Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/59

ABSTINENCE found by Gladstone and Bunsen. Water, faint- ly colored yellow with a few drops of blood, may be distinguished from all other solutions of the same color, by showing in the spectro- scope two characteristic absorption bands (fig. 3) in the green portion of the spectrum, not FIG. 8. Absorption Spectrum of Blood. shown by any other substance ; and it is even possible to recognize them in a single blood disk, by means of a microscope with spectro- scopic eye piece. "We add in fig. 4 the absorp- ABCDEF Q H FIG. 4. Solar Absorption lines. tion bands of the solar atmosphere for com- parison ; they are used as landmarks to local- ize the absorption bands of other substances. They were first noticed by Wollaston, but afterward examined with such philosophical refinement by Fraunhofer, that they were named after him, and according to his propo- sition designated by A, B, 0, D, &c. (See SPECTROSCOPE.) ABSTINENCE, the partial or total deprivation of food. The phenomena which characterize life are connected with chemical changes oc- curring in portions of the blood or tissues of the body itself; the presence of the substances resulting from these changes being hurtful to the body, they are eliminated from it by the various organs of excretion. This constant loss demands an equivalent supply. If the supply be withheld, the chemical changes still continue and the body wastes ; the organism feeds upon itself, and when this is no longer pos- sible, death ensues. The period during which a human being previously in good health can sustain life under a total deprivation of food and drink, is generally stated to be from eight to ten days. This varies, however, under dif- ferent circumstances. Persons of mature age support abstinence better than those who are younger; women, from the greater develop- ment of the fatty tissues, and the less activity of the muscular and nervous systems, better than men ; children, in whom all the organic functions are exceedingly active, worst of all. A damp atmosphere which checks exhalation, a moderate temperature, and quiet of body are favorable to the prolongation of life ; while muscular exertion, a hot dry air, and a low tem- perature tend to shorten the period during which it can be preserved. Fodere (Medecine Ugale) states that some workmen buried in a damp quarry were extricated alive after a period of 14 days ; while after the wreck of the Medusa, the sufferers on the raft, exposed to a high temperature and constant exertion, at the end of three days, although they still had a small quantity of wine, were so famished that they commenced devouring the dead bodies of their companions. Water alone tends materially to prolong life. Dr. Sloane ("Medical Gazette," vol. xvii., p. 389) gives an account of a man 65 years of age, who was rescued from a coal mine after he had been iminured 23 days, during the first 10 of which he had a little muddy water. He was so much reduced that he died three days after. The cases of starvation which have been best and most accurately observed, have been those in which the oesophagus has been gradually but at last completely obstructed by cancerous dis- ease. In these cases the deprivation of ali- ment has been but partial, the patient having been still imperfectly nourished by nutritive injections, which have supported life for a period of five or six weeks. Mental alienation has a marked influence in prolonging the period during which life can be sustained without food. Dr. Willan has recorded a case in which, under the influence of religious delusion, a young man lived 60 days, taking during that time nothing but a little water flavored with orange juice. Dr. M'Naughton of Albany ("American Journal of Medical Science," vol. vi., p. 543) gives a similar instance, during which a young man lived 54 days on water alone. And in a case read in the French acad- emy (Archives generates de medecine, torn, xxvii., p. 130), a suicide lived 60 days on nothing but a few mouthfuls of orgeat syrup, before death put an end to his sufferings. Hys- terical women often support abstinence in a wonderful manner ; but there is in hysteria so much moral perversion, so great a tendency to deceit for the sake of exciting interest and sympathy, that all such cases require to be carefully and closely scrutinized. Most of the instances reported by the old authors, in which total abstinence was endured for months or even years, belong to this category, and are untrustworthy. The first effect of prolonged abstinence from food and drink under ordinary circumstances, apart from the sensations of hunger and thirst, is pain and distress in the epigastrium, which is relieved by pressure. This subsides after a day or two, and is suc- ceeded by a sense of sinking and weakness in the same region ; the thirst at the same time becomes more intense, and is thenceforth the principal source of suffering. Emaciation soon begins to make rapid progress, the eye has a wild glistening stare, the senses are dulled, and the intellect enfeebled ; the excretions become rare, scanty, and fetid ; the urine is high-color- ed, often causing a burning pain when passed ; often toward the end diarrhoea comes on. The sufferer becomes exceedingly weak, the voice is low and hoarse, the gait slow and tot-