those of the neck and eyelids, then the lower limbs, and lastly 
the upper limbs. . . . The muscles of the intestinal walls may 
present a certain degree of rigidity." 
The heart becomes rigid after death also; a fact ob- 
served by the illustrious Harvey, and noted by him in 
his Second Disquisition.1 
When persons die from the result of sun-stroke or 
heat-stroke, they are already half rigid, and it is stated 
that the heart becomes rigid immediately upon the death 
of the body. Vallain states that when he was in Algeria, 
he opened the bodies of dogs dying from sun-stroke, and, 
when he cut into the heart, it yielded a sound like that 
of wood! Generally speaking, rigor mortis appears 
much sooner in a warm and moist atmosphere. Indeed, 
it has been asserted that it takes just as many hours to 
effect the same result in the summer time as it does days 
in the winter. When the body is fatigued, rigor mortis 
appears much more rapidly. 
Dr. Brown-Sequard, writing on this subject, said: 
"In rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, and birds, as well as. in dogs, 
I have ascertained that when they are killed by poisons caus- 
ing convulsions, the more violent and the more frequent the 
convulsions are, the sooner cadaveric rigidity sets in, and the 
less is the time it lasts; the sooner also does putrefaction ap- 
pear, and the quicker is its progress." 2 
1 Harvey's treatise on the circulation of the blood should be read by 
every one, as it is a model of sound, logical argument. 
2 Quoted by Savory, Life and Death, pp. 190, 191. 96 
DEATH 
What is rigor mortis? What is its nature? In what 
does it consist? This has been a very vexed question; 
and only of late years has it been satisfactorily settled. 
Kiihne believed that it was due to the coagulation of 
myosin, an albuminous substance contained in the mus- 
cular tissue. Brown-Sequard objected to this, that no 
amount of such coagulation would account for the facts. 
Microscopic examination of muscles has frequently re- 
vealed no structural difference whatever between those 
in a state of rigidity, and those that were flaccid. Some 
observers ascertained that an acid reaction was found in 
the muscles at such times; and concluded that rigidity 
was due to the conversion of alkaline substances into 
acids; but Achtakaweski has proved that in tetanus the 
muscles are not rigid, and that the injection of an al- 
kali into the muscular tissue does not prevent rigidity. 
It has even been ascertained that rigidity will take place 
as usual, even if all posthumous circulation be cut off! 
Brown-Sequard removed the spinal cord from an animal 
and found that no rigidity resulted. His researches, 
however, have been largely disproved by recent experi- 
menters. 
While much still remains uncertain, it is now generally 
admitted that rigor mortis is the first stage of putrefac- 
tion-of which we shall presently treat-and is hence 
the result of bacterial decomposition. Herzen proved 
that there is found in the muscular tissue of a dead 
animal, an acid, which he called "sareolactic acid." By 
injecting some drops of this acid into the muscles of 
dead animals, he caused rigor mortis to appear in cases 
which had not as yet exhibited it. Rigor mortis is 
doubtless the result of certain micro-organisms, which 
secrete toxins in the muscular tissue, causing rigor mortis THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
97 
in this manner. The subject will become more clear 
when we consider the phenomena of putrefaction. To 
this we accordingly turn. 
4. Putrefaction 
The phenomena of putrefaction are of great interest 
and importance, since they frequently enable the prac- 
titioner to tell almost exactly how long a certain body has 
been dead, and for that reason are of great value to for- 
ensic medicine. The subject may appear an unpleasant 
one to many readers; but, rightly considered, it is not 
so, and affords a field for very interesting experiments 
and important deductions. Bear in mind the fact, that 
putrefaction is merely the process of returning the body 
to the native, mineral elements, and there should be no 
objection to studying this process from the scientific 
point of view. Remove from the mind the idea of a 
"corpse," and replace it by the following: here is an 
organic compound; let us watch its gradual disintegra- 
tion and return to mother earth! 
It has been proved that if a body be perfectly pre- 
served from the air, or oxygen, it will not, caeteris par- 
ibus, decay or putrefy at all. Pasteur experimented 
with blood and urine, among the most fermentable and 
putrescible of all •organic fluids. These fluids he sealed 
up hermetically in glass tubes. Although these tubes 
are in his laboratory yet, having been placed there in 
1854, there is today not the slightest trace of putrefaction 
in any of them. The presence of air is therefore neces- 
sary, in order that putrefaction may proceed. Why is 
this? 
When a body dies, three different and distinct sets of 
micro-organisms occupy it, one after the other. First, 98 
DEATH 
there are the "aerobic" organisms, so called because 
they cannot live without the presence of oxygen, which 
they obtain from the air. Following them, there is the 
second set, able to live either with or without oxygen; 
and these M. Bordas, in his thesis on "Putrefaction," 
has called "amphibious." These produce carbonic acid, 
also hydrogen and hydro-carbons. Lastly, there comes 
another category of micro-organisms, the "anaerobic" 
class, which do not live in oxygen, and which produce 
hydrogen, nitrogen, and more or less compound ammo- 
nias. These organisms follow one another, for the rea- 
son that each class secretes a poison in the presence of 
which it is unable to live. It then disappears, and is 
replaced by other colonies, and so on, until the destruc- 
tion of the body is complete. This explains why it is 
that air is necessary to render putrefaction possible; the 
first set of micro-organisms can only exist and set up 
their characteristic effects when there is a certain amount 
of free oxygen, and this they have to obtain from the 
atmosphere. If this be shut off, putrefaction can be 
prevented for a very long time. It illustrates, also, the 
beautiful provision of nature; the method employed to 
disintegrate the body and return it to its elements as 
speedily as possible. 
Putrefaction takes place at a different rate and in a 
different manner, according to the medium in which the 
body is placed. We have already seen the effects of 
withdrawing the body from a medium altogether, plac- 
ing it in vacuo. If the body be in the air, it will decom- 
pose in one way, if in water in another; it will putrefy 
in a different manner still in the earth-and even here 
there is a great difference, according to the nature of 
the soil in which the body is placed. THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
99 
"Micro-organisms can, of course, enter the body through 
the epidermis, but they seem to be very slow in doing so in 
the majority of cases. Usually putrefaction begins in the 
digestive tract. It is especially a function of the processes 
which take place in the intestines. M. Duclaux, who has paid 
much attention to the 'vibrios' of the intestines, has succeeded 
in determining the part they play in putrefaction. At death 
they swarm; they penetrate into the intestinal glands, which 
they destroy, find their way into the veins and peritoneum, and 
produce gases there, and secrete diastase, which liquefies the 
tissues. What is the consequence of this formation of gas 
and diastase? The quantity of gas produced is considerable, 
its tension is sometimes equal to that of 1| atmospheres; it 
also pushes up the diaphragm to the third intercostal space, 
and drives the liquid contained in the deep vessels towards 
the periphery; that is what I have called the posthumous 
circulation." 
The significance of this fact will be apparent when we 
come to a discussion of "Vampires." (See Appendix 
A.) 
If a person dies from suffocation from carbonic acid 
gas, his tissues contain very little oxygen, and, in con- 
sequence, the first set of micro-organisms have great dif- 
ficulty in gaining a foothold within the body. Brou- 
ardel gives a case in which a corpse was found to be 
in a perfect state of preservation two months after death 
-the man having committed suicide in this manner. 
Of course, other causes influence putrefaction greatly. 
The state of health at the time of dying is known to be 
one great contributory cause. Patients dying of cancer 
putrefy very slowly for some reason. If there be food in 
the stomach, decomposition takes place more rapidly 
than if there be none, which is what we should expect 
a priori. If the coffin is badly closed, decomposition 100 
DEATH 
will be more rapid than if it is well sealed: the degree 
of moisture of the soil, or the reverse: whether the body 
be placed in a wooden or a leaden coffin-all these fac- 
tors help to determine the rate and character of the sub- 
sequent putrefaction. 
When bodies are retained in the air for some days, 
and putrefaction sets in, the body swells up from the 
created gas, and this has to be removed, in order to 
prevent tainting of the atmosphere. What, then, is 
done? This: holes are pricked in the bodies, and a 
lighted match applied to these minute orifices. Long, 
bluish flames start forth, like those of a blow-pipe. 
These remain ignited sometimes for three or four days, 
then the combustibility of the gas ceases. When de- 
composition is more advanced the gas will not take fire 
in this manner. This is due to the fact that the gases 
created during the later stages of decomposition are not 
combustible; but those in the earlier stages are. 
During decomposition phosphoretted hydrogen is fre- 
quently formed. "Before the time when refrigerating 
apparatus was employed at the Morgue-that is to say, 
prior to 1882-phosphorescence was often noticed there, 
especially in warm weather, Wills-o'-the-wisp, which ran 
over and around the bodies. It was a very impressive 
spectacle." This has great significance, when we re- 
member the frequent allusions to ' ' corpse lights, ' ' etc.- 
spirits that were supposed to hover above the grave in 
the graveyard, and which have doubtless given rise to 
many a ghost story. 
When a body decomposes under the ground, little 
blebs form all over the surface of the body; these are 
filled with a sort of serum and blood. The epidermis 
then separates in flakes. Gases are formed in large THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
101 
quantities, and when the tissues have been more or less 
liquefied by the action of micro-organisms, the flesh is 
ruptured, thus giving vent to these gases. It is curious 
to note that when a body is completely covered with 
animal excreta, it decomposes very slowly indeed; 
whereas precisely the reverse of this is what we should 
expect! I shall not do more than refer to this here,- 
leaving the more technical discussion for more strictly 
medical treatises. 
When a body decomposes in water, many interesting 
changes take place. Dr. Brouardel assures us that "the 
first green patch which appears does not show itself in 
the region of the caecum, as it does when the body pu- 
trefies in the open air, but over the sternum;" and he 
adds, "I cannot explain to you the cause of this varia- 
tion." Hofman calculated that putrefaction is twice as 
rapid in air as in water. The water in which the body 
is floating penetrates the periphery, and enters into the 
blood stream, thus preventing coagulation to anything 
like the extent that would take place in the air. But 
when the body is withdrawn from the water, putrefac- 
tion takes place with extreme rapidity. 
The best account of what takes place in bodies thrown 
into water is the following, which I take from Death 
and Sudden Death, p. 83:- 
"Bodies more frequently undergo transformation into fatty 
matter in the water than in the open air; this transformation 
is sometimes complete by the end of five or six months. If 
it had remained exposed in the open air, the corpse might have 
putrefied before so long a time had elapsed; if it had been 
placed in the earth, it would be necessary to take into consid- 
eration the state of the coffin and of the soil-putrefaction 
might be hastened or retarded thereby. In the water the 102 
DEATH 
phenomena of putrefaction follow the same evolutionary 
course as those of fermentation within the intestines. The 
Fenayrou case affords a demonstration of this. A druggist 
named Aubert was murdered in the country by a husband 
and wife of the name of Fenayrou, assisted by their brother. 
To get rid of the corpse they threw it into the Seine, after 
having enclosed it in a piece of lead pipe. They hoped that 
thus it would stay at the bottom of the water. Three days 
afterwards Aubert floated, though still enclosed in the lead 
pipe. An enormous quantity of lead would be necessary to 
prevent a body from rising to the surface; the only means 
of keeping the body at the bottom would be to open the ab- 
domen and perforate the intestines; in this way the gases 
would escape as soon as they were produced." 
Saponification.-This occurs only in bodies lying in 
water, or in very damp ground. As a general rule, this 
adipocere forms the more readily the fatter the bodies 
are. In recently dead bodies it is a white matter, soft, 
brittle, and somewhat watery. When exposed to the air 
it dries up. Bodies exposed to a hot, dry air, on the 
contrary, tend to "mummify," as we shall see later. 
Saponification is the scientific term. It consists of 
the fatty matter combined at first with the ammonia 
disengaged by decomposition. It thus forms an am- 
moniacal soap. If it is in water, the lime of the water 
drives off the ammonia, and thus forms a lime soap, 
and may remain unchanged for a long period. Some 
think that the body may be completely saponified in 
a year. Bodies of infants may saponify in six weeks 
to thirteen months. It is probable that it begins in 
three or four months in water. In one case where the 
body was half out of the water, after fourteen months 
the lower part was saponified and the rest not. This THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
103 
soapy matter becomes ultimately broken up and washed 
away, if in water. 
The different organs of the body decompose at very 
different rates, and in different manners. The bones, of 
course, last longest of all, becoming more and more light 
as time goes on, and they gradually lose their animal 
matter. It is asserted that the uterus is the last organ 
to decompose. In adults the brain decomposes slowly, 
in children more quickly. The liver becomes light after 
death, and will float when thrown into water. This is 
due to the formation of gas within its structure. The 
lungs of an adult (and those of a child) decompose in a 
different manner from those of a babe who has never 
breathed. The eye decomposes and vanishes at the end 
of about two months; the nails become loose about the 
twentieth day. 
Bodies decompose at different rates. Some of them 
disintegrate and liquefy very speedily; others take 
months and even years to reach the same advanced stage 
of putrefaction. The causes of these differences are not 
known, but it would not be a difficult matter to con- 
jecture, at least, in the majority of instances. That re- 
markable cases of the kind exist, there can be no doubt. 
Brouardel mentions one in which a leaden coffin was 
opened at the end of three months, and the corpse 
"looked as if it were in a bath of sweat; it was covered 
with moisture, and the skin was corrugated." In an- 
other case, "a woman poisoned by Pel was found, four 
years after death, in the exact condition in which she 
was when put into her coffin." In yet another remark- 
able case, a number of soldiers were buried together. 
Five years later they were disinterred, when we find 
that "some of them were skeletons, clothed with remains 104 
DEATH 
of their belts, etc., others were still in such a state of 
preservation that their features could be recognized." 
"The fact," he adds, "cannot be explained at present. 
All sorts of hypotheses are possible. We may assume 
that all these men had not the same species of micro- 
organism in their digestive tubes" (p. 98). 
As the net result of our inquiry, therefore, we find 
that every test of death is unreliable, with the single 
exception of putrefaction. Even here, certain discolor- 
ations and spots may appear on the surface of the body 
on occasion, which may be mistaken for decomposition; 
and it would be well to wait until unmistakable signs 
develop. But, on the whole, decomposition may be con- 
sidered a fairly reliable test. It is, at all events, the only 
fairly reliable sign, and certainly the only sign that the 
layman can trust. Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, 
writing on this subject, stated that only in a combina- 
tion of signs, all appearing together, is safety to be 
found. He enumerates the following indications:- 
Respiratory failure, cardiac failure, absence of turges- 
cence or filling of the veins on making pressure between 
them and the heart, reduction of the temperature of 
the body, rigor mortis, coagulation of the blood, putre- 
factive decomposition, absence of red colour in semi- 
transparent parts under the influence of a powerful 
stream of light, absence of muscular contraction under 
the stimulus of galvanism, heat, or of puncture, absence 
of red blush on the skin after subcutaneous injection of 
ammonia, absence of signs of rust or oxidation of a 
bright steel blade after plunging it deep into the tis- 
sues. Sir Benjamin sums up the matter thus:- THE SIGNS OF DEATH 
105 
"If all these signs point to death . . . the evidence may be 
considered conclusive that death is absolute. If these leave 
any sign for doubt, or even if they leave no doubt, one fur- 
ther point of practice should be carried out. The body should 
be kept in a room, the temperature of which has been raised 
to a heat of 84° F., with moisture diffused through the air, 
and in this warm and moist atmosphere it should remain un- 
til distinct indications of putrefactive decomposition have 
set in." CHAPTER V 
TRANCE, CATALEPSY, SUSPENDED ANIMATION, ETC. 
Dr. George Moore, in his Use of the Body in Relation 
to the Mind, p. 31, says:-"A state of the body is cer- 
tainly sometimes produced (in man) which is nearly 
analogous to the torpor of the lower animals- a condi- 
tion utterly inexplicable by any principle taught in the 
schools." This was written years ago, but it still holds 
good. Very little, indeed, is known about this subject- 
more than some of its mere phenomena-which were rec- 
ognized and carefully studied, by Braid, who wrote his 
memoir, Observations on Trance; or, Human Hiberna- 
tion, in 1850. When we come to inquire into the cause, 
the real essence of trance and kindred states, we find 
an amazing lack of knowledge on these subjects-mostly 
due to the fact, no doubt, that it has always been con- 
sidered a mark of "superstition" to investigate such 
cases; and so, until the last few years, these peculiar 
conditions have been left strictly alone by the medical 
profession. When a condition of catalepsy could be 
shown to be due to a disordered, nervous condition, then 
it was legitimate to study such a case; but when the 
causes of the trance were psychological or unknown, 
then it immediately became "superstition"! Even to- 
day this state of affairs is not outgrown. I doubt if 
more than one physician in a hundred would be willing 
to recognize the "medium trance," e. g., as a separate 
state requiring prolonged psychological investigation. 
106 TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
107 
In spite of the fact that Professor William James pointed 
out the absurdity of this attitude, it is still the one all 
but universally maintained. 
Writing on trance, ecstasy, catalepsy, and kindred 
states in Pepper's System of Medicine, vol. v, pp. 314-52, 
Dr. Charles K. Mills thus defines these conditions:- 
"Catalepsy is a functional nervous disease characterized by 
conditions of perverted consciousness, diminished sensibility, 
and especially by muscular rigidity or immobility, which is 
independent of the will, and in consequence of which the 
whole body, the limbs, or the parts affected, remain in any 
position or attitude in which they may be placed." 
The following is the author's definition of ecstasy:- 
"Ecstasy is a derangement of the nervous system, character- 
ized by an exalted visionary state, absence of volition, insensi- 
bility to surroundings, a radiant expression, and immobility 
in statuesque positions. Commonly, ecstasy and catalepsy, or 
ecstasy and hysterio-epilepsy, or all three of these disorders, 
alternate, co-exist, or occur at intervals in the same individual. 
Occasionally, however, the ecstatic seizure is the only one 
that attracts attention. Usually, in ecstasy, the concentra- 
tion of mind and the visionary appearance have reference to 
religious or spiritual subjects. 
"Trance may be defined as a derangement of the nervous 
system, characterized by general muscular immobility, com- 
plete mental inertia, and insensibility to surroundings. The 
condition of a patient in a state of trance has been frequently 
and not inaptly compared to that of a hibernating animal. 
Trance may last for minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even 
months. In trance, as in ecstasy, the patient may remain mo- 
tionless and apparently unconscious of all surroundings; but 
in the former or visionary state, the radiant expression and 
the statuesque positions are not necessarily present. In trance, 
as stated by Wilks, the patients may lie like an animal hiber- 108 
DEATH 
nating for days together; without eating or drinking, and ap- 
parently insensible to all objects around them. In ecstasy, the 
mind, under certain limitations, is active; it is concentrated 
upon some object of interest, admiration, or adoration. Con- 
ditions of trance, as a rule, last longer than those of ecstasy." 
Braid's theory of trance is that it is:- 
"A functional disease of the nervous system in which the 
cerebral activity is concentrated in some limited region of 
the brain, with suspension of the activity of the rest of the 
brain, and consequent loss of volition. Like other functional 
nervous diseases, it may be induced either physically or 
psychically-that is, by the influences that act on the nervous 
system or on the mind; more frequently the latter, sometimes 
both combined." 
Dana1 reported about fifty cases of prolonged morbid 
somnolence. He did not include among them cases of 
drowsiness due to old age, diseased blood-vessels, cerebral 
mal-nutrition, or inflammation, various toxaemiae as 
malaria, uraemia, syphilis, etc., dyspepsia, diabetes, 
obesity, insolation, cerebral anaemia, and hyperaemia, 
cerebral tumours and cranial injuries, exhausting dis- 
eases, and the sleeping-sickness of Africa. 
He found that the prolonged somnolence showed itself 
in very different ways. Sometimes the patient suffers 
from simply a great prolongation of natural sleep; 
sometimes from a constant, persistent drowsiness, which 
he is often obliged to yield to; sometimes from frequent 
brief attacks of somnolence; not being drowsy in the 
intermission; sometimes from single or repeated pro- 
longed lethargic attacks; finally, sometimes from period- 
1 "Morbid Drowsiness and Somnolence."-Journal of Nervous and 
Mental Diseases, vol. xi., April 18, 1884. TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
109 
ical attacks of profound somnolence or lethargy which 
last for days, weeks, or months. He says that most cases 
of functional morbid somnolence are closely related 
to the epileptic or hysterical diathesis; but a class of 
cases is met with in which no history or evidence of 
epilepsy or hysteria can be adduced, and, though they 
may be called epileptoid or hysteroid, these designations 
are simply makeshifts; the patients seem to be the vic- 
tims of a special morbid hypnosis. 
Very much the same ground is taken by Dr. William 
B. Hammond in his Spiritualism and Allied Causes and 
Conditions of Nervous Derangement, and by Dr. Mar- 
vin in his Philosophy of Spritualism. It will be seen 
at once, the attitude assumed towards trance, ecstasy, 
and all kindred states in the attitude of pure material- 
ism. Doubtless this attitude would be perfectly justi- 
fiable were it capable of covering and explaining all the 
facts; but it can fairly be said that such an interpreta- 
tion of the states noted is quite incapable of explaining 
them all. The medium-trance is totally different from 
any of the states that have been discussed; it shows no 
identity with any of them. It is not dependent upon 
any morbid state of body, and cannot be regarded as 
a morbid symptom. Indeed, when a medium is ill, 
trance is generally impossible! Further, the sup- 
porters of such a view would have to account for the 
supernormal knowledge displayed by the medium while 
in the trance state. That is the crux. I do not care 
what theory of the nature of the trance state may be 
held, provided that it is capable of explaining all the 
facts. The current materialistic theories certainly can- 
not do this. 
So little is known of this state we call trance, indeed, 110 
DEATH 
that it has been found difficult even to define. Dr. J. 
Brindley James says of this condition:- 
"What, then, is trance? It is a sleep-like condition that 
comes on spontaneously, quite apart from any gross lesion of 
the brain or from any toxic agency, and from which the sleeper 
cannot be roused even by the most energetic measures." 1 
It will be obvious that this does little more than de- 
fine the state, which is as much as any work on the sub- 
ject has so far attempted. Dr. James points out that, 
owing to our ignorance of the nature of trance and of 
its limitations, it is quite possible to mistake it for 
death on occasion unless the most exacting tests be em- 
ployed. Various persons are apt to fall into this trance- 
like condition-"mostly educated persons of nervous 
temperament."2 This trance-like condition is said to 
result most commonly from the following diseases or 
their complications:- 
"Catalepsy, hysteria, chorea, hypnotism, somnambulism, 
neurasthenia, stroke by lightning, sun-stroke, anaesthesia from 
chloroform, etc., eclampsic coma in pregnancy, still-birth; 
cold, asphyxia from various gases, vapours, and smoke; nar- 
cotism from opium and other agents; convulsive maladies, 
drowning, nervous shock from gunshot, electricity, and other 
injuries; smothering under snow, earth, grain, or in bed; 
strangulation, epilepsy, mental and physical exhaustion, syn- 
cope, extreme heat and cold, alcoholic intoxication, haemor- 
rhages, suspended animation from mental disorders, excessive 
emotion, fright, intense excitement, etc.; apoplectic seizures, 
so-called 'heart failures,' and many other diseases." 3 
1 Trance: its Various Aspects and Possible Results, pp. 3, 4. 
2 How the State can Prevent Premature Burial. By James R. Wil- 
liamson. 
3 Plan for Forming Associations for the Prevention of Premature Burial, 
etc., pp. 5, 6. TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
111 
The condition known to us as trance is both uncertain 
and fluctuating. There can be no doubt that hypnotic 
trance, or trance induced by the mesmeric process (if 
there be any difference between them), is remarkably 
deep-so deep indeed, that Dr. Esdaile was enabled to 
perform, under its influence, some 261 operations of a 
painful and critical character, which he enumerates in 
his Clairvoyance, pp. 168-9. Such operations as the re- 
moval of a cancer of the eyeball; amputation of a thigh, 
a leg, an arm: various operations for the removal of tu- 
mours-operations that certainly cannot be performed 
easily or upon a patient who is not under the influence 
of an anaesthetic, mental or physical. It is amusing, in 
the light of our present knowledge, to see the attempts 
of many medical men of that day to account for Esdaile's 
cases. They went so far as to assert that the patients op- 
erated upon were merely hardened rogues paid to with- 
stand the pain! The phenomenon of trance, both nat- 
ural and induced, is now acknowledged, however, and 
recognized by all psychologists. 
When we come to consider the nature and causes of 
trance, we find the greatest difficulty in forming any con- 
ception of it. All purely physiological explanations 
must certainly be abandoned. They do not account for 
the hypnotic phenomena, far less for trances of spon- 
taneous or mediumistic type. Trance differs essentially 
also from sleep, though of course the two have something 
in common. A nearer analogy, probably, is the hypnotic 
trance; and it has occurred to me that the mediumistic 
trance might be a type of hypnotic influence from "the 
other side," just as the hypnotic trance that we know is 
a species of mental influence from this side. In other 
words? both hypnotic and mediumistic trances may be 112 
DEATH 
samples of mental influence-the one from the mind of 
a living, the other from that of a dead operator. This 
would seem to be strengthened by the fact that mediums 
are frequently very insusceptible to hypnotic or even 
to normal suggestion from operators on this side. Mrs. 
Piper has been tested for this, for example, and no trace 
of any faculty of thought transference has been found, 
and only a light state of hypnosis could be induced in 
her, even after prolonged attempts. This would seem to 
indicate that the more an individual spirit is en rapport 
with another world, the less is it en rapport with this. 
Mr. Myers, in his Human Personality, has distinguished 
three distinct types of Trance. He says:- 
"The first step, apparently, is the abeyance of the supra- 
liminal self, and the dominance of the sub-liminal self, which 
may lead in some cases to a form of trance (or what we have 
hitherto called secondary personality), where the whole body 
of the automatist is controlled by his own sub-liminal self, 
or incarnate spirit, but where there is no indication of dis- 
caroate spirits. The next form of trance is where the incarnate 
spirit, whether or not maintaining control of the whole body, 
makes excursions into, or holds telepathic intercourse with, 
the spiritual world. And, lastly, there is the trance of posses- 
sion by another, a discarnate spirit. We cannot, of course, 
always distinguish between these three main types of trance, 
which, as we shall see later, themselves admit of different 
degrees and varieties." 
Mr. Myers contends elsewhere that the simplest aspect 
of trance is "suggested sleep," which would seem to agree 
somewhat with the theory advanced above. Dreams, the 
author shows, by analogy, to be "bubbles breaking upon 
the surface from the deep below." Extending his anal- 
ogy, he has conceived clairvoyance as a state in which TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
113 
the spirit of the seer is enabled to leave the body and 
travel through different scenes and localities. In ec- 
stasy, the soul would change its environment and pass 
for a time into the spiritual world, retaining such rela- 
tions to the organism as enables it to return to its or- 
dinary condition. And so, our author goes on, "when 
the last change comes, and we ask ourselves with what 
added ground for speculation we now strain our gaze 
beyond that obscurest crisis," we find-that death is an 
irrevocable self-projection of the spirit; that condition 
in which the spirit has emerged from the body, and, be- 
cause of altered physical conditions, is unable to return 
to it. 
Sleep and Death 
Many analogies have been drawn between sleep and 
death, and death is often called "the last sleep." But 
there is always this distinction between the two, that 
in the one case we revive and return to animate the 
body, and in the other case we do not. Where con- 
sciousness is, what becomes of it during the hours of 
sleep, has always been one of the most bitterly disputed 
points in psychology. Certain it is that self-conscious- 
ness is absent pro tem.; but whether it is annihilated, 
as materialism teaches, or merely withdrawn, as the 
opposite school avers, is a question that is as far as 
ever from being satisfactorily answered. Many are the 
battles that have been fought over this point, but none 
of them has ever been won! Truly the field is open, 
and the world is at the feet of the man who shall discover 
the innermost nature of sleep. It is equally a mystery 
with death, and it is probable that there is some close 
interdependence between them. Veridical and super- 114 
DEATH 
normal dreams; cross-correspondence between dreams 
and the statements made by trance mediums, etc., would 
seem to indicate that the human spirit is simply with- 
drawn during the hours of sleep-being revivified in 
some other sphere. However, these are questions into 
which we cannot enter now. 
Both trance and catalepsy occur spontaneously; both 
may also be induced artificially by hypnotism. Both 
are mistaken for death, and in many respects they are 
very similar. In catalepsy the body is rigid, whereas in 
trance this is very rarely the case-this forming the chief 
mark of distinction (external indication) between the 
two states. What the internal differences are we do not 
know. Various attempts, however, have been made to 
define them. Dr. Franz Hartmann, e. g., thus distin- 
guishes them:-There seems hardly any limit to the time 
during which a person may remain in a trance; but 
catalepsy is due to some obstruction in the organic 
mechanism of the body on account of its exhausted ner- 
vous power. In the last case the activity of life begins 
again as soon as the impediment is removed or the ner- 
vous energy has recuperated its strength. 
Whatever the innermost nature of this trance state 
may be, it seems certain that some individuals have the 
faculty of inducing this condition at will, just as it may 
be induced by hypnotic processes from without. The 
Yogis and Fakirs of India doubtless possess this power to 
some extent.1 Braid gave what was probably the 
first authentic account of their remarkable cases of 
suspended animation and voluntary interment; which 
are also to be found narrated in more recent works-e. g., 
1 See my book Higher Psychical Development for an account of the 
methods employed in order to render this possible. TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
115 
Hudson's Law of Psychic Phenomena, pp. 309-20. 
There are many such cases, and it is reported that a num- 
ber of persons have been buried alive in consequence of 
the inability of the attending physician to distinguish 
the induced state from true death. It is not to be won- 
dered at; and until these states and conditions receive 
the study and attention they deserve, such cases of 
premature interment will probably continue to occur. 
When we come to inquire into the immediate causes 
of catalepsy and allied states, we find that very little is 
known about these conditions. Dr. Alexander Wilder, 
in his Perils of Premature Burial, p. 19, says that:- 
"We exhaust our energies by overwork, by excitement, too 
much fatigue of the brain, the use of tobacco, and sedatives 
and anaesthetics, and by habits and practices which hasten 
the Three Sisters in spinning the fatal thread. Apoplexy, 
palsy, epilepsy, are likely to prostrate any of us at any mo- 
ment; and catalepsy, perhaps, is not far from any of us." 
Again, Dr. W. R. Gowers, in Quain's Dictionary of 
Medicine, p. 216, says:- 
"Nervous exhaustion is the common predisponent; and emo- 
tional disturbances, especially religious excitement, or sudden 
alarm, and blows on the head and back, are frequent imme- 
diate causes." 
Dr. James Curry, on the other hand, thinks that 
fainting fits and losses of blood are the chief factors in 
inducing these death-counterfeits. (See Observations on 
Apparent Death, pp. 81, 82.) M. Charles Londe, in 
La Mort Apparente, p. 16, says:- 
"Intense cold, coincident with privations and fatigue, will 
produce all the phenomena of apparent death. ... "1 
1 I have considered freezing to death on pp. 62-64. 116 
DEATH 
Struve, in his essay on Suspended Animation, p. 140, 
takes the same view. It has frequently been pointed 
out that the sequelae of certain diseases, the use of 
narcotics, etc., will result in states that cannot be distin- 
guished from death. These cases of suspended anima- 
tion will sometimes last for many days, as has frequently 
been shown; and if the body be buried during this in- 
terval, we should have a case of "premature burial." 
How long may a body cease to show signs of life, and 
yet be revived? That is a much disputed point; but 
there can be no question that, if air be permitted access 
to the body of the patient, it can be revived after a very 
long period-a period not of hours, but of days and 
weeks. Indeed, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson said on 
this point:- 
"We are at this moment ignorant of the time when vitality 
eeases to act upon matter that has been vitalized. Presum- 
ing that an organism can be arrested in its living in such 
manner that its parts shall not be injured to the extent of 
actual destruction of tissue, or change of organic form, the 
vital wave seems ever ready to pour into the body again so 
soon as the conditions for its action are re-established. Thus, 
in some of my experiments for suspending the conditions es- 
sential for the visible manifestations of life in cold-blooded 
animals, I have succeeded in re-establishing the condition 
under which the vital vibrations w'ill influence, after a lapse 
not of hours, but even of days; and for my part I know no 
limitation to such re-manifestation, except from the simple 
ignorance of us who inquire into the subject." 1 
Assuredly this is a significant admission! In the light 
of this fact, certain historic cases of "raising the dead" 
might be re-interpreted, and put upon a rational basis. 
1 Ministry of Health, pp. 154-5. TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
117 
There can be no doubt that re-animation has taken place 
after very long intervals on occasion-even when there 
has been no external sign of life in the interval. Of 
course the time would be comparatively brief, if the 
supply of air were cut off, or the heart actually stopped. 
In a coffin of the usual dimensions, it has been estimated 
that from twenty minutes to an hour would insure death 
from suffocation. But even here we must allow, as 
Tebb and Vollum point out {Premature Burial, p. 211), 
for a certain persistence of the vital energy, which con- 
tinues after all atmospheric air has been cut off. 
"Experiments on dogs show that the average duration of 
the respiratory movements after the animal has been deprived 
of air is four minutes five seconds. The duration of the 
heart's action is seven minutes, eleven seconds. The average of 
the heart's action after the animal has ceased to make respira- 
tory efforts is three minutes fifteen seconds. These experi- 
ments further showed that a dog may be deprived of air during 
three minutes fifty seconds and afterwards recover without 
the application of artificial means." 1 
It may be said that with modern improvements, and 
with the aid of artificial stimulants, this period has been 
very greatly exceeded. 
In this connection I may mention certain facts of in- 
terest that are to be noted in the animal world. Pro- 
fessor S. J. Holmes, writing in the Popular Science 
Monthly, for February, 1908, calls attention to the in- 
stinct of feigning death among various animals and in- 
sects. Some of them assume attitudes that render them 
almost indistinguishable from their surroundings; others 
draw themselves up into a ball; still others remain in 
1 Report on "Suspended Animation," by a Committee of the Royal 
Med. Chirur. Society, July 12, 1862. 118 
DEATH 
a state of apparent catalepsy, in whatever attitude they 
are placed, this state lasting for an hour or even longer. 
It is interesting to note in this connection that the at- 
titudes assumed by these various animals at such times 
often bear no resemblance to the attitudes they assume 
in death. Darwin observed this and said:- 
"I carefully noted the simulated positions of seventeen dif- 
ferent kinds of insects belonging to different genera, both 
poor and first-rate shammers. Afterwards I procured natur- 
ally dead specimens of some of these insects (including an 
lulus, spider, and Oniscus) belonging to distinct genera, 
others I killed with camphor by an easy slow death; the re- 
sult was that in no instance was the attitude exactly the same, 
and in several instances the attitudes of the feigners and of 
the really dead were as unlike as they could possibly be." 
Professor Holmes does not consider that in the insects 
at least, this feigning of death is a conscious impulse, 
but rather of the nature of a reflex action. He states 
that the mere handling or touching of certain insects- 
for example, the water scorpion-will cause them to 
feign death for an hour, even if they are left entirely 
alone, or covered up, and their tormentor leaves the 
room. It is interesting to note, also, that these creatures 
cannot be made to feign death by any amount of hand- 
ling under water. As soon as they are in the air, how- 
ever, they feign death repeatedly. As soon as the state 
has worn off, if they are touched again, they again feign 
death for an hour or so, and this may be repeated a 
number of times in succession. 
Among the higher animals, on the contrary, such as 
the fox, it would appear that this instinct is largely an 
act of consciousness, and that they are perfectly aware of TRANCE, CATALEPSY 
119 
their surroundings, and of the reason for their feigning 
in this manner. A fox, when feigning death, will often 
cautiously open its eyes, raise its head, look around, and 
finally scamper off, if its pursuers have withdrawn to a 
safe distance. 
