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 The Physics of the
Interstellar Medium
 The Physics of the
Interstellar Medium

Third Edition

J E Dyson
D A Williams
Front cover image: The image was made by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope operating in four
wavebands in the infrared, between 3.6 and 8.0 micrometres, and shows star formation occurring in a
dense globule of gas that is embedded in high pressure ionized gas surrounding a massive star to the
left of the globule (not shown in this image). The star also has a powerful wind that together with the
ionized gas compresses the globule, making a dense rim. The wind creates a long tail. Two young stars
have been created within the dense gas in the head of the globule. Their winds have swept a spherical
cavity in the gas of the globule. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/W. Reach (SSC/Caltech)
Third edition published 2021
by CRC Press
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300, Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
and by CRC Press
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
Second edition published by Taylor & Francis Group 1997
First edition published by Manchester University Press 1980
CRC Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-367-45732-7 (Hardback)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-367-90423-4 (Paperback)
International Standard Book Number-13: 978-1-003-02503-0 (eBook)
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Dyson, J. E. (John Edward), 1941- author. | Williams, David A., 1937- author.
Title: The physics of the interstellar medium / J.E. Dyson & D.A. Williams.
Description: Third edition. | Boca Raton : CRC Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020017203 | ISBN 9780367904234 (paperback) | ISBN 9780367457327
(hardback) | ISBN 9781003025030 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Interstellar matter.
Classification: LCC QB790 .D97 2020 | DDC 523.1/125–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020017203
Contents
Preface to the Third Edition ............................................................................ vii
Some Relevant Physical and Astronomical Information................................... ix
Authors............................................................................................................. xi

Chapter 1 Introduction..................................................................................... 1

Chapter 2 How We Obtain Information about the Interstellar Medium........... 9

Chapter 3 Microscopic Processes in the Interstellar Medium ......................... 31

Chapter 4 Interstellar Grains.......................................................................... 51

Chapter 5 Radiatively Excited Regions........................................................... 79

Chapter 6 Introduction to Gas Dynamics .................................................... 103

Chapter 7 Gas Dynamical Effects of Stars on the Interstellar Medium ........ 135

Chapter 8 Star Formation and Star-Forming Regions.................................. 169

Answers to Problems ...................................................................................... 187

Index.............................................................................................................. 191

v
Preface to the Third Edition
Our knowledge of the interstellar medium in the Milky Way galaxy – and in
many external galaxies – has increased enormously since John Dyson and
I wrote the first edition of this book, published in 1980. Our understanding of
the importance of this tenuous component in driving the evolution of all gal-
axies has developed very substantially since the second edition was published
in 1997. However, the main purpose of this book remains unchanged: we seek
to illustrate many interesting aspects of physics by describing some unfamiliar
situations that arise in interstellar space. This third edition of the book is
aimed primarily at undergraduates on physics courses, as were the earlier
editions. Although the book does not give a comprehensive coverage of the
interstellar medium, it has nevertheless also been used by other readers as
a concise introduction to the study of the interstellar medium, and I hope that
the new edition will also be useful for this purpose.
Perhaps the most important area in which studies of the interstellar
medium have developed is in our understanding of the formation of stars and
planets occurring within very dense and dusty regions of the interstellar
medium. This work depends to a large extent on the detection of emissions
from molecules and dust within the dense interstellar gas. Infrared emissions
from dust and molecules are not only important tracers of the gas in regions
that are opaque to optical radiation, but they also are significant players in
controlling the physical conditions and evolution of gas in star-forming
regions. In this third edition, more prominence is given to the interstellar
chemistry that generates interstellar molecules, to the properties of interstellar
dust, and to the grand narrative that describes current ideas on how the for-
mation of stars and planets occurs in the interstellar medium.
The original structure of the book is retained in this third edition, and the
intellectual level required by a reader and the aim to present brief, simple
explanations in a short book are maintained as in earlier editions. The oppor-
tunity is taken to include some recent astronomical images within the chapter
texts, where appropriate. I am grateful for advice on some aspects of the revi-
sion from friends and colleagues, especially Cesare Cecchi-Pestellini and Serena
Viti, but all errors and omissions are mine.
David A Williams

vii
Some Relevant Physical and
Astronomical Information

ENERGY CONVERSION TABLE

Joule Electron volt Kelvin

Joule – 6.2414 × 10 18
7.2430 × 1022
−19
Electron volt 1.6022 × 10 – 1.1605 × 104
−23 −5
Kelvin 1.3806 × 10 8.6173 × 10 –

SOME USEFUL PHYSICAL CONSTANTS

Velocity of light, c 2.9979 × 108 m s−1

Gravitational constant, G 6.6743 × 10−11 m3 kg−1 s-2
Planck constant, h 6.6261 × 10−34 J s
Dirac constant, ħ = h/2π 1.05457 × 10−34 J s
Electron charge, e 1.60218 × 10−19 C
Electron rest mass, me 9.10938 × 10−31 kg
Proton rest mass, mp 1.67262 × 10−27 kg
Boltzmann constant, k 1.38065 × 10−23 J K−1
Avogadro number, NA 6.02214 × 1023 mol−1
Bohr radius, a0 0.529177 × 10−10 m
Permittivity of free space, ε0 8.85419 × 10−12 C2 N−1 m−2

ASTRONOMICAL DATA
TIME AND DISTANCE MEASUREMENTS

I year 3.1557 × 107 s

1 light year (ly) 9.461 × 1015 m
1 parsec (pc) 3.086 × 1016 m = 3.26 ly

ix
x Some Relevant Physical and Astronomical Information

SOLAR DATA

Mean distance from Earth, 1 astronomical unit (1 au) = 1.496 × 108 km = 8.3
light minutes.

Solar mass 1.989 × 1030 kg

Solar radius 6.957 × 108 m
Solar mean density 1408 kg m-3
Solar age 4.6 × 109 yr
Solar energy emission rate 3.828 × 1026 J s−1

MILKY WAY GALAXY DATA

Diameter ~30 kpc

Mass ~1012 solar masses
Radius at the Sun ~8 kpc
Rotation period at the Sun 2.4 × 108 yr
Age of the Milky Way galaxy 1.2 × 1010 yr

STELLAR CLASSIFICATIONS
Very occasionally in this book we refer to a type of star using a conventional clas-
sification system. The system is based on lines that are observed in the stellar spec-
trum which are used to determine the effective temperature and other properties of
the star. Stars are arranged in classes O, B, A, F, G, K, and M, where O stars are
the hottest (effective temperatures greater than about 30 000 K) and M stars are
coolest (around 2400–3700 K). The Sun is a G star (temperature 5200–6000 K).
These broad classes are subdivided by a number running from 0 (hottest) to 9
(coolest), so for example, the Sun is a G2 star. There are several other descriptors
that refer to luminosity, evolutionary state, and spectral peculiarities.
Authors
John Dyson made outstanding research contributions over many years to our
understanding of the responses of interstellar media to winds from stars and
from active galaxies. He had a huge influence on these subjects and his work
gained an international reputation. Much of his career was at the University of
Manchester where he became Professor of Astronomy and Head of Astrophysics.
He moved in 1996 to the University of Leeds, becoming Dean of Research, and
was appointed Emeritus Research Professor in 2006.
He died in 2010 and is much missed by friends and colleagues world-wide
who valued his scientific insight, quick wit, kindness and generosity.

