RESUSCITATION OF THE APPARENTLY DROWNED.
" By Mercy's tender care alone it came to light, That Mortals, tho' deprived by water's cold embrace Of sense and vital powers; though pale and motionless, Yet still by means applied, to life may be recalled." Translation from an old Dutch Poem.
"He lives! And thanks, 'tis all he can, to Heav'n and Mercy gives." Green.
It has often happened that, but for the presence and action of some one who knew the resuscitative process, fatal results would have followed accidental immersion, even after the person had been brought alive to terra firma. And many a valuable life has been lost owing to the proper means of restoration not having been applied in time.
Swimming clubs throughout the country, which have done so much in teaching the art of swimming, and giving prizes for excellence, might also take up this branch, and instruct their members by drill, or otherwise, in the process of resuscitation.
Within the past hundred years, many methods have been recommended, adopted, and in turn discarded, among others, those of electricity, fumigation, and bleeding. Doctor Coleman of London, so long ago as 1789, recommended the following—" Imitate the natural circulation by inflating the lungs. Electrify the heart and apply friction, these efforts to be continued for four hours if the endeavours are not previously crowned with success." Previous to 1790 we find tobacco in the enematic form recommended by several eminent London practitioners. But in 1791 Dr. Coleman said of it, "Tobacco in any form is highly pernicious," and further on, "It is more than probable that no one could ever have been recovered where this remedy has been applied." ' Among the old methods was Hooker's system of sufflation, and among the more modern ideas is Howard's system of chest and abdominal pressure, so much practised in the United States of America.
This is, however, a very harsh method of treatment, although not as much so as the following:—Dr. Joux, of the third division of the police in Brussels, relates a case which occurred in 1873, where all the remedies of modern science were applied in vain. He then proceeded to use more stringent means, and applied iron plates heated to a white heat to the upper parts of the body, near the vital portions. In a short time faint signs of breathing were observed, and in half-an-hour the drowned man awoke to life. The only inconvenience he after wards experienced, resulted from the severe cauter ization which the skin necessarily underwent. Of course such appliances, even though strongly re commended, are not in ordinary circumstances to be easily had.
The instructions as recommended and issued by the National Lifeboat Institution are now accepted as the most practicable and certain methods yet adopted, and we think we cannot do better than give them in extenso.
Send immediately for medical assistance, blan kets, and dry clothing, but proceed to treat the patient instantly on the spot, in the open air, with the face downwards, whether on shore or afloat; exposing the face, neck, and chest to the wind, except in severe weather, and removing all tight clothing from the neck and chest, especially the braces., The points to be aimed at are—first and immediately, the RESTORATION OF BREATHING; and secondly, after breathing is restored, the