It would appear that, in the majority of cases, espe- 
cially among the insects, the induced state resembles that 
of catalepsy; the muscular rigidity noticed-which is 
intense-would indicate this, and the fact that they 
suffer a great amount of maltreatment (pricking, mu- 
tilation, burning, etc.) without showing any signs of 
sensibility, would seem to show that this is lost, and 
that more or less complete anaesthesia is present. The 
state is probably closely akin to what has been called 
"hypnotism" in the lower animals. Practically noth- 
ing is known of that condition of the nervous system 
which makes such results possible, and this is as true of 
the higher as of the lower creatures. CHAPTER VI 
PREMATURE BURIAL 
1. Cases 
We have seen, as the result of the two preceding chap- 
ters, that there is no certain sign of death (with the 
single exception of putrefaction, which is not generally 
waited for), and that there are, on the contrary, many 
states and conditions which very closely simulate death; 
that, for days in fact, it is almost impossible to dis- 
tinguish true from false death-so similar are they. 
The question here arises: Is it not possible, and in fact 
probable, that in certain cases a living person has been 
buried by mistake, under the impression that he is dead ? 
Might it not be quite possible that accidents of the sort 
occur and premature burial take place? It would cer- 
tainly seem that such must be the case; and when we 
turn to an account of the actual facts we find that such 
has happened very frequently. It is improbable that 
premature burial takes place as frequently as it did 
some years ago, but it is doubtless true that many cases 
are on record, amply testifying to the fact that it has 
occurred with horrible frequency, from time to time, in 
the past. A large number of such cases, authenticated 
more or less fully, are to be found in Tebb and Vollum's 
Premature Burial, in Franz Hartmann's Buried Alive, 
and in the Encyclopedia of Death, vol. ii, pp. 7-114. A 
great mass of cases are here adduced; and, although Dr. 
David Walsh attacked the evidence in his little book, 
Premature Burial, there can be no doubt that a large 
120 PREMATURE BURIAL 
121 
number of the cases printed stand the test of scrutiny, 
and are veritable cases of "premature burial." Simi- 
lar cases are continually coming to the attention of the 
public from time to time and it is surely high time that 
some means be adopted to check this evil. It is true 
that there is a Society for the Prevention of Premature 
Burial-both in England and America-but it is un- 
able to accomplish much, owing to the tyranny that it 
has encountered in more than one direction. Such a 
movement deserves the whole-hearted support of the 
people; and I shall now endeavour to lay before the 
reader my reason for taking this stand so strongly. 
Nothing that the human mind can conceive can ap- 
peal to the imagination as more horrible than the idea 
of premature burial. To awake in a coffin-cold, dark, 
and helpless-far beneath the surface of the ground, 
and know that the living tomb is one from which it is 
impossible to escape, suggests a tragedy that is in every 
sense appalling. If we attempt to picture such a fate, 
it is easy to comprehend how the agony of a whole life- 
time may be compressed within the few minutes that 
elapse between the moment when the victim awakes to 
the horror of his position and the time when he again 
lapses into unconsciousness, as the effect of suffocation. 
It is not strange that such a subject should have ap- 
pealed to the writer of realistic fiction, but we must 
not imagine that these cases occur only in the pages of 
the sensational novel. In writing upon this subject, 
Professor R. L. 0. Roehrig, formerly of Cornell Univer- 
sity, said:- 
"The possibility of premature burial always exists, for 
that there is real danger of being buried, embalmed, dis- 
sected, or cremated alive has been fully acknowledged by 122 
DEATH 
various unquestionable, highly respectable authorities, and 
many celebrated authors have written on this particularly im- 
portant subject, among them Alexander Humboldt, Hartmann, 
and Hufeland. All have shown that in every case of death 
which cannot be plainly accounted for by violent external 
causes, fatal vulnerations, accidents by firearms or other 
deadly weapons, suicide or murder, it is of the utmost im- 
portance to abstain from all sudden alarm and meddlesome 
interference, and most patiently to wait until every possible 
doubt as to the real and entire extinction of life has been 
absolutely removed. 
"Under no conditions should the fear of ridicule, supercil- 
ious contempt, or mockery coming from the thoughtless, or 
any other sort of intimidation, influence us in our conduct 
on so grave an occasion. Nobody can be certain that he will 
not at some time have to undergo this horrible misfortune, 
for the most celebrated and experienced physicians have been 
misled by appearances, while even the assertions of the 
public inspectors of the dead have often led to the most de- 
plorable consequences." 
Prone as the scientist may be to question the accuracy 
of the assertion that, at the smallest average, one person 
is buried alive in the United States every twenty-four 
hours, it is important to note that the London Humane 
Sociey has reported the fact of having brought back to 
life no less than 2175 apparently dead persons within 
a term of twenty-two years; that a similar society in 
Amsterdam restored 990 persons in twenty-five years; 
and that the Hamburg Society saved 107 persons from 
premature burial in less than five years. Personally, I 
know of several cases of this kind, and, in one instance 
a prominent New York physician recently discovered to 
his horror that the body he was dissecting was that of 
a live man. Professor Roehrig, who asserts that he has PREMATURE BURIAL 
123 
saved many persons from this fate, states that he once 
rescued a child from the dissecting table, in spite of the 
insulting mockery of all the other physicians who were 
in attendance. In view of these facts, it is not difficult 
to believe that the following gruesome experience, re- 
lated by a French physician in the Paris Figaro, may 
be fact, not fiction:- 
"Five years ago," he writes, "I was preparing for an ex- 
amination, and went one night alone into the dissecting room 
for the purpose of studying certain abdominal viscera, carry- 
ing a light in my hand. An insane woman, having died on the 
day before, was extended naked upon the marble slab. I 
placed my candle upon her chest, and made a cut through 
the skin over the stomach. At that moment the supposed 
corpse gave a terrible scream, and, rising up, caused the 
light to fall and become extinguished. Then a terrible strug- 
gle began; the woman, with one of her cold clammy hands 
took hold of my hair, and with the other clawed my face 
with her finger nails. I was beside myself with terror, and 
blindly struck about me with the scalpel which I still held 
in my hand. Suddenly my knife struck an obstacle; a sigh 
followed, the grasp on my hair was loosened, I fainted, and 
knew nothing more. When I awoke it was daylight; I found 
myself upon the floor lying beside the bloody corpse of the 
woman whom I had killed, as my knife had gone directly to 
her heart. I replaced the corpse upon the table and said 
nothing about it; but the recollection of this event fills me 
with horror, while the marks which the nails left upon my 
face are still there." 
It has been pretty authoritatively asserted that Mlle. 
Rachel, the celebrated actress, was embalmed while still 
alive, and there are those who will always believe that 
Washington Irving Bishop, the distinguished mind- 
reader, died from the effects of an autopsy performed 124 
DEATH 
while the unfortunate man was in one of the trances 
to which he was frequently subject. It is also stated 
that the mother of the famous General Lee was buried 
alive and resuscitated two years before his birth. Al- 
though pronounced to be dead by her physician, she 
regained consciousness sufficiently during the process 
of interment to attract the attention of the sexton. 
Ebenezer Erskine, one of the founders of the (United) 
Free Church of Scotland, is also said to have been born 
after the burial of his mother. As in the case of Mrs. 
Lee, Mrs. Erskine was buried while in a trance. As 
the gravedigger had noticed that there was a valuable 
ring on one of her fingers he determined to secure it, and, 
stealing to the new-made grave during the night, he 
removed and opened the casket, and cut off the finger 
on which the ring had been placed. It was by this act 
of felony that her life was saved. 
A comparatively short time ago, George Hefdecker, a 
farmer living near Erie, Pa., died suddenly of what was 
supposed to be heart failure. The body was buried 
temporarily in a neighbour's lot in the Erie Cemetery, 
and when, some time later, the transfer to a newly- 
purchased family lot was made, the casket was opened at 
the request of the relatives. To their horror it was then 
discovered that the body had turned completely round, 
and the face, as well as the interior of the coffin, bore 
unmistakable traces of the terrible struggle that had 
occurred. 
A similar story comes from Petrograd, Russia, in 
connection with the interment at Tioobayn, near that 
city, of a peasant girl named Antonova. She had pre- 
sumably died, and was buried, but after the gravedigger 
had completed his work he was startled by sounds that PREMATURE BURIAL 
125 
seemed to come from the new-made grave. Instead of 
removing the coffin and breaking it open, however, he 
rushed off to find a doctor, and when he and the public 
officials arrived it was too late. The casket contained 
a corpse, but, as the position of the body clearly proved, 
death had only just taken place. 
When the question of premature burial came up for 
discussion before the French Senate some years ago, a 
most remarkable story was told under oath by Cardinal 
Archbishop Donnet. In part, his testimony was as fol- 
lows : 
"In the summer of 1826, on the close of a summer day, in 
a church which was exceedingly crowded, a young priest who 
was in the act of preaching was suddenly seized with giddi- 
ness in the pulpit. The words he was uttering became indis- 
tinct; he soon lost the power of speech, and sank down on 
the floor. He was taken out of the church and carried home. 
All was thought to be over. Some hours after the funeral 
bell was tolled, and the usual preparations made for the in- 
terment. His eyesight was gone; but if he could see nothing, 
he could hear, and I need not say what reached his ears was 
not calculated to reassure him. The doctor came, examined 
him, and pronounced him dead; and after the usual inquiries as 
to his age, the place of his birth, etc., gave permission for 
his interment the next morning. The venerable bishop, in 
whose cathedral the young man was preaching when he was 
seized with the fit, came to the bedside to recite the 'De Pro- 
fundis.' The body was measured for the coffin. Night came 
on, and you can easily feel how inexpressible was the anguish 
of the living being in such a situation. At last, amid the 
voices murmuring around him, he distinguished that of one 
whom he had known from infancy. That voice produced a 
marvellous effect, and he made a superhuman effort. Of what 
followed I need only say that the seemingly dead man stood 126 
DEATH 
next day in the same pulpit. That young priest, gentlemen, 
is the same man who is now speaking before you, -and who, 
more than forty years after that event, implores those in au- 
thority not merely to watch vigilantly over the careful execu- 
tion of the legal prescriptions with regard to interments, but 
to enact fresh ones in order to prevent the occurrence of ir- 
reparable misfortunes." 
Bouehut, in his Les Signes de la Mort, p. 43, gives the 
following case:- 
"A person of high standing was taken with one of those 
diseases in which death usually does not occur suddenly, but 
is preceded by certain signs. The physician who attended him 
found him one evening in a dangerous state, and when he 
visited him again the following morning, he was told upon 
entering the house that the patient had died during the night. 
They had the body already placed in the coffin, but the doctor, 
doubting that death could occur so suddenly, caused the sup- 
posed 'dead' to be put back into bed. The man soon revived, 
and lived for many years afterward." 
Dr. Hartmann gives the two following cases collected 
by himself, and published in his Buried Alive, pp. 
52-53 
"At Wels (Austria) a woman died, and as no signs of 
putrefaction appeared at the end of five days, all sorts of 
means were resorted to, to revive the body. They were of no 
avail, and it was finally resolved not to delay the burying any 
longer. On the night preceding the funeral a large crowd 
met for the purpose of holding the 'Wake,' It was a merry 
party, and some of those present got drunk and amused 
themselves in making jests with the corpse and offering it 
liquor. In the midst of the merry-making, the woman woke 
and sat up in her coffin! The company ran away, and when 
they returned they found that the woman had gone to bed, PREMATURE BURIAL 
127 
where she slept, and was well the next day. She had been 
conscious of all that had taken place, but had not been able 
to move. 
"In another town in Austria, a student made a bet that he 
would not be afraid to go at night to the graveyard, open a 
grave, steal the corpse, and carry it to his room. This he did 
accordingly, and the grave he opened happened to be that 
of a young girl who had been buried on the previous day. 
He took the body upon his shoulders and carried it to his 
room, where he put it upon a lounge near the stove. He 
then went to sleep. During the night he was awakened by 
a noise. The girl had wakened from her trance, and was 
sitting up. He was so much terrified that his hair turned 
white; but the girl, thus saved, returned to her parents." 
Sometimes the termination of such cases is not so for- 
tunate, however. It will be observed that in the follow- 
ing case, reported in the British Medical Journal, April 
26, 1884, p. 844, death resulted from the interment:- 
"The Times of India, for March 21, has the following story: 
'On last Friday morning the father of a large family at Goa, 
named Manuel, aged seventy years, who had been for the last 
four months suffering from dysentery, appearing to be dead, 
preparations were made for the burial. He was placed in a 
coffin and taken from his house at Worlee to a chapel at 
Lower Mahim, preparatory to burial. The priest, on putting 
his hand on the man's chest, found his heart still beating. 
He was thereupon removed to the Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy Hospi- 
tal, where he remained in an unconscious state up to a late 
hour on last Friday night, when he died." 
The following case is quoted in Tebb and Vollum's 
Premature Burial, p. 55:- 
"A young married woman residing at Salon died shortly 
after her confinement in August last. The medical man, who 128 
DEATH 
was hastily summoned when her illness assumed a dangerous 
form, certified her death, and recommended immediate burial 
in consequence of the intense heat then prevailing, and six 
hours afterwards the body was interred. A few days since, 
the husband having resolved to re-marry, the mother of his 
late wife desired to have her daughter's remains removed 
to her native town, Marseilles. When the vault was opened, 
a horrible sight presented itself. The corpse lay in the mid- 
dle of the vault, with dishevelled hair, and linen torn to pieces. 
It evidently had been gnawed by the unfortunate victim. 
The shock which the dreadful spectacle caused to the mother 
has been so great that fears are entertained for her reason, 
if not for her life." 
Another remarkable case is the following (Encyclo- 
pedia of Death, vol. ii, p. 107) :- 
"Thirty-four years ago, a man by the name of John Hurelle 
was pronounced dead by three doctors, who held an examina- 
tion. Everything was prepared for the funeral; the guests 
were invited, a clergyman summoned, and the body placed in a 
coffin. On the morning when the funeral was to occur, the 
mother thought she saw signs of life, though four days had 
passed since he was said to have been dead. The funeral 
did not take place. When those present took the seemingly 
lifeless body and placed it on a bed, the man said: 'Let me'- 
and then stopped. For eight months he lay in a sort of 
stupor, while his mother gave him nourishment. At the ex- 
piration of that time he regained consciousness, and finished 
the sentence by saying 'be.' " 
Another case collected by Dr. Hartmann himself, is 
the following:- 
"In a small town in Prussia, an undertaker, living within 
the limits of the cemetery, heard during the night cries 
proceeding from within a grave in which a person had been PREMATURE BURIAL 
129 
buried on the previous day. Not daring to interfere without 
permission, he went to the police and reported the matter. 
When, after a great deal of delay, the required formalities 
were fulfilled and permission granted to open the grave, it was 
found that the man had been buried alive; but he was now 
dead. His body, which had been cold at the time of the 
burial, was now warm and bleeding from many wounds, 
where he had skinned his hands and head in his struggles 
to free himself before suffocation made an end to his misery." 
"In the month of December 1842, an inhabitant of Eyures, 
in France, died and was buried, a few days afterwards a 
rumour began to spread that his death was due to an over- 
dose of opium having been given to him by a physician. 
Finally, the authorities ordered the grave to be opened, and 
it was found that the supposed dead man had awakened 
and opened with his teeth the veins of his arm for the purpose 
of ending his tortures, and then he had died in his coffin."- 
(Lenormand, Des Inhumations Precipitees, p. 78.) 
Many persons seem to think that premature burials 
are few and far between. There was never a greater 
fallacy, says M. Tozer:- 
"Some years ago the Paris Figaro dealt at considerable 
length with the subject of the possibility of premature burial 
occuring somewhat frequently, and within fifteen days the 
editor received over four hundred letters from different parts 
of France, all from persons who either had been almost buried 
alive, or who knew of such cases." 1 
Dr. Franz Hartmann, immediately after the publica- 
tion of his book on the subject, and within two months 
(May-June, 1896), received no less than sixty-three 
letters from persons who had escaped premature burial 
through fortunate accident. When such wholesale 
1 Premature Burial, by Basil Tozer, p. 16. 130 
DEATH 
numbers are observed, what are we to think but that 
premature burial, so far from being a great rarity, is a 
not infrequent phenomenon-happening constantly in 
our very midst ? 
In an article in the Insurance News for April 1, 1901, 
George T. Angell, founder and president of the Ameri- 
can Humane Education Society, says that 
"Nothing can be more certain than that large numbers (and 
perhaps multitudes) of persons have been buried alive, and 
that many, after having been pronounced dead, have shown 
signs of life in time to save themselves from such burial, and 
have declared that, while unable to move they were fully 
conscious of what was said and done about them. My own 
father barely escaped such burial, being declared by his phy- 
sicians dead. There are in Boston alone many thousands of 
persons living in hotels and boarding-houses where, whenever 
death is declared, every effort will be made to send the body 
of the supposed deceased, at the earliest possible moment, to 
the undertaker, the crematory, or the grave. In not one 
case in a hundred will the body be permitted to remain in 
the hotel or boarding-house until the beginning of decay." 
The following is a recent case of this character, which 
has the added interest that the subject happened to be a 
well-known "medium," and that she claimed she saw 
her dead husband, during the period of insensibility- 
thus constituting a case of a (so-called) "vision of the 
dying." 
IRONTON, 0, April 8,1920-Mrs. Elizabeth Blake, seventy- 
two years old, of Coryville, a spiritualistic medium, startled 
relatives and friends by returning to life four hours after a 
physician had pronounced her dead. She is weak and is not 
expected to live twenty-four hours. 
Mrs. Blake talked little, but she is quoted as having whis- PREMATURE BURIAL 
131 
pered that she had seen her husband, who died last November. 
The aged spiritualist was stricken with pneumonia several 
days ago, and at noon the death pallor overspread the body, 
no sign of heartbeat could be detected, and rigor mortis set 
in. Relatives and friends flocked to the house, an undertaker 
was summoned and the newspapers were provided with an 
obituary. 
Shortly after 1 o'clock persons in the room where the sup- 
posed corpse was lying experienced a shock upon seeing that 
the woman's eyes had opened and a pink tinge was suffusing 
her cheeks. Restorative measures were applied, and Mrs. 
Blake recognized those at the bedside. 
Finally, the following case, recently reported from 
Germany,-a country where investigations of this char- 
acter are made with the utmost scientific exactitude:- 
BERLIN, Nov. 14, 1919-The German medical profession 
is deeply interested in an extraordinary case of catalepsy or 
asphyxia which the greatest authorities, after a careful ex- 
amination, can only explain as a relapse into hibernation, 
based upon the theory that, like the wild beast, prehistoric 
man would pass the Winter months in a continuous, death- 
like sleep, and that the case in question must be regarded as 
sudden atavism, brought on by peculiar circumstances. 
About a week ago an auto party driving through the Tier- 
garten discovered the lifeless body of a young woman, dressed 
as a sick nurse, which they conveyed to the nearest hospital, 
where, after the usual tests, she was pronounced dead, and, 
with her clothes soaked in rain, placed in a coffin. Four- 
teen hours later some police officials called at the morgue 
to search for any articles by which to identify the body and 
notify the relatives. To their great surprise and mortification, 
they found the heart still beating. 
They had the "living corpse" transferred to a hospital, 
where the young woman, under proper treatment, soon re- 132 
DEATH 
vived, and after a few days when the danger of pneumonia 
had passed, she returned to her parents. 
The highest medical authorities investigated the charges 
made against the hospital physician who had signed the death 
certificate that he had only superficially examined the body 
and that the test employed was insufficient. But it was 
proved beyond doubt that the physician performed the in- 
vestigation absolutely correctly, in the presence of several 
colleagues, all of whom agreed that life was extinguished. 
There were indications that the young woman had taken a 
strong dose of morphium. She had, as it developed after- 
ward, tried to commit suicide on account of unrequited love. 
After having taken the poison, the young woman wandered 
about the Tiergarten in the pouring cold rain until she 
fainted, and was picked up several hours afterward. 
As Professor Dr. Ernest Rautenberg, who presided over 
the investigation, explained, the effect of the cold and rain 
created the condition of reducing respiration and circulation 
to an infinitesimal state, while the concurring catalepsy caused 
by the cold and rain made the body insensible to the other- 
wise deadly dose of morphium and protected her against 
pneumonia, which under normal conditions the girl could 
never have escaped. The morphium was removed from the 
girl's stomach in an unassimilated condition, and after a few 
days of careful observation she returned to her parents 
healthy and sadder, but much wiser. 
Dr. Rautenberg believes Indian fakirs undergo very much 
the same process before they permit themselves to be buried 
under ground for many weeks. 
Dr. Henry J. Garrigues, of New York City, in a paper 
read before the Society of Medical Jurisprudence, con- 
tended that any law permitting burial without thorough 
tests to determine the extinction of life was nothing 
short of homicidal. Under the law of "necessary pre- 
cautions," he said, "there is nothing to prevent any- PREMATURE BURIAL 
133 
body from being buried alive or frozen to death, in an 
undertaker's ice-box." His objection to the laws that 
now exist so generally throughout the country is based 
upon the fact that they are designed to protect the 
community, without regard to the protection of the 
person supposed to be dead. "And yet," as Dr. Gar- 
rigues admitted, "the question of whether a person is 
dead or alive is most difficult to decide. If the action 
of the vital organs is suspended, every appearance of 
death may be produced, when, under proper manipula- 
tion, they may be restored to life." 
In citing the counterfeits of death, Dr. Garrigues 
referred to persons who, though taken from the water 
apparently dead, were afterwards resuscitated, and he 
stated the belief that, if it were not so common to believe 
that people were dead merely because they were cold and 
limp, many others would be revived. Asphyxiation, 
heart failure, apoplexy, intoxication, lightning stroke, 
anaesthetics, narcotics, concussion-all these produced 
the counterfeits of death, and often so closely resembled 
it that the science and the experience of the physician 
were frequently at fault. Thus the danger of mistaking 
live persons for dead remains, even after all tests for 
determining death have been tried. There is not one 
but which may fail under certain conditions. The most 
common test of all, that of trying to ascertain if the 
breath has stopped, is the one that is usually made, 
and yet science knows of many cases of suspended ani- 
mation where breathing has ceased for fully forty-eight 
hours. The same is true regarding the stopping of the 
heart, and so on through the entire list. There have 
been cases of suspended animation in which all signs 
have failed, and yet the patient recovered. In his opin- 134 
DEATH 
ion, the only sure indication of death is the decomposi- 
tion of the body. 
Dr. Garrigues' opinions upon this subject were fully 
upheld by Dr. John Dixwell, of Harvard University. 
In an address before the Committee on Legal Affairs 
of the Massachusetts Legislature, February 12, 1908, 
he stated that he personally had narrowly escaped pre- 
mature burial. "During an illness, in the early sev- 
enties," he said, "very eminent physicians determined 
that I was dead, but I am alive today, while they are all 
dead. Accordingly I know that this horror exists as a 
fact. It is ridiculous to dispute it. I recall a case at 
the Massachusetts General Hospital. A woman had 
been sent there suffering from bronchitis. After a time 
it was decided that she was dead, and she was sent to 
the morgue. There she suddenly woke up, and is alive 
today." 
"I have often been told," says Dr. Alexander Wilder,1 
"that the modern practice of embalming made death certain. 
I admit it; but those who are too poor to pay for this funeral 
luxury must yet take the chance in the old-fashioned way. 
There is no doubt, however, that the number annually put 
to death by embalmers is sufficiently large to demand attention. 
An investigator of this subject in New York has openly de- 
clared his belief that a considerable number of human beings 
are annually killed in America by the embalming process." 
Dr. Edward P. Vollum, surgeon in the United States 
Army, is another physician who has written freely upon 
the danger of premature burial. In addition to collab- 
orating with Tebb in compiling a book upon this subject, 
he is the author of several papers treating of the dangers 
of burial alive, from one of which I quote:- 
1 Burying Alive a Frequent Peril, p. 12. PREMATURE BURIAL 
135 
"Any one whose vital machinery is thrown out of gear 
by excesses, strains, or depressing causes may pass into and 
out of this transitory state if they have a reserve of strength. 
Shocks cause apparent death, such as from gunshot, strokes 
of lightning, charges of electricity, concussion, heat and sun- 
stroke, fright, intense excitement, etc. So do exhaustions 
from mental and physical exertion, especially in the badly 
nourished, asphyxia from various causes, intense cold, an- 
aesthesia, intoxicants, haemorrhage, narcotism, convulsive dis- 
orders, so-called heart failures and apoplectic seizures, ep- 
ilepsy, and syncope. 
"The above cases are quite plain, and many are saved by 
medical aid. But there are other forms of this mysterious 
state that may defy the highest medical skill and all known 
tests and signs. These are the constitutional cases, due to 
some warp of temperament, as seen in trance, catalepsy, 
cholera, auto-hypnotism, somnambulism, etc., which, like hiber- 
nation, are inexplicable by any principles taught by science. 
We know but little of these idiosyncrasies except that they are 
usually hereditary, and that their victims easily fall into a 
deathlike lethargy from overwork, worry, and foul air, and 
that during their attacks efforts at resuscitation should be kept 
up until putrefaction appears, lest they be mistaken for dead 
and disposed of accordingly. Quain's Dictionary of Medicine 
says: 'The duration of the trance has varied from a few 
hours or days to several weeks or months.' The British med- 
ical press during the last fifty years has given numerous 
cases which revived from the consciousness of the preparations 
for closing the coffin. Many notables have been subject to 
this disorder, such as the great anatomist Winslow, the 
French Cardinal Donnet, and Benjamin Disraeli. The last- 
named lay in this state for a week. 
"All such cases are in peril because of their uncertainty. 
Of course, old cases of heart disease and apoplexy may be 
recognized by the patient's physician, but, as a rule, the diag- 
nosis cannot be sure without an autopsy. All signs of death 136 
DEATH 
are deceptive, and all these cases should be held as not beyond 
resuscitation until decomposition appears. Huf eland says: 
'Death does not come suddenly; it is a gradual process from 
actual life to apparent death, and from that to actual death.' 
"The revivals sometimes reported during epidemics of 
cholera, small-pox, and yellow fever depend, as in so-called 
sudden deaths, upon the fact that the patients are usually 
struck down in their ordinary health with a reserve of strength 
which bridges them over after the force of the disease is 
spent. 
"The estimates of such disasters are based upon the discov- 
eries made when the dead are removed from cemeteries, as is 
done in some great cities every five years. A portion of the 
skeletons are always found turned to one side or on the 
face, twisted, or with the hands up to the head. These are 
counted as living burials. And then there is the admittedly 
large number of narrow escapes from being buried alive, re- 
covered, as a rule, by some chance. Hidden and mixed with 
ignorance, laxity, and indifference as this whole matter is, 
the authorities naturally differ in their views as to the fre- 
quency of these cases. A personal inquiry in Europe and 
in the United States for several years past has convinced 
me that they are alarmingly frequent. The proportion of 
discovered cases must be small compared with those that 
never come to light. Dr. Lionee Lenormand, in Des Inhuma- 
tions Precipitees, says that a one-thousandth part of the hu- 
man race have been and are annually buried alive. M. Ie 
Guen, in Dangers des Inhumations Precipitees, estimates pre- 
mature burials at two a thousand. He collected 2313 cases 
from reliable sources. Hundreds of foreign authorities with 
similar views could be given. Dr. Moore Russell Fletcher, 
in One Thousand Persons Buried Alive by Their Best Friends 
(Boston, 1890), gives many horrors taken from American 
sources. Carl Sextus, of New York, collected in eighteen 
years 1500 cases of death counterfeits of scientific value. 
He estimates living burials at two per cent." PREMATURE BURIAL 
137 
I have now given a number of cases of premature 
burial, or cases in which burial would have taken place 
shortly had not some fortunate and unforseen accident 
happened. A number of similar cases will be found 
detailed in the authors quoted, and in other works upon 
the subject. Bruhier, in his work, Dissertations sur 
I'Incertitude des Signes de la Mort, etc., produces ac- 
counts of 181 cases, among which there are those of 52 
persons buried alive, 4 dissected alive, 53 that awoke in 
their coffins before being buried, and 72 other cases of 
apparent death. Hartmann himself gives more than 
a hundred cases. Tebb and Vollum collected an equal 
number, and many cases appear elsewhere in the liter- 
ature upon this subject. Enough has been said at all 
events to show how numerous these cases are; and it 
becomes evident that some steps should be taken to pre- 
vent such burials from taking place. It is my hope 
that the publication of this book will at all events stim- 
ulate public interest in this direction, and help to ini- 
tiate some widespread movement for the prevention of 
such horrible cases as those described. 
2. Efforts to Prevent Premature Burial 
During the last few years the question of the preven- 
tion of premature burial has been taken up by several 
of the State legislatures, and laws have been suggested, 
and, in some cases enacted, tending to reduce the possi- 
bility of such a catastrophe. One of the best examples 
of such legislation is the bill presented to the Massachu- 
setts Legislature. This provides that local boards of 
health shall be notified within six hours of the death of 
any person, and that, as soon as possible, an examina- 
tion shall be made of the reported deceased, and that 138 
DEATH 
certifications of death shall be issued only after ten 
tests have been made-for heart action, respiration, cir- 
culation, rigor mortis, etc., and the use of subcutaneous 
injections of ammonia. 
This subject of premature burial, now being agitated 
in the United States, was thoroughly considered in 
Europe, beginning more than a century ago. As Dr. 
Vollum has shown in his article on Final Tests for Death, 
France first recognized the necessity for legal protection 
against these dangers. Germany was the first to put 
them in force. Then followed France, Austria, Bel- 
gium, Spain, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia. The 
pith of these laws is in the requirement of an expert 
examination of the apparently dead independently of 
the attending physician. In Germany, Austria, and 
Belgium the examiners, called inspectors of the dead, 
are officers of the State, specially qualified for their 
duties. In the other States mentioned they are physi- 
cians of standing, also qualified. They must decide the 
cause and fact of death, and register a certificate of 
verified death before a burial permit can be issued or 
the body disturbed in any way with the view of em- 
balming, autopsy, burial, or cremation. The underly- 
ing principle of these laws is well expressed in the Aus- 
trian imperial law thus:- 
"That the only sure sign of death being general decomposi- 
tion, which as a rule comes late in the case, the examiner of 
bodies, in the absence of this proof, must not be guided by 
any single sign, and must base his conclusions on an assem- 
blage of all signs that point to death, and to any injuries that 
may involve the vital apparatus." 
These laws, framed both in the interests of the State 
and the individuals, are supported by the legal and the PREMATURE BURIAL 
139 
medical professions, and have always given satisfaction 
to the authorities and comfort and a sense of safety to 
the people, excepting in France, where the period al- 
lowed before burial was only twenty-four hours, and the 
inspections were thought to be rather perfunctory, es- 
pecially in Paris. The German and Austrian systems 
are alike, excepting in the former all bodies must go 
to the waiting mortuaries; in the latter this is volun- 
tary, as it is in the other States named. 
The German sysem is best seen in Munich. This 
city of about 50,000 people is divided into twenty-one 
burial districts, in each of which there is an inspector 
of the dead, with an alternate, besides the woman who 
makes the toilet of the body, called Leichenfrau, and 
who arranges the funeral appointments. She is also qual- 
ified by a technical examination. The attending phy- 
sician is always present at the death crisis. He gives 
his verdict of death, but the law does not trust his un- 
supported opinion, however celebrated he may be. The 
inspector comes, and in the meantime nothing about 
the body must be touched by any one. He makes his 
certificate, which covers every possible point in the case, 
and this is countersigned by the attending physician. 
Delay and resuscitation may be employed at this stage 
if the inspector sees fit. Ordinarily he allows from two 
to twelve hours' delay in the residence for ceremonies, 
etc., when the body must go to the waiting mortuary, 
where it remains for seventy-two hours longer, under 
medical observation, when the mortuary physician gives 
his certificate, if all goes without unforeseen incidents, 
and the interment takes place in the adjoining cemetery. 
Thus it is seen that there are, with the Leichenfrau, 
four independent expert inspectors. All are on the 140 
DEATH 
qui vive in carrying out the system, which is popular and 
understood by all classes. The waiting mortuary con- 
sists of a main hall, where the bodies lie in open coffins, 
embowered by plants in the midst of light, warmth, 
and ventilation. There is also a laboratory equipped 
with apparatus for resuscitation, post-mortem room, 
separate rooms for infectious cases and accidents, a 
chapel, and quarters for the physicians and attendants. 
Count Michael von Karnice Karnicki, formerly cham- 
berlain to the Czar of Russia, invented, in 1898, an ex- 
ceedingly clever apparatus for the prevention of prema- 
ture burial. Being firmly convinced that thousands of 
persons are buried every year wdiile in a state of leth- 
argy, he prepared a system of signalling, which has been 
adopted in one or two instances, but only, so far as I 
know, in Europe. 
In this invention, a tube protrudes about four feet 
above the surface of the grave, and, upon the top of it, 
is fixed a small metal box with a spring lid. To the 
lower end of the tube, which just enters the upper lid of 
the coffin, is fixed an india-rubber ball, charged so fully 
with air that the slightest pressure upon it would re- 
sult in the discharge of this air through the tube. This 
would release the lid of the box, which is adjusted to 
spring open at the slightest pressure. Moreover, the 
opening of this lid would automatically raise a small 
flag, and, at the same time, would start an electric bell, 
not only over the grave, but in the sexton's house as 
well. Under this system, the slightest suggestion of 
breathing on the part of the supposedly dead person, or 
the smallest movement of the body, would suffice to open 
the box, raise the flag, and sound an alarm, while the 
additional mechanism in the tube would immediately be- PREMATURE BURIAL 
141 
gin to pump air down to the interior of the coffin, that 
the person who has been buried by mistake might be 
preserved from suffocation until such time as assistance 
might arrive. 
On March 1, 1909, the House of Commons ordered to 
be printed for distribution "A Bill to Amend the Law 
Relating to the Registration of Deaths and Burials." 
The Committee of Examination confessed themselves 
"much impressed" by the weight of the evidence 
brought before them, tending to show that the current 
medical examinations were insufficient; and they ordered 
a more thorough and complete examination and certifi- 
cation in the future. CHAPTER VII 
BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION, ETC. 
Although burial is an extremely unhygienic and un- 
wholesome custom, it is a practice that is common to all 
Christian countries. Originating in the popular faith in 
the doctrine that the body should be preserved that it 
might arise in its entirety at the "day of judgment," 
this idea, though now seldom advanced as an excuse, is 
at the bottom of the antipathy that is so frequently 
shown in regard to cremation. Of course, it is needless 
to say ihat, as the process of putrefaction soon returns 
the physical body to the dust of the earth, through 
which it passes again into all forms of vegetable and 
animal life, the impossibility of any sort of bodily 
resurrection, without the performance of a more stupen- 
dous miracle than the human mind could imagine, is 
obvious. 
In fact, the only argument that can be advanced in 
favour of the practice of burying the dead, as against 
that of cremation, is based upon the principle that a 
buried body may be exhumed-after a considerable space 
of time has elapsed, if necessary-and the effects of 
poisons, etc., traced-murderers frequently having been 
brought to justice by this means when they would have 
undoubtedly escaped punishment for their crimes, if the 
most convincing evidence against them could have been 
destroyed by fire. Such an argument as this, however, 
weighs but little against the many great advantages 
142 BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
143 
that would be derived from the practice of cremating 
bodies, for cremation is so manifestly the only wholesome 
and hygienic method of disposing of the dead that it 
should be legally adopted by all nations calling them- 
selves civilized. 
Incineration, or cremation, was the ancient Roman 
method of reducing the body to ashes, but the ancient 
Jews early adopted the custom of burial. Thus Abra- 
ham, in his treaty for the cave of Machpelah, expressed 
the desire to secure a suitable place in which "to bury 
his dead out of his sight"; and about the only records 
of burning the dead that we find in the history of the 
Jewish people are (1) the case of Saul and his sons, 
whose bodies were undoubtedly too badly mangled to be 
given the royal honours of embalmment, and (2) the 
burning of those who died of the plague, a sanitary 
measure apparently adopted to prevent further spread 
of the contagion. 
As all nations of the ancient civilization held that it 
was not only an act of humanity but a sacred duty to 
pay great honours to the departed, the burial and fu- 
neral rites were frequently of a very elaborate character. 
Among the Hebrews, these began with the solemn cere- 
mony of the last kiss, and, after the eyes had been closed, 
the corpse was laid out and perfumed by the nearest 
relative, and the head, covered with a napkin, was sub- 
jected to complete ablution in warm water, a precaution 
that was supposed to make premature burial impossible. 
