Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 40, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1893 — Is Death Painless? [ARTICLE]

Is Death Painless?

A Canadian physician has been giving his experience of the pleasures of being frozen to death. His tongue and then his arms become stiff, sharp chills ran down his back, and finally it seemed as though his whole body had congealed, causing an almost entire cessation of the heart's action. After this preliminary pain, all the remaining sensations were pleasant, the chills giving place to genial warmth, and subsequently to au exhilarating warmth, and finally he fell into a delicious slumber, which was that of unconsciousness, and came near being the sleep of death. lam not able to say what the sensations of dying in such a manner may be, but having once been taken from the water apparently drowned, and only restored to vitality after a long time and at much trouble, I know what dying by drowning is. In my case there was a sharp preliminary pang caused bv the hopelessness of my position, followed by the whole of my past life being instantaneously flashed through the mind; then came a dancing of lights in the eyes and a tingling of bells in the ears, pleasant visions of Elysium, and afterward absolute unconsciousness. Sickness, disease and injuries to the frame, which often precede and lead to death, are unquestionably painful, but the act of dying is unaccompanied by pain.