A letter to Lord Cathcart . . . concerning the recovery of persons drowned and seemingly dead
Publisher Information: London: J. Murray, 1776.
Cullen, William (1710-90). A letter to Lord Cathcart, president of the Board of Police in Scotland, concerning the recovery of persons drowned and seemingly dead. [4], 45, [3, including publisher’s ads] pp. London: J. Murray, 1776. 227 x 145 mm. (uncut). Original plain wrappers, a little worn at spine, extremities chipped. Very good.
First Edition. Cullen, Professor of Medicine at Edinburgh University, was the foremost British clinical teacher of his time (see Garrison-Morton.com 2204). In response to a request from Lord Cathcart, president of Scotland’s Board of Police, Cullen explained in the present pamphlet the physiological reasons for attempting resuscitation of the apparently drowned: “[I]n men, and other animals, life does not immediately cease upon the cessation of the action of the lungs and heart, and the consequent ceasing of the circulation of the blood . . . the living state of animals does not consist in that alone, but especially depends upon a certain condition in which the nerves, and muscular fibres, by which they are sensible and irritable, and upon which the action of the heart itself depends” (pp. 2-3). Cullen argued that this “certain condition,” which he called “the vital principle,” can persist for some time after the heart stops beating, and as long as it is present “all the functions of life may also, though they have many of them long ceased, be again entirely restored” (p. 3). He therefore recommended that efforts should always be made to revive victims of drowning. Cullen also described current methods of resuscitation, both useful and not; he recommended artificial respiration, keeping the victim warm and dry, and blowing tobacco smoke into the rectum. France, “Some eighteenth century authorities on the resuscitation of the apparently drowned,” Anaesthesia 30 (1975): 530-538.
Book Id: 45190Price: $375.00