While the Jews frequently embalmed the body of the 
dead, in no part of the world was this rite performed so 
scientifically as in Egypt. When great personages like 
Jacob and Joseph died, the greatest care was exercised 
in embalming them, but there is no means of ascertain- 144 
DEATH 
ing whether the earlier generations followed this prac- 
tice, or simply buried their dead in caves, or in the 
ground. We know, however, that the elaborate process 
followed in later years was finally abandoned for a 
simpler and less effective method-that of merely swath- 
ing the corpse round with numerous folds of linen and 
other stuffs, and anointing it with a mixture of aromatic 
substances, of which aloes and myrrh formed the prin- 
cipal ingredients. To be sparing in the use of spices on 
such an occasion was regarded as a most discreditable 
economy, for the profuse use of very costly perfumes 
was regarded as the highest tribute of esteem that could 
be paid to the departed. In view of these facts, it is 
easy to believe the writer in the Talmud who tells us 
that no less than eighty pounds of spice were used in 
burying Rabbi Gamaliel, and Josephus reports that, at 
the funeral of Herod, five hundred servants were in at- 
tendance as spice-bearers. From the narrative in the 
New Testament we see that a similar custom was followed 
at the burial of Christ. 
The Jews, like most Oriental nations, were given to 
the most inordinate exhibitions of grief. From the 
moment that the vital spark was known to have departed 
from the body, the members of the family, especially the 
women of the household, burst forth into the most dole- 
ful lamentations, upon which they were joined by neigh- 
bours and relatives, all of whom crowded to the house 
as soon as they heard of the bereavement. By the more 
aristocratic anything like outside participation in the 
grief of the family was forbidden, and, instead, this 
service was performed by certain women who were known 
as public or professional mourners. When engaged, 
they seated themselves in the family circle, and, by BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
145 
studied dramatic effect and eulogistic dirges, excited 
greater lamentations on the part of the immediate fam- 
ily. Sometimes instrumental music was also introduced. 
As in all Oriental countries, burial among the Jews 
occurred more quickly after death than is generally the 
practice in this country. Even when the body had been 
carefully embalmed, interment was not long delayed, and, 
when this precaution had not been taken, it was in- 
variably held within less than twenty-four hours. This 
was partly due to the climatic conditions, and partly to 
the circumstance that the Jews taught that anybody who 
came near the death chamber was unclean for a week. 
The casket, or coffin, is the invention of the Egyptians, 
but the Jews and some other races early adopted it. 
Originally these chests of the dead were composed of 
many layers of pasteboard glued tightly together; later 
they were of wood, or stone, but for the most eminent 
mep was reserved the honour of being buried in coffins 
of sycamore wood. 
Although the bodies of the dead were sometimes 
placed in these caskets before being transferred to the 
grave, the most common method of transporting the 
corpse from the home of the family to the place of 
interment was by means of a bier, or bed, which was 
sometimes composed of very costly materials. Instances 
are known in which kings and extremely wealthy per- 
sonages have been conveyed to their tombs on their own 
beds, but the bier in common use among the poorer 
classes was usually little more than plain wooden boards, 
fastened to two long poles, and on which, concealed by 
a sheet, or other thin coverlet, the body lay. It is just 
such a bier as this that is described in the Bible, and 
they are still used in all Eastern countries. 146 
DEATH 
When the deceased was of humble position, none but 
the relatives and close friends attended the obsequies, 
unless the family could afford to employ the public 
mourners and their minstrels, in which case the latter 
walked before and around the bier, frequently lifting the 
coverlet and exposing the corpse, which was always a 
signal to the company to renew their shrill cries and 
doleful lamentations. Thus, at the magnificent funeral 
of Jacob, these mercenaries maintained an almost cease- 
less expression of the most passionate grief, and when 
the boundary of Canaan appeared-the site of the sep- 
ulchre-the entire company halted, and, for seven days 
and nights indulged in these violent exercises of mourn- 
ing under the leadership of the host of professionals 
who had been employed for the occasion. 
Although sepulchres have long been in use in Eastern 
countries, even the ancient races seldom made the mis- 
take of erecting them in close proximity to human 
dwellings. No matter how elaborate they may have 
been-and from those that are still left it is easy to 
imagine that money was not spared when some of the 
tombs were constructed-the health regulations of the 
time required that they should be built without the 
precincts of the city. Among the Jews-as shown in 
the regulations of the Levitical cities-it was specified 
that the distance should not be less than 2000 cubits 
from the city walls. Jerusalem alone was excepted, and 
even there, this privilege was reserved for the members 
of the royal family of David, and some few others of 
exalted distinction. 
During the first three centuries of the Christian era 
this custom remained unchanged. The Emperor Theo- 
dosius issued an edict expressly forbidding the burial of BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
147 
the dead within any town, whether in churches or not, 
and Chrysostom not only confirmed this view, but when 
the Donatists buried their martyrs in churches, they were 
obliged to remove them. Even in the fourth century, 
when the building of oratories, or chapels, over the 
remains of eminent Christians-martyrs, prophets, etc., 
-began, the canon law held this practice to be unlawful, 
and it was not until the sixth century that this statute 
was to any great degree disregarded. 
Thus, it will be seen that while the Roman nation 
continued to maintain the custom of cremation, the 
Christians adopted the practices of the Jews, and buried 
their dead. St. Augustine, in several passages, com- 
mends this custom, not for the reason-he says-that 
we are to infer that there is any sense or feeling in the 
corpse itself, but simply because we are to believe that 
even the bodies of the dead are under the providence of 
God, to whom such pious offices are pleasing, through 
faith in the Resurrection. 
Cremation 
The idea of having hundreds and thousands of decay- 
ing bodies in the immediate vicinity of human habi- 
tations should be so repellent to any sensible person 
that argument ought to be unnecessary. The only point 
that can be urged against this practice, as I have 
already said, is that, in certain cases, it is important, 
from a medico-legal point of view, to have the body 
where it can be exhumed, if necessary. 
It seems important that we should insist as strongly 
as possible upon this point- the logical necessity of cre- 
mating the dead. Rightly considered, this practice does 
not in any way conflict with Christian teaching, but 148 
DEATH 
conforms to its highest standards. After death, we are 
not concerned with the material man, but with the spir- 
itual replica (granting anything to exist at all), and 
no one in these enlightened days would think for a 
moment that a truly physical resurrection of the body 
took place. It would not be desirable, in the first place, 
and is an obvious impossibility, in the second. Yet it 
is only this worn-out and effete tradition of physical 
resurrection which prevents the general adoption of 
cremation-the far more sanitary and rational process. 
Let us consider some of its benefits a little more closely. 
In the first place, then, there is the very evident rea- 
son that there will not be enough space, very soon, to 
contain all the bodies that are to be consigned to the 
earth. The population of Brooklyn and of New York 
(to take typical cases) increased more than seven times 
in fifty years-from 1840 to 1890, and the population 
is now more than five million. And, as Mr. Augustus 
G. Cobb well says:1 - 
"The effect, in twenty years, on these six cemeteries will be 
to increase by a million additional bodies the 1,336,000 already 
received. Brooklyn is twenty-three times as large today as 
it was fifty years ago, when the first interment was made in 
Greenwood; and, as a natural consequence, this cemetery, 
once surburban, has become intramural. It need surprise no 
one to learn that its exhalations have been complained of 
in South Brooklyn, and, considering the thousands annually 
interred within its grounds, and the increasing density of 
population, we can readily believe that the evil, instead of 
diminishing, will increase. ..." 
It is needless to point out that such a mass of decom- 
posing organic material, so close to the very homes of 
1 Earth Burial and Cremation, pp. 26, 27. BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
149 
the inhabitants, is apt to prove extremely dangerous; 
first, by contaminating the wells, springs, and water in 
the neighbourhood; and secondly, by vitiating the atmos- 
phere and rendering a serious epidemic not only pos- 
sible but exceedingly likely. When we know that germs 
can be carried through the air for miles-as they can- 
the immediate peril of a graveyard need hardly be 
pointed out. As Sir Lyon Playfair (after making a most 
exhaustive investigation of the whole question) expressed 
it:- 
"In most of our churchyards the dead are harming the liv- 
ing by destroying the soil, fouling the air, contaminating 
water-springs, and spreading the seeds of disease." 
Says Mr. Cobb:- 
"Opposition to incineration springs chiefly from ignorance 
of the manner in which it is effected; and to remove all mis- 
apprehension, it cannot be too distinctly stated that the body 
never rests in flames, while during the entire process there is 
no fire, no smoke, or noise to grieve in any manner the be- 
reaved. The consuming chamber in which the body is placed 
is built of fireclay, and is capable of resisting the highest 
temperature. Under it and around it the fire circulates but 
cannot enter in. The interior, smooth, almost polished, and 
white from the surrounding heat, presents an aspect of ab- 
solute, dazzling purity; and as the body is the only solid 
matter introduced, the product is simply the ashes of that 
body. During the entire process of incineration the body is 
hidden from view. . . . The heated air soon changes it to a 
translucent white, and from this it crumbles into ashes." 
Is not this picture far more pleasant than that of the 
grave? Is it not far more cleanly, hygienic, and sen- 
sible? Is it not obvious that cremation is simply un- 150 
DEATH 
popular for the reason that it is based on a mass of 
false sentiment and worn-out theological dogmas as to 
the resurrection of the body ? From every rational point 
of view, everything is in favour of the process, nothing 
against it. 
I am familiar with the so-called objections to crema- 
tion advanced by M. Jean Finot in his Philosophy of 
Long Life. I can only say that they appear to me, for 
the most part, totally inadequate. Some of his facts, it 
is true, are worthy of serious consideration: his nega- 
tive evidence as to the pollution of the air in the neigh- 
bourhood of cemeteries, etc. But his idea that the life 
of the body is perpetuated in the lives of the worms that 
devour it!-that appears to me little short of absurd. 
In direct opposition to this view let me quote the opinion 
of Mrs. Annie Besant, who, in her Death, and After? 
says:- 
"One of the great advantages of cremation, apart from all 
sanitary considerations, lies in the swift restoration to Mother 
Nature of the physical elements comprising the dense and 
ethereal corpses brought about by the burning, and hence 
the quicker freedom of the soul from the body. On the as- 
sumption that a soul of some sort exists, this would certainly 
seem far the more rational supposition; and if materialism 
be true, and no soul persists, then cremation has the field en- 
tirely, since there would remain no valid objection to the prac- 
tice whatever." 
Embalming 
Embalming is a method of preserving bodies by injec- 
tions and dressings, both internally or externally ap- 
plied. 
This term is generally given to the process employed 
by the ancient Egyptians and others, by which corpses BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
151 
were preserved as mummies. The practice is very an- 
cient, and is probably founded on religious rites and 
observances. The Egyptians believed that it would be 
possible for the departed spirit, at some future time, to 
reanimate the body of the deceased, and hence took great 
pains to preserve it as perfectly as possible. Some of 
the processes employed were very elaborate and expen- 
sive, and could only be afforded by the wealthy. The 
most elaborate process was somewhat as follows:- 
A deep cut was made beneath the ribs on the left side, 
and through the opening thus made the internal organs 
were removed, with the exception of the heart and kid- 
neys. The brain was also extracted through the nose 
by means of a bent iron instrument. The cavities of 
the skull and trunk were washed out with palm-wine, 
and filled with raisins, cassia, and similar substances; 
and the skull was dressed by injecting drugs of various 
kinds through the nostrils. The body was then soaked 
in natron for seventy days. It was then removed and 
wrapped carefully in linen cloth, cemented by gums. 
The less expensive process consisted in removing only 
the brains and injecting the viscera with cedar oil. 
When the body was soaked in natron for the same period 
of time (seventy days), the viscera and soft parts came 
away en masse, and only the skin and bones were left. 
The very poor, who could not afford either of the above 
methods, embalmed their dead by washing the body in 
myrrh and salting it for seventy days. The body, thus 
embalmed, was ready for the sepulchre; but it was often 
kept at home for a considerable time afterwards, and 
was produced on certain occasions-such as a dinner- 
party!-and carried round the room ''to remind the 
diners that death was ever with them. ' ' 152 
DEATH 
Doubtless the method of embalming differed greatly in 
different countries and in the same country at various 
times. The above process was described by Herodotus 
in his writings as being practised in Egypt at that time. 
Animals were also embalmed, especially those held to be 
sacred. It is certain, however, that only a small per- 
centage of the dead organic matter could have been 
disposed of in this manner; and it is not known what 
became of the remainder or what disposition was made of 
it. 
Embalming is carried on at the present day, but for 
very different reasons and in a different manner. The 
object is not to preserve the body for centuries, as the 
Egyptians hoped to do, and in fact actually succeeded in 
doing. In some countries the use of salts of arsenic, 
corrosive sublimate, etc., is prohibited by law for med- 
ico-legal reasons; but embalming can only be performed 
by toxic substances. Many of these have been tried, 
with limited success. Essential oils, alcohol, cinnabar, 
camphor, saltpetre, pitch, resin, gypsum, tan, salt, as- 
phalt, Peruvian bark, cinnamon, corrosive sublimate, 
chloride of zinc, sulphate of zinc, acetate of aluminum, 
sulphate of aluminum, creosote, carbolic acid, etc., have 
all been recommended by modern embalmers. In these 
days details of procedure vary, but all must conform to 
the law. 
The length of time which a body will keep before 
decomposition sets in varies greatly. In those cases in 
which but little flesh is left on the bones, and when the 
blood has decreased greatly in volume (for example, in 
consumption, where great emaciation has taken place 
before death), the body will keep far longer than one 
which has a large amount of tissue still upon the bones BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
153 
and a large volume of blood. Blood being the active 
principle in decomposition, its prompt removal is neces- 
sary in cases of this character. The time of year, the 
disease from which the person died, etc., all have an 
appreciable effect upon the length of time the body will 
naturally take to decompose; and hence all these factors 
must be taken into account by the embalmer in select- 
ing the amount and the strength of the fluid to be in- 
jected into the arteries of the corpse. 
The general procedure is somewhat as follows:-The 
body being laid out, an incision is made with a sharp 
knife, and the artery is drawn to the surface by means 
of a metal hook. The artery selected varies, some em- 
balmers choosing the brachial artery, others the axil- 
lary artery, etc. It depends upon the individual choice 
of the embalmer. If a visible scar is objected to, the 
brachial artery cannot be used. After the artery is 
brought to the surface and cut, the embalming fluid is 
forced into it by means of a small pump provided with 
two valves, after the manner of the heart. It is in- 
tended, indeed, to take the place of the heart in forcing 
the blood through the body. One of these valves forces 
the fluid into the artery; the other sucks up the fluid 
from the bottle in which it is contained. The fluid 
passes directly across to the heart and other vital organs, 
and when this has been done a second incision is made 
just below the heart, which is punctured. The blood 
is then drawn off from the heart, and the double process 
is continued until all the blood in the body has been 
replaced by the embalmer's fluid. Sometimes a second 
artery is cut in the leg. If the fluid is found to come 
away clear at this point, without an admixture of blood, 
the body is clear of blood-the chief decomposing agent. 154 
DEATH 
The fluid which is injected into the body has a ten- 
dency to harden the tissues, and they could be made 
actually brittle if enough were used. The embalmer 
uses his judgment as to the strength of the fluid. Gen- 
erally, an 8-ounce bottle of prepared embalming fluid 
is mixed with half a gallon of water, this being the 
typical "embalmer's solution." 
From a medico-legal point of view, there is much 
that can be said against embalming. Brouardel has 
pointed out that embalming can only be performed with 
toxic substances, and this fact would vitiate any subse- 
quent investigations that might have to be made-in 
a poison case, for example. Embalming might preserve 
bodies a much greater length of time than would other- 
wise be the case; but what is the object to be gained 
thereby 1 The body must ultimately decompose, whether 
embalmed or not, and of what use is the preservation of 
bodies? Our chief object should be, not to preserve 
them, but to get them out of the way as speedily and 
as hygienically as possible. It is surely a more pleasing 
thought to think of a cremated body than to dwell upon 
the condition of one that has been buried six months or 
a year. 
Mummification 
The mummified bodies of some of the Egyptians have 
doubtless been seen by every one. So perfectly have 
some of these bodies been preserved that even the fea- 
tures can be recognized after more than three thousand 
years. The bandages wrapped round the bodies were 
doubtless antiseptic in character; but the details of their 
methods have been lost. 
Apart from such cases, mummification of bodies may BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
155 
sometimes take place spontaneously, and the body be 
mummified instead of decomposing. This is especially 
the case in dry, hot countries, where there is but little 
moisture in the air. In the sandy soil of Mauritius, 
e. g., it is asserted that bodies frequently become mum- 
mified. Where there is a lack of air, the body will also 
occasionally assume this condition, even in our climate. 
M. Audouard reports a case of a mummified body, dis- 
covered by him, in which "the skin was like parch- 
ment, shrivelled, and of a buff color. When it was 
tapped with the back of a knife, it resounded like card- 
board. " The body had become very light. M. Audou- 
ard found also that the skin was perforated with a 
number of holes, like a colander, and that dust from 
within escaped through these little holes. A thigh of 
the leg weighed just one-third of the normal weight. 
The body had been devoured by mites, which had eaten 
all the tissues of the woman. The dust within the hol- 
low and mummified limb consisted mostly of the excre- 
tions of the mites. 
It is asserted that mummification of the body of an 
unborn child will take place, if the child be preserved 
in utero, and no air is allowed to enter the uterus. It is 
sometimes seen in the young, more rarely in adults. 
Lately, -when visiting the Egyptian room in the Brit- 
ish Museum, I noticed very carefully the physical pe- 
culiarities of some of the excellent specimens of mum- 
mification there exhibited. One case was especially 
interesting. A hand and arm, stripped of the winding 
bandages, is shown-perfect in its texture, all the nails, 
and even the texture of the skin, being clearly visible. 
The arm is shrunk to about one-fourth its normal size 
(it is merely the skin stretched over the two bones of the 156 
DEATH 
fore-arm). The hand is partly clenched. The whole 
is jet black, and has the appearance of being made of 
unpolished ebony. The human, living arm has now 
become petrified, as it were, and takes on the exact ap- 
pearance of wood. The arm is extremely hard and 
brittle-so much so, indeed, that it is cracked along its 
upper surface-just as a piece of wood might be cracked 
or split. This struck me at the time as a very remark- 
able phenomenon-apparently showing the ultimate 
tendency of such organic substances to petrify, become 
coal-like and finally return to the mineral elements from 
which they sprang. 
M. Megnin divides the work of the "labourers of 
death" into four periods. In the first, quaternary com- 
pounds are attacked and destroyed; in the second, fatty 
substances are attacked; in the third, the soft parts are 
liquefied; lastly, in the fourth period, the dried-up 
mummy is filled with mites. 
In all cases (with the exception of cremation), a fer- 
mentation takes place before the body is completely 
destroyed; gas is produced, and the organism is returned 
to the mineral kingdom more or less rapidly-the rapid- 
ity and character of this return being governed by several 
considerations. This is the invariable process, except in 
those rare cases in which the body remains frozen, or 
where it is devoured by W'ild animals or birds of prey. 
When the body is immersed in the ocean, it is soon de- 
voured by sharks, crabs, and other carnivorous sea- 
creatures. 
The body, when lying in peaty soils, or when sur- 
rounded with other antiseptic influences, will mummify. 
The body must be rather thin and juiceless, however. 
There is a church at Toulouse where the structure of the BURIAL, CREMATION, MUMMIFICATION 
157 
place seems to cause mummification of bodies, owing to 
a current of air being always present. 
The process of preserving the body by drying, which 
has sometimes prevailed among savage people, is prob- 
ably somewhat similar to the method of preserving meats 
which is practised by the natives of certain parts of 
South America. As described by Charles J. Post, the 
artist and explorer, this is as follows:- 
"The national food of the country is the 'chalona' and the 
'chuno.' These are consumed so generally that there are 
many villages east of the Andes in which the people have no 
other means of support than that which is afforded by the 
preparation of these edibles. The 'chalona' is nothing more 
or less than mutton that has been dried so thoroughly that 
it bears a close resemblance to a mummy. The natives take 
the carcase of the sheep up into the mountains-sometimes 
2000 feet or more above sea level-and there they let it lie 
all day beneath the rays of the sun. When the dew begins 
to fall, or there is any apparent dampness in the atmosphere, 
they cover it securely, and do not expose it to the air again 
until these conditions have disappeared. When fully pre- 
served under proper conditions, the carcase of the sheep will 
not weigh more than ten or twelve pounds. 
"The Indians eat this meat raw, masticating it to a degree 
that corresponds to our modern method of 'Fletcherism.' If 
it is to be cooked, however, it is necessary to stew it for fully 
ten hours the day before it is to be used, and to boil it again 
for not less than four hours the day that it is to be served. 
The natives eat it in combination with the 'chuno'-potatoes 
that have been treated in the same fashion until they have been 
dried to about the size of a bantam egg." 
As Mr. Post suggests, this is practically a process of 
mummification. CHAPTER VIII 
OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
This subject is of great interest as possibly throwing 
some light on the question of natural death. Certainly 
it is a question that should receive the closest attention 
from scientists. M. Metchnikoff, of Paris, has given it 
much thought, and I shall have occasion to mention his 
work immediately. First, however, a few preliminary 
remarks. 
There can be no doubt that the average length of life 
of the human race should be far greater than it is now. 
Every animal is supposed to live at least five times as 
long as it takes to mature; this is the all but invariable 
rule in the animal world, and should hold good for man 
also. He matures about twenty, let us say. According 
to our rule, therefore, he should live to be a hundred, and 
that without growing decrepit or without being regarded 
as exceptionally old or long-lived! That should be his 
normal age limit. But, instead of this, what do we find? 
That the average duration of human life is a fraction 
over forty-five years; and, more than that, these forty- 
five years are filled with grievous diseases and illnesses 
of all sorts, instead of health and happiness. Something 
is assuredly wrong somewhere; life is far shorter in dur- 
ation than it should be, and practically every one dies 
prematurely. The great majority die either from some 
disease or from some "sudden death," which, as I have 
shown, is not really sudden death at all, but the sudden 
158 OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
159 
culmination of an unobserved diseased condition. Of 
course, all such persons do not die naturally, and it is 
probable that very few indeed do die what might be 
called a "natural death." Physiology has even ques- 
tioned why the body should ever wear out, provided the 
organs remain sound and health be maintained! Thus 
Hammond stated that "there is no physiological reason 
at the present day why men should die. " G. H. Lewes, 
in his Physiology of Common Life, also said: "If the re- 
pair were always identical with the waste, never vary- 
ing in the slightest degree, life would then only be ter- 
minated by some accident, never by old age." Dr. 
Munro asserted that "the human body as a machine is 
perfect ... it is apparently intended to go on for 
ever." Dr. Gregory, in his Medical Conspectus, wrote: 
"Such a machine as the human frame, unless accident- 
ally depraved or injured by some external cause would 
seemed formed for perpetuity." Other authors could 
be quoted to like effect. Mr. Harry Gaze, indeed, de- 
voted a whole book to this question, and tried to show 
why we need never die if we only make up our minds 
to stay alive!1 The arguments against this position 
have been given elsewhere.2 
At all events, it is certain that the great majority 
of persons do die prematurely. The greatest number of 
such premature deaths are from diseases of various 
kinds. Such causes of death are analysed and classified 
in a little book entitled Premature Death. Here we 
read that nine-tenths at least of all deaths are prema- 
ture! (p. 5), and this is doubtless short of the truth. 
All accidental deaths are, of course, also premature; so 
1 How to Live Forever. 
2 Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, pp. 328-29. 160 
DEATH 
that the margin of cases of natural death is small indeed. 
It is amazing, when we consider this fact, that so little 
attention is paid to it either by doctors or the public. 
However, this is not the place to consider that question. 
On page 14 of the book just quoted, the author makes 
the following assertion:- 
"With the completion of manhood, diseases indicative of 
local degenerations of tissue begin to be predominant, and, 
with each successive stage of life, this predominance becomes 
more marked. In old age the degenerative changes, which 
at earlier periods of life are regarded as the signs of disease, 
now appear as the natural consequences of decay, and death 
becomes a physiological, not a pathological fact-as the ter- 
mination of a natural life, not as the premature close of a 
life cut short by disease." 
Metchnikoff however, takes the opposite view very 
strongly. He says, in part:-"It has often been said 
that old age is a kind of disease. ... In fact the great 
resemblance between these states is incontestable. . . . 
The theory of old age and the hypotheses which are con- 
nected with it may be summarized in a few words: The 
senile degeneration of our organism is entirely similar 
to the lesions induced by certain maladies of a microbic 
origin. Old age, then, is an infectious chronic disease 
which is manifested by a degeneration, or an enfeebling 
of the nobler elements, and by an excessive activity of 
the macrophages. ' '1 
Metchnikoff holds that, if death were due to old age, 
it would be sought for and anxiously awaited (instead of 
being dreaded and feared), just as we long for a night's 
sleep after a day of hard and trying work. It is prob- 
1 Old Age, by Elie Metchnikoff. Smithsonian Report, pp. 542-48. OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
161 
able that this is the case. It is probable that nature in- 
tended just such a plan. The dread of death that is so 
universal merely shows us that, in practically all cases, 
death has been premature; it has come before it was 
wanted-before its appointed time. There is every rea- 
son to believe, and every analogy points to the fact, that 
death should be welcomed, as sleep is welcomed, by those 
fatigued. Metchnikoff adduced some cases in support of 
his contention; and he is probably right in his central 
claim. 
Old age is invariably regarded as a period of decrepi- 
tude and mental imbecility. And although this is, as a 
matter of fact, the all but invariable rule, there is no 
real reason why such should be the case. Hardly any 
of the wild animals show signs of decrepitude in a 
similar manner, and only some of the domestic animals 
do. The rule would seem to be that the closer we live 
to nature, the longer is death postponed, and the more 
painless and sudden it is. Those living as the majority 
do, and indulging to an unlimited extent in rich foods, 
dissipations of all sorts, and what are generally known 
as the "good things of this world," do degenerate pre- 
maturely and lose their mental and moral fibre, no less 
than their physical bodies. Decay is the rule; useless- 
ness is the general condition of the aged with most civ- 
ilized nations-and even of some that are not civilized! 
The inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, for example, kill 
their old women before they kill their dogs, when they 
are threatened with famine. When asked why they 
do this, they reply: "Dogs catch seals, while old women 
do not! " Although civilized nations do not adhere 
to the doctrine of survival of the fittest so relentlessly, 
they nevertheless show by word and action very fre- 162 
DEATH 
quently that they wish the day would come when such 
"nuisances" will be removed.1 
I may now give a brief survey of what is known of old 
age and its causes, and some of the theories that have 
been advanced from time to time to explain its phe- 
nomena. Very few of these need be considered, as they 
are not either clear enough or comprehensive enough to 
deserve such discussion. A few, however, are very in- 
genious, and deserve careful consideration. 
Certain authors have advanced what might be called a 
"psychological" theory of old age and death. One 
grows old and dies when there is no longer an incentive 
to live. As Dr. E. Teichmann expressed it: "They 
grow old because they are no longer occupied with 
life." 2 This theory would completely fail to account for 
the phenomena of old age, even if it succeeded in ac- 
counting for death. There are many pathological, de- 
generative phenomena connected with old age which 
must be taken into account in this connection-degen- 
erations which are not apparently due to any psychic 
causes, but to purely physical conditions. Such a theory 
would be no means explain the facts. 
Says Metchnikoff:- 
"Numerous scientists affirm that old age finally results because 
it is impossible for an organism to repair the cellular losses 
by the formation of a sufficient number of new elements- 
that is to say, because of the exhaustion of the reproductive 
faculty. 
"One of the scientists who has more especially concerned 
himself w'ith general questions, Weismann, expresses himself 
1 For the practical side of this question-the reader is referred to my 
little book Death Deferred: How to Live Long and Happily, Defer 
Death and Lose all Fear of It. 
2 Life and Death, p. 145, OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
163 
on this subject in a very categorical manner. According to 
him, the senile degeneration that ends in death does not 
depend on the wearing away of the cells of our organisms, 
but rather upon the fact that cellular proliferation, being 
limited, becomes insufficient to repair that loss. As old age 
appears in different species and different individuals at var- 
ious ages, Weismann concludes that the number of genera- 
tions that a cell is capable of producing differs in different 
cases. It is, however, impossible for him to explain why, in 
one example, cellular multiplication may stop at a certain 
figure, while in another it may go much further. 
"The theory appears so plausible that no attempt has been 
made to support it by precise facts. We even see, in the 
most recent attempt at a theory of old age by Dr. Biihler, 
the thesis of the exhaustion of the reproductive power of the 
cells accepted and developed without sufficient discussion. 
It cannot be denied that it is during embryonic life that cells 
are produced with the greatest activity. Later on this proli- 
feration becomes slower, but it nevertheless continues through- 
out the course of life. Buhler attributes the difficulty with 
which wounds heal in the aged precisely to the insufficiency 
of cellular production. He also thinks that the reproduc- 
tion of the cells of the epidermis, which are to replace the 
desiccated parts of the skin, diminishes notably during old 
age. According to this author, it is theoretically easy to 
predict the moment when cellular multiplication of the epi- 
dermis must completely cease as the desiccation and desquama- 
tion of the superficial parts continue without cessation, it 
becomes evident that it must finally result in the total disap- 
pearance of the epidermis. The same rule is applicable, ac- 
cording to Buhler, to the genital glands and muscles, and all 
sorts of other organs."-Old Age, pp. 538-39. 
Metchnikoff advances several arguments against this 
theory-none of which, to me, appear altogether conclu- 
sive. A much stronger argument against this original- 164 
DEATH 
stock-of-energy theory is to be found in such a case as the 
following: A person has an attack of sickness, and almost 
dies. He comes as near as it is possible to dying, with- 
out actually doing so. Recovering, however, he lives on 
for half-a-century, in comparatively good health. Now, 
at the time of the illness, if that person had died, the 
reproductive power of his cells would have been lost for 
ever; and yet, simply by reason of the fact that he 
turned the critical point and recovered, his cells con- 
tinue to reproduce for half-a-eentury longer! Surely, 
we must give up the notion that the potential energy of 
the cell is inherent at birth in such a case, and assume 
that some new stock of energy is imbibed from some ex- 
ternal source, sometime later on in life? The idea that 
the diseased cell, all but dead, possessed the potential 
energy to reproduce for fifty years, while still in that 
condition, seems too absurd to need criticism. 
Bichat says that:- 
"In the death which is the effect of old age the whole of 
the functions cease, because they have been successively ex- 
tinguished. The vital powers abandon each organ by de- 
grees; digestion languishes, the secretions and absorptions 
are finished; the capillary circulation becomes embarrassed; 
lastly, the general circulation is suppressed. The heart is the 
ultimum moriens. Such, then, is the great difference which 
distinguishes the death of the old man from that which is the 
effect of a blow. In the one, the powers of life begin to be 
exhausted in all the parts, and cease at the heart; the body 
dies from the circumference, towards the centre; in the 
other, life becomes extinct at the heart, and afterwards in the 
parts; the phenomena of death are seen extending themselves 
from the centre to the circumference."-Recherches physiol- 
ogiques sur la Vie et la Mort (p. 143). OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
165 
These conclusions were confirmed by a number of 
cases cited by Dr. John D. Malcolm in his Physiology 
of Death from Traumatic Fever. 
Other writers have attacked this problem in a dif- 
ferent manner. They, too, have contended that old age 
and death are due, in a sense, to the decrease of the vi- 
tality of the body, but have asked themselves the ques- 
tion : Why should this vitality become lessened with old 
age, seeing that it is (supposedly) constantly being re- 
placed by a fresh stock of vitality from the food which is 
continually eaten? On the theory commonly held, the 
bodily energy is supposed to come from the food we eat, 
and that is constantly being supplied to the system- 
in old age, as in youth. Why, then, should these degen- 
erative changes take place, and the vitality decrease? 
These authors have come to the conclusion that the vital- 
ity depends upon the state of the body-its health; and, 
so soon as the body becomes clogged and blocked; as the 
result of wrong food-habits and other causes, old age, 
premature decay, and death result. 
Two writers who have taken this view are Dr. Homer 
Bostwick, who published his Inquiry into the Cause of 
Natural Death; or, Death from Od Age, in 1851; and Dr. 
De Lacy Evans, M.R.C.S.E., who issued his book, How to 
Prolong Life; An Inquiry into the Cause of Old Age and 
Natural Death, about 1880. The similarity of the views 
of these two authors is very remarkable, but each appar- 
ently wrote in ignorance of the work of the other-one 
in America, the other in England. Yet their views are 
almost identical. Both authors contend that "indura- 
tion and ossification are the causes of old age and nat- 
ural death." Both contend that these are the true 
causes, and not the result, of old age. Both these authors 166 
DEATH 
contend, further, that this induration and ossification 
are due to the excess of lime and other earthy salts 
that have accumulated within the system as life pro- 
gressed ; that old age advances just in proportion to the 
amount of this earthy matter in the system, and that 
old age is retarded just to the extent that it is kept out. 
But since all such substances can only be introduced 
into the system through the food and drink, they sought 
to find these foods which contained the minimum of such 
earthy matter, and these they found to be fruits. By 
living on fruits, then, they were enabled to retard the 
progress of old age and natural death, both in themselves 
and in all others who undertook to follow their diet. 
Careful analysis of the various foods confirmed their 
theory, which was also supported by a number of exper- 
imental facts. They therefore concluded that this was 
man's natural diet-that best suited to his body; and 
that, by eating fruit, man could very largely retard the 
oncoming of old age and natural death.1 
These authors made the degree of the vitality depend 
upon the condition of the body-and hence upon the 
food. On the other hand, it must be remembered that 
the utilization of the food, and its successful elimina- 
tion, will depend upon the degree of vitality present- 
i. e. the vitality will depend upon the state of the body, 
and the state of the body will depend upon the degree 
of vitality. We are here, therefore, in a vicious circle. 
Nevertheless, I think that these authors have attacked 
the problem in the right way, and I shall have occasion 
to recur to their views later on, when I come to con- 
sider this question of the relation of health to vitality. 
1 I have defended the fruitarian diet at considerable length in my 
book The Natural Food of Man. OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
167 
There are also many facts which support such a view. 
Let us consider some of these. 
The most marked feature in old age is that a fibrinous, 
gelatinous, and earthy deposit has taken place in the 
system-the latter being chiefly composed of phosphate 
and carbonate of lime, with small quantities of sulphate 
of lime, magnesia, and traces of other earths. The ac- 
cumulation of these solids in the system is doubtless 
one of the chief causes of ossification, premature old age, 
and natural death. In the bones this is most noticeable, 
the amount of animal matter in the bones decreases with 
age, while the amount of mineral matter increases. This 
is especially marked in the long bones and the bones of 
the head. They thus clearly show us that a gradual 
process of ossification is going on throughout life. 
As age advances the muscles diminish in bulk, the 
fibres become rigid and less contractile, becoming paler 
and even yellowish in colour, and are not influenced by 
stimuli to the same extent as in youth. Tendons also 
become ossified to a certain extent, while there is a 
diminution of the fluid in the sheaths of the tendons. 
The brain increases in size, up to about forty years of 
age, when it reaches its maximum weight. After this 
period there is a gradual and slow diminution in weight 
of about one ounce in every ten years. According to 
Gazanvieilh, "the longitudinal diameter of the brain of 
an old man, compared with that of a young man, is six 
inches one line, French measure, for the former, and six 
inches four lines for the latter; whilst the transverse 
diameter is four inches ten lines in the old man, and 
five inches in the young man." The convolutions of 
the brain become less distinct and prominent. 
The dura mater is often found apparently collapsed or 168 
DEATH 
corrugated. It is thickened and indurated, and ossific 
deposits on the arachnoid surface are very common. The 
membrane is sometimes found to have an abnormal dry- 
ness; the arteries supplying the brain have, in old age, 
become thickened and lessened in calibre; the supply of 
blood thus becomes less and less, leading to the mental 
imbecility of the very aged. This gradual process of 
degeneration in the arteries, not only in the brain but 
throughout the body, is well recognized, and is perhaps 
one of the most important of all the changes that take 
place in old age. So important a symptom is it con- 
sidered, that it has given rise to the old saying that "a 
man is as old as his arteries." The capillaries also 
become choked or blocked and clogged up, as the result 
of the earthy matter accumulated in the system. 