David Williams is currently Emeritus Perren Professor of Astronomy at University

College London. While at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in the 1960s he
became interested in interstellar molecules and interstellar dust as potential
probes of the interstellar medium. When John Dyson and David were both
working in Manchester, John emphasised the importance of cosmic gas dynamics
in understanding interstellar chemistry and dust, and David built a research
group at UMIST to investigate these and other topics. He left Manchester in
1994 for UCL and has continued to study problems in interstellar physics and
chemistry.

xi
 1 Introduction

1.1 GALAXIES AND THE GALAXY

If we are fortunate enough to see the sky on a moonless and cloudless night,
then, when our eyes have become accustomed to the dark, we can discern the
prominent feature called the Milky Way. This is a band across the sky containing
a large number of bright stars and a background of many fainter stars – so many,
in fact, that our eyes cannot resolve them and we see their light as a diffuse (i.e.
‘milky’) luminosity. This band of stars appears across the sky because the Sun is
one of a vast collection of stars, most of which are arranged in the shape of
a disc. When we look in the plane of the disc, we see many stars; when we look
out of the plane, we see fewer stars. This collection of stars – most of them in the
plane of the disc and some out of the plane in a spherical region – is called the
Milky Way galaxy. The Milky Way is only one galaxy among an enormous
number of galaxies.
The shape and extent of a galaxy, seen with the eye or a telescope, are defined
by the stars it contains. This book, however, is concerned with material in the
Milky Way galaxy, material that our eyes do not easily see but which, neverthe-
less, is present and which plays an essential role in the evolution of the galaxy.
This material is the interstellar medium. In this book, we’ll describe some of the
interesting applications of physics to the study of the interstellar medium of the
Milky Way galaxy, and at the same time, we’ll try to explore the fundamental role
it plays. However, this is a book about the physics of the interstellar medium in
the Milky Way and should be read as a simple account of some applications of
physics. It isn’t a comprehensive description of all aspects of the interstellar
medium of the Milky Way galaxy.
Before we come to describe evidence for the existence of material in the
space between the stars, we should first have some idea of the dimensions of
the galaxy. Our Sun appears to be a fairly typical star of the Milky Way
galaxy, which is estimated to contain about 1011 stars. The Sun is not located
in any special position in the galaxy, such as the galactic centre, but is in the
plane of the disc about two-thirds of the galactic radius from the galactic
centre. We cannot see, either by eye or by optical telescope, more than a mere
fraction of the galaxy, because the intensity of visible light is diminished by
a general extinction as the light travels in the plane of the galaxy. Out-of-
plane directions are less extinguished. We shall have more to say about that
interstellar extinction, but it was the first sign that the interstellar medium
wasn’t empty: evidently, it contains something that absorbs and scatters star-
light. However, as we shall see, the galaxy can be investigated by other means,
and we know that its many stars are distributed over a large volume. The
diameter of the disc is of the order of 30 kpc (or about 100 thousand light

1
2 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

years), and its thickness is about 2 kpc (or about 6 thousand light years).
Stars are therefore about 10 light years from their nearest neighbours, on aver-
age, though the distribution of stars in space is far from uniform. Obviously,
stars are very small compared with these dimensions, so that essentially all the
vast space inside the galactic volume is occupied by the interstellar medium,
which – as we’ll describe – is a non-uniformly distributed dusty gas. The
whole galaxy is gravitationally bound; it has spiral structure within it, and it
rotates. The shape and structure of the Milky Way galaxy are thought to be
similar to those of some external galaxies, and an image of a galaxy believed
to be similar to the Milky Way is shown in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1 Image of spiral galaxy M74. This galaxy is seen by face-on by observers
on Earth. It is about 10 Mpc distant, contains about 1011 stars, is slightly smaller than
the Milky Way, and shares similar spiral structure. The arms contain many bright blue
stars and regions of red emission from ionized hydrogen. (Image credit: NASA, ESA,
and the Hubble Heritage (STSC/AURA)-ESA/Hubble Collaboration; Acknowledgment:
R Chandar (University of Toledo) and J Miller (University of Michigan).)
Introduction 3

The Milky Way galaxy is merely one of an enormous number, perhaps

~1011, of galaxies in the Universe, and the dimensions of the visible Universe
are about a factor of about 105 larger than those of the Galaxy. We can some-
times investigate the properties of our own Galaxy by studying other galaxies
that we can see more readily. The distant galaxies appear to be receding from
our own Galaxy, with velocities increasing (and apparently accelerating) with
distance. Distances between neighbouring galaxies are very much greater than
the dimensions of galaxies themselves, and are typically measured in Mpc (or
millions of light years). Therefore, the light gathered by our telescopes and
focused to form an image of distant galaxies must have been travelling on its
journey long before human beings evolved on Earth. The space between the
galaxies – intergalactic space – is not our concern in this book, but, in pass-
ing, we note that any gas in intergalactic space must be much less dense than
the gas in interstellar space. Studies show that galaxies exist in various forms.
Some are irregular, some show a more well-defined disc shape, while some of
these have spiral structure (spiral arms) within them. Some are classified as
elliptical. Our own Galaxy is known to have spiral structure similar to M74.
Figure 1.2 shows photographs of several types of galaxy. All galaxies have
interstellar matter; they may be poorer or richer in interstellar matter than the
Milky Way. Our discussion in this book is directed towards interstellar matter
in the Milky Way galaxy, but the ideas expressed have general application to
interstellar matter in all galaxies.
When we look at the sky, it is obvious that some stars appear much brighter
than others. This is often because such stars are relatively nearby, but some stars
appear bright because they are intrinsically powerful sources of radiation.
Astronomers can, by a variety of means, deduce the masses and intrinsic luminos-
ities of stars, and these results agree well with theories of stellar evolution. These
theories tell us that stars have masses within a range of about 0.1 to about 100
times the mass of the Sun (Mʘ), and that luminosities corresponding to these
masses may range from about 10−3 to 106 times the luminosity of the Sun. The
more massive the star, the greater is its luminosity. Therefore, the brightest stars,
containing nearly 100 times the amount of fuel as the Sun, are squandering it at
a rate 106 times faster. We therefore expect that they can exist only for 10−4 times
the life of the Sun, that is, for about a few million years. This seems a long time
for us on Earth, but for the galaxy, these bright stars are transient objects, like
candles which soon burn down. We are forced to conclude that such stars have
formed in the recent past, and – by implication – that they are certainly forming
now. The galaxy evolves; it was not formed in the state in which we see it now.
At the end of its life, a sufficiently massive star explodes violently in
a dramatic event called a supernova. These explosions are so powerful that we
can observe their effects even when they occur in distant galaxies; the exploding
star may become (very briefly) as bright as its host galaxy. The last one known
to occur in the Milky Way occurred more than 300 years ago, but on average
the Milky Way may be host to two supernovae per century. Perhaps the most
famous supernova that occurred in our own galaxy is the one that was observed
in 1054 AD, and which caused the Crab nebula, an extended supernova remnant
4 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

