“Colonel Townshend, a gentleman of excellent natural parts, and of great honour and integrity, had for many years been afflicted with a nephritic complaint, attended with constant vomitings, which had made his life painful and miserable. During the whole time of his illness, he had observ’d the strictest regimen, living on the softest vegetables and lightest animal foods, drinking asses milk daily, even in the camp: and for common drink Bristol-water, which, the summer before his death, he drank on the spot. But his illness increasing, and his strength decaying, he came from Bristol to Bath in a litter, in autumn, and lay at the Bell-Inn. Doctor Baynard (who is since dead) and I were called to him, and attended him twice a day for the space of a week; but his vomitings continuing still incessant, and obstinate against all remedies, we despair’d of his recovery. While he was in this condition, he sent for us early one morning: we waited on him, with Mr. Skrine his Apothecary (since dead also;) we found his senses clear, and his Mind calm, his Nurse and several Servants were about him.
“He had made his will and settled his affairs. He told us he had sent for us to give him some account of an odd sensation, he had for some time observ’d and felt in himself: which was, that composing himself he could die or expire when he pleased, and yet, by an effort or somehow, he could come to life again; which it seems he had tried before he had sent for us. We hear’d this with surprize; but as it was not to be accounted for from any common principles, we could hardly believe the fact as he related it, much less give any account of it; unless he would please to make the experiment before us, which we were unwilling he should do, lest, in his weak condition, he might carry it too far. He continued to talk very distinctly and sensibly above a quarter of an hour about this (to him) surprising sensation, and insisted so much on our seeing the tryal made, that we were at last forced to comply. We all three felt his Pulse first: it was distinct, though small and thready; and his Heart had its usual beating.
“He composed himself on his Back, and lay in a still posture for some time; while I held his Right-hand, Doctor Baynard laid his Hand on his Heart, and Mr. Skrine held a clean looking-glass to his Mouth. I found his Pulse sink gradually, ’till at last I could not feel any, by the most exact and nice touch. Doctor Baynard could not feel the least motion of his Heart, nor Mr. Skrine the least soil of breath on the bright mirror he held to his Mouth; then each of us by turns examin’d his Arm, Heart, and Breath, but could not, by the nicest scrutiny, discover the least symptom of life in him.
“We reasoned a long time about this odd appearance as well as we could, and all of us judging it inexplicable and unaccountable, and finding he still continued in that condition, we began to conclude that he had indeed carried the experiment too far, and at last were satisfied he was actually dead, and were just ready to leave him.
“This continued about half an hour, by nine o’clock in the morning in autumn. As we were going away, we observed some motion about the Body, and upon examination found his Pulse and the motion of his Heart gradually returning: he began to breathe gently and speak softly; we were all astonished to the last degree at this unexpected change, and after some further conversation with him, and among ourselves, went away fully satisfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but confounded and puzzled, and not able to form any rational scheme that might account for it. He afterwards called for his attorney, added a codicil to his will, settled legacies on his servants, received the sacrament, and calmly and composedly expired about five or six o’clock that evening. Next day he was opened (as he had ordered) his Body was the soundest and best made I had ever seen; his Lungs were fair, large, and sound; his Heart big and strong, and his Intestines sweet and clean; his Stomach was of a due proportion, the Coats sound and thick, and the villous Membrane quite entire. But when we came to examine the Kidneys, though the left was perfectly sound, and of a just size, the right was about four times as big, distended like a blown Bladder, and yielding, as if full of pap; he having often passed a wheyish liquor after his urine, during his illness.
“Upon opening this Kidney, we found it quite full of a white chalky matter, like plaister of Paris, and all the fleshy substance dissolved and worn away, by what I called a Nephritic Cancer. This had been the source of all his misery; and the symptomatic vomitings, from the irritation on the consentient Nerves, and quite starv’d and worn him down. I have narrated the facts as I saw and observ’d them deliberately and distinctly, and shall leave to the philosophic reader to make what inferences he thinks fit: the truth of the material circumstances I will warrant.”
In this gentleman’s case we may observe, that the contractile power of his Fibres was very much weaken’d, their sensibility in a great measure destroy’d, and his vital energy far exhausted, by the long and severe irritation in his Kidney; and that, when he composed himself on his Back, the motion of the Blood through the Lungs was easily stop’d, in the manner above-mention’d, viz. by the pressure of the Heart upon the left Auricle and Pulmonary Veins; to, which may be added, a small degree of volition in restraining the organs of respiration. In this dead state, we are told, he lay half an hour; in which time the greater part of Blood was drove into the Veins, as generally happens soon after respiration stops. Hence the right Ventricle must have been greatly distended and severely stimulated by the refluent Blood, ’till at length it was brought into a strong contraction, which put the Blood again in motion through the whole Body, and a small spark of vital vigour still remaining, continued it so for eight hours afterwards.
The Mind too, in this case, as in many others of the like kind, was probably tir’d of its communication with the Body, and was willing to take its flight from an habitation in which it felt so much pain.
I have offered this account to the curious, not because I think it altogether satisfactory, but hope, that its insufficiency may induce others to give one more adequate.