These changes taking place in the arteries, greater 
pressure is thrown upon the veins, which dilate, their 
coats becoming thinner, and they even become tortuous 
and varicose. 
The gradual process of induration and hardening go- 
ing on throughout the system is noticeable also in the 
heart-giving rise to various affections known to us un- 
der a variety of symptoms. The lungs gradually lose 
their elasticity, and increase in density. The air-cells 
and bronchi become dilated-hence emphysema and 
chronic bronchitis are so often seen in the aged. 
The salivary glands become hardened, and decrease in 
bulk. The saliva is either secreted in large quantities, 
so that "dribbling" takes place, or in quantities so small 
that the mouth is hardly moistened. These changes are 
probably due in part also to lack of central inhibition. 
In the stomach the gastric juice is secreted in a diluted 
form, and is deficient in pepsin; moreover, the muscular OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
169 
walls of the stomach gradually lose their wonted con- 
tractibility; the peristaltic motion becomes weak; chyme 
is imperfectly manufactured, and all the processes of 
digestion weakly performed. 
The liver shows the effects of old age by its imperfect 
bile-forming qualities. Fatty matters are not thor- 
oughly emulsified or absorbed by the lacteals-though 
this may be due to an alteration in the fluid secretion in 
the pancreas. 
In the intestines, the small vessels which supply the 
follicles and various glands become indurated, or even 
clogged up, in old age. The walls of the intestines 
become opaque, and lose their contractibility, while the 
villi containing the lacteals undergo the same gradual 
alteration. It will be seen from the above how necessary 
it is that all food should be restricted in quantity and 
simplified in quality in old age! Almost all the viscera, 
and particularly those glands and organs connected with 
the sexual apparatus, show signs of old age. The walls 
and structures become harder in texture, and less pliable. 
In the eye, in old age, there is diminished secretion of 
the aqueous fluid in the anterior chamber, the cornea 
becomes less prominent, the pupil becomes more dilated, 
from lessened nervous sensibility-hence distant sight 
and the indistinct and confused view of near objects in 
the aged. Cooper states that the retina, in old age, is 
found "thickened, opaque, spotted, buff-coloured, tough, 
and in some cases ossified." Quain calls attention to 
the fact that the colour, density, and transparency of 
the lens presented marked differences in different periods 
of life. In old age it becomes flattened on both sur- 
faces, and assumes a yellowish or amber tinge. It loses 
its transparency, and gradually increases in toughness 170 
DEATH 
and in specific gravity. Cataract is rarely found in the 
young, but frequently in the aged. 
The ear is subject to the same gradual process of 
ossification. The cartilages of the external ear become 
hardened, or even ossified; the glands which secrete the 
ear-wax undergo the same alterations as are found in 
other glands. The secretion becomes less, and altered 
in quality. The membrana tympani becomes thickened 
and indurated; the ligaments connecting the ossicles 
(maleus, incus, and sapes) become hardened, their plia- 
bility is lessened; thus vibrations which are already 
imperfect, owing to induration of the membrana tym- 
pani, are improperly converted by the ossicles across the 
cavity of the tympanum, by means of the internal ear 
(the structures and fluids of which have undergone the 
same process of consolidation), to the auditory nerve, 
the sensibility of which decreases with the senile changes 
of the brain. Hence the impaired and confused hearing 
so often observed in aged persons. 
The whole membrane covering the tongue becomes 
thickened and hardened in old age; its surface becomes 
dry and furrowed, while the blood-vessels supplying the 
papillae are decreased in size; hence the sense of taste 
is diminished. 
In old age, the sense of smell is lessened, owing to the 
hardening of the membranes and internal cartilages; 
moreover, the fibres of the olfactory nerves lose their 
susceptibility. 
The sense of touch throughout the body is greatly 
diminished: this for several reasons. The sensibility of 
the nerves is lowered, as well as the reactions of the 
centres. The epidermis becomes thickened and less 
sensitive. The capillaries supplying the papillae are OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
171 
also lessened in calibre; the action of the various seba- 
ceous glands is also diminished; the skin becomes dry, 
shrunken, and leather-like. It thus has a cracked and 
furrowed appearance, and has a tendency to pucker-up. 
Hence the wrinkles of old persons. In old age the skin 
contains more earthy salts than in youth. 
As is well known, the teeth are almost invariably lost 
before age is far advanced-this being due partly to 
external causes, partly to the lessening and corruption 
of the blood supply, upon which the nutrition of the 
teeth depends. As a result they decay and fall out. 
The hair is generally lost, and it usually becomes 
white. The cause of this for a long time puzzled phys- 
iologists ; Metchnikoff advanced the view that this 
blanching of the hair is due to the action of certain micro- 
organisms, which devour the colouring matter. Metch- 
nikoff's theory of the blanching of the hair fails to ac- 
count for certain facts, however-such as the complete 
whitening of the hair over night, as the result of purely 
nervous shock. 
The rate of the pulsation does not vary much as age 
advances. From eighty to ninety it averages seventy- 
three to seventy-four in men, and seventy-eight to sev- 
enty-nine in women. 
The respiration of elderly persons is said to average 
seventeen per minute. This gradually increases and in 
men, between eighty-five and ninety, it averages nine- 
teen to twenty, and in men over ninety it averages 
twenty-three. In women it is a little quicker. 
One of the most interesting features in advancing age 
is the lessening size and weight of the cell multiplying 
and blood producing organs-the spleen, the lymphatic 
glands, and Peyer's glands-coincidently with the less- 172 
DEATH 
ening of nutritive activity and therefore of the demand 
upon the blood factors. The thymus gland fades soon; 
its special contribution to the blood compound ceasing 
possibly to be required a few years after birth. The 
lymphatic glands are large in childhood and youth, and 
are easily excited to inflame and to enlarge unduly. 
The mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines is 
usually thin and pale in the aged. 
In old age the stock of vitality is decreased, but 
whether this is due to the state of the blood, or of the 
tissues, or both; or whether the state of the blood and 
the tissues depends upon the amount of vitality; and 
whether this vitality can be replenished as life advances, 
and if so, how; or whether a certain fund of life is in- 
herent in every living organism at birth-which no 
skill of man can add to-all these are questions which 
we cannot now discuss. They are treated at considerable 
length in Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, pp. 225-303, 
to which I may refer the reader for further details. 
The theory has been advanced that we grow old and 
die for the reason that the brain and nervous system 
become worn out because of the constant stimuli that 
have been poured upon them since they began their 
natural life. They are simply worn out, and refuse to 
function longer on that account. 
There is doubtless a grain of truth in this theory, but 
it cannot be accepted as in any way an adequate explana- 
tion of the facts. For, were it true, it is obvious that 
those persons who experienced the greatest number of 
stimuli in their life-times would be the first to wear out, 
whereas we know as a matter of fact that nearly all 
persons die at about the same age, no matter how many 
or how powerful the stimuli to which they had been OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
173 
subjected. Indeed, statistics would seem to show that 
the busy man of the great city, the mental worker, lives 
longer than the farmer and the man who lives merely 
a vegetable existence in the country. Such being the 
case, it is hard to see how this theory can be made to 
"hold water." 
Then, too, we have the "cometh up as a flower" theory. 
When we regard the growth, blooming, and death of a 
summer flower-the shooting upward of the flower stalk 
of a poppy, for example, with its blossoms, its seeding, 
and the suddenly ensuing juiceless and dead rigidity, 
we contemplate phenomena not wholly unlike what takes 
place in the human organism, when regarded in the 
large, passing from infancy to maturity and old age. 
What has taken place in the poppy stalk? 
One class of plant cells has developed, multiplied, and 
from the products which have issued from them have 
been produced the stalk proper and leaves. Imme- 
diately another class has, in like manner, given rise first 
to the bud, then to the gorgeous blossom with its sta- 
mens and pistils. Fertilization follows in its timed order, 
and later another class of cells mature as seed. 
It has been held that these latter cells in some manner 
sap and eviscerate, so as to speak, the cells of every other 
tissue of the plant; and, thus sapping them of their 
life elements or germs, condense these latter in the 
seed, where they may long lie dormant, yet capable of 
producing another plant, and that the parent plant, 
thus sapped and eviscerated, dies naturally, its life be- 
ing virtually taken away and carried forward to the seed 
for another year. 
The primary object of all plant life, then, according to 
this theory, is the perpetuation of the species, and, that 174 
DEATH 
object once accomplished, there is no longer any "use" 
for the plant, which dies at once or soon after. This 
same idea has been applied to animal life, and even to 
human beings, and it has been contended that the pri- 
mary object of living is to bring ever new specimens of 
the human race into being. 
What a hollow mockery! An endless procession of 
beings with no other aim than to procreate, to perpetuate 
the species-and to what end? That the offspring may 
in turn procreate, and thus the farce be kept up for ever! 
Can we conceive that such is the scheme of nature? Is 
it not more rational to suppose that the aim and end of 
living is to create and to enjoy, and that only one func- 
tion (doubtless an important one, but only one, neverthe- 
less) is to perpetuate the race? Would this not seem to 
be borne out by the fact that the parents do not die, or 
apparently even shorten their lives in the slightest de- 
gree, by giving birth to children, whereas if this theory 
were true, that should be one of the cardinal and central 
features of it? The theory cannot be said to withstand 
the test of experience or common sense. 
As I have said above, most authors are inclined to 
regard old age as a process of rapid decay and degenera- 
tion-e. g. Metchnikoff, quoted before. Some authors, 
however, are not at all disposed to take this stand. Dr. 
Charles S. Minot, e. g., is inclined to take an entirely 
different view of the matter. So far from regarding old 
age as some sort of disease that is to be avoided, he con- 
tends that we age far more slowly in old age than we 
do in youth, and that the rate of decay is in precisely 
inverse ratio to that generally held to be true. He pro- 
duces a great mass of evidence in favour of this con- 
tention, for which the reader is referred to his excellent OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
175 
and interesting volume {Age, Growth and Death). The 
following quotations may be accepted as exemplifying 
this author's theory:- 
"Rejuvenation is accomplished chiefly by the segmentation 
of the ovum. ... As we define senescence as an increase and 
differentiation of the protoplasm, so we must define rejuvena- 
tion as an increase of the nuclear material. ... If it be true 
that growing old depends upon the increase of the protoplasm, 
and the proportional diminution of the nucleus, we can per- 
haps in the future find some means by which the activity of 
the nucleus can be increased and the younger system of or- 
ganization thereby prolonged. ... We can formulate the 
following laws of cytomorphosis:- 
"First, cytomorphosis begins with an undifferentiated cell. 
"Second, cytomorphosis is always in one direction, through 
progressive differentiation and degeneration towards the death 
of the cells. 
"Third, cytomorphosis varies in degree characteristically 
for each tissue. . . . 
"Finally, if my arguments before be correct, we may say 
that we have established the following four laws of Age:- 
"First, rejuvenation depends on the increase of the nuclei. 
"Second, senescence depends on the increase of the proto- 
plasm and on the differentiation of the cells. 
"Third, the rate of growth depends on the rate of senes- 
cence. 
"Fourth, senescence is at its maximum in the very young 
stages, and the rate of senescence diminishes with age. 
"As the corollary from these we have this,-natural death 
is the consequence of cellular differentiation." 
Indeed, as Dr. C. A. Stephens,1 has said:- 
"When we ask the question boldly: Why does the human 
body grow old, and at length cease from function?-putting 
1 Natural Salvation, p. 78. 176 
DEATH 
the inquiry in the bio-physical sense, the answer seems to be 
that the personal life embodied in the organism is at length 
overcome and overmatched by the totality of the resistance to 
life which it encounters, from the embryonic stage onwards, 
more especially by the general telluric resistance, physical, 
chemical, molar, molecular, which the protoplasmic molecules 
of the organism meet with as long as they maintain the per- 
sonal life. After adult age is reached, they lose ground in 
the struggle, and at last succumb. The downward curve of 
the somatic cell has begun." 
The physiological processes by which food is reduced, 
comminuted, corrected as to its chemical constituents, 
peptonized, hepatized, oxygenated, and, in a word, car- 
ried forward to higher and higher stages of chemical 
instability, fit for assimilation by the tissue cells-all 
these processes set up a heavy draught on the collective 
animal life of the body, and necessitate the putting forth 
of energies on the part of all the cells which cause an 
ever increasing deficit of potential, a growing debt from 
overwork, a chronic accumulation of the effects of fa- 
tigue, which, under present conditions, must sooner or 
later lead to a running down of the cells. 
Under favourable conditions a cell may gain poten- 
tial; but the severe, steady draught on cellular energy 
necessary to maintain organic nutrition, even on the 
best food at present procurable, bankrupts the collective 
energies of the cells within a century. 
In one sense, therefore, it is our food which brings us 
to death's door-that is to say, the exhausting physiolo- 
gical processes necessary to prepare it for cell nutrition 
will in the end work the most perfect existent animal 
organism to death.1 
1 See several lengthy discussions of this point in Vitality, Fasting and 
Nutrition. OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
177 
One of the most ingenious theories of the causation 
of old age and natural death (and of their possible pre- 
vention) is that formulated by Mr. C. A. Stephens, in 
his book Living Matter: Its Cycle of Growth and Decline 
in Animal Organisms. In this excellent little book the 
author discusses the various theories of old age, and 
pretty effectually disposes of them. He then advances 
one of his own-postulating, at the same time, a possible 
course of life that would offset physical death-at least, 
for a very greatly extended period. After showing the 
improbability of the current notion that we possess a 
given fund or stock of vitality at birth, which we simply 
"live out" in a greater or lesser time, according to the 
kind of life we lead, he goes on to show that there is 
really no direct evidence that living matter-as such, 
and per se-ever loses its power or vitality, but rather 
that its power of manifesting is interfered with as life 
progresses, for the reason that it is forced to occupy a 
relatively smaller proportion of the whole space of the 
vital economy, by reason of the clogging and congesting 
that goes on with the advance of years, and with the al- 
tered chemical and physical changes which occur in the 
organism. Each fragment of "biogen" (living matter) 
is as powerful as ever, in other words; only it is slowly 
forced out by the earthy components in the body and 
compelled to occupy less space. He says, in part:- 
. Life is never qualitatively, but only quantitatively 
diminished; or, in other words, vitality as a physical process 
never slackens from any variability of its originating force- 
that force being the universal sentience of matter, and as 
constant as gravitation and the weight of the earth-and 
hence death comes to a person, not from a decline of this 
initial vital power itself, but from those intrinsic obstacles 178 
DEATH 
which befall from the material environment and from im- 
perfect modes of living. ... It is not the sentient constant 
in 'biogen' that grows old in our ageing organisms, but the sur- 
cease of the biogen from the tissues on account of mechanical 
causes connected with the growth and the product of growth. 
. . . A tissue is 'old' because there is little biogen in it, not 
so much because the biogen has grown intrinsically weak." 
Mr. Stephens then enumerates the various chemical 
and physical causes which contribute to old age and 
death, and points out that all these causes, being under- 
stood, might be removed; and that there is no valid 
reason why death should not be postponed almost in- 
definitely-looked at from the theoretical point of view. 
I have elsewhere dealt with this theory, and will not 
now discuss it further. His theory of old age contains, 
assuredly, more than a grain of truth-in fact, is largely 
true. All the newer researches in cell activity and cell 
life go to show that proportions are changed, but that 
the innate power of the proportions remains practically 
constant. In other words, living matter is living matter 
everywhere and always, and its differences are in degree 
and not in kind. If less of it be present (owing to 
obstruction or other causes), less of it will be manifest; 
and if more of it be present, more of it will be manifest. 
Few indeed are the men and women of full age-say 
twenty-five-who have not yet contracted the malady 
that will kill them, according to that distinguished sci- 
entist and physician Dr. Felix Regnault. Normally, as 
contemporary investigators are beginning to find out, it 
takes twenty years for a fatal malady to kill a patient. 
It may take thirty years. The popular impression is 
that a man may die suddenly, or that he may only re- OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
179 
quire a year to die in, or six months. To be sure, a man 
may be killed or a child may die in a few months at the 
age of one year. But ordinarily speaking, all deaths are 
very slow indeed, and about 95 per cent, of civilized 
adults are now stricken with fatal diseases. They do 
not know it. They may not suffer from them. In due 
time they will have their cases diagnosed as cancer, or as 
tuberculosis or diabetes, or what not. But so inveterate 
are current misconceptions of the nature of death that 
the origin of the fatal malady-in time-will be mis- 
calculated by from ten to thirty years. 
In the case of human beings, says Dr. Regnault, writ- 
ing in The International (London), death-barring acci- 
dent-is nearly always caused by some specific malady. 
This malady is as likely as not to be cured-that is, what 
is called "cured." The "cure," however, no matter 
how skilful the treatment or how slight the disease, 
has left a weakness behind it in some particular organ 
of the body. One of the organs is, if not prematurely 
worn out, at least so worn that its resisting powers are 
greatly diminished. All of us in this way when we have 
reached a certain age possess an organ that is much 
older than the rest of the physique. One day we shall 
die «because of this organ. Even if we live to be very 
old indeed, we shall not die of "old age" but of weak- 
ness of the lungs, or of the kidneys, or of the liver, or of 
the brain. The individual does not die of senile decay, 
no matter if he live to be ninety or a hundred. He dies 
of the decay of the lungs, or of the decay of the heart, or 
of the decay of the kidneys, or of the decay of some 
other organ. That organ has been dying for years. 
For if there be one truth more firmly established than 180 
DEATH 
others, it is this: no bodily organ can perish from disease 
in less than ten years. Sometimes it takes thirty years. 
Usually it requires twenty years. 
How is it that one organ thus decays more quickly than 
the others? Physicians reply-because it has suffered 
from the attacks of illness. A cure is never absolute. 
The organ never comes out of an illness in exactly the 
same condition as when it went in. Scarlet fever, for 
example, attacks a person. The kidneys have been 
thereby affected. For ten, twenty, or even thirty years 
more they may perform their functions excellently, but 
nevertheless they will have an earlier senility. The 
kidney cells slowly perish at a time when the other or- 
gans are healthy. At the age of fifty or sixty the sick 
person is carried off. The same holds true of other and 
very unimportant illnesses. A man dies of heart-weak- 
ness. An old rheumatic attack will very easily be de- 
tected as the cause. It long seemed as though it had 
left no traces, but they show themselves only in the fatal 
illness. Another old man dies owing to the wearing 
out of the blood-vessels. If the blood-vessels age more 
rapidly than the rest of the body, it is because they have 
been weakened by an infectious disease or some form of 
poisoning. 
Take the case of the man who dies of lung trouble. 
It is traceable to bronchitis or to slight tuberculosis in 
youth, which did not betray its presence but yet had 
weakened the organ. In all cases death is to be ascribed 
to an illness which had attacked the individual in his 
youth and weakened an organ, or to some infection which 
had permanently remained in a latent condition. The 
bacteria which had caused the illness do not quit the 
organism when the illness is terminated. They await in OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
181 
the interior of the organ the opportunity for a fresh 
attack. 
"Thus many men who are outwardly healthy carry the mali- 
cious enemy inside them. A fever, caught in youth, returns 
after twenty, thirty, or fifty years; the bacillus, for example, 
of marsh-fever has been dormant the whole time, and yet in 
old age awakens to fresh and fatal activity. 
"To these causes of the decay of single organs may be added 
those which are due to the folly of the individual himself. 
Drinkers ruin their livers, immoderate eaters overload their 
stomachs, smokers weaken their hearts; life ceases on the day 
when these organs finally refuse further service. We do not 
die suddenly; our existence perishes gradually with the weak- 
ening of the organs. To reach advanced old age, a man must 
have been healthy his whole life long." 
This theory has been criticized on the ground that it 
fails to take into account the fact that the body is con- 
stantly rebuilding its various parts, particularly its 
diseased or broken parts, and hence, any innate weak- 
ness would be eradicated long before it worked the havoc 
here suggested. Other reasons, too, might be urged 
against this theory; but on the whole it is doubtless 
sound in its main contention, and is a valuable sugges- 
tion towards a correct understanding of the causes of 
death in a large number of cases. 
Very different, again, are the views advanced by Dr. 
Arnold Lorand, of Carlsbad, who has issued an English 
translation of his work, Old Age Deferred. According 
to this theory, old age and premature death depend, not 
upon the age of the arteries, as has been so often sug- 
gested, but upon the condition of the ductless glands. 
All vital phenomena, he says, are under the control of 
the action of these glands; everything depends upon 182 
DEATH 
their condition. Symptoms of old age appear after 
changes in these glands. The appearance, the condition 
of the tissues, all depend upon their condition. Depress- 
ing emotions are, perhaps, the most fatal and certain of 
all means of breaking down these organs, and insuring 
premature old age and death. To summarize this au- 
thor 's views in his own words:- 
"The symptoms of old age are the result of breakdown of 
the tissues and organs which, owing to shrinking of the blood- 
vessels, are insufficiently supplied with blood, and, owing 
to the disappearance of nervous elements, are devoid of 
proper nervous control. 
"Degeneration of the ductless glands and of the organs and 
tissues can be simultaneous, for the latter are under the 
control of the former. These glands govern the processes of 
metabolism and nutrition of the tissues, and by their incessant 
antitoxic action protect the organism from the numerous 
poisonous products, be they of exogenous origin, introduced 
with air or food, or endogenous, formed as waste products 
during vital processes. After degeneration of these glands 
the processes of metabolism in the tissues are diminished, and 
there is an increase of fibrous tissue at the expense of more 
highly differentiated structures. 
"The fact that the changes in the tissues are secondary and 
take place only after primary changes in the ductless glands, 
is best proved by the circumstances that they can be produced, 
either experimentally by the extirpation of certain of the duct- 
less glands, or spontaneously by the degeneration of these 
glands in disease.1 
"It is evident from the above considerations that all hy- 
gienic errors, be they errors of diet or any kind of excess, 
will bring about their own punishment; and that premature 
old age, or a shortened life, will be the result. In fact, it is 
1 Dr. Voronoff has lately defended this view at length, in his book on Life. OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
183 
mainly our own fault if we become senile at sixty or seventy, 
and die before ninety or a hundred. 
"Not only age, but the majority of diseases, are due to our 
own fault in undermining our natural immunity against in- 
fections, and subjecting our various vital organs to unreason- 
able overwork and exertion. We do not believe that the worst 
slave-driver of olden days subjected his slaves to such treat- 
ment as we do our own organs, and especially our nerves. 
At last they must rebel, and disease, with early death or pre- 
mature old age, will be the result. 
"It is literally true, as the German proverb says: 'Jeder 
is seines Gliickes Schmied' (every man is the locksmith of his 
own happiness), and as a variation on this we would say: 
'Every man is the guardian of his own health.' " 
Of recent years, Professor Metehnikoff has devoted 
considerable time and energy to this question of "old 
age," and discusses the subject fairly and fully in his 
Old Age, mentioned above, in his New Hygiene, his 
Nature of Man, and his Prolongation of Life. His posi- 
tion throughout all his writings remains the same, and 
can best be summed up in his own words as follows:- 
" . . . I think I am justified in asserting that senile decay 
is mainly due to the destruction of the higher elements of 
the organism by macrophags. . . . Since the mechanism of 
senile atrophy is entirely similar to that of atrophies of mi- 
crobic or toxic origin, it may be asked whether in old age 
there may not be some intervention of microbes or their 
poisons. . . . The principal phenomena of old age depend 
upon the indirect action of microbes that become collected in 
our digestive tube. ... It is really intestinal microbes that 
are the cause of our senile atrophy. . . . Old age is an infec- 
tious chronic disease which is manifested by a degeneration, 
or an enfeebling of the nobler elements, and by the excessive 
activity of the macrophags. These modifications cause a dis- 184 
PEATH 
turbance of the equilibrium of the cells composing our body, 
and set up a struggle within our organism which ends in a 
precocious ageing and in premature death, contrary to nature." 
Accordingly, M. Metchnikoff seeks means to destroy 
these invading microbes. He thinks that he has found 
the remedy, in part at least, in the free use of lactic 
acid, which kills the organisms and renders their growth 
and presence impossible. Doubtless this method would 
dispose of the micro-organisms then in the intestinal 
tube; but what if more are introduced? We must drink 
more of his soured milk, containing lactic acid! But 
is it not obvious that this is merely tinkering at effects, 
instead of going direct to the root and cause of the evil ?1 
Why not render the soil such that no microbes can live 
in it, in the first place, and then no lactic acid treatment 
or other measures of a similar nature would be neces- 
sary? M. Metchnikoff is forced to admit that, if the 
bowels were perfectly healthy, there would and could be 
no auto-intoxication, and hence no degeneration of the 
nature indicated. Why not, then, aim at preserving 
the bowel in such a state of cleanliness that no micro- 
organisms could possibly dwell therein? Should not 
that be our ideal? 
M. Metchnikoff practically admits this in several pas- 
sages in his works; but his method of preserving such 
a state is very different from one that would be recom- 
1 Says Professor Charles Minot on this point:-"It is unquestionable 
that phagocytes do eat up fragments of cells and of tissues, and may 
even attack whole cells. But to me it seems probable that their role is 
entirely secondary. They do not cause the death of cells, but they feed 
presumably upon cells which are already dead or at least dying. Their 
activity is to be regarded, so far as the problem of the death of cells is 
concerned, not as indicating the cause of death, but as a phenomenon for 
the display of which the death of the cell offers an opportunity."-Age, 
Growth and Death, p. 74. (See Appendix B.) OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
185 
mended by any hygienic physician. He contends that 
we should never eat raw food, or food that has not been 
thoroughly cooked, as we are liable thereby to introduce 
germs into the intestinal canal! All water should be 
boiled; everything sterilized-every precaution taken 
to prevent the introduction into the body of micro- 
organisms, which he so greatly fears. M. Metchnikoff 
believes that cancer is produced by micro-organisms, and 
asserts that he has eaten only cooked foods for many 
years, in an attempt to escape that terrible malady. 
In opposition to this view, I may state that there are 
many persons-whole colonies of them in California- 
who eat nothing but raw fruits and nuts, and who never 
boil their water, or cook their food at all-and they never 
suffer from any of these dread complaints, but are, on the 
contrary, exceptionally healthy and robust and long- 
lived. Professor Jaffa, who made a special study of 
these "fruitarians," found them to be especially healthy 
and possessed of an abundance of energy.1 And all 
of these men and women live far longer than the average, 
and are almost entirely free from the numerous diseases 
and complaints from which humanity suffers. How is 
this ? 
The answer is simple enough. As I have already 
pointed out in another place, it is not the germ that is 
to be dreaded, but that condition of the body which 
renders possible the presence and growth of that germ! 
If the body were healthy, no germs could live in such 
an organism, no matter how many were introduced- 
they would be instantly killed, and they could not exist 
therein for an instant. We need not bother about the 
1 See his Investigations among Fruitarians, U. S. Dept, of Agr. Re- 
port and my Natural Food of Man. 186 
DEATH 
germs; keep the body sound, Well, strong, and full of 
energy, and nature will take care of the rest-including 
the germs! They are quite incapable of doing any 
harm in a healthy body. The sounder the body the less 
danger of infection, and the longer and healthier the 
life. Now, as fruitarianism, or the practice of living 
upon fruits, is one of the best possible means of keeping 
the body in this desirable condition, it will readily be 
seen that, if we live on raw fruit, and those simple foods 
that tend to keep the body in the best possible health; 
and if we are careful, at the same time, not to eat too 
much, we shall keep the intestinal canal free from all 
obnoxious microbes-for the simple reason that their 
growth and presence there would be an utter impossibil- 
ity. No matter if we do introduce into it such micro- 
organisms with the food, the body would speedily dis- 
pose of them. The state of the body is everything; 
the number of microbes introduced of very small mo- 
ment. Eat those foods, therefore, that keep the body in 
the best possible health, and do not worry in the least 
about the micro-organisms, that may or may not exist 
in the intestines. They will soon be disposed of. The 
food is the all-important factor; and fruit-man's nat- 
ural food-should be eaten almost exclusively if we 
wish to avoid old age, premature death, and all the ills 
that exist before it. It will thus be seen that I have been 
forced to agree with Drs. Bostwick and Evans, previ- 
ously mentioned, as this was their contention precisely. 
M. Metchnikoff failed to make sufficient allowance for 
the germicidal and antiseptic properties of the body, 
when maintained in the best of health by means of nat- 
ural, uncooked foods.1 He studied the effects of these 
1 See my Natural Food of Man for a defence of this system of diet. OLD AGE: ITS SCIENTIFIC STUDY 
187 
micro-organisms upon bodies badly nourished with 
cooked food, and food more or less in excess. Had he 
studied bodies nourished and maintained by their natural 
food-fruits and nuts, in their uncooked, primitive form 
-there can be no doubt that M. Metchnikoff would 
have been forced to the conclusion that, after all, these 
states are caused by the running down of the vital forces 
in consequence of the altered chemical condition of the 
body, and of its blockage by mal-assimilated food-ma- 
terial ! CHAPTER IX 
THEORIES AS TO THE NATURE OF DEATH 
It has often been said that we cannot know what death 
is until we know something of the nature of life, and 
that is very probably true. Death has also been de- 
fined, many times, as the "cessation of life." Dr. 
Minot, e. g., in his Age, Growth and Death, (pp. 214- 
15) says:- 
"Death is not a universal accompaniment of life. In many 
of the lower organisms death does not occur, so far as we 
at present know, as a natural and necessary result of life. 
Death with them is purely the result of an accident, some ex- 
ternal cause. Our existing science leads us, therefore, to the 
conception that natural death has been acquired during the 
process of evolution of living organisms. Why should it have 
been acquired? It is due to differentiation; when the cells 
acquire the additional faculty of passing beyond the simple 
stage to the more complicated organization, they lose some 
of their vitality, some of their power of growth, some of their 
possibilities of perpetuation; and as the organization in the 
process of evolution becomes higher and higher, the necessity 
for change becomes more and more imperative. But it in- 
volves the end. Differentiation leads, as its inevitable con- 
clusion, to death. Death is the price we are obliged to pay 
for our organization, for the differentiation which exists in 
us. Is it too high a price? To that organization we are 
indebted for the great array of faculties with which we are 
endowed. To it we are indebted for the means of appre- 
ciating the sort of world, the kind of universe, in which we 
are placed. ... It does not seem to me too much for us to 
188 THE NATURE OF DEATH 
189 
pay. We accept the price. . . . Death of the whole comes, 
as we now know, whenever some essential part of the body 
gives way-sometimes one, sometimes another; perhaps the 
brain, perhaps the heart, perhaps one of the other internal 
organs may be the first in which the change of cytomorphosis 
goes so far that it can no longer perform its share of work, 
and, failing, brings about the failure of the whole. This is 
the scientific view of death. It leaves death with all its mys- 
tery, with all its sacredness; we are not in the least able at 
the present time to say what life is-still less, perhaps, what 
death is. We say of certain things-they are alive; of cer- 
tain others-they are dead; but what the difference may be, 
what is essential to those two states, science is utterly unable 
to tell us at the present time. It is a phenomenon with which 
we are so familiar that perhaps we do not think enough 
about it." 
Haeckel, again, in his book, The Wonders of Life, 
says:- 
"The inquiry into the nature of organic life has shown us 
that it is, in the ultimate analysis, a chemical process. The 
'miracle of life' is in essence nothing but the metabolism of 
the living matter, or of the plasm. ... If death is the cessa- 
tion of life, we must mean by that the cessation of the alterna- 
tion between the upbuild and the dissolution of the molecules 
of protoplasm; and as each of the molecules of protoplasm 
must break up again shortly after its formation, we have, 
in death, to deal only with the definite cessation of reconstruc- 
tion in the destroyed plasma-molecules. Hence, a living thing 
is not finally dead-that is to say, absolutely incompetent to 
discharge any further vital function-until the whole of its 
plasma molecules are destroyed. . . . Normal death takes 
place in all organisms when the limit of the hereditary term 
of life is reached. ... As Kassowitz has pointed out, the 
senility of individuals consists in the inevitable increase in the 
decay of protoplasm, and the metaplastic parts of the body 190 
DEATH 
which this produces. Each metaplasm in the body favours the 
inactive break-up of protoplasm, and so also the formation 
of new metaplasms. The death of the cell follows, because 
the chemical energy of the plasm gradually falls off from a 
certain height-the acme of life. The plasm loses more and 
more the power to replace, by regeneration, the losses it sus- 
tains by the vital functions." 
Dr. Brouardel, in his Death and Sudden Death, (p. 
297), defines death as follows:- 
"Death supervenes when poisons manufactured in the sys- 
tem, or unwholesome food that has been ingested, can no 
longer be adequately removed by the kidneys. . . . The in- 
dividual is, therefore, poisoned, either by his food, or by 
poisons which are generated within his own body, i. e. auto- 
intoxication." 
Dr. J. H. Kellogg defines death thus:- 
"The cause of old age and natural death is the accumula- 
tion of waste matters in the body." 
Dr. R. T. Trail, in his Physiology, p. 203, favoured 
the idea that death ensues when- 
"The solids are so disproportioned to the fluids that the 
nutritive process can no longer be carried on." 
Dr. Bosenbach contends that- 
"Death ... is that condition of organized matter in which 
all processes of causation have come to such a state of rest 
that they can no longer be put in motion, since the grouping 
of the atoms in the molecule has become so firm that the liber- 
ation of living force would be associated with a destruction 
of the molecule" (Physician versus Bacteriologist, pp. 82-3). 
Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, in his Diseases of 
Modern Life, pp. 103-4, sums up the causes of death as 
follows:- THE NATURE OF DEATH 
191 
"I have learned that the gradual transformation of the vital 
organs of the body from advanced age is due to a change in the 
colloidal matter which forms the organic basis of all living 
tissues. In its active state this substance is combined with 
water, by which its activity and flexibility is maintained in 
whatever organ it is present-brain, nerve, muscle, eye-ball, 
cartilage, membrane. In course of time, this combination 
with water is lessened, whereupon the vital tissues become 
thickened, or, to use the technical term, 'pectous/ by attrac- 
tion or cohesion, the organic particles are welded more closely 
together, until, at length, the nervous matter loses its mobility, 
and the physical inertia is complete." 
All these proposed causes of death may be summed up 
in the two words poisoning and blockage. 
It will be seen from the above that there exists a great 
divergence of opinion as to the "true nature'' of death 
-i. e. natural death, and not death due to disease, ac- 
cident or other causes of a like nature. It was in an 
attempt to answer this question that I sent out, a num- 
ber of years ago, a "Questionnaire," in the form of a 
letter, to a number of eminent savants, asking them the 
question: "What do you consider to be the Real Nature 
of Death? " A number of letters were received, in 
answer to this question, but none of them could be con- 
sidered in any way a definite answer to this question, 
while many of them displayed a frank indifference as to 
the whole problem! This curious indifference was 
pointed out, and in fact proved actually to exist by 
Professor F. C. S. Schiller, who published a statistical 
inquiry into the subject in the Proceedings of the 
S. P. R., vol. xviii, pp. 416-53. (See also Mr. Joseph 
Jacobs' little book, The Dying of Death.) This indif- 
ference is all the more curious when we take into con- 192 
DEATH 
sideration the fact that every one must one day face it; 
while the relative lack of interest on the part of physi- 
cians and scientists generally is puzzling, from another 
point-of-view. At all events, it is generally conceded 
that, in order to define "death," we must first of all de- 
fine "life," and this I shall now endeavour to do, at least 
tentatively,-and to define death (natural death) as a 
consequence of this primary definition. 
I need not, indeed, give a definition of the essence of 
life-its very innermost nature-so long as I can give a 
satisfactory definition of its phenomena, its connection 
with the organism, and the character of its manifesta- 
tions through it. If "life" were once understood, we 
might be enabled to see in what its negation consisted. 
We can conceive the opposite of a thing we know, but 
not the opposite of a thing we do not. Roughly, then, 
let me attempt a definition of the phenomenon of life. 