FIGURE 1.2 Variety in galaxies. (a) Elliptical galaxies, of which ESO 325-G004 is one
example, have a smooth profile and an ellipsoidal shape. They have relatively few high-
mass bright stars and consist mainly of low mass stars. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and The
Hubble Heritage team and J Blakeslee.) (b) Starburst galaxies have a very high rate of
star formation which can be stimulated by a close collision between galaxies. This is the
case for the Antenna Galaxies, a merger between two galaxies – NGC 4038 and 4039.
(Credit: ESA/Hubble and NASA.) (c) Irregular galaxies are often small and their shapes
are a result of near collisions with other massive galaxies. The example shown is NGC
1427A. (Credit: NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team.) (d) Some galaxies are
very bright, especially in the infrared, and are known as luminous infrared galaxies, or
ultraluminous infrared galaxies (ULIRG). IRAS 1927–0406 shown here is an example of
a ULIRG. (Credit: NASA).
Introduction 5

that we can still observe (Figure 1.3(a)). A more evolved supernova remnant is
shown in Figure 1.3(b). It is in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a neighbouring
galaxy to the Milky Way. In 1987, another supernova occurred in the Large
Magellanic Cloud. It (SN1987A) has become the best studied of all supernovae.
Supernova explosions eject material in large amounts, comparable to the
mass of our Sun, from the interiors of stars into interstellar space. This ejected
material is rich in the ‘ashes’ of the thermonuclear processes which power the
stars, and these ‘ashes’ are the elements heavier than hydrogen. Less-massive
stars also contribute to the enrichment of the interstellar medium with the
‘ashes’ of thermonuclear burning, albeit in a less dramatic way. The fact that
we and our Earth are made predominantly from these elements, and that the
Sun also contains them, indicates that the Solar System is made from
‘recycled’ material, that is, it was formed from interstellar gases containing the
‘ashes’ of a previous generation of stars. The picture that emerges from these
general considerations is that as the galaxy evolves, stars are formed, and they
‘age’ and ‘die’, sometimes explosively. The ejected material enriches the inter-
stellar medium with atoms of elements other than hydrogen, and the gases in
interstellar space somehow condense to form a new generation of stars, and
the cycle is repeated. In this scenario, we see that the interstellar medium
plays a crucial role: it is the reservoir of mass for forming new stars and
planets in any galaxy, even though it may at first seem a minor component of
a galaxy, and it is continually enriched in the heavy elements that are the
ashes of thermonuclear processes in stars.

(a) (b)

FIGURE 1.3 (a) The supernova remnant known as the Crab nebula. (Credit: NASA,
ESA, J Hester, and A Loll (Arizona State University).) (b) An image of the supernova
remnant SNR 0519690 which represents X-ray emission from very hot gas in the nebula
as blue (Chandra Observatory) and optical emission in red (Hubble Space Telescope)
from the outer boundaries of the nebula. (Credit: X-ray; NASA/CXC/Rutgers/J Hughes:
Optical; NASA/STScI.)
6 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

1.2 EVIDENCE FOR MATTER BETWEEN THE STARS

Naked-eye observation of the Galaxy tells us nothing about interstellar
space – except that it appears to be empty. However, this is easily seen to be
an incorrect conclusion. Photographs from even low-powered telescopes pro-
vide the most striking and visually beautiful evidence of matter in interstellar
space. Where interstellar gas is so near to a star that it is hot, it will radiate,
and we can detect this radiation and identify it. We show later in this book
images of some of these radiating regions.
The main evidence for the existence of interstellar matter rests, as we shall see
in the succeeding chapters, on spectroscopy. The atoms, ions, and molecules in
the interstellar gas may emit or absorb radiation corresponding to transitions
between their various energy levels. A well-known transition is that of hydrogen
atoms giving rise to the 21 cm radio line. Hydrogen atoms may also give rise to
many other lines; the one giving the red colour prominent in many photographs
of nebulae corresponds to the transition H(3p) → H(2s) at 656.3 nm. There are
also other ways in which emission of radiation can occur, in particular over
a continuum of wavelengths. All such radiation carries with it information con-
cerning the interstellar medium, as we shall discuss in the following chapter.
Gravitational effects within the Galaxy also give indirect evidence for the
existence of interstellar matter, and allow us to deduce an upper limit to the
interstellar density. The argument goes as follows: a star situated at a distance
z above or below the galactic plane experiences an acceleration, gz, towards
the plane due to the gravitational interaction of the star with all the mass in
the Galaxy, stars plus gas. We cannot measure this acceleration for a single
star. However, it can be deduced from the behaviour of a population of stars
at various distances, z, from the plane, and so we may find gz as a function of
z. The total mass in the plane has a mean density,
ρ, which is related in
a simple way to the rate of change of gz with z, dgz/dz, so
ρ may be calculated.
This mean density is found to be about 10−20 kg m−3 at the mid-plane. The
known stars contribute to this mean density about 4 × 10−21 kg m−3, so that
the upper limit to the mass density of unobserved faint stars, other condensed
objects, and the interstellar matter is 6 × 10−21 kg m−3, or equivalent to about
2.7 × 106 hydrogen atoms m−3, allowing for 10% (by number) of the atoms
being helium.
The centre of the Milky Way galaxy cannot be seen at optical wavelengths
but is revealed at infrared wavelengths, see Figure 1.4.

1.3 PREVIEW
In this book, we are concerned with the physics of the interstellar medium in the
Milky Way galaxy, but we shall particularly bear in mind the intimate relation
between interstellar matter and galactic evolution through star and planet forma-
tion. The picture outlined in Section 1.1 – in which gas clouds collapse to form
stars which themselves age and die, sometimes explosively – gives a direction to
the chapters.
Introduction 7

FIGURE 1.4 The centre of the Milky Way, about 8 kpc distant from the Sun, cannot be
observed at optical wavelengths because of interstellar extinction along that path. This
false-colour image in the infrared (data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope) gives
a clear view of the centre, showing emission from warm dust (in red), the presence of
enormous numbers of cool stars (in blue), and an intense radio source containing
a supermassive black hole (in white). (Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/S Stolovy (Spitzer Sci-
ence Center/Caltech).)

We begin by asking how astronomers obtain information about the interstellar

medium (Chapter 2). What are the physical principles behind the formation of
a spectral line? What other processes cause the emission and absorption of inter-
stellar radiation? We end the chapter with a description of the broad types of
interstellar regions that have been identified. Chapter 3 describes processes occur-
ring between atoms, ions, and molecules and the effects these have on the interstel-
lar gas. A rich chemistry arises from these gas phase processes, and the molecules
formed provide probes of a wide variety of physical conditions. Chapter 4 is con-
cerned with interstellar dust grains, and we shall discuss some of the interesting
physics involved in describing these solid particles and the effects they have in the
interstellar medium.
Chapter 5 gives special attention to those regions which are visually impressive
in astronomical photographs, that is, those regions of space near hot stars where
the gas is ionized and is emitting copious amounts of radiation. Chapter 6 gives
an introduction to gas dynamics, which enables us in Chapter 7 to discuss some
8 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

of the dramatic dynamical events occurring in interstellar space: for example, the
expansion of ionized nebulae into cool gas, the effects of high-speed stellar winds
on interstellar gas, and – most dramatically of all – supernova explosions. The
final chapter looks at some of the physics that is fundamental to the problem of
star formation. In this process, part of a gas cloud of density, say, 109 H2
molecules m−3 must eventually become a star with a mean density of, say, 1030
H nuclei m−3. This is an enormous transformation.

