Restoration of the Drowned.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XII, Issue 1741, 23 June 1886, Page 2

Restoration of the Drowned.

We copy the following item from a Melbourne paper : — •♦ Some interesting particulars have been received by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia regarding an occurrence off the coast of New Zealand which shows the possibility of restoring life >»fter apparent drowning. A boat containing Captain Ferguson and his sir children, Mr and Mrs A. Jackson and their two children, eleven all told, was upset. Six of the party were apparently quite gone when they were brought On shore. Their bodies were limp, their faces blue, froth was coming frotn their mouths and noses, and they were neither moving nor uttering a sound. Mr D. G. Stephens, who was present, and who understood Dr Silvester's method of restoring life under such conditions seems to haye set earnestly to work. In some of the cases there was every appearance of death. No pulse could be detected, and the beat of the heart was imperceptible. Yet Mr Stephens succeeded m restoring animation, which led to recovery. He forcibly opened the mouths of some of the unfortunate persons, and inserted a feather, when large quantities of water poured out. He raised the arms over head, and, lowering them, pressed firmly against the body, regulating the movements by counting time as m breathing. Two hours elapsed m one case ere animation was restored."