As a matter of fact, I have already offered a tentative 
definition of life in my Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, 
p. 334. I then said: "And what is life? That, of 
course, is unknown. But I venture to think that we 
shall not go far wrong should we conceive it-on its 
physical side-for of its essence we are quite ignorant- 
as a species of vibration."1 I then attempted to show 
1 It may be objected that, in thus defining life as a species of vibra- 
tion, I have not explained it in full. As I have repeatedly said, I have 
not attempted to do so. All I intend accomplishing here is a definition 
of the manifestation of life, and a statement of the possible conditions 
under which it might or might not manifest. That is all that is at- 
tempted, in the case of any other energy or quality. For instance, we 
do not define the essence of light (so to speak) when we say that it is 
vibration at a certain rate; nor heat, ditto. But we know what we 
mean by the terms very well, and there is never any demand made to 
define "light" or "heat" more accurately. I feel that it is the same 
with life. We are dealing with phenomena still, and not with noumena. 
My present idea is merely advanced, to be tested, like any other hypothe- 
sis. THE NATURE OF DEATH 
193 
how this conception might account for the bodily heat 
noted, and how it was in accordance with the theory of 
vitality advanced. Here I shall endeavour to extend 
the idea in another direction. By it we shall, I think, 
be enabled to account for death. 
If the manifestation of life be actually a species of 
vibration, and life manifests at a certain rate, and at 
that rate only (or within certain narrow limits), it will 
be seen that, in order to render impossible the manifesta- 
tion of life, it would only be necessary to raise or lower 
the rate of vibration above or below the limits designed 
by nature as possible for the manifestation of life, in 
order to render this manifestation impossible. If the 
rate of vibration be above a certain speed, life (or 
its physical base or body) would be shattered, and its 
manifestation become impossbile. On the other hand, 
if the rate of vibration were to fall below the minimum 
limit set by nature, then life would lose its hold of the 
organism, and drift away, no longer able to manifest 
through that body. Thus, the power of life may be sup- 
posed to exercise a variable and fluctuating influence 
over the body; at times manifesting fully, as in intense 
conscious effort; at times unable to influence it as it 
should, owing to the poisoned and obstructed condition 
of the nervous system and the tissues: at times, perhaps, 
enabled to exercise praeternormal powers and functions; 
at other times, maintaining only a loose and formal 
connection, as in sleep, or becoming severed altogether, 
as in death. This vital energy, this power of life, prob- 
ably acts more or less indirectly upon the nervous sys- 
tem, through some semi-etheric intermediary. It is the 
power or energy which sets the molecules of the proto- 
plasm into vital activity. Such, in rough outline, is 194 
DEATH 
the theory. Now let us apply it in detail to the facts. 
First, let us consider what "natural death" would 
mean on this theory. Assuming that a certain rate of 
vibration (of the nervous tissue, or of some ethereal 
medium acting upon nervous tissue) represents the ideal 
of health, we might suppose that all rates of vibration 
above or below this would represent, more or less, man- 
ifestations of abnormality or disease-mental or phys- 
ical. A slight lessening of the rate of vibration would 
indicate a lessened amount of vitality-sluggishness, 
enervation, depletion, and all that goes with these states. 
On the other hand, an elevation of the rate of vibration 
would induce undue excitement, excessive stimulation, 
abnormal passions and emotions, feverish conditions, et 
hoc genus omne. I need not here go into the medical 
details of this theory, and of its applicability to disease: 
possibly I shall do so on another occasion. At present 
I only wish to indicate its applicability and explanatory 
power, so far as the phenomena of life and of death are 
concerned. But any medical man will see its applica- 
bility and potentialities, if true. 
Now, we may suppose that this rate of vibration 
would be influenced in two ways-by the condition of the 
body and by the state of the mind. If the body be 
choked up with debris, and clogged so that life cannot 
manifest through it, then the rate of vibration will be 
so lowered that only a very little life, or life of a low 
order, can become manifest.1 If, on the other hand, 
1 This might also account for the phenomena of evolution. Professor 
F. 0. S. Schiller wrote some years ago, in fact (Riddle* of the Sphinx, 
p. 294): "If the material encasement be coarse and simple, as in the 
lower organisms, it permits only a little intelligence to permeate through 
it; if it is delicate and complex, it leaves more pores and exits, as it 
were, for the manifestation of consciousness." I venture to think tins is 
quite in line with my theory. THE NATURE OF DEATH 
195 
the mind be unduly excited; if it be stimulated and 
raised to a pitch of great emotional or intellectual ac- 
tivity, this would doubtless correspond to an increased 
rate of vibratory action; and, thus increasing the activ- 
ity of the organism through which it manifests, by rea- 
son of its raising the rate of vibration of its nerve 
centres, it would produce disastrous consequences in 
that organism. A slight raising or lowering of this rate 
of vibration would thus produce disease of one character 
or of another; and when the rate of vibration exceeds 
a certain limit, then life would be no longer possible at 
all-at least in that body. 
Now applying this theory to the problem before us, 
I think we have a satisfactory explanation of natural 
death, as well as of all sudden deaths-deaths due to 
accident, disease, etc. Let us see if this is not the case. 
Take, first, a supposedly typical case of "natural" 
death. As the result of years of living contrary to 
the laws of nature (more or less),1 the body has become 
enfeebled, the vitality low, the powers sluggish, the 
chemical composition of the body altered, and the 
tissues more or less clogged with debris and mal-assim- 
ilated food material. Once this process of blockage and 
decay has begun, it proceeds more or less rapidly, ac- 
cording to the condition of the organism. Thus, I con- 
ceive that it would be impossible for any person in 
perfect health to die; but no one is in perfect health! 
This process of blockage, then, goes on from day to day, 
1 No one can live absolutely according to the laws of nature. That 
would be an ideal condition-which does not exist as an actuality. 
However closely we may obey the laws of nature, therefore, so far as 
they are known to us, we are perverting them every day of our lives 
to a great or an infinitesimal degree. For this reason, death ultimately 
comes to us. 196 
DEATH 
until there comes a time when life cannot set the vital 
machinery in motion. Thus we have the state which 
I defined as death in my Vitality, Fasting and Nutrition, 
pp. 330-1, viz.: "That condition of the organism which 
renders no longer possible the transmission or mani- 
festation of vital force through it-which condition is 
probably a poisoned state of the nervous system-due, 
in turn, to the whole system becoming poisoned by toxic 
material absorbed from the blood." 
I now think I see a step further than I did when I 
wrote that passage. I now think I see how it is that 
life is prevented from manifesting through the body. 
It is because the rate of vibration at which life can mani- 
fest cannot be reached. In such a body, the minimum 
rate of vibration at which life can become manifest to 
us cannot be attained. Its nervous mechanism cannot 
be set in motion. I should thus, therefore, define natural 
death, or death from old age: 
IT IS THE INABILITY OF THE LIFE FORCE TO RAISE TO 
THE REQUISITE RATE OF VIBRATION THE NER- 
VOUS TISSUE UPON WHICH IT ACTS ITS MANI- 
FESTATION THUS BEING RENDERED IMPOSSIBLE. 
We have here, I think, a fairly complete and satisfac- 
tory definition of natural death. 
I am well aware of the fact that present-day science 
does not recognize any such separate life as I have pos- 
tulated; but, on the contrary, asserts that life is the 
very product of the functioning of the .body. Some 
years ago this was held (in the crudest form) to be true 
of mind also; but this is now all but universally given 
up, and I feel assured that the present position with re- THE NATURE OF DEATH 
197 
gard to life and vitality will shortly have to be given up 
also. There is no proof whatever that the present con- 
ception or interpretation of the facts is correct; all that 
science has shown in this particular field is that a cer- 
tain amount of organic tissue change, and a certain 
amount of life (so to speak) are present at the same 
time; and it has been by no means proved that one 
creates the other. All that is proved is coincidence; 
not causation. Orthodox science claims that the destruc- 
tion of a certain amount of matter (organic) brings into 
being a certain amount of life: on the contrary, I should 
hold that the manifestation or expenditure of a certain 
amount of life wastes or displaces a certain amount of 
organic matter (which is made good by a proportionately 
small or large amount of food-material). We can take 
all the facts of physiological science and interpret them 
in a different manner. Just as one school of psychol- 
ogists asserts that the waste of the substance of the brain 
does not actually produce the thought, but is only co- 
incidental with it (or is even caused by it) ; so we con- 
tend that all the vital wastes of the body may be looked 
at from the same standpoint; and that, instead of the 
food causing the bodily energy, vital energy wastes the 
bodily tissues by acting upon them; and this loss is in- 
variably made good by a proportionate amount of food. 
I argued this position at great length in my Vitality, 
Fasting and Nutrition, pp. 225-303, and Dr. Rabagliati 
also strongly insisted upon this possible alternate inter- 
pretation of the observed facts, in his excellent Intro- 
duction to my book; and I shall only refer the reader 
to the text for an elaboration of that idea. Here I need 
only say (and on this I insist), that this idea of a sep- 
arate life force is quite possible, and is a tenable posi- 198 
DEATH 
tion and theory, is in accord with all the known facts 
of experimental physiology, and also enables us to ex- 
plain many facts which on the ordinary theory we can- 
not explain. For these reasons, I accept this theory as 
substantially correct, and shall proceed with the argu- 
ment as if it were true. 
Dr. Charles S. Minot, indeed, when discussing this 
difficult question, expressed himself as follows:- 
"No mechanical explanation or theory of conscious autom- 
atism suffices, but a vital force is the only reasonable hy- 
pothesis; the nature of that force is, for the present, an 
entire mystery, and before we can expect to discover it, we 
must settle what are the phenomena to be explained by it." 
And thirty years later Dr. Minot was still able to say:- 
"So little have we gained since 1879 in our comprehension 
of the basic phenomena of living things, that were I to re- 
write the abstract in accordance with present knowledge, I 
should not change it essentially. The vitalistic hypothesis 
still seems to me scientifically the best" {Age, Growth and 
Death, p. 267). 
It may be added that there is a slow but distinct 
tendency among biologists to revert to some vitalistic 
hypothesis for an explanation of living matter and its 
phenomena. (See, e. g., Wilson, The Cell, pp. 394, 
417, 434, etc.) And I may point out that if this alter- 
native explanation of the facts is a possible one, it throws 
an entirely new light on many ill-understood historical 
phenomena. Thus, Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, in 
his Ministry of Health, writes as follows:- 
"What, then, we should abstractly call 'vitality' is univer- 
sal, and in persistent operation in inanimate matter consti- 
tuted to be animated. What we call life is the manifestation THE NATURE OF DEATH 
199 
of this persistent and all-pervading principle of nature in 
properly organized substance. What we call death, or de- 
vitalization, is the reduction of matter to the sway of other 
forces, which do not destroy it, but which change its mode 
of motion from the concrete to the diffuse, and, after a time, 
render it altogether incapable of manifesting vital action until 
it be recast in vital mould. We are at this moment ignorant 
of the time when vitality ceases to act on matter that has 
been vitalized. Presuming that an organism can be arrested 
in its living in such a manner that its parts shall not be injured 
to the extent of actual destruction of tissue or to change of 
organic form, the vital wave seems ever ready to pour into 
the body again so soon as the conditions for its action are 
re-established. Thus, in some of my experiments for sus- 
pending the condition essential for the visible manifestation 
of life in cold-blooded animals, I have succeeded in re- 
establishing the condition under which the vital vibrations 
will influence after a lapse, not of hours, but even of days; 
and, for my part, I know no limitation to such re-manifes- 
tation." 
The extreme suggestiveness of these remarks need 
hardly be pointed out, bearing as they do upon the 
possible interpretation of historic cases of "raising the 
dead." So long as no part of the organic structure be 
impaired, or rendered useless, there seems to be no valid 
reason why the bodily vitality and life should not be 
forced back into the body by some one, who perhaps 
understands the law of such vital re-adjustment. On 
the theory that vitality is a separate force which can 
exist apart from the bodily structure, this could easily 
be conceived; and it could even be conceived on the 
materialistic hypothesis-that vital energy is a mere 
resultant of the total bodily functions. On that theory 
life is a product, as it were, of such functionings, and 200 
DEATH 
is merely arrested or ceases to be, because the organs 
which brought life into being cease their activity. 
Once these organs could be re-stimulated into action, 
life should re-manifest, by all the laws known to us, or, 
at least, there is no valid objection, to my thinking, 
to its doing so. Why life does not thus re-manifest in 
bodies whose structure is unimpaired is really a mystery, 
but it is probably due to the fact that the adjustment 
between the life force and the body is impaired, and 
in some way interfered with beyond recall. There are 
many cases on record in which a man has, e. g., read a 
telegram and dropped dead instantaneously. Surely 
the bodily conditions before and after such a catastrophe, 
must differ almost infinitesimally; and yet there is all 
the difference in the world between that man's condition 
before and after such a stupendous event! What has 
taken place? What physiological reason is there for 
thinking that life cannot be made to re-manifest in 
such a body ? It has always appeared to me that, 
were the laws of life-its manifestation and vital con- 
nection with the body-more thoroughly understood, 
cases of "raising the dead" might be far more plenti- 
ful than they are at present, and they would no longer 
be considered "miraculous" by the public at large. 
Surely this must be because the nervous system is in- 
volved, and it is because of the shock that death takes 
place? The insufficiency of the current theories of life 
and of death is never more plainly illustrated than in 
cases of this character. On the materialistic theory, 
why should stoppage of the heart, or its emptying of 
blood, cause sudden death? And how comes it about 
that cardiac massage can restore the heart-beat and life, 
several minutes after a heart has stopped beating, when THE NATURE OF DEATH 
201 
the man would normally be pronounced quite dead? 
On the theory outlined above, it seems to me all such 
facts are readily explained. Cardiac massage, e. g., 
would restore a certain vibratory action to the system, 
which would render possible the re-manifestation of life 
through it. In the case of the heart-failure, the rate of 
the life-vibration would be either raised or lowered so 
suddenly and so tremendously, that its manifestation 
would no longer be possible. Just as light would sud- 
denly jump into invisibility were we suddenly to increase 
its rate of vibration, and remain invisible indefinitely 
so long as we retained that rate, just so would life in- 
stantly become invisible and intangible, and would cease 
to function on this plane, where it is visible or sensible 
to us, were its rate of vibration suddenly raised in the 
manner suggested. 
Having defined natural death, let us see if this theory 
applies to all the other known facts, and explains them 
in a satisfactory manner. I think we shall find that it 
does. I should begin with death from mental causes. 
To take a typical case, a man reads a telegram, and 
drops dead. In such a case, I have only to suppose 
that the rate of vibration was raised to such a pitch, 
in consequence of the mental emotion and excitement, 
that life shattered itself, as it were, and destroyed its 
physical basis for life-manifestation. Death from exces- 
sive heat or excessive cold would be caused by the 
gradual raising or lowering respectively of the vibratory 
action of life. Death from sudden physical shock, jar, 
electric current, lightning, etc., would raise the vibra- 
tion of life to such a pitch that it would become extinct 
immediately. Just as light would cease to be light 
(for us) as soon as the rate of its vibrations passes a 202 
DEATH 
certain number per second, so would life vanish (for 
us) as soon as the rate of its vibrations passed its pro- 
portionately fixed and set limit. In both cases there 
would be apparent annihilation, but in both cases the 
vibrations would continue to persist unseen, unsensed, 
and unknown to us. Life might then persist, after the 
physical destruction of the body; and, in fact, must so 
persist, unless we are prepared to defend the doctrine of 
immediate annihilation of energy and the complete up- 
setting of the laws of evolution, progression, continuity, 
and the conservation of energy. The bearing of all this 
on psychical research need only be pointed out in this 
place. 
Coming now to death from diseases of various kinds, 
we find the same theory equally applicable here, as be- 
fore. In all such cases life would be unable to manifest, 
for the reason that it would be unable to raise the rate 
of bodily vibration to the requisite pitch, in order to 
manifest through it. The condition would be very much 
the same as in all cases of natural death, but death 
would come more suddenly, more painfully, and would 
cut off a number of years from that person's life. But, 
beyond some differences in detail, the same cause would 
apply equally in both cases, and would explain them 
both equally well. 
Now let us turn to the most difficult of all-cases of 
sudden death. Take the case of rupture of the aorta. 
Personally, I could never see why (apart from the shock 
to the nervous mechanism) rupture of the aorta, and 
even its complete emptying of blood, should induce 
sudden death. The nerves throughout the body are still 
nourished with blood, and would be for some minutes THE NATURE OF DEATH 
203 
after the aorta was ruptured. Why, then, should this 
cause sudden death ?1 
I think all cases of sudden death might be explained 
on my theory with ease. The sudden raising or lowering 
of the vibration of life, because of the suddenly induced 
mental or physical change, would necessitate the raising 
or the lowering of the vibration of the nervous mechan- 
ism accordingly; and, if this were to pass beyond a cer- 
tain rate in either direction it would mean annihilation- 
so far as we are concerned-until the rate of vibration 
could again be lowered or raised sufficiently to allow 
the re-manifestation of life. In some cases this might 
be possible. Massage might effect this result, for one 
thing; hypnotic suggestion or spontaneous trance might 
bring this to pass, for another-when the vibration had 
been too high previously-this enabling us to perceive 
the rationale of Miss Molly Fancher's remark, e. g., that 
' ' only the trances and spasms saved my life. ' '2 Elec- 
tricity might stimulate into action nerves whose vibra- 
tion had been a trifle too slow to allow of the manifesta- 
tion of life; other stimulants might act in a similar 
manner. Only in those cases in which the shock and 
the rate of change had been so great, that (1) either 
1 In looking through works on sudden death, one cannot help but 
be struck by the total lack of inquiry into the real cause of such deaths. 
The author is invariably content to state that death has resulted from a 
rupture of the cardiac muscles, e. g., or from angina, pectoris. But when 
we stop to ask how can either of these conditions actually cause death, 
we find no answer whatever-not even an attempt at an answer I We are 
told that death does take place suddenly because of these accidents, 
and that is all. Certainly one cannot be blamed for attempting to formu- 
late a hypothesis which will explain these facts, and look at this matter, 
not from the mere standpoint of an outsider, helpless; but as one at- 
tempting to understand the very innermost essence of the phenomena 
he sees. 
2 Molly Fancher, by Judge A. N. Dailly, p. 22. 204 
DEATH 
the structure of the body had been destroyed; or (2) 
the medium of re-manifestation had been shattered, 
would re-manifestation and re-vivification become im- 
possible. In such cases life would be severed from the 
body for good and all. 
This theory of life and its connection with the or- 
ganism also enables us to explain several puzzling facts 
which have always been stumbling-blocks in physiology, 
and still are. I refer to sleep and to insanity. Let us 
first take sleep. The innermost nature of this process 
is a mystery to orthodox science; but it becomes intel- 
ligible to us on the theory outlined above. We should 
suppose, from an analogy, that the vibration of life would 
get shaken and jarred out of its perfect rhythm as the 
result of the day's excitement and activities; and that 
it would be necessary to induce some state of the body 
in which these vibrations of life could be again equalized, 
ready for the next day's activities; and if this period of 
rest and re-adjustment were not allowed, then the vibra- 
tions would become more and more disturbed, more and 
more inharmonious and unrhythmic, until the connec- 
tion of the life force with the organism would be totally 
mal-adjusted, and insanity and death ensue. Sleep 
would be, therefore, a time of rest necessary for the 
re-balancing and re-adjustment of the vibrations of 
life. 
We have just said that continued loss of sleep will 
induce insanity more readily and more quickly than 
almost any other cause. It is asserted that ten days 
is, as a rule, the greatest length of time that any human 
organism can exist without sleep. Why should so short 
a period prove so disastrous? I think the answer is THE NATURE OF DEATH 
205 
found easily enough if the theory just outlined were true. 
For, in this case, we can see that the longer that sleep 
is suspended or postponed, the more will the vibrations 
of life be upset, unequalized, and rendered more inhar- 
monious. We have the analogy of music to guide us 
here. We know that we have harmony so long as the 
vibrations are equal; but so soon as they become un- 
equal in time-interval, then we have discord, or merely 
noise. And it would be the same with the human mind. 
The continued de-equalization of the vibrations of life 
would tend to induce more and more mental mal-adjust- 
ment to the body; and hence an unbalancing of the mind. 
Insanity, therefore, might be defined as a condition of 
the mind resulting from the mal-adjustment and un- 
equalizing of the vibration of life. It would result from 
the disharmonious connection of the mind and body-a 
fact upon which Andrew Jackson Davis insisted years 
ago in his Mental Disorders.1 This would enable us to 
see why it is that, in the majority of cases, persons in^ 
sane to us here might be perfectly sane as soon as they 
died (i. e. so soon as they become "spirits" and this 
connection consequently no longer existed). It would 
also enable us to understand the beneficial effects of 
music on the insane-which is now receiving so much 
attention-and the rationale of the various "rest-cures" 
for mentally sick patients. This unequalizing and un- 
balancing of the vibration of life would enable us to 
1 He says: "Disturbances, therefore, originate neither in the matter of 
the body, nor primarily in the principles of the soul, but among the links, 
or rather, in the sensitive connections by which both body and soul are 
compelled to live together ..." (pp. 147-8). This theory, of course, is 
not intended to apply to those cases of insanity in which an actual destruc- 
tion of brain tissue has taken place, but to those cases where none such is 
found. 206 
DEATH 
account for all such facts very easily, and would show 
us why it is that no physical disturbance is to be found 
{post-mortem') in a large number of insane patients. 
We shall have to go beyond materialistic science to ex- 
plain many cases of this character. CHAPTER X 
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 
The twentieth century, says Professor Fournier D 'Albe,1 
"is too busy to occupy itself much with the problems presented 
by death and what follows it. The man of the world makes 
his will, insures his life, and dismisses his own death with the 
scantiest forms of politeness. The churches, once chiefly in- 
terested in the ultimate fate of the soul after death, now devote 
the bulk of their energies to moral instruction and social 
amelioration. Death is all but dead as an overshadowing 
doom and an all-absorbing subject of controversy. 
"The spectacle of 2,000,000,000 human beings rushing to 
their doom, with no definite knowledge of what that doom 
may be, and yet taking life as it comes, happily and merrily 
enough as a rule, seems strange and almost unaccountable. 
The spectacle somewhat resembles that inside a prison during 
the Reign of Terror, when prisoners passed their time in an- 
imated and even gay converse, not knowing who would be 
called out next to be trundled to the scaffold. 
"Every year some 40,000,000 human corpses are consigned 
to the earth. A million tons of human flesh and blood and 
bone are discarded as of no further service to humanity, to 
be gradually transformed into other substances and perhaps 
other forms of life. Meanwhile the human race, in its myriad 
forms, lives and thrives. . . . The individual perishes, the 
species survives. ..." 
As Professor F. C. S. Schiller2 (of Oxford) also says: 
"Death is a topic on which philosophers have been as- 
tonishingly common-place. . . . Spinoza was right in main- 
1 Hew Light on Immortality, pp. 1-3. 
2 Humanism, and Other Essays, pp. 284-86. 
207 208 
DEATH 
taining that there is no subject concerning which the sage 
thinks less than about death, which, nevertheless is a great pity, 
for the sage is surely wrong. There is no subject concerning 
which he, if he is an idealist and has the courage of his opin- 
ion, ought to think more, and ought to have more interesting 
things to say. 
"In partial proof of which let me attempt to arouse him 
to reflection by pronouncing some old paradoxes about death 
which will, I think, be germane to our subject:- 
"(1) No man ever yet perished without annihilating also 
the world in which he lived. 
"(2) No man ever yet saw another die; but, if he had, 
he would have witnessed his own annihilation. . . . 
"(3) To die is to cut off our connection with our friends; 
but do they cut us, or we them, or both, or neither ? " 
As regards (1), reference is here made to the world of 
his experience, or, as we might perhaps say with still 
more accuracy, the objective world, in so far as it was 
assumed to explain his experience: (2) is true because 
we can never see another's self; what we see is the death 
of the body, which is merely a phenomenon-in our own 
world of experience. Death is not the same thing for 
him who experiences it and for him who witnesses it. 
Says Edward Carpenter (The Drama of Love and 
Death, p. 72) : 
"One cannot help feeling that-whatever collateral draw- 
backs there may be in death-the experience itself must be 
enormously interesting. Talk about starting on a journey; 
what must the longest sea voyage be compared to this one, with 
its wonderful vista, and visions, and voices calling1? . . . 
There are lots of books on childbirth and the science of par- 
turition, and the best methods of making the transition easy; 
but when it comes to the end of life and the event correspond- GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 
209 
ing and complementary to birth, there is little except silence 
and dismay." 
Indeed the subject of death is as little studied as it is 
fascinating and all but insoluble. For, on its psychologi- 
cal side, it presents the great problems of immortality 
and the persistence of consciousness beyond the grave. 
And on its physiological side it presents also (as we have 
seen) phenomena of the greatest interest. Myers de- 
fined death as the "irrevocable self-projection of the 
spirit, ' '1 and attempted to show the link of connection 
with certain psychic phenomena in this life. Doubtless 
life presents this psychological side: it also presents a 
purely physiological side and offers problems for solu- 
tion which cannot be solved in any such offhand manner 
as many physiologists would lead us to believe.2 Indeed, 
the very moment of death is altogether uncertain- 
so much so, in fact, that Schultze and Virchow (1870) 
coined the term "necrobiosis" to designate the transi- 
tion stage between life and death. Ofteii there is no 
definite time at which life ceases and death begins; but 
there is a gradual passage from normal life to complete 
death, which frequently begins to be noticeable during 
1 Human Personality, vol. ii., p. 524. 
2 Thus: "Death ... is simply the destruction of protoplasm, which 
would, of course, destroy its properties" (The Living World, by H. W. 
Conn, p. 32). Apart from accident, however, I see no reason for this 
"destruction," so calmly supposed. Why should it take place? Again, 
Loeb (The Dynamics of Living Matter, p. 223) says: "In man and the 
higher mammalians death seems to be caused directly or indirectly 
through micro-organisms or other injuries to vital organs." Surely this 
can hardly be considered a definition of natural death, which, according 
to his own earlier statements, does in fact take place. And, in opposition 
to this view. Professor Wesley Mills (Animal Physiology, p. 669) says: 
"Few animals perish from simple decay leading to a gradual slowing 
of the vital machinery down to zero,-so to speak; but when death is 
not due to violence, as it frequently is, it arises from some essential part 
getting out of gear, either directly or indirectly." 210 
DEATH 
the course of some disease. Death is developed out of 
life. 
And if this be true, might not the reverse be true 
also ? Might not life be developed out of death ? Truly 
death is a tragedy to those who are left; but is it also a 
tragedy to the one who has solved the great mystery? 
If "every cloud has a silver lining'' might we not take 
it for granted that this one has too; and that, beyond 
"the valley of the shadow," there is surely a hill-top 
upon which the golden rays of the sun fall with ever- 
quickening glow? Such would assuredly be the out- 
come of a cheerful and healthy philosophy! As Steven- 
son said in his Aes Triplex-and I cannot do better than 
conclude in his stirring words:- 
"All literature, from Job and Omar Khayyam to Thomas 
Carlyle or Walt Whitman, is but an attempt to look upon the 
human state with such largeness of view as shall enable us 
to rise from the definition of the living to the definition of 
Life. And our sages give us about the best satisfaction in 
their power when they say that it is a vapour, or a shadow, 
or made out of the same stuff with dreams. Philosophy, in 
its more rigid sense, has been at the same work for ages; and 
after a myriad bald heads have wagged over the problem, 
and after a pile of words have been heaped one upon another 
into dry and cloudy volumes without end, philosophy has the 
honour of laying before us, with modest pride, her contribu- 
tion toward the subject, that life is a Permanent Possibility of 
Sensation. Truly a fine result! A man may very well love 
beef, or hunting, or a woman; but surely, surely, not a Per- 
manent Possibility of Sensation! . . . 
"Even if death catch people like an open pitfall and in 
mid-career, laying out vast projects and planning monstrous 
foundations flushed with hope, and their mouths full of 
boastful language; should they be at once tripped and si- GENERAL CONCLUSIONS 
211 
lenced, is there not something brave and spirited in such a 
termination? and does not life go down with a better grace, 
foaming in full body over a precipice, than miserably strug- 
gling to its end in sandy deltas? When the Greeks made their 
fine saying that those whom the gods love die young, I can- 
not help believing that they had this sort of death also in 
their eye. For surely, at whatever age it overtakes a man, 
this is to die young. Death has not been suffered to take 
so much as an illusion from his heart. In the hot-fit of life, 
a tip-toe on the highest point of being, he passes at a bound 
onto the other side. The noise of the mallet and chisel are 
scarcely quenched, the trumpets are hardly done blowing, 
when, trailing with him clouds of glory, this happy-starred, 
full-blooded spirit shoots into the spiritual world." PART II 
PSYCHOLOGICAL CHAPTER I 
man's theories of immortality 
The problem of the perpetuity of existence is one that 
has been a strong dynamic force in stimulating and 
shaping the thought of man from the moment when he 
arose sufficiently from the plane of barbarism to be 
able to commence to exercise his mental qualities in this 
direction. In the earlier days of his existence he may 
have been satisfied with the life that the objective senses 
knew; but when the character of the great mystery of 
the origin and destiny of life began to dawn upon him, 
the element of dissatisfaction invariably took possession 
of his thoughts. Instinctively he felt that, as he must 
have come from something; it was quite reasonable to 
suppose that he was the object of the solicitude of the 
Invisible Power that had created him, and that it was 
the purpose of that Power to convey him through the 
experiences of this world to some higher plane, where 
life would flow on more smoothly, or even ill an unbroken 
round of bliss. 
It is to such longings for the preservation of the "Ego" 
that we owe the origin of our religious beliefs and sys- 
tems, for, as Max Muller says, "without such a belief 
religion is like an arch resting on one pillar. "1 In the 
course of his intellectual development there comes a time 
when man, to some extent, rises above the necessity of a 
belief in immortality; but there can be no doubt but that 
such a theory of negation is a mental conception that 
1 Chips from a German Workshop, i. 45. 
215 216 
DEATH 
cannot be attained except through the process of reason. 
That is to say, while it is possible for man to argue him- 
self into a belief in almost anything, he is quite as cap- 
able of persuading himself that he believes in nothing- 
either nothing here or nothing in the hereafter; whereas 
the question, if it is left to the instinct or to the desires 
of the human soul, inevitably resolves itself into a cry 
for protection from the annihilation of the grave. As 
M. Soldi, the eminent archaeologist, has shown, the rudi- 
mentary drawings on the practically shapeless monu- 
ments that represent our earliest record of man's physi- 
cal existence clearly interpret a belief in a survival of 
conscious existence; and even the savage tribes, far 
though they may be from the pale of civilization, refuse 
to admit that the human personality that distinguishes 
one man from another is destroyed by death. Though 
the body must perish, that something within the body 
that stands for individual identity still lives on in the 
faiths and traditions of almost every land and from the 
furthest days of antiquity. Naturally, some of these 
notions are exceedingly crude, and some, perhaps, are 
extremely materialistic. Behind even the darkest and 
most obscure ideas, however, the star of hope is shining. 
Behind the most primitive superstitions there is always 
the theory that death is not the end of conscious being. 
So far as we have been enabled to ascertain, ancestor 
worship was one of the first systematic religious ideas 
that the human mind was able to formulate. Prior to 
the acceptance of this system, religion, where it existed 
at all, was extremely gross in its sentiments. In the 
beginning it had undoubtedly consisted in the worship of 
fetiches, and the semi-superstitious notions that fol- MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
217 
lowed these cruder manifestations of man's innate de- 
pendence upon a superior power mark the first appear- 
ance of the theory of survival among primitive people. 
Among savage tribes the idea prevailed that the soul, 
while in one sense independent of the human body, 
could not entirely depart from it; and it was due to this 
notion that both the custom of preserving the body of 
the dead and the practice of eating it originated. If 
the corpse was preserved the soul would not be required 
to abandon it entirely, and could re-enter its envelope 
on the day of resurrection; while the theory of eating 
the dead was based upon the belief that this assimila- 
tion of the flesh by the relatives of the departed was 
the best sepulchre that could be provided. 
Repellent as these notions may seem, it must be ad- 
mitted that belief in the survival also led to other 
criminal customs that are even more horrible to contem- 
plate, for the terrible practice of cannibalism, as well as 
the slaughter of the aged and infirm, was a ceremonial 
crime that had its' origin in this wrong conception of 
the future life. 
It is a long step from the savage beliefs in cannibalism 
and the lowest form of metempsychosis to the more civ- 
ilized worship of ancestors to which the Chinese race 
still adheres; for, while one represented the grossest 
sentiment of barbarism, the latter introduced the family 
institution, a social system that was destined to become 
one of the leading civilizations of antiquity. 
While it is true that Confucius did not explicitly 
teach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, his 
avoidance of this subject does not imply a lack of be- 
lief in survival, for there is no record of any time when 218 
DEATH 
the Chinese have not believed that, at the moment of 
death, each person "returned to his family.'' Even 
Confucius taught that the spirits of the good were per- 
mitted to revisit their former habitations on earth, or 
such other places as might be prepared by their descend- 
ants who desired to pay them homage and receive their 
benedictions. From this idea came the duty of per- 
forming sacred rites in such places, the penalty of any 
neglect of this service being the loss, to those living, 
of the supreme felicity flowing from the homage of their 
own descendants when they, too, had departed. While 
the survival of the Chinese is in one respect an imper- 
sonal immortality, it being a blending of the individual 
spirit in a kind of collective family-soul, the union of 
this soul with its descendants is so close that it may al- 
most be said to owe its very existence to the continuance 
of the homage paid to it. 
Among the Egyptians we find the idea of immortality 
assuming a more definite shape, for they clearly recog- 
nized both a dwelling-place of the dead and an actual 
judgment, with its separation of the just and the unjust. 
Osiris was to sit as judge, and, all hearts having been 
weighed in his scales of justice, the wicked were sent to 
the regions of darkness, while the elect were admitted 
to a participation in the blissful existence enjoyed by the 
god of light. Bound up with this very clear idea of 
immortality were many esoteric doctrines regarding the 
nature of the soul, as well as beliefs that made the 
preservation of the body so necessary to the proper 
continuance of the soul life, that vast tombs were built 
and the remains of the dead were embalmed, undoubt- 
edly with the intention of making them last for ever. MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
219 
If it is not easy to find an affirmation of the doctrine 
of the survival in the books of the Old Testament, it 
appears in {he esoteric books of the Hebrews, and in no 
uncertain tone. In fact, there can be no question as to 
the Jewish acceptance of this idea, for while Moses 
concealed the knowledge that he must have derived from 
the Egyptians, there is good reason to believe that it 
was preached to the initiates. In speaking of this re- 
serve upon the part of the illustrious legislator, Bishop 
Warburton held that this very silence was an indication 
of his divine mission. ''Moses," he said, "being sus- 
tained in his legislation and government by immediate 
divine authority, had not the same necessity that other 
teachers have for a recourse to threatenings and punish- 
ments drawn from the future world, in order to enforce 
obedience." 
Professor Ernst Stahelin, in The Foundations of Our 
Faith, argues along similar lines:- 
"Moses and Confucius did not expressly teach the immor- 
tality of the soul; nay, they seemed purposely to avoid enter- 
ing upon the subject: they simply took it for granted. Thus 
Moses spoke of the tree of life in Paradise, of which if the 
man took he should live for ever, and called God the God of 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thus implying their continued ex- 
istence, since God could not be a God of the dead, but only 
of the living; and Confucius, while in some respects avoiding 
all mention of future things, nevertheless enjoined honours 
to be paid to departed spirits (thus assuming their life after 
death) as one of the chief duties of a religious man." 
Another evidence that the Jews believed in immortal- 
ity may be drawn from the laws which Moses promul- 
gated against necromancy, or the invocation of the dead. 220 
DEATH 
This magic art was very generally practised by the 
Canaanites, and, notwithstanding these laws, prevailed 
among the Jews at the time of King Saul (1 Sam. xxviii.), 
or even later (Ps. cvi. 28, etc.). 
Job, the Maccabees, and several other biblical books, 
present a striking exception to this rule of silence regard- 
ing the future life which so generally prevails through- 
out the Old Testament. To illustrate, in Job (xix. 