1.4 UNITS
Astronomy requires a large number of special units to describe in a convenient
manner the quantities it measures or calculates. Thus, the solar mass, Mʘ, and
solar luminosity, Lʘ, are convenient measures of the mass and luminosity of
other stars, rather than the kilogram and candela, respectively. When measuring
distance, it is more appropriate to use a unit such as a light year or a parsec. In
general, however, the book is written in SI units, and any special units needed
are defined in the tables on pp ix and x. An exception to standard SI usage is
the adoption of the electron volt (eV) in describing energy levels within atoms
and molecules, and multiples of eV (e.g. MeV) in describing the energies of
cosmic rays. Temperature may conveniently be regarded as an energy measure.
The table on p ix gives conversion factors for the energy units used here.
The SI units used here are for the convenience of physics undergraduates.
If, as we hope, they refer to some of the astrophysical literature, they will find
that an older and more traditional system is generally in use by astrophysi-
cists. We sympathize with the more experienced readers, who will find familiar
quantities appearing here with unfamiliar values.
 2 How We Obtain
Information about the
Interstellar Medium

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Astronomy advances by observation. We have to take what we are given: this
is mainly (though not entirely) information encoded in the electromagnetic
radiation we receive from the Universe, over the whole spectrum from highly
energetic γ-rays to long-wavelength radio waves. In addition to electromagnetic
spectra, there are some other carriers of astronomical information. We can
detect energetic cosmic ray particles; these are highly energetic nuclei of atoms
(mostly hydrogen nuclei) and highly energetic electrons. Cosmic ray particles
may be detected either directly or indirectly by their effects on the Earth’s
atmosphere. Neutrinos from the Sun and other stars also flood the Earth and
carry information about nuclear processes in stellar interiors; they can be
detected on Earth in deeply shielded experiments. Gravitational waves have
recently been detected in experiments of exquisite sensitivity; these waves arise
from the merger of a pair of black holes. Meteorites and samples of moon
rocks and of material from asteroids and comets in the solar system are the
only macroscopic material from the extraterrestrial Universe which we are
able to collect and then analyse in the laboratory. This chapter, however, con-
centrates on how we find information about the interstellar medium of our
Milky Way galaxy and of other galaxies, from electromagnetic spectra.

2.2 SPECTRAL LINES

2.2.1 INTRODUCTION
The information carried by the electromagnetic spectrum may arise either in
the formation of spectral lines, that is, in absorption or emission over
a relatively narrow band of frequency, or in continuous emission or absorp-
tion over a wide band of frequencies. For example, radiation at wavelengths
shorter than λ = 91.2 nm will suffer continuous absorption in a hydrogen
atom gas. But in the vicinity of λ = 121.6 nm, there is absorption in a line.
The continuous absorption arises because of the ionization of the H atom by
the photon of energy hv (or ħω; v = c/λ is the frequency, and ω = 2πv is the
angular frequency) hv þ Hð1sÞ ! Hþ þ e ðhv  13:6eV; or λ  91:2nmÞ
and the line absorption arises because of the excitation

9
10 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

hv þ HðlsÞ ! Hð2pÞ ðhv ¼ 10:2 eV; or λ ¼ 121:6 nmÞ:

Lines may be observed either in emission or absorption. A line appears in emis-

sion if the sources of the line – atoms, molecules, or ions – have been excited by
some means, possibly in collisions or by absorption of radiation. A line is seen in
absorption if the source is in its lower state and absorbs from a background con-
tinuum, which may be stellar radiation or some other source. Lines are formed by
many different types of transitions, some of which we discuss in Section 2.2.4. We
shall refer in what follows to atoms, but what we say also applies to molecules and
ions. The first problem to understand is why a line may sometimes be in absorption
and sometimes in emission, and also why a line has a particular profile, or shape,
that is, a particular plot of intensity versus frequency across the spectral line.

2.2.2 LINE SHAPES

Natural line shape. Emitting atoms produce lines of finite width, as we can see
from the following classical argument. We regard the emitting atom as an oscilla-
tor, which is almost harmonic but which is lightly damped by its interaction with
the emitted radiation. Then the equation of motion for this system is

d2 r ::
m 2
¼ m r ¼ mω20 r þ F ð2:1Þ
dt

in which r is the position vector and F is the damping force. The oscillator
has natural angular frequency ω0 ¼ 2πv0 and effective mass m. Classically, this
::2
oscillator is radiating with average power e2 hr i=6πε0 c3, where e is the elec-
tronic charge and ϵ0 is the vacuum electric permittivity, and the rate of work-
ing of F must be numerically equal to this rate. This enables us to identify
:::
F with e2 r =6πε0 c3 , for with this choice the average rate of working of F
 

: e2
: ::: e2 d : :: ::2
F  r av ¼ r  r av
¼ ð r  r Þ  r
6πε0 c3 6πε0 c3 dt av

d : :: 
and for nearly harmonic motion dt ðr  rÞ av
¼ 0. Hence,

: e2 ::2
F  r av ¼  r ¼ ðaverage power radiatedÞ:
6πε0 c3

In a zero-order approximation,
::
r ¼ ω20 r: ð2:2Þ

This enables us to calculate r and so equation (2.1) may be replaced by a simpler

one, correct to first order,
:: :
r ¼ ω20 r  γ r ð2:3Þ
Obtaining Interstellar Information 11

in which
e2 ω20
γ¼  ω0
6πε0 mc3

that is, the oscillator is lightly damped.

Equation (2.3) is a linear differential equation with constant coefficients,
and so we can find a solution in the form r = r0 eαt. Neglecting γ2 compared
to ω20 we find α = − γ/2 ± iω0, so that we may write the solution:

r ¼ r0 eγt=2 eiω0 t : ð2:4Þ

This shows that the oscillator sets up an oscillating but decaying electric
field E(t),

E ðtÞ ¼ E 0 eγt=2 eiω0 t ð2:5Þ

This is not a pure harmonic oscillation. Introducing E ðωÞ, the Fourier trans-
form of E(t) is
ð
þ∞
1
E ðωÞ ¼ E ðtÞeiωt dt;
2π
∞

which shows that a spectrum of frequencies is contained in the radiation. The

integral may be evaluated to give
1 E0
E ðωÞ ¼ ð2:6Þ
2π iðω  ω0 Þ  γ=2

and the intensity of radiation is

 2 1
I ðωÞ ¼ E ðωÞ / ð2:7Þ
ðω  ω0 Þ2 þ ðγ=2Þ2

or, in terms of frequency v,

1
I ð Þ / : ð2:8Þ
ð  0 Þ þ ðγ=4πÞ2
2

This form of line shape is clearly peaked at 0 and has a width measured by γ.
It is called a Lorentzian profile.
A quantum mechanical treatment of this problem is to be preferred; it
shows that we may identify 2γ with the Einstein A-coefficient which meas-
ures the spontaneous transition probability for the relevant transition. This
identification is not surprising, since 1/A measures the occupation time in the
12 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

upper level, and by Heisenberg’s uncertainty relation, this gives directly the
energy width of the line. For strong transitions in the visible, A ≈ 108 s−1 so
the natural line width is small, Δv/v ≈ 10−7. Even so, there are situations
where this is important, as we shall see in Section 2.2.3.
Doppler broadening. Usually, however, the natural line shape is completely
overwhelmed by the well-known Doppler broadening caused by the random
velocities of the atoms. The emitted light, at frequency 0, suffers a frequency
shift to  due to the components of the atomic velocity vz in the direction of
travel of the photon (say, the z-axis) according to the equation
   0 vz
¼ : ð2:9Þ
0 c

The range of frequencies in the emitted light must correspond to the range of
velocities in the gas. If the velocity distribution is Maxwellian, then the
number ofatoms with z-component of velocities in the range z, z + dz is
dNz / exp M2z =2kT dz , where M is the mass of the atom. Consequently,
there is a spread in frequency with
h i
I ðvÞ / exp ð  0 Þ2 =2δ2 ; ð2:10Þ

where δ2 ¼ 20 kT=Mc2, assuming the radiation travels along the z-axis. Note
that the Doppler profile shown in Figure 2.1 is more strongly peaked than
a Lorentzian. For the two profiles normalized so that the area underneath

FIGURE 2.1 A comparison of the Doppler (Gaussian) and Lorentzian normalized line
shapes. The area under each curve is unity, and each curve has the same width at half
maximum, equal to one unit on the frequency axis.
Obtaining Interstellar Information 13

each is unity, at large values of |v − v0 |, the Lorentzian is larger than the

Doppler curve. The Doppler profile is also sometimes called a Gaussian. This
broadening mechanism may contribute in various ways; firstly, as described
earlier where the kinetic effects of the atoms produce the broadening; sec-
ondly, turbulent effects within a cloud of gas also tend to produce
a Gaussian curve of broader shape; finally, if the cloud of gas is bodily in
motion relative to the Earth along the line of sight, then all the frequencies
are shifted according to equation (2.9) and the broadening occurs around
the shifted line centre.
Collisional broadening. This is usually unimportant in the interstellar
medium. Classically, we may describe the effect of collisions on the radiating
atoms by saying that the radiation train is interrupted, with a loss of phase.
The wave trains are now of random length, and so there must be a range of
frequencies involved: we need a Fourier sum over frequency to represent the
wave, not just a single frequency. Hence, there is a line profile produced by
collisional broadening; it is similar to the Lorentzian. The width, however, is
1/τ0, where τ0 is the mean interval between collisions. Because of the very low
density in the interstellar medium, τ0 may be as much as a thousand years. So
this is insignificant when compared with natural broadening in a strong line
for which the Einstein A-coefficient may be about 108 Hz.

2.2.3 MEASUREMENT OF ABSORPTION AND EMISSION LINES

The actual profile of an interstellar absorption line is usually a combination of
a Lorentzian and, possibly, several Gaussians; it may be difficult to measure
precisely, particularly for weak lines. What is more easily done is to measure the
area in the line, and to calculate the equivalent width, W, defined in Figure 2.2:
the two shaded areas are arranged to be equal. Mathematically,
ð
I ð vÞ
W¼ 1 dv ð2:11Þ
I0

where I0 is the intensity of the radiation before absorption. The intensity I(v)
is controlled by the equation of radiative transfer, which – when emission is
negligible – reads for the following plane-parallel case:
dI ðvÞ=ds ¼ κðvÞI ðvÞ: ð2:12Þ

I(v) is the energy per second in frequency range v, v + dv, crossing unit area
in unit solid angle; and κ(v) is a function of frequency; it is the pure absorp-
tion coefficient (including scattering) per unit length of path, s. Astronomers
measure the amount of absorption suffered in the path, in a particular fre-
quency range, by the optical depth, τν = ∫κ(ν)ds. Equation (2.12) may be inte-
grated to give
14 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

FIGURE 2.2 The equivalent width, W, is chosen so that the two shaded areas are equal.

I ðvÞ ¼ Iv0 eτv ; ð2:13Þ

where the original intensity before absorption – designated I0 in Figure 2.2 – may,
in reality, vary with frequency, and so it is denoted by Iv0. Hence, equation (2.11)
gives
ð
W ¼ ð1  eτv Þdv: ð2:14Þ

and if τv is small (the optically thin case),

ð
W ¼ τ v dv: ð2:15Þ

Another way of expressing τv is to introduce the cross-section per atom, σv,

which measures the amount of absorption per atom. It has dimensions of
area. When we multiply by the total number of absorbers per unit area
column, N, we are again measuring the amount of absorption: τv = Νσν.
Hence,
ð
W ¼ N σv dv ¼ Nσ0 Δv ð2:16Þ
Obtaining Interstellar Information 15

where σ0 is a mean cross-section averaged over the bandwidth Δv. Therefore,

a measurement of the area in the line, in the optically thin case, gives a direct
method of determining the column density N of the atoms causing the line, if
σ0 is known. The determination of N is usually one of various physical param-
eters that we seek to obtain from the observational data.
The relationship W = W(N) is called the curve of growth, and the portion
of it which arises in the optically thin case, equation (2.16), is called the
linear portion. When τv is large, as for a strong line, the energy removed
from the beam is no longer proportional to τv. If a Doppler profile is
inserted for I(v)/I0 in equation (2.11), then the dependence of W on N is
very weak: W ∝ (constant + log N)1/2. This is called the flat section of the
curve of growth. If the line is very strong indeed, then absorption in the
wings of the line may be important. Here, the profile is the Lorentzian
determined by the Einstein A-coefficient. Substitution of the profile in the
expression for W yields W ∝ N1/2, and here we obtain the square root por-
tion of the curve of growth. The procedure for astronomers is to make use of
the W(N) relation to determine the column densities N. The method
depends on the fact that – optically – the absorption is against a point
source (a star), but emission is generally into the whole sphere. The fraction
of emission directed towards the observer’s telescope is, therefore, negligible.
Stimulated emission which is concentrated into the same solid angle can be
important in certain circumstances (particularly in interstellar masers, see
the following text).
For some observations, however, particularly in the radio region, the beam
has appreciable angular size and emission from all the atoms in the beam
cannot be ignored. The equation of radiative transfer (2.12) then becomes
instead
dI ðvÞ
¼ κðvÞI ðvÞ þ j ðvÞ; ð2:17Þ
ds

where j(v) is the emissivity, defined so that j(v) dV dv dΩ dt is the energy emit-
ted by volume element dV in the frequency width dv during time interval
dt and into solid angle dΩ. With dτv = κ(v)ds, the transfer equation is
dI ðvÞ j ðvÞ
þ I ðvÞ ¼
dτ v κ ð vÞ

which is linear and may be integrated by using an integrating factor eτv to give
ðτv h i 0
τ v j ðvÞ 0
I ðvÞ ¼ Iv0 e þ exp  τ v  τv dτv ð2:18Þ
κ ð vÞ
0

where I(v) is defined in Figure 2.3, and j(v)/κ(v) may vary throughout the
absorbing region.
16 The Physics of the Interstellar Medium

FIGURE 2.3 Schematic diagram defining intensities after absorption.