25-27) we may read:- 
"For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day 
I shall rise out of the earth, and I shall be clothed again with 
my skin, and in my flesh shall I see God: whom I myself 
shall see and my eyes shall behold, and not another; this 
my hope is laid up in my bosom." 
This, as well as many other passages that might be 
quoted if necessary, show very clearly that the ancient 
Hebrews not only believed in the survival of the soul, but 
in a literal bodily resurrection as well, while the Cabala 
and the Zohar, the two books that summarize the doc- 
trine taught to the initiates, made it impossible to doubt 
that the idea of immortality was early adopted by the 
Jewish people. 
All the Hindu sects have a distinct leaning towards 
the mystic or metaphysical view of life. There are so 
many different expressions of opinion among Hindu 
philosophers, however, that it is impossible to select any 
single theory as one that can be presented as a standard 
of comparison with other religions. In every instance, 
however, some sort of survival is recognized, and, in most 
cases, both the theory of the transmigration of souls and 
the doctrine of the desirability of a life of purely medi- 
tative asceticism are presented. MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
221 
"To the modern Hindu mind, the soul is a complex creation, 
made up of a number of fluid-like, invisible elements centred 
about an immaterial principle. Each of these elements cor- 
responds to a particular faculty of the soul, and may, there- 
fore, be considered as relatively independent of the others. 
The element is more subtile and attenuated in proportion as 
the corresponding faculty is higher and more characteristic 
of man. At death the astral body, accompanied by the supe- 
rior elements, detaches itself from the physical body, which is 
now deprived of vitality; it thus preserves a complete indi- 
viduality, which, according as it is good or bad, determines 
which place it shall henceforth inhabit as the consequence of 
its terrestrial existence" (Elbe, vi. 73, 74). 
The more abstract conceptions of Nirvana and Mok- 
sha have been largely superseded by these and other 
more modern theories.1 
Although our knowledge regarding the teachings of 
the Magi of Chaldea is very incomplete, the portions 
that have been recovered are quite sufficient to establish 
the fact that the Chaldeans not only accepted the idea 
of survival, but that their interpretation of this theory 
was more rational than the notions displayed by most 
other ancient nations. The Egyptians, for example, 
were utterly unable to escape from the idolatrous notions 
that obtrude themselves into almost every phase of their 
religious system, whereas the Chaldeans lost all idea of 
idolatry in their construction of a religion of pure ideals 
and lofty conceptions. The ancient Chaldeans believed 
in the survival of the soul, even accepting the idea of 
a bodily resurrection. As Pausanias says (Book IV. c. 
xxii.), the Magi always taught that those who had lived 
pure and just lives would go to the bright realms of 
1 See my Higher Psychical Development (Yoga Philosophy) for a de- 
tailed account of these beliefs of the Hindus. 222 
DEATH 
Ormuzd, while the wicked would pass into the region 
of darkness. This doctrine, which was taught by Zoroas- 
ter, is still held by the modern Parsees. Their position 
respecting the soul and its destiny was thus explained 
by Edward Barucha, a Parsee priest in Bombay, in a 
communication to the Religious Congress:- 
"The one undying spiritual element was created before the 
body and both were united at birth and are parted at death. 
The soul, which comes from the spirit world, is possessed of 
various senses and faculties; it enters the new-born body, out 
of which it will return at death into the spiritual world. 
Zoroaster teaches us that God grants to the soul such means 
and assistance as are requisite for the carrying out of its 
allotted task: these are knowledge, wisdom, judgment, thought, 
action, free-will, religious conscience, a guardian angel or 
beneficent genius, and, above all, revelation. At the resur- 
rection of the dead, when all things shall be renewed and the 
whole of creation will begin over again, the souls will be 
provided with new bodies, that they may taste, in the life to 
come, bliss ineffable." 
Among the ancient nations that believed in the soul's 
survival, none had a firmer or more active faith in im- 
mortality than the Gauls; for it was this doctrine of a 
future life, with its rewards and punishments, that laid 
the foundation for their institutions as well as their in- 
dividual life. The acts of heroism with which they 
accentuated their devotion to the State and their con- 
tempt for death, were the direct effect of their belief 
in a future world. Unfortunately, as in the case of the 
Druidic and some other doctrines, a complete idea of 
the teachings of the Gauls' philosophy is unobtainable. 
Thus we know that they held that man's immaterial part 
was a divine emanation, and that this was the one vital MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
223 
principle of life. Prior to its appearance as the soul 
of man, however, it had animated many forms of inferior 
life-first plants, and afterwards animals. After this 
experience it was imprisoned in the 
"circle of the abyss, anufu, but, after long years of struggle 
and waiting, it escaped thence, and entered the circle of liberty, 
abred, which is also the circle of transmigration. This circle 
includes all the worlds of trial and atonement peopled by 
mankind; and of these worlds the earth is one. After many 
transmigrations the soul will pass on, and will attain the 
circle of happy worlds and felicity, gwynfid. But even this 
is not all. Far higher and inaccessibly removed is the circle 
of the infinite, ceugant, encompassing the other circles and 
belonging to God alone" (Elbe, c. viii. 89, 90). 
While the Gauls taught the passage of the soul 
through many forms, their doctrine of transmigration 
was infinitely nobler than the more or less crude ideas 
that appear in the early theories of metempsychosis. It 
was a passing through many bodies, including those of 
animals, or even plants, but its progress was marked by 
a steady ascent towards the heights of infinite perfection, 
and there was no place in this plan for the return of the 
soul to lower conditions. So thoroughly were the Gauls 
convinced of the truth of their doctrines, and so firm 
was their faith in the glory of the future life, that they 
always gave a condemned prisoner five years in which 
to prepare for death, not only that he might have time 
for repentance for his own sake, but for the reason that 
they did not desire to sully the spirit world by sending 
a guilty soul into it. 
In the Druidical doctrine, the earth was an inferior 
world devised as a transient abode for the soul during 
its work of preparation for admission to the world of 224 
DEATH 
love. This goal, which is attained only after many 
transmigrations, is the reward bestowed upon those who 
have conquered the three great shortcomings of life: 
(1) neglect of self-instruction, (2) lack of love of good, 
and (3) attachment to evil. 
When the ancient Greeks maintained the idea of sur- 
vival, as may be seen by an examination of their legen- 
dary tales or mythology, it seldom appeared to form 
a reason for their acts. It was at the foundation of their 
mysteries, and the arguments that their philosophers 
advanced for a belief in a future existence are often 
adapted to modern use. So far as the character of this 
doctrine of immortality was concerned, however, it was 
not to be compared to the clearly defined notions main- 
tained by the Gauls. According to the Greek idea, the 
soul of the deceased person enjoyed at least a semi- 
conscious existence, in which it retained a sort of half- 
sensible dependence upon the physical comforts of life. 
Accordingly the smell of blood of animals, or their 
cooking flesh, was supposed to be most agreeable to the 
shades of the dead heroes. It was due to this belief that 
funeral banquets were held, to which-when the holy 
fire had been kindled upon the altar of Zeus by the head 
of the family-the souls of the ancestors were summoned 
that they might derive their pleasure from the food that 
was to be sacrificed for the satisfaction of their ghostly 
appetite. 
Crude as these ideas of the people may seem, the poets 
and philosophers upheld more spiritual theories, by 
which they not only taught the future existence of the 
soul, but the two alternatives of good and evil awaiting 
it after death. Thus Hesiod wrote:- MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
225 
"Wrapped in the fluid-like envelopes rendering them in- 
visible, the souls of the righteous wander over the earth 
wielding their regal powers. They mark the good and the 
evil deeds, and they extend their special protection to such 
as they have loved in life. As to the souls of the wicked, 
they are held in Tartarus, where they are punished by the 
ever-present memory of the crimes which they have commit- 
ted." 
Some six centuries later these views were more defin- 
itely and, in many respects, more rationally formulated 
by Pythagoras, one of the greatest of the world's phil- 
osophers. He asserted that, in addition to the natural 
body, a spiritual element existed-an element possessing 
unity and surrounded by a semi-material soul. In ap- 
pearance this soul resembled the body, to which it was 
so necessary that life would become extinct the moment 
it was withdrawn. Thus death was the withdrawal of 
the soul from the body, and in the act of withdrawing it 
took with it the spirit, or the immaterial element which 
it enfolded, and proceeded to a region in space corre- 
sponding in character to the nature of the deeds that it 
had performed in the flesh. As Plato described it, the 
pure soul soared upward with the spirit to the spheres 
divine, while the impure soul fell back "into the dark 
regions of matter. ' ' To explain the inequality of human 
conditions and the apparent injustices of life, Pythagoras 
took refuge in the doctrine of reincarnation. 
The Romans were not dissimilar from the Chinese in 
their early adoption of the system of ancestor worship, 
and it was upon this religious idea that they constructed 
the family organization that contributed to the success- 
ful upbuilding of their social state. Their ideas of im- 226 
DEATH 
mortality, however, while more impersonal in their ten- 
dency than those of the Greeks, were still sufficiently 
apparent to be recognizable. They did not theorize as 
to the effect of this future life upon the general harmony 
of the universe, or apply its rewards to the acts of this 
existence, for, as Elbe has said, "the thought of immor- 
tality appears rather as a pious longing of the imagina- 
tion devoid of sufficient support in the reality of fact." 
Despite this, however, the idea of immortality appears 
quite conspicuously in the works of many Roman writers. 
Thus Ovid not only explicitly announces his belief in a 
future existence, but even adopts the theory of transmi- 
gration as a logical explanation of the phenomena of 
natural life. "Nothing perishes," he says, "but every- 
thing changes here on earth. Souls come and go un- 
ceasingly in visible form; the animals that succeed in 
acquiring goodness take upon them human form." 
Cicero, too, expresses his belief in immortality, and adds 
that it has been the universal theory from the day of 
man's first appearance upon earth. To quote the pas- 
sage from Scipio's Dream:- 
"Know that it is not thou, but thy body alone which is 
mortal. The individual in his entirety resides in the soul, 
and not in the outward form. Learn, then, that thou art a 
god; thou, the immortal intelligence which gives movement 
to a perishable body, just as the eternal God animates an in- 
corruptible body." 
As the speculations of Christian theology are described 
in the chapter on ' ' The Theological Aspect of Death and 
Immortality," it is only necessary to refer at this time 
to two ideas that are in direct opposition to these modern 
religious opinions. These are the ideas of Spiritualism MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
227 
and Theosophy, which embody many of the more or less 
esoteric doctrines of antiquity, but reproduced in modem 
form. 
Of course, the use of the word "Spiritualism" in this 
connection is due entirely to the fact that the term has 
derived the authority of popular approval. Literally, 
the title ' ' Spiritualism ' ' should be used solely to describe 
theories that are contrary to those of ' ' Materialism, ' ' and 
in this respect every professing Christian is spiritualis- 
tic in his beliefs. Ordinarily, therefore, the term "Spir- 
itism" is much to be preferred; but in this instance we 
will follow the line of least resistance, and speak of the 
doctrine of "Spiritualism," as it is generally under- 
stood. 
It is the teaching of this theory that the discarnate 
soul, on entering the future world, carries with it the 
perisprit, or astral body, which it had possessed during 
the period of earthly existence. So far as rewards and 
punishments are concerned, the soul finds its future 
already written into the record of its earthly acts. If its 
mind has been centred upon elevating thoughts, if it 
has not been too deeply absorbed in material things, and 
if it has lived in accordance with the purest law of love, 
it finds it possible to go far from the earth plane, into 
the condition in which good and righteous souls abide. 
If, on the other hand, it passes into the next life under 
evil conditions, it is practically chained to earth. Its 
perisprit is far more material, and its ability to retain 
the memory of the pleasures and needs of the physical 
life inspires so strong a craving for these material things, 
that it remains close to earth, where it may seize upon 
every opportunity to appear to the living. When spirits 
appear under noxious conditions they become what may 228 
DEATH 
be termed ' ' evil spirits, ' ' or what are popularly known as 
"demons." It is upon this theory that the idea of 
demoniac possession is based. 
Under more favourable conditions, however, the spirit 
succeeds in animating the partially free perisprit of a 
living person, after which it is able to produce the 
phenomena that have played so important a part in the 
development of modern spiritualism, sometimes giving 
communications that are intended to establish the fact 
of the existence of the personality after death. Dr. 
Alfred Russel Wallace, in his Miracles and Modern 
Spiritualism, pp. 115-16, thus sums up the belief of the 
average spiritualist on this question:- 
"After death man's spirit survises in an ethereal body, 
gifted with new powers, but mentally and morally the same 
individual as when clothed in flesh. Then he commences 
from that moment a course of apparently endless progression, 
which is rapid just in proportion as his mental and moral 
faculties have been exercised and cultivated while on earth. 
Thus his comparative happiness or misery depend entirely 
on himself. Just in proportion as his higher human faculties 
have taken part in all his pleasures, here he will find himself 
contented and happy in a state of existence in which they 
will have the fullest exercise; while he who has depended 
more on the body than on the mind for his pleasures will, 
when the body is no more, feel a grievous want, and must 
slowly and painfully develop his intellectual and moral na- 
ture until its exercise shall become easy and pleasurable. 
Neither punishments nor rewards are meted out by an Exter- 
nal power, but each one's condition is the natural and in- 
evitable sequence of his condition here. He starts again from 
the level of the moral and intellectual development to which 
he had raised himself while on earth." MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
229 
Emma Hardinge Brittain, in her address on Hades, 
thus further explains the position of the spiritualist:- 
"Of the nature of these spheres and their inhabitants, we 
have spoken from the knowledge of the spirits,-dwellers 
still in Hades. Would you receive some immediate definition 
of your own condition, and learn how you shall dwell, and 
what your garments shall be, what your mansion, scenery, 
likeness, occupation? Turn your eyes within, and ask what 
you have learned, and what you have done in this, the school- 
house for the spheres of spirit-land. There-there is an aris- 
tocracy, and even royal rank in varying degree, but the aris- 
tocracy is one of merit, and the royalty of soul. It is only 
the truly wise who govern, and, as the wiser soul is he that 
is best, as the truest wisdom is the highest love, so the royalty 
of soul is truth and love. And within the spirit-world all 
knowledge of this earth, all forms of science, all revelations 
of art, all mysteries of space, must be understood. The 
exalted soul that is then all ready for his departure to a 
higher state than Hades, must know all that earth can teach, 
and have practised all that heaven requires. The spirit 
never quits the spheres of earth until he is fully possessed of 
all the life and knowledge of this planet and its spheres. 
And though the progress may be here commenced, and not 
one jot of what you learn or think or strive for here is lost, 
yet all achievements must be ultimated there, and no soul can 
wing its flight to that which you call, in view of its earth 
perfection, Heaven, till you have passed through Earth and 
Hades, and stand ready in your fully completed pilgrimage, 
to enter on the new and unspeakable glories of the celestial 
realms beyond." 
Theosophy, on the other hand, is a more mystical 
philosophy, as it seeks to solve the problems of life, 
death, and the future existence by means of a system 230 
DEATH 
of higher metaphysics. In many cases it has adopted 
the ideas of the most ancient religions, especially the 
esoteric doctrines of the Hindu philosophers. 
Theosophy declares that the material world is but an 
insignificant part of the created universe, and that the 
human being, so far from being confined to a physical 
body, possesses a spiritual body, or invisible, fluid-like, 
intermediary body through which the conscious Ego acts. 
Moreover, this inner body is extremely complex in its 
construction, being composed of several distinct and dif- 
ferent bodies, one encased within another. As summar- 
ized by Elbe, these bodies are distinguished as follows:- 
First, in order of materiality, there is the etheric body, 
which assumes the form and existence of the physical 
body, to which it is bound by an indissoluble bond. It 
is composed of ether-like particles that are so infinitely 
minute that it is impossible to compare them to any 
earthly substance. Born at the inception of organic 
life, and expiring at its death, it governs its manifold 
operations. 
Secondly, is the kamic or astral body, the organ of 
man's passions and desires. It is the vehicle of feeling 
and emotion, and through its operations the human being 
becomes conscious of pleasure, pain, passion, desire, and 
regret. Although composed of elements that are more 
subtile than those of the etheric body, the materiality 
or this body differs in individuals, just as sensitiveness 
does. 
Third, comes the mental body, which is the organ of 
the intellect, and so, of course, manifests itself variously 
in different individuals. 
Fourth, is the causal body, through which man con- 
ceives abstract ideas, receives the unconscious residue MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
231 
of past experiences, and from which springs the germ 
that is to expand into future existences. 
Lastly, the Buddhic body, which is believed to be in 
a very embryonic state, even in persons of a high de- 
gree of righteousness. It is the organ of unselfish love, 
charity, and self-sacrifice. 
While the etheric body, like the physical body, does 
not survive death, the soul continues to exist in the 
astral body for a brief or lengthy period, according to 
its earthly acts. This astral body is finally destined to 
die, whereupon the soul joyously departs from the plane 
of conscious suffering in which till then it has found its 
existence, to ascend, now clothed in the mental body, 
to a plane of purer ideas and greater bliss. Still even 
this is but a temporary heaven, or plane of observation, 
from which the soul can look back and study the various 
lives through which it has passed, thus viewing the con- 
nection existing between the successive existences, and 
appreciating the happy and unhappy incidents of life 
in their proper light as the manifestation of the opera- 
tions of the law of karma, which leaves neither act nor 
thought unpunished or unrewarded. 
If, during the course of these lives, the soul has suc- 
ceeded in cancelling its debt to karma, and has devel- 
oped the qualities that compose the Buddhic body, it 
ascends into yet another world, much closer to God, in 
which the process of evolution may be continued upon 
a plane where subsequent reincarnations are unneces- 
sary. But if, in this ascent, the demands of karma have 
been left unsatisfied, and the thoughts and deeds of 
life have not been expiated, the soul turns back from this 
temporary heaven, to pursue its life on earth once more. 
It is at this time that the most important purpose of 232 
DEATH 
the causal body is developed, for it is through the oper- 
ations of this organ that the various bodies needed as 
a covering for the immaterial soul are reconstructed. 
Thus, step by step, the soul that is condemned to live 
again, enwraps itself in its different envelopes, and, in 
this manner, it finally shuts out all recollection of the 
past lives because of which it has been judged unworthy 
to ascend to the higher realms of light and joy. 
While these are by no means the only opinions that 
man has held upon these ever vital subjects of contem- 
plation, they are sufficient to indicate that he has so 
far failed to solve the mystery that envelops the fact 
of being. In spite of all his speculation, there is but 
one fact that he has been able to establish to his own sat- 
isfaction. He is here, but whence he came, and whither 
he is going, or why, are questions to which faith alone 
has made answer. 
Myths as to the Origin of Death.-Many curious beliefs 
have been held by savage nations as to the cause of death 
-how death originally came into the world. Tylor, in 
his Primitive Culture, tells us that natural deaths are by 
many tribes regarded as supernatural. These tribes 
have no conception of death as the inevitable; as the 
eventful obstruction and cessation of the powers of the 
bodily machine; the stopping of the pulses and processes 
of life by violence or decay or disease. The savage be- 
lieves that the only real death is due to accident, or by 
bewitching the unfortunate patient. He knows nothing 
of "natural" death. For him, man would never die 
at all, if he were not bewitched, or if some unfortunate 
accident did not carry him off. Many races in Australia 
hold this view. The negroes in Central Africa have MAN'S THEORIES OF IMMORTALITY 
233 
very much the same belief. Every man who dies what 
we call a natural death is really killed by witches! The 
Esquimaux hold similar views. 
Myths as to the origin of death are numerous. Us- 
ually, death is supposed to have come into the world, 
owing to some sin of omission (not commission). It was 
due to the fact that some message from a deity was not 
properly delivered, or because of the failure to live up 
to a compact with the gods. Here are some of the 
Australian myths. "The first created man and woman 
were told not to go near a certain tree in which a bat 
lived. One day, however, the woman was gathering 
firewood, and she went near the tree. The bat flew 
away, and after that came death." Here is another: 
"The child of the first man was wounded. If his par- 
ents could have healed him, death would never have 
entered the world. They failed. Death came." Some 
of the natives of Bengal believe that Death came into 
the world owing to one of their number having bathed 
in a certain pool of water, which was forbidden. The 
Greek origin of death is too well known to need re- 
statement. Pandora and her box will always live in the 
memory of lovers of art. 
In New Zealand it is believed that death came because 
of the neglect of a ritual process. The Bushman story of 
the origin of death is very quaint: ' ' The mother of the 
little hare was lying dead (but we do not know how she 
came to die). The moon then struck the little hare on 
the lip, cutting it open, and saying, 'Cry loudly, for 
your mother will not return, as 1 do, but is quite dead. ' ' ' 
There are several variations of this myth. Some natives 
believe that death is caused by a snake stealing away 
souls while God is asleep; in another version, a woman 234 
DEATH 
offered to instruct two men how to sleep. "She held the 
nostrils of one, and he never woke at all. ' ' In still other 
cases, death was due to direct murder, in the first in- 
stance. In Banks Island it is believed that death came 
in order to keep down the population, which had become 
too numerous, owing to man's inherent immortality! 
According to the Satapatha Brahmana, death was 
made, like the gods and other creatures, by a being named 
Prajapati. "Now, of Prajapati, half was mortal, half 
was immortal. With this mortal half he feared death, 
and concealed himself from death in earth and water. 
Death said to the gods: 'What hath become of him who 
created us? ' They answered: 'Fearing thee, hath he 
entered the earth.' The gods on Prajapati now freed 
themselves from the dominion of death by celebrating an 
enormous number of sacrifices. Death was chagrined 
at their escape from the 'nets and clubs' which he car- 
ried in the Aitareya Brahmana. 'As you have escaped 
me, so will men also escape,' he grumbled. The gods 
appeased him by the promise that, in the body, no man 
henceforth should evade death. ' Every one who becomes 
immortal shall do so by first parting with his body.' '' 
(See also Appendix C.) CHAPTER II 
THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT OF DEATH AND 
IMMORTALITY 
The late Professor William A. Hammond, of Cornell 
University, writing upon "Immortality," asserted that 
"the question of the . . . survival of the soul is not a 
scientific problem. Positive science is impotent either 
to prove or disprove the dogma," and it is this theory 
that has been maintained by most philosophers. As 
Stahelin 1 says:- 
"We might take up a line of argument used by philosophy 
both in ancient and modern times-from Socrates down to 
Fichte-to prove the immortality of the inner being, an ar- 
gument derived from the assertion that the soul, being a 
unity, is, as such, incapable of decay, it being only in the 
case of the complex that a falling to pieces, or a dissolution, 
is conceivable. . . . But the abstruse nature of this method 
leads us to renounce a line of argument from which, we freely 
confess, we expect little profitable result. For, after all, what 
absolute proof have we of this unity of the soul? Can we 
subject it to the microscope, or the scalpel, as we can the 
visible and tangible? It must content us for the present 
simply to indicate that the instinct and consciousness of im- 
mortality have nothing to fear from the most searching exam- 
ination of the reason, but find far more confirmation and addi- 
tional proof than of contradiction in the profoundest think- 
ing. Further, that this instinct and consciousness do actually 
exist, and are traceable through all the stages and ramifica- 
tions of the human race ... is confirmed to us by our op- 
1 Foundations of our Faith, p. 232. 
235 236 
DEATH 
ponents themselves . . . that there is in man something which 
is deeper and stronger than the maxims of a self-invented 
philosophy, namely, the divinely created nobility of his nature, 
the inherent breath of life, breathed into him by God, the 
relation to the Eternal, which secures to him eternity." 
Watson goes still further, even to the extent of de- 
claring 1 that no where else but in the Bible is there any 
"indubitable declaration of man's immortality . . . any facts 
or principles so obvious as to enable us confidently to infer 
it. All observation lies directly against the doctrine of man's 
immortality. He dies, and the probabilities of a future life, 
which have been established upon the unequal distributions of 
rewards and punishments in this life, and the capacities of 
the human soul, are a presumptive evidence that have been 
adduced . . . only by those to whom the doctrine has been 
transmitted by tradition, and who were therefore in posses- 
sion of the idea; and even then to have any effectual force 
of persuasion, they must be built upon antecedent principles 
furnished only by the revelations contained in holy Scrip- 
tures. Hence some of the wisest heathens, who were not 
wholly unaided in their speculations on these subjects by 
the reflected light of these revelations, confessed themselves 
unable to come to any satisfactory conclusion. The doubts 
of Socrates, who expressed himself the most hopefully of 
any on the subject of a future life, are well known; and 
Cicero, who occasionally expatiated with so much eloquence on 
this topic, shows, by the sceptical expressions which he throws 
in, that his belief was by no means confirmed." 
The first, and, parenthetically, one of the most logical 
attempts to formulate a philosophical tenet on the doc- 
trine of immortality, is that which is contained in 
Plato's Phaedo. It was upon this presentation that the 
Neo-Platonists reared their argumentative structure, and 
1 Institutes, vol. ii, p. 2. THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT 
237 
nearly all the efforts that have been made to find a 
logical solution to this problem, since that work was 
written, have been adapted from it. 
The Platonic argument for the immortality of the 
soul may be summarily stated as follows:-(1) The fact 
that the mind brings to the study of truth a body of 
interpretive principles and axioms with it, as part of its 
native endowment, shows that they can be only reminis- 
cential, and, therefore, derived from a pre-existent state; 
(2) the soul is an ultimate unity-(i. e. monadic in 
character), and, therefore, not being composite or di- 
visible, it cannot be disintegrated; (3) the term "soul" 
means the "principle of life," having the ideal of life 
essentially immanent in it, and inseparable from it, and 
therefore it must exclude the opposite idea, death; (4) 
the soul is self-moving, deriving its activity from within; 
consequently its motion, and, therefore, its life, must 
be perpetual; (5) the soul as an immaterial reality is 
essentially related to the immaterial, invisible, eternal 
idea; and, as the former is akin to the latter in nature, 
so is it also akin in duration; (6) the superior dignity 
and value of the soul argue for its survival of the crass 
body, and even the crass body persists for a time; (7) 
the cyclical movement of nature shows everywhere the 
maintenance of life by opposition, as night, day; sleep- 
ing, waking; the dying seed, the germinating flower 
(this is an argument from analogy; out of the decay and 
death of one living organism, a new life is generated) ; 
(8) the instinctive aspiration of the soul towards a fu- 
ture existence shows that the belief is founded on natural 
law; (9) things that are destructible are destroyed by 
their peculiar evil or disease; the peculiar evil of the soul 
is vice, which corrupts the soul's nature, but does not 238 
DEATH 
destroy its existence; (10) the world as a moral and 
natural world demands a future life of rewards and 
punishments for the rectification of inequalities in this 
life, else the wrong would ultimately triumph, as in a 
bad play. This argument is based on the ethical claim 
that there must be a final equivalence between inner 
worth and external condition or reward. The views 
of the Greeks, and especially the views of Plato, have 
had a profound, an incalculable influence on Christian 
thought, on early theological formulae, and on the sum 
of occidental philosophy. 
The discussions of the dogma of immortality, which 
attracted so much attention during the eighteenth and 
nineteenth centuries, brought no more satisfactory an- 
swer to this riddle of existence. In fact, most philo- 
sophical writers, who kept within the bounds of logic, 
came to Emerson's admitted conclusion that "we cannot 
prove our faith by syllogisms." The French material- 
ists, for example, denied absolutely the possibility of 
the presence of a soul and the existence of a future life, 
psychic life to them being purely an organic function. 
Only less materialistic is the position of the pantheists, 
headed by Spinoza, for they held that the World-Soul, 
which, according to their theories, produces and fills the 
universe, also fills and rules man; that it is only in him 
that it reaches its special end-which is self-conscious- 
ness-and attains to thought and will, but they hold 
that, at the death of the individual, this World-Soul 
retreats from him, just as the setting sun seems to draw 
back its rays into itself; so self-consciousness sinks once 
more into the great, unconscious, undistinguished spirit- 
ocean of the whole. 
In its effect Schopenhauer's doctrine is not dissimilar. 239 
THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT 
To him life was the manifestation of the Will-to-Live, 
and death, the extinction of that Will. In Fichte's 
system of Idealism, the creative Ego is not the individual, 
but the Absolute Ego. "The individual Ego realizes 
itself only by negating its individuality, by universaliz- 
ing itself, and the Ego thus exemplifying the conceptual 
life of truth, continues to all eternity, as an indestructible 
part of the reality of the absolute Ego." So far as 
individual existence after death is concerned, this is 
practically the absorption of the Indian Nirvana. 
Hegel, personally, paid little attention to the prob- 
lem of life and death, but his disciples were split into 
two badly divided factions upon this question of con- 
tinued existence. 
Lotze, in his teleological idealism, bases his theory of 
the immortality of the soul on the principle of value, 
taking the ground that a thing will continue for ever 
which by reason of its excellence should be an abiding 
constitutive part of the Cosmical Order. In other words, 
immortality, in his opinion, depended upon individual 
excellence, and was not the fate of all souls. This idea 
of what may be termed "conditional immortality," was 
taught by M'Connell, in The Evolution of Immortality ; 
by Dr. Edward White, in Conditional Immortality, or 
Life in Christ; and later, by Professor Henry Drum- 
mond, in Natural Law in the Spiritual World, a work 
that excited so much attention that more than one hun- 
dred thousand copies were sold. 
The conditionalist argues that the soul of man has no 
inherent right to immortality, but that this privilege has 
been acquired through the operation of the infinite merits 
of Jesus Christ, who, by his triumph over death, opened 
the door to a future existence, that pure spirits might 240 
DEATH 
participate with him in the joys of eternal life. The 
sinner who rejects divine grace, however, is doomed to 
disappear, like all useless organisms, which, in the 
struggle for life, fail to adapt themselves to existing 
conditions. 
Kant, Locke, and other metaphysicians, agree with 
those theologians who exclude all these problems as be- 
ing beyond the province of actual scientific demonstra- 
tion. They hold that it is impossible to prove a future 
existence from a belief in a Creator, regardless of the 
attributes that we may admit that such a Creator pos- 
sesses. As Professor Hammond indicates, however, in 
the article already quoted, they admit that "the work of 
man as a moral being, with infinite potentialities [i. e. 
infinite possibilities], necessitates an infinite time for 
their realization." The laws of the moral life are drawn 
from a transcendental sphere, free from conditions of 
time and space, and so the very essence of man's moral 
being is invested with the eternal. Man is infinitely 
progressive and perfectible in his moral and intellectual 
evolution, and this fact points indubitably to a further 
existence. If death were the end, the moral idea would 
be illusory, and man would perish a fragment. An in- 
finite moral imperative implies an infinite moral ability. 
Duty demands moral perfection. Further, the moral 
ideal is a character-ideal, an ideal of personal aim, which 
implies a personal destiny, and the non-illusoriness of 
the moral life implies the possibility of realizing its 
ideal. 
Professor Chase, in his article in the Bibliotheca Sacra, 
February 1849, assumed a somewhat similar position, 
although he expressed the conclusions in a different way, 
for he based his argument chiefly upon the gradual and THE PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECT 
241 
progressive development of life in this planet, and this 
development, in his opinion, when taken in connection 
with the capacities and endowments of the soul, indi- 
cated, on the part of the Creator, a purpose to continue 
it in being. 
Generally speaking, however, the conclusions of most 
philosophical speculations regarding man's destiny ar- 
rive at the same melancholy finale, that, whatever we may 
accept upon faith, or however strongly we may hope for 
a continuance of existence in another world, there are no 
facts to demonstrate that the tomb does not write the 
word "Finis" to the book of conscious life. It was such 
an idea as this that Lord Bacon had in mind when he 
wrote:- , 
"Our inquiries about the nature of the soul must be bound 
over at last to religion, for otherwise they still lie open to 
many errors; for, since the substance of the soul was not 
deduced from the mass of heaven and earth, but immediately 
from God, how can the knowledge of the reasonable soul 
be derived from philosophy ? " 
And even Alger confesses:- 
"The majestic theme of our immortality allures yet baffles 
us. No fleshly implement of logic or cunning tact of brain 
can reach the solution. That secret lies in a tissueless realm, 
whereof no nerve can report beforehand. We must wait a 
little. Soon we shall grasp and guess no more, but grasp 
and know." 
Although scarcely intended to do so by the author of 
The Critical History of the Doctrine of a Future Life, 
in the light of modem investigations the words ring 
with all the promise of prophecy. CHAPTER III 
THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT OF DEATH AND 
IMMORTALITY 1 
Cicero defined death as "the departure of the mind from 
the body, ' ' and, if the term ' ' soul ' ' should be substituted 
for the word "mind," this definition would give a very 
accurate impression of the theological view of the phyi- 
cal aspect of this common phenomenon. Thus, Tertul- 
lian describes death as "the disunion of the body and 
soul," and, unsatisfactory as this definition may be in 
many respects, it is quite as explanatory as most of the 
conclusions that have been reached by philosophers and 
scientists. Of course it is easy to see that, even granting 
the existence of the soul, death would not consist in this 
separation between the material and the spiritual parts 
of our being. Such a separation would occur, but it 
might be the consequence of the death of the body, and 
not the cause of it. To say that death is the "termina- 
tion" of life, therefore, is to parry the question. Spen- 
cer's "cessation of life" definition is not more evasive. 
So far as theology is concerned, however, it has not 
better terms in which to describe the termination of life, 
towards which every human being is tending; so it sat- 
isfies itself by accepting this single general conclusion, 
and presenting several theories in explanation of the 
1 A very good summary of what may be considered the theological 
aspect of death is to be found in Mr. H. M. Alden's volume, A Study of 
Death. The author makes death and sin synonymous terms, and uses 
them in that manner throughout his work. His book is, consequently, of 
no use to a scientific writer, and has only historical and religious interest. 
242 THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
243 
phenomena that it cannot adequately define. Thus, 
since the days of St. Augustine, accepted orthodox the- 
ology has held that as sin and death came into the world 
through Adam's violation of the commands of God, it 
was not until the second Adam-Jesus Christ-came that 
the penalty of the first man's disobedience was provi- 
sionally forgiven and the birthright of immortality re- 
stored to man. That this is the literal teaching of the 
Bible there can be no question, nor was it questioned 
to any considerable degree in its application to either 
animal or man, until the time that the discoveries of 
geology demonstrated the prevalence of death in ages 
long anterior to the creation of man, or countless ages 
before the appearance of sin, as described in the Book 
of Genesis. The earth's strata are full of the remains 
of extinct life-life that existed, died, and was buried 
by the slow process of nature during periods that greatly 
antedated the appearance of any civilized race. Even 
before primitive man had left a mark to indicate his 
occupancy of the earth there was life, some of which 
had already become extinct, and it is easy to determine, 
from an examination of these fossil remains, that in 
those periods life was inevitably followed by, and in 
many instances actually sustained by, death. 
As the result, most theologians now admit that, long 
before the period of man's innocence, the phenomena of 
death had their place in the economy of the world. Even 
then the revolving years were marked by the opening 
and closing of the earth's foliage; by the ripening, con- 
summation, and decay of the earth's fruits. When our 
first parents went to drink of the waters of the streams 
in Paradise, every draught they took to quench their 
thirst required the destruction of myriads of animal- 244 
DEATH 
culae, just as the drinking of water does today. If they 
walked in the fields, or plucked fruits or vegetables to 
gratify the demands of hunger, each act brought death 
to some creature that had hitherto experienced the joy 
of living. In fact theology, as represented by most 
theologians, now agrees with the assumption of science, 
that this state of things has existed since the earliest 
days of the creation of life, and that, in fact, death is 
the logical ultimate of the law of life under which God, 
in His good pleasure, placed all creatures that He made, 
with the single exception of man. 
In the case of man, the last and highest creation of the 
Divine will, the idea of death was immediately set before 
him as the consequence, or, in fact, the just desert that 
must follow his disobedience of the law of his Maker, 
and there is every reason to believe that his very clear 
conception of the import of this threatening evil was 
derived directly from the ever-apparent evidence of 
death's dominion over the beasts of the field, the fowls 
of the air, and all things that came up out of the earth. 