If the emission is controlled solely by the temperature of the material, as it

is when the material is in thermodynamic eqilibrium with its surroundings,
then Kirchhoff’s law states that
j ðvÞ ¼ κðvÞBv ðT Þ ð2:19Þ

where Bv(T) is the Planck function

2hv3 1
Bv ðT Þ ¼ ð2:20Þ
2
c e hv=kT 1

that is, the radiation intensity from a black-body at temperature T. Kirchh-

off’s Law merely says that in thermodynamic equilibrium, emission and
absorption are equal. With equations (2.19) and (2.20), equation (2.18)
becomes
I ðvÞ ¼ Iv0 eτv þ Bv ðT Þð1  eτv Þ: ð2:21Þ

Radio astronomers use the concept of brightness temperature, Tb, defined as

the temperature of the black-body which would give the same intensity I(v) in
the frequency range observed. At radio wavelengths, hv/kT ≪ 1 and so ehv/kT
− 1 ≈ hv/kT so that

Bv ðT Þ ≈ 2v2 kT=c2

(the Rayleigh–Jeans law). Defining Tb0 be the brightness temperature of the

source,
Tb ¼ Tb0 eτv þ T ð1  eτv Þ ð2:22Þ
Another random document with
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she was buried near the door of the same church, and a tomb was
erected over her sepulchre, from whence this record is taken.

XVIII.

The following account of reanimation is extracted

from the first volume of the Causes Célebres, and
was the subject of a serious law suit in Paris.
Two men in trade, who lived in the street, St. Honoré, in Paris,
nearly equal in circumstances, both following the same profession,
and united in the closest friendship, had each of them a child, much
about the same age. These children were brought up together, and
conceived a mutual attachment, which ripening with years into a
stronger and more lively sentiment, was approved by the parents on
both sides. This young couple was upon the point of being made
happy, by a more solid union, when a rich financier, conceiving a
passion for the young maiden, unfortunately crossed their
inclinations, by demanding her in marriage. The allurements of a
more brilliant fortune, seduced her father and mother,
notwithstanding their daughter’s repugnance to consent to the
change. To their entreaties, however, she was obliged to yield, and
sacrificed her affections, by becoming the wife of the financier. Like a
woman of virtue, she forbad her earlier lover the house. A fit of
melancholy, the consequence of this violence done to her
inclinations, by entering into an engagement of interest, brought on
her a malady, which so far benumbed her faculties, that she was
thought by all her friends to be dead, and was accordingly consigned
to the grave. The former lover conceiving, and hoping what he had
heard of her death, might only prove a syncope, or fit of lethargy, (as
she had been before subject to those complaints) bribed the grave-
digger, to convey the body to his house in the night time. He then
used every means recommended for restoring suspended animation;
and at length was overjoyed at finding his efforts prove effectual.
 It is not easy to conceive the surprise the young woman was in on
her resuscitation, when she found herself in a strange house, and as
it were in the arms of her lover, who informed her of what had taken
place, and the risk he had run on her account. She then
comprehended the extent of her obligation to her deliverer, and love,
more pathetic than all his persuasions to unite their destinies,
determined her, on her recovery to escape with him into England:
where they lived for some years in the closest union.
At the end of ten years, they conceived the natural wish of
revisiting their own country, and at length returned to Paris, where
they took no precaution whatever, of concealing themselves, being
persuaded that no suspicion would attend their arrival. It happened
however by chance, that the financier met his wife in one of the
public walks. The sight of her, made so strong an impression on him,
that the persuasion of her death could not efface it. He contrived it so
as to join her, and notwithstanding, the language which she used to
impose upon him, he left her with the conviction that he was not
deceived.
The strangeness of this event, gave more charms to the woman in
the eyes of her former husband, than she had for him before. He
acted with such address, that he discovered her abode,
notwithstanding all her precautions, and reclaimed her with all the
regular formalities of justice.
It was in vain that the lover maintained the right which his cares for
his mistress gave him to the possession of her: that he represented
her inevitable death, but for him: that he ought even to be accused of
homicide, for want of having taken proper precautions to assure
himself of her death, and a thousand other ingenious reasons which
love suggested to him, but without the desired effect. He found that
the judicial ear was against him, and not thinking it expedient to wait
the result of a definitive judgment, he fled with his mistress into a
foreign country, where they passed the remainder of their days,
without further molestation.
We have before observed that several persons reputed dead, had
exhibited signs of life under the blade of the Anatomist, and had
consequently deceived the judgment of the surgeon who regarded
them as defunct. Hence it follows, that apparent death often carries
with it the exterior characters of real death; that men of the faculty
may be deceived, and much more so those who are less instructed;
hence it follows likewise that for the good of humanity it is
indispensible that a regulation should be adopted, which would save
us from the dreadful horrors of so cruel an event.

XIX.
It is well known what happened to the celebrated Vesabe,
successive physician to Charles V. and to Philip II. of Spain, his son.
Being persuaded that a Spanish Nobleman whom he attended was
really dead, he asked the permission of opening him, which was
granted. But he had scarcely plunged the instrument into the body of
the unfortunate man, when he remarked some signs of returning life.
In effect, he found, on opening his bosom, the heart still palpitating.
The relations of the deceased, informed of the accident, were not
satisfied with pursuing him as a murderer; they dragged him, as a
man guilty of sacrilege, before the tribunal of the Inquisition.
As the fault was notorious, the judges of this tribunal were for
condemning him to the punishment attached to the impiety. But
fortunately for him, the King of Spain, by his authority and entreaties,
delivered him from this certain danger, on condition of his expiating
his crime by a voyage to the holy-land. But the unfortunate Vesabe
did not long enjoy the pardon which he thus obtained. The Venetian
senate having sent for him to fill the place of Falloppe, a violent
tempest overtook him on his passage, and cast him on the island of
Zante, where after wandering about for several days in the deserts,
and suffering all the rigours of hunger, he ended his life deplorably in
1564, at the age of fifty eight.

XX.
 We are informed in a treatise by Terilli, that a lady of distinction in
Spain, being attacked with hysteric suffocations, was regarded as
dead. Her relations applied to a celebrated Anatomist to open her,
and acquaint himself more particularly with the cause of her death.
At the second stroke of his knife she revived, and gave evident signs
of life, by the cries that were forced from her by this fatal instrument.
The dreadful spectacle excited such astonishment and horror in
those present, that this physician, who had hitherto enjoyed the
fairest reputation, abhorred now, and detested by every one, was
compelled to quit not only the city, where this tragedy was acted, but
even the very province itself, in order to withdraw himself from the
effects of public indignation.

XXI.
Acilius Aviola was (according to Pliny) concluded dead, both by his
domestics and physicians; he was accordingly laid out upon the
ground for some time, and then carried forth to his funeral pile: but
as soon as the flames began to catch his body, he cried out that he
was alive, imploring the assistance of his schoolmaster, who was the
only person that had tarried by him: but it was too late; for
encompassed with flames, he was dead before he could be
succoured.