With regard to the animals, or to creatures possessing 
what may be termed "mere instinct," theology finds 
nothing that indicates that there is anything judicial in 
their ordination to death. It is man that has been pun- 
ished in this manner, and yet, for some reason that is 
often unexplained, the curse from which he has suffered 
has also "been brought upon the ground," with the re- 
sult that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in 
pain together." Just how this arrangement of affairs 
is to be reconciled with the idea of a benevolent creator 
is one of those problems which many theologians have 
found it difficult to solve, but one explanation is given 
by M'Clintock and Strong:- THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
245 
"It may relieve the mystery that, as a general rule, the 
enjoyments of the inferior creatures greatly exceed their 
sufferings, and death is but little, if at all, the object of their 
fear, or even a cause of much pain. That 'the sum of animal 
enjoyment quenched in death is amply compensated by the 
law of increase and succession, which both perpetuates life 
and preserves it with the vigour of its powers and the fresh- 
ness of its joys is certain'; also (as bearing on the physical 
and moral condition of man, to whom, as chief in this lower 
world, all arrangements and disposals affecting the lower 
forms of life were subordinated) their subjection to death has 
enlarged immensely the extent of man's physical resources, 
and multiplied manifold the means of his mental development 
and discipline." 
Theology holds that, as "it is appointed unto all men 
once to die," death is actually a physical necessity de- 
vised by the Creator as a means of carrying out His pur- 
poses regarding the welfare of the human race, and, be- 
ing such, it has become a universal law which now 
extends to all organizations in the material universe. 
This is an opinion that has long been held by exponents 
of nearly all schools of theological thought. 
At the same time, as it would be contrary to the doc- 
trine of God's omnipotence to urge that such a law 
must operate despite His desire to maintain the fulfil- 
ment of the law of life, it is held that there are other 
orders of creation dwelling on an immortal plane who 
are not subject to this condition, the ultimate fate of 
every human being. It is also held that these creatures 
are constituted of some kind of material, or, in other 
words, that so far from being all spirit, they have their 
own form of organized existence. And in evidence of 
this, we are pointed to the fact that the bodies of the 246 
DEATH 
risen saints were "clothed with incorruption and immor- 
tality. ' ' 
Theology also contends that even these frail bodies of 
ours, in the antediluvian period, were able to prolong 
the objective existence to the verge of a millennium, 
and it is argued from this that it is quite possible for 
God to imbue the human organism with the power, or 
the means, of repairing the waste of the forces of life in 
such manner as to preserve man in unabated vigour 
and freshness, even to the end of time. It was un- 
doubtedly this belief in God's power to find a means 
to suspend all laws of His own creation that gave rise 
to the legend of the Wandering Jew, which was so com- 
monly accepted throughout the entire civilized world a 
few centuries ago. According to this story, the Jew 
was punished for his insult to Jesus by being condemned 
to travel ceaselessly until the Christ should come again 
in glory on "the last day." 
According to the covenant that was orginally given 
to man, he was to remain exempt from the operation of 
this law of death so long as he remained obedient to the 
divine command: "Thou shalt not eat of the tree of 
knowledge of good and evil, for in the day thou eatest 
thereof thou shalt surely die. ' ' Again, after this law or 
command had been violated, the Bible is equally explicit 
in ascribing the beginning of the reign of death over 
mankind to the transgression of this law: "By one man 
sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so 
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. ' ' 
Drawing its conclusions from such passages of Scrip- 
ture, theology assumes that immortality was actually 
originally ordained for man, but that it was only pro- 
visionally ordained. Death was the penalty that would THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
247 
be imposed for the violation of the covenant. As long 
as man remained steadfast to his agreement with God, 
the latter would abide by the conditions of His sacra- 
mental pledge; and it was due to man's trangression 
of the law that he was compelled to pay the price of 
his sin by renouncing the gift of immortality that had 
been promised to him and to his offspring. 
In regard to other forms of creation, however, there 
is no indication in these passage of Scripture that they 
had also been included in the provisions of this contract. 
It was man only to whom the law applied, and it is 
argued, therefore, that the other orders of creatures that 
may have lived in that time or in preceding stages of 
the world's existence, were exempt, both from the neces- 
sity of obedience to the law and from the penalty re- 
quired in case of its violation. 
Whether, in any way, they may have been constituted 
under a law of death by anticipation, and as in keeping 
with a state of things in which death should reign over 
man, we do not venture to pronounce. That, indirectly, 
as a consequence of their relation to man as a sinner 
against God, their sufferings have been increased and 
their lives shortened, it is impossible to doubt or deny. 
But if, in this view, sin be the occasion of their death, 
it cannot be the cause of it. They are incapable of sin, 
and cannot die judicially for sin. The contrary opinion 
which long and generally prevailed, that the creatures 
were immortal until man sinned, has as little to justify 
it in Scripture as in Science. Death, it is there said, is 
the law of their being; and the true doctrine of the Scrip- 
ture is not that they die because man has sinned, but that 
man because he has sinned has forfeited his original and 
high distinction, and has become *1 like the beasts that 248 
DEATH 
perish." It is unnecessary to multiply Scripture proofs 
of this awful and humbling truth. Every one is famil- 
iar with the frequent and equivalent testimonies that 
death is "the fruit," "the wages," "the end" and con- 
summation of sin, and the circumstances which attend 
and induce it impressively connect it with sin as its 
cause. 
In order to argue that death, now that it has come, 
does not necessarily mean the end of all life; theologians 
have assumed that, in addition to the objective body, 
each human being possesses a soul or spirit. In this 
opinion, of course, they differ from the materialist, who 
holds that man is composed of a physical body alone; 
that, in fact, he is no more that a superior animal, 
whose mental and moral strength are merely the effect 
of the higher development of this physical organism. 
To the materialist, the theory that man is possessed of 
a soul distinct from the body, and that it is this soul 
that is the seat of the nobler intelligence, is the height 
of absurdity. To the theologian, however, this belief is 
a necessity, for if it were not for the existence of this 
spiritual part of man, it would be impossible to show 
that death, instead of being the end of all things, is 
really a second birth-a birth into another, a more im- 
portant, and an eternal state of being. 
As evidence of the existence of the soul, the theologian 
points to numerous passages of Scripture, for the books 
of the New Testament are filled with testimony that con- 
clusively establishes the truth of this theory, provided 
we are willing to accept them as authoritative. Ac- 
cording to these passages, man's intercourse with the 
outward existence is through the body, which is entirely 
objective in its mode of operation, but his communion THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
249 
with God and his ability to attain any degree of spiritual 
development comes to him through the soul, or spiritual 
self that, while associated with the body, is a distinct 
and different organism. 
The effect of this complexity of being not only appears 
in the affairs of life, but also tends to complicate the 
nature and the result of death. If man had his body 
alone, it would be easy to dispose of such a problem, 
for death extends to every part of the body, and in- 
cludes every portion of his objective nature. In this 
manner the threat that death should follow the violation 
of the divine command has been literally enforced. Man 
does die or perish, so far as his earthly body is concerned. 
The important question is in regard to the other self- 
the soul, the spirit, through which he, in accordance with 
the Biblical promise, may eventually experience far 
greater joys of living. 
In reading the Bible it is easy to discover that refer- 
ence is made to two kinds of death-the death of the 
body and the death of the soul-or a spiritual death as 
well as a material death. In other words, while con- 
demning the outward or objective man to experience 
"the pangs of death" as a punishment for his sins, 
God does not permit the inner man-the actual cause of 
that sin-to escape the penalty. On the contrary, the 
Scripture assures us that the soul that sinneth shall 
surely die, and there are many references that might 
be made to passages that indicate that it is possible 
to be dead in sin while yet alive in the objective or 
physical body. 
Precisely what effect God's penalty has upon the body 
and soul, both severally and together, constitutes ques- 
tions over which there has been considerable dispute. 250 
DEATH 
According to some theologians, it is the actual physical 
body that is to be raised from the grave on the "last 
day." In the opinion of others, the physical body will 
play no part in this resurrection, but, being dead, will 
perish for all time, while the soul alone will be called 
upon to account for the sins committed in the flesh. 
Naturally, the literal effect of death upon the bodily 
organism is a matter of common observation. When 
death comes, the body soon loses its comeliness. Cor- 
ruption follows, and finally, the structure that was once 
a human form becomes a shapeless mass of dust. That 
this dust should be brought together again, to serve 
once more as the soul's envelope during eternity, is an 
idea that is branded as absurd by nearly all so-called 
rational thinkers. In spite of its apparent absurdity, 
however, this theory has been very generally held by 
nearly all schools of theology, and it is still accepted by 
many Christian sects, some of which could scarcely be 
designated as "primitive." 
Whatever disposition may be made of the body, all 
creeds admit the eventual immortality of at least a 
certain number of the souls of those who have died. 
Just when this eternity of bliss is to open its doors to 
the waiting soul, or to what degree divine mercy will 
operate in extending the scope of the plan of redemption, 
are among the many questions that are still in dispute. 
One school, more liberal than others, grants eventual 
salvation to all mankind; another school-the Roman 
Catholic Church-provides an intermediate state, or 
place of purification, in which those who do not merit 
eternal damnation may expiate the sins committed in 
this life; while the several schools of Protestant theol- THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
251 
ogy differ in their conceptions of the plans of divine 
justice-ranging from the ultimate salvation of all, as 
preached by the most liberal Christians, to the final and 
absolute extinction of the wicked, a doctrine that seems 
to have lost many of its adherents during the past few 
years. 
Unpopular as this belief may have become, Hudson, 
in his Law of Psychic Phenomena, insists that it is the 
only logical view of the situation. He says:- 
"The first proposition of my theory is that the death or 
practical extinction of the soul as a conscious entity is the 
necessary result of unbelief in immortality. The second prop- 
osition is that the soul, having attained immortality through 
belief, is then subject to the law of rewards and punishments, 
'according to the deeds done in the body.' The same propo- 
sitions are more sententiously expressed in Romans ii. 12: 
'For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish 
without law; and as many as have sinned in the law shall be 
judged by the law.' 
"In other words, the condition precedent to the attainment 
of immortality, or salvation-that is, the saving of the soul 
from death-is belief. The condition precedent to the attain- 
ment of eternal bliss, and the avoidance of the punishments 
incident to sin, is righteousness. 
"Again, we find a spiritual penalty following a violation 
of spiritual law in what Christ taught regarding the sin against 
the Holy Ghost. Just what that sin consists in, never has 
been satisfactorily defined. We are told that it is a sin 
that cannot be forgiven. It must therefore consist of a viola- 
tion of some fundamental law of the soul's existence, the 
penalty for which is inevitable according to the fixed laws of 
God. It cannot be a moral offence, consisting simply in 
wrong-doing, for such sins can be atoned for. ... It must, 
therefore, be the sin of unbelief, and consist of a blasphe- 252 
DEATH 
mous denial of the soul and its Father, God. This would 
be in strict accordance with the fundamental law of sugges- 
tion." 
So far as the popular view of death and life after death 
is concerned, it now differs widely from the position that 
theology must take when it decides to stand by the 
logical aspect of the question. According to the popular 
impression, the souls of those who die go directly to the 
seat of judgment, and remain eternally in the realm of 
bliss if they are able to establish their worthiness to 
participate in this glorious existence of the blessed. 
That this idea is suggested by preachers and teachers of 
religion there can be no doubt, but it is equally certain 
that the Bible nowhere presents any such theory. On 
the contrary, it teaches that, as sin and death came into 
the world through Adam, it was through Christ, the 
sacrifice, that they have been overcome. It was Christ 
alone who came sinless into the world, and who lived a 
sinless life; it was Christ alone who arose triumphant 
over death, and it is through the acceptance of Christ 
alone that the soul can be saved. This is the promise 
of the Bible: that he who believes in Christ, and who 
lives in accord with that faith, shall have eternal life, 
but no salvation is promised for those who fail to take 
advantage of this opportunity. In fact, for the unbe- 
liever, the best that is offered is eternal darkness. To 
him the eternity that is to be so blissful an experience 
for the faithful Christian becomes a burden, a period of 
ceaseless torment-either of mind or body-a time of 
"weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." 
This, in brief, is the position to which the logical 
student of theology must turn, contradictory though it THE THEOLOGICAL ASPECT 
253 
may be to the popular view upon these questions, for 
there can be no doubt that this is the literal gospel 
that is taught in the Bible. The sin of Adam, which 
separted him from God, and which sent him flying with 
fear from the Garden of Eden, began its disrupting work 
at the very moment of his trangression. The act of 
treason-the violation of the covenant-intercepted the 
happy intercourse that had existed between God the 
Maker, and man His creature. In this manner God's 
contract was instantly fulfilled. Man had sinned, and 
God ceased to live with him. The law of God had been 
broken, the fruit of the forbidden tree had been eaten, 
and death, through this sin, was brought into the life of 
the man-the one creature of earth to whom the provi- 
sional promise of immortality had been given. "In the 
day thou eatest thou shalt surely die," God had said, and 
in the day that he ate the work of death began in the 
creature's disrupted relations with the Creator. 
Although these conditions are sufficient to cause death 
(and death without delay), through the mercy of God, as 
displayed in the plan of atonement, man lives on in the 
body for a little time, that he may have an opportunity 
to take advantage of the new covenant that God has 
made with him. Through the expiation of the Cross 
the doors of eternal life have been opened once more, 
that he who will may enter. The price that must be 
paid is faith plus works, and to every man is given the 
chance to win this prize which was once lost through 
Adam's sin: immortality-not immortality in this life 
indeed, but in a life that lies beyond the grave. Thus, 
whatever the result of God's forbearance and mercy to 
each individual soul, the physical man must still die. 
In theology this mortal crisis which each and all must 254 
DEATH 
face is known as the "temporal" death, to distinguish 
it from the "spiritual" death, which makes it possible 
for a man to be " dead while he liveth. ' ' 
When this point has been reached, when this dread 
day has come, theology recognizes but one more step 
before the complete and final issue is attained, for when 
the last plans of the divine administration have been 
realized, and the God who created all things is ready to 
take His own unto Himself, the bodies of all who have 
slept in dust will be reorganized; both the just and the 
unjust shall rise from their graves to stand with the 
quick before their judge, that they may give an account 
of their experience in the flesh, and be judged in accord- 
ance with their deserts. It is then that the just shall 
be raised by faith through grace to the life eternal and 
incorruptible, while the unjust, the unbeliever, and im- 
penitent sinner shall go away from God's presence into 
the place of everlasting punishment which is devised for 
the ' ' resurrection of damnation. " It is this that is meant 
by the "second death." Such is the "orthodox" theo- 
logical conception of death and "immortality." Natu- 
rally the degree to which such teachings influence us will 
depend upon the extent of our belief in the authenticity 
of the Scriptures themselves. From the strictly scien- 
tific point of view, these teachings will remain theories 
only, and science will depend upon facts alone for her 
conclusions. CHAPTER IV 
THE COMMON ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
While it is true that positive science has been unable 
-with microscope or scalpel-to find the smallest trace 
of an immortal spark in man; while theology has nothing 
more evidential to offer than an appeal based upon the 
presumptive accuracy of its revelation; and philosophy 
stands ready to confess its inability to cope with the 
problems of death and the continuance of conscious 
existence, the great majority of human beings are quite 
as confident of the reality of the next world as it would 
be possible for them to be if their theories were sup- 
ported by the most conclusive scientific evidence. Of 
course, as has been shown, the inability of man to demon- 
strate the mere existence of the soul to the satisfaction 
of any law of logic leaves mankind absolutely dependent 
upon the hope that is in him, that instinctive desire for 
immortality, the arguments for which are so beautifully 
summarized by Addison:- 
"Plato, thou reason'st well, 
Else whence this pleasing hope, this fond desire, 
This longing after immortality ! 
Or whence this secret dread, and inward horror 
Of falling into naught! Why shrinks the soul 
Back on herself, and startles at destruction ? 
'Tis the divinity that stirs within us; 
'Tis heaven itself that points out an hereafter, 
And intimates eternity to man." 1 
True as these words may be, if we are to regard them 
solely as a picture of man's protest against the doctrine 
i Cato. 
255 256 
DEATH 
of extinction, they are not of the faintest evidential 
value in support of the belief that life continues beyond 
the grave. In fact, as Hudson said:1- 
"Natural theology stands precisely where it did when Thales 
philosophized and Simonides sang; and the arguments are 
identical with those which Socrates employed in his confuta- 
tion of the atheism of Aristodemus. Not one of the physical 
sciences in which we excel the Idumeans has advanced us one 
step in solution of the great problem propounded by Job, 
'If a man die, shall he live again ? ' " 
Professor Hammond mentions five traditional argu- 
ments that have commonly been used to establish the 
fact that death is not the end of conscious being. These 
are:- 
"(1) The ontological argument, which bases immortality on 
the immateriality, simplicity, and irreducibility of the soul- 
substance; (2) The teleological argument, which employs the 
concept of man's destiny and function, his disposition to free 
himself more and more from the conditions of time and 
space, and to develop completely his intellectual and moral 
potentialities, which development is impossible under the 
conditions of earthly life; (3) The theological argument: the 
wisdom and justice of God guarantee the self-realization of 
personal beings whom He has created; (4) The moral argu- 
ment, i. e. the moral demand for the ultimate equivalence 
of personal deserts and rewards, which equivalence is not 
found in life; (5) The historical argument; the fact that 
the belief is widespread and ancient, showing it to be deep- 
seated in human nature, and the historical fact of the resur- 
rection of Christ and the statements of the New Testament 
Scriptures." 
As all of these arguments have already been con- 
1 A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life, p. 27. ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
257 
sidered in previous chapters, it is unnecessary to dwell 
upon them further, except to the degree in which they 
apply to the arguments that are in more common use 
among men; for while many of us may be unable to 
follow the philosophers and logicians through the intri- 
cate mazes of reasoning that lead to their ultimate 
conclusions, there are certain arguments-more com- 
mon-place, perhaps-that appeal to ordinary thinkers as 
extremely convincing. As Hudson says in A Scientific 
Demonstration of the Future Life:- 
"It may sound very unscientific, but I must confess that I 
attach more of scientific value to Emerson's dogmatic asser- 
tion that 'man is to live hereafter' than I do to the aggregate 
of philosophical speculations known to the literature of the 
subject. He was one of those pure, lofty, and poetic souls 
whose intuitive perception and recognition of truth is often- 
times as perfect as a mathematical demonstration." 
And there are many individuals who, whether their 
process of reasoning be scientific or not, will heartily 
agree with this statement. 
Of course, as a matter of fact, there are but two 
methods of reason that can be applied logically to any 
question. One is inductive reasoning-the reasoning 
which begins with accepted facts, or particulars, and 
from them argues up to the last logical conclusions. 
The other is deductive reasoning, or the reasoning that 
begins with conclusions, and from them argues down 
to facts. Inductive reasoning, therefore, is a logical 
appeal to fact; whereas deductive reasoning takes the 
facts that have been obtained more or less inductively, 
and from them proceeds to calculate its logical par- 
ticulars. While both methods of reasoning are perfectly 258 
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legitimate, therefore, for both depend upon the accuracy 
of the facts, or observations, upon which these conclu- 
sions are based, the inductive method is the only scientific 
one to apply to a problem such as this. 
As may easily be imagined, the exponents of the 
doctrine of life after death have found it extremely 
difficult to present a very conclusive inductive argument 
in support of their theories, owing to the absence of 
facts from which to approach the general conclusion. 
Accordingly, the tendency shown by modern science- 
both biology and physiology-has been to dismiss the 
theory of the soul's existence as undemonstrable. 
At the same time it must not be imagined that no 
attempt has been made to adduce a sound and rational 
argument based upon the accepted facts of science. 
Thus, the relations existing between the molecular move- 
ments of the brain and their manifestation in human 
thoughts and feelings have been held to be evidence of 
the fallacy of the materialistic theory. Professor James, 
in Human Immortality, attempted to "draw the fangs of 
cerebralistic materialism" by ascribing to the brain a 
"transmissive" function, but many scientists have not 
accepted his theory. 
It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that, because 
mental activity and molecular changes always go hand 
in hand, the one is not therefore produced by the other. 
It is certainly true that for every thought we think, 
there is a corresponding change in the brain substance; 
but this merely proves the coincidence to us, and does 
nothing to solve the problem of causation. We know 
that there is a definite activity of the brain during all 
thinking processes, but that does not tell us what the 
activity is. It is usually assumed that this is a causa- ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
259 
tive function, but that is merely an assumption, as a 
matter of fact; and Professor William James and other 
writers have shown us, and indeed insisted upon the 
fact, that this function might be other than causal in 
character-it might be coincidental, or even the result 
of mental operations! In his Human Immortality, Pro- 
fessor James contended that this function of the brain 
might be a transmissive function just as well as a causal 
one; and, on that theory, consciousness might exist apart 
from the brain, and merely function through it; and such 
an interpretation of the facts would leave us quite open 
to believe anything we pleased regarding the possible 
separate existence of consciousness. At all events, it 
would appear that there is no valid reason, physio- 
logically considered, for denying immortality; it is 
merely a question of interpretation of the observed 
phenomena. Although certain facts would seem to tell 
in favour of materialism at first glance, it will be seen 
that this alternate explanation is always open to us; 
and hence physiology is as helpless as philosophy 
when it comes to this question of immortality-and 
the possibility of solving the problem on a priori 
grounds. 
In the Unseen Universe, by Stewart and Tait, an effort 
was made to establish the existence of an unseen world 
from which this world has come, and to which it is 
connected by bonds of energy. These physicists believe 
that their theory explains both the origin of molecules 
and the force which animates them. They claim that 
the idea that the visible universe has the power to 
originate life is utterly contradictory to the facts of 
observation and experiment; and they assert that the 
hypothesis of an eternal unseen universe is necessary if 260 
DEATH 
we are to explain the law of evolution, the conservation 
of mass and energy, the law of biogenesis (every living 
being presupposing an antecedent life), the law of con- 
tinuity (there being no break in reality, the universe 
being of a piece), and other recognized phenomena of 
life in the visible world. 
Convincing as such arguments may seem to those to 
whom they appeal, the critical mind is compelled to 
admit that their validity does not stand the test of the 
infallible rules to which all such propositions must 
logically submit. So, too, the analogical argument 
inevitably falls when exposed to the analysis of the 
rules of correct reasoning. 
In presenting the details of the analogical argument 
in support of a future life, it is impossible to summarize 
such speculations more briefly and completely than by 
quoting from Alger's Critical History of the Doctrine 
of a Future Life:- 
"Man, holding his conscious being precious beyond all 
things, and shrinking with pervasive anxieties from the mo- 
ment of destined dissolution, looks around through the realms 
of nature, with thoughtful eye, in search of parallel pheno- 
mena further developed, significant sequels in other creatures' 
fates, whose evolution and fulfilment may haply throw light 
on his own. With eager vision and heart-prompted imagina- 
tion, he scrutinizes whatever appears related to his object. 
Seeing the snake cast its old slough and glide forth renewed, 
he conceives that in death man but sheds his fleshly exuviae, 
while the spirit emerges regenerate. He beholds the beetle 
break from its filthy sepulchre, and commence its summer 
work; and straightway he hangs a golden scarabaeus in his 
temples as an emblem of future life. After vegetation's 
wintry deaths, hailing the returning spring that brings res- 
urrection and life to the graves of the sod, he dreams of some ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
261 
far-off spring of humanity, yet to come, when the frosts of 
man's untoward doom shall relent, and all the costly seed 
sown through ages in the great earth-tomb shall shoot up in 
celestial shapes. On the moaning seashore, weeping some 
dear friend, he perceives, now ascending in the dawn, the 
planet which he lately saw declining in the dusk; and he is 
cheered by the though that- 
" 'So sinks the day-star in the ocean-bed, 
And yet anon repairs his drooping head, 
And tricks his beams, and with new-spangled ore 
Flames in the forehead, of the morning sky: 
So Lycidas sunk low, but mounted high.' 
"Some traveller or poet tells him fabulous tales of a bird 
which, grown aged, fills his nest with spices, and, spontan- 
eously burning, soars from the aromatic fire, rejuvenescent 
for a thousand years; and he cannot but take the phoenix for 
a miraculous type of his own soul swinging, free and eternal, 
from the ashes of his corpse. Having watched the silkworm, 
as it wove its cocoon and lay down in its oblong grave ap- 
parently dead, until at length it struggles forth, glittering 
with rainbow colours, a winged moth, endowed with new 
faculties, and living a new life in a new sphere, he conceives 
that so the human soul may, in the fulness of time, disentangle 
itself from the imprisoning meshes of this world of larvae, 
a thing of spirit beauty, to sail through heavenly airs; and 
henceforth he engraves a butterfly on the tombstone in vivid 
prophecy of immortality. Thus a moralizing observation of 
natural similitudes teaches man to hope for an existence be- 
yond death." 
Butler, in the Analogy,1 presents a very similar argu- 
ment, assuming that because the caterpillar is trans- 
formed into the butterfly, and "worms into flies," we 
are to exist hereafter "according to a natural order or 
appointment of the very same kind with that we have 
1 Part I. c. i. 262 
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already experienced"; but, like Alger and other expo- 
nents of analogical reasoning, he makes the mistake of 
trying to adapt poetic figures of speech or fanciful com- 
parisons to questions that must be determined upon a 
purely logical basis. To be legitimate, analogical rea- 
soning must justify itself by its conformity to all the 
conditions of correct logical induction. Thus the field 
in which analogical reasoning may be properly employed 
has very decided limitations. It may be proper to em- 
ploy it when dealing with matters which are known to be 
governed by the same or substantially the same laws; 
but never when instituting comparisons, either between 
subjects which are known not to be governed by the 
same laws, or between subjects which are not known to 
be governed by the same laws. ... In all inductive 
reasoning there is one proposition that is, or may be, 
always assumed, namely, the constancy of nature. Thus 
by the observation of a series of phenomena, say the 
rising and the setting of the sun, we are enabled to 
predict with absolute confidence that it will on any 
given day in the future rise in the east and set in the 
west. Why? Because we have such confidence in the 
immutability of the laws of nature that we may assume 
that the order of the rising and the setting of the sun 
will never be reversed. It is upon this assumption of 
the constancy of nature, or rather upon the sublime 
verity of this assumption, that all advancement in the 
arts and sciences depends; for if it were not true, we 
would derive no certain information from our experience, 
or from our observation of the phenomena of nature. 
If gravity operated one day and on the next refrained 
from operating, the whole human race would be instantly 
put to confusion, and lose faith in the integrity of ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
263 
Nature. Inductive reasoning, therefore, could have no 
possible value as a means of interpreting the laws of 
nature but for the fact that we know that nature is ever 
constant. 
It is interesting to note, however, in this connection, 
that Professor S. P. Langley did not believe that any 
"Laws of Nature" exist at all, as a matter of fact, 
but are merely mental conceptions! Thus he believed 
that Nature exists, and that her phenomena are uniform, 
and from this uniformity we have constructed modern 
science, and formulated what we choose to call "the laws 
of nature." But these laws do not exist as absolute, 
fixed realities, as a matter of fact; they are merely 
mental concepts. At any time new facts may come 
upon the scene, which will make us alter our concep- 
tion of the laws of nature, and extend them in a fashion 
hitherto undreamed of. And yet the laws are not 
really altered, in the old sense of the term; the fact 
was that no such laws existed as we had postulated, 
and constant readjustment must be made to fit new facts. 
Professor Langley insisted upon this over and over again, 
and wrote in this connection:- 
"The immensely greater number of things we know in al- 
most every department of science beyond those which were 
known one hundred and fifty years ago has had an effect which 
doubtless could have been anticipated, but which we may not 
have wholly expected. It is, that the more we know the 
more we recognize our ignorance, and the more we have a 
sense of the mystery of the universe and the limitations of 
our knowledge. . . . Innumerable are the illusions of cus- 
tom, but of all these perhaps the cleverest is her knack of 
persuading us that the miraculous, by simple repetition, 
ceases to be miraculous. . . . Suppose that a century ago, in 264 
DEATH 
the year 1802, certain French academicians, believing like 
every one else then in the 'laws of nature,' were invited, in the 
light of the best scientific knowledge of the day, to name the 
most grotesque and outrageous violation of them which the 
human mind could conceive. I may suppose them to reply, 
'If a cartload of black stones were to tumble out of the blue 
sky above us before our eyes in this very France, we should 
call that a violation of the laws of nature, indeed.' Yet the 
next year, not one, but many cartloads of black stones did 
tumble out of the blue sky, not in some far-off land, but in 
France itself. 
"It is of interest to ask, what became of the 'laws of na- 
ture' after such a terrible blow? The 'laws of nature' were 
adjusted, and after being enlarged by a little patching, so 
as to take in the new fact, were found to be just as good as 
ever. So it is always; when the miracle has happened, then 
and only then it becomes most clear that it was no miracle 
at all, and that no 'law of nature' had been broken. 
"Applying the parable to ourselves, then, how shall we 
deal with new facts which are on trial, things perhaps not 
wholly demonstrated, yet partly plausible? During the very 
last generation hypnotism was such a violation of natural 
law. Now it is part of it. What shall we say, again, about 
telepathy, which seemed so absurd to most of us a dozen 
years ago? I do not say there is such a thing now, but I 
would like to take the occasion to express my feeling that 
Sir William Crookes, as president of the British Association, 
took the right, as he took the courageous course, in speaking 
of it in the terms he did. . . . Though nature be external to 
ourselves, the so-called 'laws of nature' are from within- 
laws of our own minds-and a simple product of our human 
nature." 1 
To return, however, we see that analogical reasoning 
is a form of deductive reasoning, and it depends for its 
1 Smithsonian Report, pp. 545-52. ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
265 
validity upon the accuracy of the facts which it assumes. 
Thus, when it begins to argue from one subject up to 
an entirely different subject, or attempts to make con- 
ditions existing in one class of phenomena apply to 
phenomena that are entirely dissimilar in character, it 
is treading upon dangerous ground. If the laws govern- 
ing the subject-matter observed are not identical with 
those of the subject-matter investigated, the analogical 
argument must fall to the ground from sheer lack of 
supporting facts. 
Professor Chase, in his Bibliotheca Sacra article al- 
ready mentioned, objects to Bishop Butler's argument as 
being "less fortunate than any other part of that great 
work:" In particularizing, he said: "Both of the main 
arguments employed by him are no less applicable to the 
lower animals than to man, and just as much prove the 
immortality of the living principle connected with the 
minutest insect or humblest infusoria as of the human 
soul. It is not a little remarkable that this fact, which 
in reality converts the attempted proof in a reductio ad 
absurdum of the principles from which it is drawn, 
should not have awakened in the cautious mind of But- 
ler a suspicion of their soundness, and led him to seek 
other means of establishing the truth in question. These 
he would have found, and, as we think, far better suited 
to his purpose, in the facts and principles so ably and so 
fully set forth in his chapters on the moral government 
of God, and on probation considered as a means of dis- 
cipline and improvement." 
In addition to the particulars to which Professor 
Chase objects, there are other directions in which these 
analogical arguments fail to meet the test of criticism. 
For example, if it had merely been inferred that because 266 
DEATH 
a silkworm is metamorphosed into a butterfly, other 
larvae were destined to be transformed into winged in- 
sects, there might be a reasonably logical basis for such 
an assumption, because the laws governing the one case 
might reasonably be assumed to be applicable to all 
other like cases. The laws governing man, and those 
that apply to the life of insects, are, however, of an 
entirely different class, and to attempt to make the 
mortal life of one prove the immortal existence of the 
other is certainly an illegitimate use of the principles of 
analogy, especially in view of the fact that the changed 
conditions of the life of this insect do not in any sense 
present the elements of immortality, as the insect dies 
after its transformation is concluded. Equally falla- 
cious are Butler's arguments based upon the hatching 
of the bird from the egg, or the birth of man from the 
womb. In no case do the same physical laws act as the 
governing force. On the contrary, as several writers 
have said, the presumptions from analogy, when they 
are legitimate, are against rather than in favour of the 
continued existence of man after death. If we take 
Nature as an illustration, her phenomena would lead 
the logical mind to assume that death is actually the 
end of the process of life. Even the analogical argu- 
ment drawn from the germination of the seed fails as 
ignobly to apply in the case of continued existence, for 
the vegetable life that is derived from the seed that 
has fallen to the ground and disintegrated is in no re- 
spect the same life as that which existed in the plant 
from which the seed was produced, and, if the analogy 
applies to man at all, it simply bears out the theory of 
the materialistic scientists who hold that man's immor- 
tality is in his posterity. If we believed, like the Sara- ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
267 
eens, that the individual soul is instantaneously trans- 
ferred to the universal soul at death, there might be 
some logical justification for the assumption that an 
analogy exists "between the gathering of the material of 
which the body of man consists from the vast store of 
matter in nature and its final restoration to that store, 
and the emanation of the spirit of man from the univer- 
sal intellect, the Divinity, and its final reabsorption. ' '1 
As here, also, however, the validity of this analogy de- 
pends upon the assumption of the existence of a soul- 
and this is the very fact that must be proved, not as- 
sumed-it would fall far short of meeting all the logi- 
cal requirements of science. In fact, no analogy can be 
instituted- 
"Between the operations of physical nature and those of the 
spiritual realm . . . unless it is first clearly shown that the 
laws of the two worlds are identical. And as it is manifestly 
impossible to know the laws which prevail in the unseen uni- 
verse, it follows that reasoning from such analogies is not 
only unsatisfactory to the last degree, but, measured by 
logical and scientific standards, it is, to employ no harsher 
expression, positively nugatory. It is like trying to demon- 
strate a proposition in mathematics by citing a rule in gram- 
mar. Nor does it avoid the objection to express the analogy 
in the negative form, which was such a favourite of the late 
Bishop Butler; for it is the logical equivalent of saying, 
'There is no presumption from analogy to be found in the 
rules of grammar against the possibility of squaring the 
circle. Therefore the circle can be squared? " 
There are many Christians who feel that it is little 
better than a waste of time and brain-matter to en- 
deavour to establish the fact of immortality when this 
1 Draper's Conflict between Religion and Science. \ 268 
DEATH 
doctrine has been so explicitly taught in the New Testa- 
ment. It was this analogical argument that Paul used 
when (1 Cor. xv. 14) he wrote:- 
"Now, if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, 
how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the 
dead? 
"But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ 
not risen, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, 
and your faith is also vain." 
Even should we go to the extent of assuming-as 
science will not-that the New Testament narrative of 
the resurrection of Jesus is literally true, and that every 
doctrine of the Christian faith can be substantiated be- 
yond the shadow of doubt, we are still confronted by the 
same objections, that exist in every instance in which 
the argument from analogy is made to apply to the ques- 
tion of immortality. Thus, if the dogmas of orthodox 
Christianity be true, and Christ the God who was raised 
from the dead, the very fact of His divinity subjects Him 
to the operation of a different kind of law from that 
which governs mankind. Moreover, if we are to assume 
-with some other sects-that, while Christ was mere 
man, the Father performed a miracle in restoring Him 
from death, this assumption leaves us in the same 
position as before, for what right have we to imagine 
that because a miracle was performed in this case the 
law of nature is to be violated for every man who dies? 
It will be remembered, of course, that these objections 
to the New Testament approval of the doctrine of im- 
mortality are simply raised to show that we must resort 
to something more evidential than mere prescriptive 
authority if we are to prove the continuance of conscious ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
269 
life to the satisfaction of science. As an intuitive argu- 
ment, the teachings of the various scriptures are of far 
more importance as showing the persistence of man's 
belief in a future life. 
As has already been shown in previous chapters, the 
antiquity of this belief in eternal life is beyond question. 
All races have held it, and in all ages it has been the 
star of hope to which all men have instinctively turned. 
Thus, Alger says:- 
"It is obvious that man is endowed at once with foreknowl- 
edge of death and with a powerful love of life. It is not 
a love of being here, for he often loathes the scenes around 
him. It is a love of self-possessed existence, a love of his own 
soul in its central consciousness and bounded reality. This 
is the inseparable element of his very entity. Crowned with 
free-will, walking on the crest of the world, enfeoffed with 
individual faculties, served by vassal nature with tributes of 
various joy, he cannot bear the thought of losing himself 
or of sliding into the general abyss of matter. His interior 
consciousness is permeated with a self-preserving instinct, 
and shudders at every glimpse of danger or hint of death. 
The soul, pervaded with a guardian instinct of life and seeing 
death's steady approach to destroy the body, necessitates the 
conception of an escape into another state of existence. 