XXII.
Plato tells us of Erus Armenius being slain in battle, among many
others; when they came to take up the dead bodies upon the tenth
day after, they found, that though all the other carcases were putrid,
this of his was entire and uncorrupted; they therefore carried it home,
that it might have the just and due funeral rites performed to it. Two
days they kept it at home in that state, and on the twelfth day, he
was carried out to the funeral pile; and being ready to be laid upon it,
he returned to life, to the admiration of all that were present. He
declared several strange and prodigious things, which he had seen
and known, during all that time that he had remained in the state of
the dead.

XXIII.
One of the noble family of the Tatoreidi, being seized with the
plague in Burgundy, was supposed to die thereof, and was put into a
coffin to be carried to the sepulchres of his ancestor, which were
distant from that place some four German miles. Night coming on,
the corpse was disposed in a barn, and there attended by some
rustics. These perceived a great quantity of fresh blood to drain
through the chinks of the coffin; whereupon they opened it, and
found that the body was wounded by a nail that was driven into the
shoulder through the coffin; and that the wound was much torn by
the jogging of the chariot he was carried in; but withal, they
discovered that the natural heat had not left his breast. They took
him out, and laid him before the fire: he recovered as out of a deep
sleep, ignorant of all that had passed. He afterwards married a wife,
by whom he had a daughter; married afterwards to Huldericus a
Psirt; from his daughter came Sigismundus a Psirt, chief Pastor of
St. Mary’s Church in Basil.

XXIV.
In the year 1650 Anne Green was tried at Oxford, before Serjeant
Umpton Croke, for the murder of her bastard child, and by him
sentenced to be hanged; which sentence was accordingly executed
on the fourteenth day of December, in the Castle-Yard, Oxford,
where she hung about half an hour, being pulled by the legs, and,
after all, had several strokes given her on the stomach with the butt
end of a musket. Being cut down, she was put into a coffin, and
carried to a house to be dissected; where when they opened the
coffin, notwithstanding the rope remained fast jammed round her
neck, they perceived her breast to rise: whereupon one Mason, a
tailor, intending an act of humanity, stamped on her breast and belly;
and one Oran, a soldier, struck her with the butt end of his musket.
After all this, when Sir William Patty, Dr. Willis, and Mr. Clarke, came
to prepare the body for dissection, they perceived some small rattling
in her throat, which induced them to desist from their original design,
and began to use means for her recovery; in which they were so
successful, that within fourteen hours she began to speak, and the
next day talked and prayed very heartily. Nor did the humanity of the
Doctors stop, till by obtaining a pardon for her, they secured that life,
which their skill had restored. She was afterwards married, had three
children, lived in good repute among her neighbours, at Steeple-
Barton, and died in 1659. What was very remarkable, and
distinguished the hand of Providence in her recovery, she was found
to be innocent of the crime for which she suffered; and it appeared
the child had never been alive, but came from her spontaneously,
four months after conception.

XXV.
In the year 1658, Elizabeth, the servant of one Mrs. Cope, of
Magdalen parish, Oxford, was convicted of killing her bastard child,
and was according hanged at Green-ditch, where she hung so long,
that one of the by-standers said, if she was not dead, he would be
hanged for her. When cut down, the gallows being very high, she fell
with such violence to the ground, that seemed sufficient of itself to
have killed her. After this, she was put in a coffin, and carried to the
George Inn, in Magdalen parish; where signs of life being observed
in her, she was blooded, and put to bed to a young woman; by which
means she came to herself, and, to all appearance, might have lived
many years: but the next night, she was, by the order of one Mallony,
a bailiff of the city, barbarously dragged to Gloucester Green, and
there was hanged upon a tree, till she was dead.

XXVI.
In the year 1797, a fine boy, about nine years old, son of Mr.
Baldock, Surgeon and Apothecary, at Burwash, in Sussex, had the
misfortune to fall into a pond of water, about twenty roods from his
father’s house, wherein he soon sunk to the bottom, and there
remained at least a quarter of an hour, before any one went to his
assistance. By the time he was taken out, the father had arrived at
the spot, where he found his son to all appearance dead, his face
having turned quite black, and his pulsation totally left him; he,
however, took up the body, and carried it home, losing no time in
stripping off the wet cloaths, and getting it into a warm bed. He next
proceeded to wipe the skin quite dry with napkins, and afterwards to
rub the body well with hot cloths. Mr. and Mrs. B. continued the
stimulating process for a full hour, without the smallest prospect of
success; they nevertheless persevered, and soon afterwards had the
happiness to discover some small symptoms of returning life, from
the emission of a very feeble groan. This encouraged them to
redouble their exertions; and though they proved wholly ineffectual
for more than another hour; during which time the body appeared as
a corpse before them, they did not relax in their efforts; and, at the
expiration of two hours and an half, they brought the vital functions
into more visible action, which first appeared by a sort of convulsive
motion in one hand. The next favourable symptoms discovered,
were a little motion in one foot, an inward crying, and a very languid
pulse. The return of animation was now more rapid, and apparently
very painful; for the poor boy first cried low, and presently after very
loud; his eyes, which were naturally prominent, on a sudden burst
wide open, and appeared very red and full of terror. After this, he
was taken out of bed, and put breast high, into water blood warm, in
which situation he appeared calm for about ten minutes, when he
again cried, but not so strong as before. Being taken out of the bath,
(where the friction was still kept up with the hand) wiped dry, and put
again into a warm bed, he was soon after perceived to breathe,
though very quick and feeble. Having in some degree recovered his
senses, he spoke a few words imperfectly; but his speech soon
became more perfect; and having swallowed a trifling potion his
father administered to him, he complained of great pain in his
stomach and bowels, which was soon relieved by an embrocation,
volatile, oily, and anodyne. The next night he got rest by the help of a
cordial anodyne; but it was a fortnight before he wholly recovered.
 We have been particular in stating the above facts, from an idea
that the knowledge of them may prove useful in similar accidents,
and indeed in all cases of suspended animation.

XXVII.
Doctor Tissot mentions an instance of a girl who was restored to
life, after she had been taken out of the water, swelled, bloated, and
to all appearance dead, by laying her naked body upon hot ashes,
covering her with others equally hot, putting a bonnet round her
head, and a stocking round her neck, stuffed with the same, and
heaping coverings over all. After she had remained half an hour in
this situation, her pulse returned, she recovered her speech, and
cried out, I freeze, I freeze; a little cherry brandy was given her, and
she remained buried, as it were, under the ashes for eight hours.
Afterwards she was taken out, without any other complaint, except
that of lassitude or weariness, which went off in a few days. The
Doctor mentions likewise an instance of a man who was restored to
life, after he had remained six hours under water, by the heat of a
dung-hill.

XXVIII.
Doctor Alexander mentions an instance of a man, who was to all
appearance killed by a blow on the breast, but recovered on being
immersed for some time in warm water. These, and many other
instances of a similar nature, amount to a full proof of this fact, that
many of those unhappy persons who lose their lives, by falls, blows,
and other accidents, might be saved by the use of proper means
duly persisted in.