Fancy and reason, thus set at work, speedily construct a 
thousand theories filled with details. Desire first fathers the 
thought, and then thought woos belief." 
This restless yearning for another world, a realm in 
which the disembodied spirit may continue the conscious 
existence that the physical senses now know as life, has 
been at the bottom of all religious faiths; but while it is 
possible that this belief in immortality may be the logical 
expression of the immortal spark within us, this argu- 270 
DEATH 
ment, conclusive though it may be to many persons, does 
not, and will not, satisfy science until we can demon- 
strate that it is something more than the material in- 
stinct of self-preservation which is common to all phys- 
ical organisms. Like the analogical argument presented 
by Alger and Butler, the argument of intuition applies 
to the lower animals quite as logically as it does to man. 
Though we may look upon ourselves as of more account 
in the eye of the Creator, the final product of an evolu- 
tionary process to which we are no longer subject, such 
presumptions do not constitute a particularly valid ar- 
gument. As Schopenhauer says:- 
"Every one feels that he is something different from a being 
who has once been created from nothing by another being. 
In this way the assurance rises within him that although 
death can make an end of his life, it cannot make an end of 
his existence." 1 
Clearly as Schopenhauer states this argument with 
which mankind has sought to establish a basis for its 
belief in immortality, man is too logical a reasoner not 
to recognize the fact that such a theory cannot be adapted 
exclusively to the members of the genus homo. 1 ' Man is 
something else than an animate nothing," he asserts, and 
with this all who believe in immortality will agree; but 
to this he adds, "and the animal also." 
In conclusion, I may say that, while I am ready to 
admit that the presence of the belief in eternal life in 
almost every human heart may be taken as a presumption 
that such a desire may yet be realized, I still deny that 
such theories as those described can logically be ac- 
cepted, as a conclusive argument. Before the doctrine 
1. Indestructibility of our Nature by Death. ARGUMENTS FOR IMMORTALITY 
271 
of the continuance of conscious existence after death can 
be accepted, as proved, we must demonstrate that another 
world actually exists, and that in this unseen realm the 
disembodied spirit, by whatever name we may designate 
it, continues to maintain the individuality that it pos- 
sessed on earth. When this result has been attained, and 
not until then, will man be justified in regarding his hope 
for immortality as anything more than the manifesta- 
tion of that instinct of self-preservation that has ever 
been the "first law of nature." CHAPTER V 
THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE-PSYCHICAL RESEARCH 
All things perish! So far as we can see, there is not 
one thing in the universe which escapes that fate, unless 
it be energy. Science has always contended that every 
individual organism must die; that, no matter how long 
death may be postponed, it must come sooner or later. 
Everything in the universe perishes, it was said-all 
but two things, matter and energy. But now the newer 
school of physicists contends that matter, too, perishes, 
and that the old dogma of the indestructibility of matter 
is erroneous, and not in accord with the latest discover- 
ies of modern science. Yet, oddly enough, life, the most 
precious of all the energies, is supposed to become extinct 
at death! The energy we call life is supposed, it is true, 
to pass into other modes of energy; but it does not per- 
sist as such. The only trouble experienced by those 
who condemned this view and contended that the mental 
life did persist after bodily dissolution was that there was 
no evidence that it did! In the absence of this proof 
the doctrine had, naturally, to be given up. 
When consciousness came to be treated as a function 
of the brain, still more doubt was thrown upon the be- 
lief, which now seemed to have no solid ground for its 
rational support. On the materialistic theory, conscious- 
ness was considered a mere product of the brain's func- 
tioning-a position, however, open to many objections, as 
272 THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
273 
I have elsewhere shown.1 But in the absence of positive 
proof to the contrary, there was always a justification for 
the scepticism that prevailed, for the most part, during 
the closing years of the last century. 
Count Solovovo, of Petrograd, has, indeed, well ex- 
pressed this view in a letter to the author. He says:- 
"I believe it most probable that Death is the end of every- 
thing throughout the whole realm of Nature. I believe that 
everything tends to support this conclusion; everyday experi- 
ence, scientific experiment, and observation, and last-not 
least-plain common sense. And, before all, I am convinced 
of the utter inability of religion to grapple satisfactorily with 
the problem. And if, in spite of all that, there is still a 
lingering doubt in my mind that this negative conclusion, 
though overwhelmingly probable, may yet be not absolutely 
certain, I owe this shadow of a doubt to certain alleged facts 
of psychical research, so-called, only and exclusively. 
"Perovsky-Petrovo-Solovovo." 
So we come to psychical phenomena. Here are 
facts which (apparently at least) prove that conscious- 
ness does persist apart from the body, and evidence is 
produced in support of that belief. Whether the evi- 
dence be sufficiently conclusive or not is, of course, an- 
other matter; but no one can dispute the fact that this is 
the rational method-the right way of solving the prob- 
lem, and the only way in which it can ever be solved. 
Arguments as to world-theories and metaphysics might go 
on for ever; but if definite facts can be produced, indicat- 
ing that some consciousness is active (that consciousness 
having been severed from its body previously), then rival 
theories will have to be adjusted to the facts, and only 
1 The Coming Science, pp. 114-179; The Physical Phenomena of Spirit- 
ualism, pp. 413, 414. 274 
DEATH 
by such facts can the question ever be satisfactorily 
settled. 
We have seen, during the course of our discussion of 
this problem, that there is no a priori "impossibility" 
as to the persistence of life after the destruction of the 
body; from the standpoint of pure physiology, all the 
known phenomena can be interpreted just as readily in 
one way as in another. We have seen, further, that 
there are certain indications that consciousness can per- 
sist unclouded up to the very moment of physical dis- 
solution, when a sudden and wholly incomprehensible 
change takes place, transforming the living being into 
a mere "corpse." We say, in popular parlance, that 
the "life has left the body." Has it in truth done so- 
or has it become extinct? That is the all-important 
question to be settled! Let us see if there are not some 
indications that "something" persists after the destruc- 
tion of the physical frame to which we have grown only 
too accustomed to think of as the real "Self." 
In the first place, then, certain cases of so-called "Vis- 
ions of the Dying" seem to indicate some heightened, 
supernormal power of vision a^ this time-as though 
the subject were enabled to peer behind the Veil, if 
only for a few moments, at this transitional period. 
Dr. Hyslop has published a number of interesting cases 
of this character in his Psychical Research and the Res- 
urrection, pp. 81-108. Mere hallucinations are common 
enough, and are, perhaps, only to be expected; but in 
certain cases, the dying person has stated that he had 
seen and conversed with "dead" relatives or friends, 
when the fact of their death had been carefully kept from 
the patient, on account of the possible ' ' shock ' ' the news 
might occasion. Yet the subject stated emphatically THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
275 
that these individuals were ' ' spirits ' '-i. e. were dead 
and not living-but that they were waiting to see and 
greet him on the "other side"-as soon as he "passed 
over." These cases are certainly suggestive, so far as 
they go. 
Again, the process of dying has been observed and 
minutely described by certain "clairvoyants," and they 
tell in great detail what happens! They state that the 
soul is withdrawn from the body (taking some time in 
the operation), and they have narrated precisely what 
occurs,-as seen by their psychical vision. I have 
quoted a typical account of this nature in my Psychical 
Phenomena and the War, pp. 229-41, to which the inter- 
ested reader is referred,-as well as for accounts of the 
process of dying, as described by soi-disant "spirits." 
Whatever objective value one may attach to such narra- 
tives, they certainly agree remarkably, not only with one 
another, but also with phenomena which may occasion- 
ally be observed in our daily life. 
These phenomena are the cases of self-projection, "as- 
tral projection," in which the soul and body seem to be 
separated from one another,-for a time at least,- 
and, while the physical body remains entranced or asleep, 
the "astral" or "etheric" Double journeys to some dis- 
tant scene, and is seen and recognized in that place by 
independent observers. Many such cases are on record, 
and may be found in Phantasms of the Living, the Pro- 
ceedings of the S. P. R., Dr. I. K. Funk's book, The 
Psychic Riddle, Myers' Human Personality, and other 
works of a like nature. Such instances certainly seem 
to indicate that the psyche of man may be detached from 
his physical body, and may exist independently, in a 
life of its own, even in this world-and the actual de- 276 
DEATH 
tails of such self-projection can-it is said-be ac- 
quired.1 
Again, experiments have been undertaken in an at- 
tempt to weigh and photograph the soul at the moment 
of death. Dr. Baraduc, of Paris, obtained a remark- 
able series of photographs of this character, which have 
never been explained, and which were certainly not due 
to imperfections upon the plates. These photographs- 
taken every fifteen minutes for three hours after death- 
show a remarkable and progressive series of luminous 
clouds, over the body laid-out on the bed. I have re- 
produced some of these, together with details of the ex- 
periments undertaken-in my Problems of Psychical 
Research, to which the reader is referred for additional 
details. 
Experiments in "weighing the soul" were made, 
some years ago, by Dr. Duncan MacDougal, of Haverill, 
Mass. The patient was placed-bed and all-upon a 
delicate balance, and, at the exact moment of death- 
a sudden loss of from half to three-quarters of an 
ounce was noticed, which caused the beam to fly upward 
and strike the upper steel arm with a sharp "click." 
Four out of six experiments yielded positive results. 
(I have described these experiments in detail in my book 
The Coming Science, and to this the reader is referred 
for further particulars.) 
These experiments, so far as they go, certainly seem 
to indicate that something leaves the body at the moment 
of death. What is that something? Has it intelligence 
and memory, or is it merely a form of matter or energy ? 
The phenomena of "Apparitions of the Dying" seem 
1 (I have summarized these teachings and exercises in my Higher Psy- 
chical Development: chapter, "The Projection of the Astral Body.") THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
277 
to show that some form of consciousness is certainly 
connected with this "something," which leaves the body 
at such times, and that this Being can manifest at great 
distances from the body,-and perhaps even convey in- 
formation to the "percipient" which the latter did not 
know. The phantom seems, then, to carry a certain 
consciousness with it. But this would be quite impos- 
sible upon the materialistic theory, which contends that 
life and consciousness are inseparably bound-up with the 
body, and incapable of existing apart from it. If the 
objective character of these phantoms be proved, then 
we have evidence that such separate existence is possible; 
while if the phantom be seen some hours, days or weeks 
after death, it would certainly indicate that this con- 
scious entity has continued to exist after the death of the 
physical body-that is, as a "spirit" or "soul," living 
in some non-material world.1 For the evidence as to 
cases of this character, the reader is referred to the 
Proceedings of the S. P. R., to Myers' Human Personal- 
ity and to other authoritative sources of a like nature. 
But I shall not press the evidence afforded by these 
phenomena unduly. Many of the instances do, indeed, 
seem to indicate in the strongest possible manner that 
some active entity is present, and that ordinary, normal 
explanations are totally insufficient to account for the 
facts. Still, there is the objection that unknown biolog- 
ical and psychological forces within ourselves may ac- 
count for such phenomena-aided perhaps by telepathy, 
clairvoyance, etc. For this reason, I shall not place un- 
due emphasis upon such occurrences-suggestive as they 
are-nor shall I press the evidence afforded by the 
"physical phenomena" of spiritualism, nor of the su- 
1 Phantasms of the Dead, Haunted Houses, etc. 278 
DEATH 
pernormal powers of the subliminal consciousness, so 
skilfully presented by Myers. All such evidence is, 
indeed, confirmatory ; none of it in itself can be said to 
me conclusive, or to offer "proof" of the sort desired by 
materialistic science. 
How then is such "proof" to be obtained? In one 
way and in one way only. By proof of personal identity. 
Only in that manner can the persistence of conscious- 
ness-or what is commonly known as "the immortality 
of the soul"-be proved. The great objection of mater- 
ialistic science to such phenomena must always be borne 
in mind, viz., that consciousness is a function of the 
brain, that life is bound-up with the material body, and 
that neither can exist apart from the body and its func- 
tionings. The only way in which one can meet this 
argument is to adduce evidence which tends to show that 
life and consciousness do continue to exist apart from 
the physical body; and the only way in which this can 
be done is to adduce evidence of the persistence of mem- 
ory and personal identity. 
The evidence desired in order to prove this, and the 
only evidence that ever will prove it, is the establish- 
ment of the identity of the deceased person; and it will 
be seen that this can only be done by obtaining specific 
facts and details from that consciousness, which were 
known to it when alive, but which were presumably in 
the possession of no other consciousness. If we could 
get in touch, directly or indirectly, with what claimed to 
be such a consciousness, therefore, and it could produce 
for us certain facts known only to it when alive (which 
facts we were enabled afterwards to verify), then we 
should have fairly good evidence for the belief that 
such an individual intelligence was operative in the case THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
279 
before us. When once the facts pass beyond the limits 
of chance, guessing, inference, telepathy, and clairvoy- 
ance, and when the honesty of the medium has been 
proved, there would seem to be no other alternative 
than to accept the doctrine of "spiritualism," as at 
least a thinkable and working hypothesis. 
It is, of course, quite impossible for me even to sum- 
marize the evidence which has been published in the 
past, in support of this contention. This evidence is 
often of an extremely complicated character, requiring 
great care and patience to follow, and covers many thou- 
sands of closely-printed pages, scattered through nearly 
a hundred volumes of the publications of the English 
and American Societies for Psychical Research, and in 
hundreds of books now published upon this subject. 
This evidence has been obtained by means of automatic 
speech and writing, through numbers of professional and 
non-professional mediums, and through individuals who 
do not consider themselves "mediums" at all, in the 
strict sense of the word. It is doubtless true, however, 
that some of the very best evidence of personal identity 
ever obtained has come through Mrs. Piper; and this 
has been supplemented, of late years, by "messages" 
coming through Mrs. Leonard, Mrs. Holland, Mrs. Ver- 
rall and other mediums. This evidence may be said 
to fall into four main classifications: (1) Personal Evi- 
dence; (2) Classical Knowledge; (3) Post-Mortem Let- 
ters; and (4) Cross Correspondences or "Concordant 
Automatisms." 
(1) Personal Evidence. This material consists in at- 
tempts to prove personal identity pure and simple. A 
"spirit" purports to communicate through an entranced 
medium, and narrates facts about his (or her) past life. 280 
DEATH 
-which facts may or may not have been known to the 
sitter, but which, upon investigation, turn out to be true. 
Very striking evidence of this sort has been obtained- 
evidence which it has perhaps taken months of corre- 
spondence to verify, and which was entirely unknown to 
the sitter at the time of the sitting. Detailed, personal, 
trivial incidents constitute, in such cases, the best evi- 
dence obtainable-since they would be the least likely 
to have been known to the sitter, and the least likely to 
have been known by the medium. The following inci- 
dent is, perhaps, typical of this. It is taken from Dr. 
Hodgson's Second Report on Mrs. Piper, S. P. R. Pro- 
ceedings, vol. xiii., pp. 321-22:-1 
Mr. Howard: Tell me something now that you remember 
that had happened before. 
G. P.: Well, I will. About Arthur ought to be a test. 
How absurd. . . . What does Jim mean? Do you mean our 
conversations on different things? or do you mean something 
else? 
Mr. Howard: I mean anything. Now, George, listen for a 
moment; listen, listen. 
G. P.: I know. 
Mr. Howard: I mean that we spent a great many summers 
and winters together, and talked on a great many things, and 
had a great many views in common, went through a great 
many experiences together. Now (G. P. commencing to 
write), hold on a minute. 
G. P.: You used to talk to me about . . . 
The transcription here of the words written by G. P. con- 
veys, of course, no proper impression of the actual circum- 
stances ; the inert mass of the upper part of Mrs. Piper's body 
turned away from the right arm, and sagging down, as it 
i G. P.-The initials of the supposed "communicator" or spirit, while 
Mr. Howard is the "sitter." S. P. R.-Society for Psychical Research. THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
281 
were, limp and lifeless over Mr. Howard's shoulder; but the 
right arm, and especially hand, mobile, intelligent, depreca- 
tory, then impatient and fierce in the persistence of the writ- 
ing which followed, contains too much of the personal element 
in G. P.'s life to be reproduced here. Several statements 
were read by me and assented to by Mr. Howard, and then 
was written "private," and the hand gently pushed me away. 
I retired to the other side of the room, and Mr. Howard took 
my place close to the hand, where he could read the writing. 
He did not, of course, read it aloud, and it was too private for 
my perusal. The hand, as it reached the end of each sheet, 
tore it off from the block book, and thrust it wildly at Mr. 
Howard, and then continued writing. The circumstances nar- 
rated, Mr. Howard informed me, contained precisely the kind 
of a test for which he had asked; and he said that he was 
"perfectly satisfied, perfectly." After this incident there was 
some further conversation with reference to the past that 
seemed especially natural, coming from G. P. 
In the following remarkable instance, again, the sitter 
(Dr. Frederick van Eeden) carried on a long conversa- 
tion with the "communicator" in Dutch-a language of 
which the medium-a middle class English woman- 
was totally ignorant. In his Report in the Proceedings 
S. P. R., Dr. van Eeden says:- 
. . For instance, the young man who had committed 
suicide gave as proofs of his identity Dutch names and places 
which were not at all in my mind at the moment. This might 
have been unconscious telepathy. At the same time proper 
names were given which I had never heard myself. Yet later, 
in Holland, I came across people who bore these very names, 
though their connection (if any) with the young man I 
could not find out. . . . 
"My personal impression [of the value of the evidence] 
has varied in the following manner. During the first series 282 
DEATH 
of experiments, in November and December 1899, I felt a 
very strong conviction that the person whose relics I had 
brought with me, and who had died fifteen years ago, was 
living as a spirit and was in communication with me through 
Mrs. Thompson. A number of small particulars, which will 
be found in the notes, produced on me, when taken en bloc, 
the effect of perfect evidence. To regard these all as guesses 
made at random seemed absurd: to explain them by telepathy 
forced and insufficient. 
"But when I came home, I found on further inquiry inex- 
plicable faults and failures. If I had really spoken to the 
dead man, he would never have made these mistakes. And 
the remarkable feature of it was that all these mistakes were 
in those very particulars which I had not known myself, and 
was unable to correct on the spot. . . . 
"Consequently, my opinion changed. There were the facts, 
quite as certain and marvellous as before. I could not ascribe 
them to fraud or coincidence, but I began to doubt my first 
impression that I had really dealt with the spirit of a deceased 
person; and I came to the conclusion that I had dealt only 
with Mrs. Thompson, who, possessing an unconscious power 
of information quite beyond our understanding, had acted 
the ghost, though in perfect good faith. . . . 
"But on my second visit, in June 1900, when I took with me 
the piece of clothing of the young man who had committed 
suicide, my first impression came back, and with greater force. 
I was well on my guard, and if I gave hints, it was not un- 
consciously, but on purpose; and, as will be seen from the 
notes, the plainest hints were not taken, but the truth came 
out in the most curious and unexpected ways. . . . 
"Up to the sitting of June 7th, all information came through 
Nellie, Mrs. Thompson's so-called spirit-control. But on that 
date, the deceased tried, as he had promised, to take the con- 
trol himself, as the technical term goes. The evidence then 
became very striking. During a few minutes-though a few 
minutes only-I felt absolutely as if I were speaking to my THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
283 
friend himself. I spoke Dutch and got immediate and correct 
answers. The expression of satisfaction and gratification 
in face and gesture, when we seemed to understand one an- 
other, was too vivid to be acted. Quite unexpected Dutch 
words were pronounced, details were given which were far 
from my mind, some of which, as that about my father's 
uncle in a former sitting, I had never known, and found 
to be true only on inquiry afterwards. ..." 
This is the character of the evidence presented in proof 
of personal identity. Thousands of pages of similar 
material have been published, chiefly in the Proceed- 
ings of the S. P. R. The above quotations are merely 
intended to illustrate the character of the evidence re- 
ceived, and the methods of attacking this problem 
adopted by psychical researchers. Let us now turn to 
the second line of attempted proof. 
(2) Classical Knowledge. The education of the av- 
erage individual may usually be gauged with fair ac- 
curacy from a'few minutes' conversation; certainly any 
very profound knowledge upon any profound subject 
would reveal itself should that subject be brought into 
the conversation. Classical knowledge, - now-a-days, is 
relatively rare among the rank-and-file of humanity- 
that is to say, profound and exceptional knowledge, 
which even classical scholars themselves would have to 
verify. Such knowledge could hardly be possessed by 
the average medium, or even the exceptional medium. 
Yet knowledge of just this character was obtained 
through Mrs. Leonard,-purporting to come from F. W. 
H. Myers and Professor Butcher, of Cambridge,-both 
of them classical scholars of exceptional erudition. A 
thorough knowledge of the classics was evidenced by 
them; frequent references were made to classical authors, 284 
DEATH 
etc.-all of which might be supposed to have been known 
to the "spirit" authors of these messages, but none of 
which could conceivably have been known to the medium; 
and indeed scholars themselves had to ascertain the cor- 
rectness of many of the references made. A typical 
instance of this is contained in Prof. G. W. Balfour's 
paper "The Ear of Dionysius." Evidence of this sort 
points very strongly, it seems to me, to the genuine 
character of the messages received, and is indicative of 
some form of the "spirit hypothesis," rather than to 
any form of telepathic theory, or to any form of "sub- 
conscious activity" on the part of the medium! 
(3) Post-Mortem Letters. The character of this evi- 
dence is as follows: A., when alive, writes a letter; he 
seals it and sends it to the Society for Psychical Re- 
search, where it is deposited in the safe of the Society. 
A. is now the only living consciousness which knows the 
contents of this letter. After a time, A. dies. He then 
purports to communicate through a medium, and says: 
"I am A. I wrote a certain letter, and in it I said- 
so-and-so,"-giving the message. The sealed letter is 
then opened, and the two messages compared. If they 
are found to correspond, it is pretty good evidence that 
the same consciousness that wrote the one also wrote the 
other-that is, that the same person is still "there," dic- 
tating the contents of the letter. Several such tests have 
been tried, but it is regrettable that nearly all of them 
have signally failed. The "thought," in one or two let- 
ters, however, has been strikingly similar. Several let- 
ters are now on file in the offices of the Society, and 
while we do not wish their writers any hard luck-still, 
we are anxious to try the tests! Further evidence in THE TESTIMONY OF SCIENCE 
285 
this direction is greatly to be desired, and will assuredly 
be most interesting, when obtained. 
(4) Cross Correspondence. This method was impro- 
vised-at the suggestion of the "spirits" themselves- 
to shut off, so far as possible, the mutual influence of 
telepathy,-or the influence upon the medium's mind 
of thoughts contained in the sitter's mind,-telepathi- 
cally influencing the results. The principle of "cross- 
correspondence" is as follows: Let us take four medi- 
ums, A, B, C and D, all living in different parts of the 
world, and unknown to one another. Through three of 
these mediums come parts or fragments of sentences 
which in themselves are meaningless. Then, through a 
fourth medium comes a fourth fragment, with the re- 
mark: "See the scripts of A, B, and C; these, pieced 
together with this message, will make a consistent whole. ' ' 
Upon these various scripts being pieced together, a per- 
fectly consistent message is the result. What would that 
prove? Assuming the facts to be as represented, it 
would surely tend to prove-not that the subconscious 
minds of these four mediums were telepathically passing- 
along the information one to another,-since they would 
not know what to pass,-each portion in itself being 
meaningless. It would tend to prove, rather, that one 
mind was directing and dictating all four messages, 
through as many mediums-this mind being external to 
all of them, and itself possessing the key to the puzzle 
from the beginning. This external mind would be, in 
short, a "spirit." Such experiments have been con- 
ducted on a large scale, and a number of elaborate Re- 
ports have been published, describing the experiments in 
great detail. These "cross correspondences" have, in a 286 
DEATH 
number of instances, been eminently successful, and have 
gone far towards proving the persistence of conscious- 
ness to a number of eminent psychical researchers. The 
experiments are still continuing. 
Such, in brief, is the method which psychical research 
is following in an endeavour to obtain direct proof of 
survival. Whatever we may think of the results, we 
must admit that the method is the correct one. In such 
a work as this, it is of course impossible to do more than 
refer to the evidence, and to the character of the inves- 
tigations undertaken; the reader must consult the sources 
themselves for the actual proofs obtained. While, to 
many minds, the evidence so far published is insufficient 
to warrant a belief in the existence of "spirits," it is 
at least sufficiently strong to show us that here is a case 
for investigation; one, moreover, which presents great 
possibilities; and which, if the conclusions were estab- 
lished, would definitely and finally defeat materialism. CHAPTER VI 
CONCLUSION 
In the foregoing work, I have endeavoured to present 
a fairly complete study of Death from the physiologi- 
cal, historic and psychological view-points. To what 
extent I have done so must be left to the reader-and 
the future!-to decide. We have studied the causes of 
old age and the phenomena surrounding Death, and we 
have endeavoured to discover the innermost nature of 
the facts thus observed. Further, we have extended our 
vision, and tried to penetrate the Veil of the Future, 
and to discover whether any part of man survives the 
change we call death; and, if so, how proof of this 
"survival" is to be obtained. In thus summarizing the 
historic speculations upon this subject, and in present- 
ing a clear idea of the latest scientific attempts to solve 
the mystery-by Psychical Research-I have, I trust, 
afforded the reader a clearer conception of the problem 
involved than he, perhaps, previously had held. 
The problem of Death-the Mystery of the Ages- 
the Riddle of the Sphinx-is likely to remain unsolved, 
so long as Science deals with phenomena merely; only 
when we deal with noumena-the innermost nature of 
things-in-themselves-will this problem ever be solved, 
in the true sense of the word. Life and Death are 
themselves noumenal things, and exist in a noumenal 
world. Their ultimate essence or nature can thus only 
be solved by methods which deal directly with noumena, 
287 288 
DEATH 
-which physical science does not and never can do. 
All that science can do is to study phenomena. Yet 
even these may yield us facts of considerable importance 
-may even yield us a key to the nature of the noumena 
themselves. It is my hope that the present book, by 
drawing attention to some of these phenomena (con- 
nected with death) and by indicating how they may be 
studied,-by other, more competent investigators,-may 
serve to throw some light upon the nature of this great 
my st e ry-Death . APPENDICES 
APPENDIX A 
For several centuries there has existed a belief in vam- 
pires in certain parts of the world, especially in Silesia, 
in Moravia, and along the frontier of Hungary. Even 
to this day such stories are circulated among the people 
and implicitly credited by them. It is asserted that 
certain persons, who have died, have the power of re- 
turning from time to time (generally at night) and suck- 
ing the blood of living persons; and that in this manner 
they are enabled to maintain themselves in a state, if 
not of life, certainly one very different from death. 
They are supposed to be enabled to maintain this sort 
of intra-cosmic existence so long as they can find fresh 
blood with which to supply themselves. Preferably they 
attack young persons who are full-blooded and possess 
an abundance of vitality. Occasionally these persons 
wake during the process, and frightful have been some 
of the fights that are said to have taken place between 
mortal and vampire! Sometimes one and sometimes the 
other would be victor. More commonly, however, the 
person so attacked would not wake, and then he or she 
would rise in the morning pale, emaciated, weak, and ex- 
hausted, for no apparent reason. This went on, as a 
rule, until that person died, when another would be 
attacked in like manner. This would continue until the 
vampire was finally caught, exhumed, his head cut off, 
and his heart cut out or impaled; when with a fearful 
shriek, he would finally give up the ghost. When the 
body of the vampire was impaled, fresh blood would 
On "Vampires" 
289 290 
APPENDICES 
gush out. The body would be so full of blood, on oc- 
casion, that it could scarcely contain it all; and it would 
be found dripping from the lips, or even exuding from 
the eyes, ears, and pores of the skin! Any one bitten 
by a vampire would become one himself when his turn 
came to die. Such was the gruesome belief held for 
several hundred years in parts of Europe, and which is 
even yet not extinct. 
In a curious old work entitled The Phantom World, its 
author, Augustine Calmet, a priest, attempted to find a 
rational explanation of these stories, and his ingenious 
speculations will be found in vol. ii. of that treatise. He 
says:- 
"I lay down at first this principle, that it may be that there 
are corpses which, although interred some days, shed fluid 
blood through the pores of their body" (p. 41). 
Although this can hardly be said to to be so, it is al- 
most the case, on occasion, as may be seen by referring 
to the discussion under "Putrefaction." However, our 
author goes on:- 
"I add, moreover, that it is very easy for certain people to 
fancy themselves sucked by vampires, and that the fear caused 
by that fancy should make a revolution in their frame suffi- 
ciently violent to deprive them of life." 
The author was evidently well aware of the power of 
"suggestion"! Returning to the orginal theme, how- 
ever, he continues:- 
"I now come to those corpses full of fluid blood, and whose 
hair, beard, and nails had grown again. One may dispute 
these parts of the prodigies, and be very complaisant if we 
admit the truth of a few of them. All philosophers know well 
enough how much the people, and even certain historians, 
enlarge upon things which appear but a little extraordinary. 
Nevertheless, it is not impossible to explain their cause physi- 
cally. Experience teaches us that there are certain kinds of 
earth which will preserve dead bodies perfectly fresh. The 
reasons for this have been often explained without my giving 
myself the trouble to make a particular recital of them. . . . APPENDICES 
291 
As to the growth of the nails, the hair, and the beard, it is 
often perceived in many corpses. While there yet remains a 
good deal of moisture in the body, it is not surprising that 
some time we see some augmentation in those parts which 
do not demand a vital spirit. . . . 
"The fluid blood flowing through the canals of the body 
seems to form a greater difficulty, but physical reasons may 
be given for this. It might very well happen that the heat 
of the sun, warming the nitrous and sulphurous particles which 
are formed in those earths that are proper for preserving the 
body, those particles having incorporated themselves in the 
newly-interred corpses, ferment, decoagulate, and melt the 
curdled blood, render it liquid, and give it the power of flow- 
ing by degrees through all the canals. ... As to the cry 
uttered by the vampires when the stake is driven through their 
heart, nothing is more natural; the air which is there con- 
fined, and thus expelled by violence, necessarily produces that 
noise in passing through the throat. . . 
The figures of the vampires that were seen, Calmet 
considers to be apparitions, occasionally helped out by 
dreams and other morbid phenomena. Considering the 
fact that the author lived and wrote in 1751, his specu- 
lations may be considered quite remarkable. 
Vampires are, however, not unknown in these days. 
In an article on "Vampires" in The Occult Review, 
June 1908, Dr. Hartmann described a method of what 
might be termed vampirage. He said:- 
"In the Bible it is claimed that when David grew old, a 
young girl was given to him to supply him with vitality; and 
not very many years ago certain institutions based upon this 
principle were existing in France. Young girls were supplied 
to old men or women as bedfellows. Usually the old person 
(after having had to submit to certain precautionary meas- 
ures) had to sleep between two girls, a fair-haired and a dark 
one, for which privilege he had to pay a certain sum. All of 
these girls soon lost vitality, some of them died, and these 
establishments were finally closed by order of the police." 
If popular opinion is correct in its assumption that vi- 
tality may thus be transferred from the young to the 
old, it is easy to understand that there may be a great 292 
APPENDICES 
deal of truth in the theory that it is not healthy for chil- 
dren to sleep in the same bed with old persons. Cer- 
tainly medical science has given at least tacit approba- 
tion to this opinion. 
Dr. Hartmann also cites the case of the "wonder girl" 
at Radein, who attracted considerable attention some time 
ago. For seven years, according to the statement of 
the investigators, this girl lived without food or drink, 
and yet was able to maintain phenomenally good health! 
According to Dr. Hartmann's theory, she lived upon the 
vitality of others. 
"Instead of taking food," he says, "she withdrew vitality 
from the children who were brought to her for the purpose of 
receiving her blessing. Some of these children sickened, some 
wasted away and died. She did not do this consciously and 
willingly, for she was a very pious person, and, owing to her 
long fasting, even considered a saint." 
There are historical records of many similar cases, but 
nearly all of them have been proved to be fraudulent; 
and at the present day orthodox science refuses to accept 
many of them as authentic. APPENDICES 
293 
APPENDIX B 
The Death of Cells 
From Age, Growth, and Death, by C. S. Minot, pp. 75-76:- 
I. Death of Cells 
1. Causes of Death. 
A. External to the organism:- 
1. Physical (mechanical, chemical, thermal, etc.). 
2. Parasites. 
B. Changes in intercellular substances (probably primarily 
due to cells):- 
1. Hypertrophy. 
2. Induration. 
3. Calcification. 
4. Amyloid degeneration (infiltration). 
C. Changes inherent in cells. 
2. Morphological Changes of Dying Cells. 
A. Direct death of cells:- 
1. Atrophy. 
2. Disintegration and reabsorption. 
B. Indirect death of cells:- 
1. Necrobiosis (structural change precedes final death). 
2. Hypertrophic degeneration (growth and structural 
change often with nuclear proliferation precede final 
death). 
3. Removal of Cells. 
A. By mechanical means (sloughing or shedding). 
B. By chemical means (solution). 
C. By phagocytes. 294 
APPENDICES 
II. Indirect Death of Cells. 
A. Necrobiosis:- 
1. Cytoplasmic changes:- 
(a) Granulation. 
(b) Hyaline transformation. 
(c) Inhibition. 
(d) Desiccation. 
(e) Clasmatosis. 
2. Nuclear changes- 
(a) Karyorhexis. 
(b) Karyolysis. 
B. Hypertrophic degeneration:- 
1. Cytoplasmic- 
(a) Granular. 
(b) Cornifying. 
(c) Hyaline. 
2. Paraplasmic- 
(a) Fatty. 
(b) Pigmentary. 
(c) Mucoid. 
(d) Colloid, etc. 
3. Nuclear (increase of chromatin). 
APPENDIX C 
Superstitions, Sayings, etc., concerning Death 
"Superstitions, Sayings, etc., concerning Death," by C. 
W. J., in Chambers' Book of Days, vol. ii., pp. 52-53:- 
"If a grave is open on Sunday, there will be another dug in 
a week. 
"This I believe to be a very narrowly limited superstition, 
as. Sunday is generally a favourite day of funerals among the 
poor. 
"If a corpse does not stiffen after death, or if the rigor APPENDICES 
295 
mortis disappears before burial, it is a sign that there will be 
a death in the family before the end of the year. 
"In the case of a child of my own, every joint of the corpse 
was as flexible as in life. I was perplexed at this, thinking 
that perhaps the little fellow might, after all, be in a trance. 
While I was considering the matter, I perceived a bystander 
looking very grave and evidently having something on her 
mind. On asking her what she wished to say, I received for 
an answer that, though she did not put any faith in it herself, 
yet people did say that such a thing was a sign of another 
death in the family within the twelvemonth. 
"If every remnant of Christmas decoration is not cleared out 
of church before Candlemas Day (February 2), there will be 
a death that year in the family occupying the pew where a 
leaf or berry is left. 
"An old lady (now dead) whom I knew was so persuaded 
of the truth of this superstition that she would not be content 
to leave the clearing of her pew to the constituted authorities, 
but used to send her own servant on Candlemas Eve to see 
that her own seat, at any rate, was thoroughly freed from 
danger. 
"Fires and candles also afford presages of death-coffins 
flying out of the former, and winding-sheets guttering down 
from the latter. A winding-sheet is produced from a candle; 
if, after it has guttered, the strip which has run down, instead 
of being absorbed into the general tallow, remains unmelted; 
if, under these circumstances, it curls over away from the flame, 
it is a presage of death to the person in whose direction it 
points. 
"Coffins out of the fire are hollow, oblong cinders, spirited 
from it, and are a sign of coming death in the family. I have 
seen cinders which have flown out of the fire picked up and 
examined to see what they presaged; for coffins are not the 
only things that are thus produced. If the cinder, instead of 
being oblong, is oval, it is a cradle, and predicts the advent 
of a baby; while, if it is round, it is a purse, and means pros- 
perity. 
"The howling of a dog at night under the window of a sick- 
room is looked upon as a warning of death being near. 
"Perhaps there may be some truth in this notion. Every- 
body knows the peculiar odour which frequently precedes 
death, and it is possible that the acute nose of the dog may 
perceive this, and that it may render him uneasy; but the 296 
APPENDICES 
same can hardly be alleged in favour of the notion that the 
screech of an owl flying past signifies the same, for if the owl 
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