XXIX.
Mr. Tossach, Surgeon at Alloa, relates the case of a man
suffocated by the steam of burning coal, who he recovered by
blowing his breath into the patient’s mouth, bleeding him in the arm,
and causing him to be well rubbed and tossed about.
And Doctor Frewen, of Sussex, mentions the case of a young man
who was stupified by the smoke of sea coal, but was recovered by
being plunged into cold water, and afterwards laid in a warm bed.

XXX.
Even in old age, when life seems to have been gradually drawing
to a close, the appearances of death are often fallacious.
A Lady in Cornwall, more than eighty years of age, who had been
a considerable time declining, took to her bed, and in a few days
seemingly expired in the morning. As she had often desired not to be
buried till she had been two days dead, her request was to have
been regularly complied with by her relations. All that saw her looked
upon her as dead, and the report was current through the whole
place; nay, a gentleman of the town actually wrote to his friend in the
island of Scilly, that she was deceased. But one of those who were
paying the last kind office of humanity to her remains, perceived
some warmth about the middle of the back; and acquainting her
friends with it, they applied a mirror to her mouth; but, after repeated
trials, could not observe it in the least stained; her under jaw was
likewise fallen, as the common phrase is; and, in short, she had the
appearance of a dead person. All this time she had not been
stripped or dressed; but the windows were opened as is usual in the
chambers of the deceased. In the evening the heat seemed to
increase, and at length she was perceived to breathe.

XXXI.
Monsieur Janin, of the Royal College of Surgery at Paris, relates,
that a Nurse having had the misfortune to overlay a child, he was
called in, and found the infant without any signs of life; no pulsation
in the arteries, no respiration, the face livid, the eyes open, dull, and
tarnished, the nose full of snivel, the mouth gaping, in short, it was
almost cold. Whilst some linen clothes and a parcel of ashes were
warming, he had the boy unswathed, and laid him in a warm bed,
and on the right side. He was there rubbed all over with fine linen, for
fear of fretting his tender and delicate skin. As soon as the ashes
had received their due degree of heat, Mr. Janin buried him in them,
except the face, placed him on the side opposite to that on which he
had been at first laid, and covered him with a blanket. He had a
bottle of Eau de luce in his pocket, which he presented to his nose
from time to time; and between whiles some puffs of tobacco were
blown up his nostrils: to these succeeded the blowing into his mouth,
and squeezing tight his nose. Animal heat began thus to be excited
gradually: the pulsations of the temporal artery were soon felt, the
breathing became more frequent and free, and the eyes closed and
opened alternately. At length the child fetched some cries expressive
of his want of the breast, which being applied to his mouth, he
catched at it with avidity, and sucked, as if nothing had happened to
him. Though the pulsations of the arteries were by this time very well
re-established, and it was hot weather, yet Monsieur Janin thought it
adviseable to leave his little patient three quarters of an hour longer
under the ashes. He was afterwards taken out, cleaned and dressed
as usual; to which a gentle sleep succeeded, and he continued
perfectly well.

XXXII.
Mr. Glover, Surgeon in Doctor’s Commons, London, relates the
case of a person who was restored to life after twenty nine minutes
hanging, and continued in good health for many years after.
The principal means used to restore this man to life were opening
the temporal artery and the external jugular; rubbing the back,
mouth, and neck, with a quantity of volatile spirits and oil;
administering the tobacco clyster by means of lighted pipes, and
strong frictions of the legs and arms. This course had been
continued for about four hours, when an incission was made into the
wind pipe, and air blown strongly through a canula into the lungs.
About twenty minutes after this the blood at the artery began to run
down the face, and a slow pulse was just perceptible at the wrist.
The frictions were continued for some time longer; his pulse became
more frequent, and his mouth and nose being irritated with spirit of
salammoniac, he opened his eyes. Warm cordials were then
administered to him, and in two days he was so well as to be able to
walk eight miles.

XXXIII.
In the parish of St. Clements in Colchester, a child of six months
old, lying upon its mother’s lap, having had the breast, was seized
with a strong convulsion fit, which lasted so long, and ended with so
total a privation of motion in the body, lungs, and pulse, that it was
deemed absolutely dead. It was accordingly stripped, laid out, the
passing bell, ordered to be tolled, and a coffin to be made; but a
neighbouring gentlewoman who used to admire the child, hearing of
its sudden death, hastened to the house, and upon examining the
child, found it not cold, its joints limber, and fancied that a glass she
held to its mouth and nose was a little damped with the breath; upon
which, she took the child in her lap, sat down before the fire, rubbed
it, and kept it in gentle agitation. In a quarter of an hour she felt the
heart begin to beat faintly; she then put a little of the mother’s milk
into its mouth, continued to rub its palms and soles; found the child
begin to move, and the milk was swallowed; and in another quarter
of an hour, she had the satisfaction of restoring to its disconsolate
mother the babe quite recovered, eager to lay hold of the breast, and
able to suck again. The child throve, had no more fits, is grown up,
and at present alive, i. e. 1803.
These means, which are certainly in the power of every person,
were sufficient to restore to life an infant to all appearance dead, and
who in all probability, but for the use of these simple endeavours
would have remained so. There are however, many other things
which might be done in case the above should not succeed; as
rubbing the body with strong spirits, covering it with warm ashes or
salt, blowing air into the lungs, throwing up warm stimulating
clysters, or the smoke of tobacco into the intestines, and such like.
 When children are dead born, or expire soon after the birth, the
same means ought to be used for their recovery, as if they had
expired in circumstances similar to those mentioned above.
These directions may likewise be extended to adults, attention
being always paid to the age and other circumstances.

The foregoing cases and observations afford sufficient proof of the

success which may attend the endeavours of persons totally
ignorant of medicine, in assisting those who are suddenly deprived
of life by any accident or disease. Many facts of a similar nature
might be adduced, were it necessary, but these, it is hoped, will be
sufficient to call up the attention of the public, and to excite the
humane and benevolent to exert their utmost endeavour for the
preservation of their fellow creatures.
In short, not only the ordinary signs are very uncertain, but we may
say the same of the stiffness of the limbs, which may be convulsive;
of the dilation of the pupil of the eye, which may proceed from the
same cause; of putrefaction, which may equally attack some parts of
a living body, and of several others. Haller, convinced of the
uncertainty of all these signs, proposes a new one, which he
considers as infallible.—“If the person (says he) be still in life, the
mouth will immediately shut of itself, because the contraction of the
muscles of the jaw will awaken their irritability.” The jaw however,
may be deprived of its irritability though a man may not be dead. Life
is preserved a long time in the passage of the intestines. The sign
pointed out by Dr. Fothergill appears to deserve more attention.—“If
the air blown into the mouth, (says this physician) passes freely
through all the alimentary channels, it affords a strong presumption,
that the irritability of the internal sphincters is destroyed, and
consequently that life is at an end.”—These signs, which deserve to
be confirmed by new experiments, are doubtless not known to
Undertakers.
 The difficulty of distinguishing a person apparently dead from one
who is really so, has, in all countries where bodies have been
interred too precipitately, rendered it necessary for the law to assist
humanity. Of several regulations made on this subject, we shall
quote only a few of the most recent; such as those of Arras, in 1772;
of Mantua, in 1774; of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1775; of the
Senuhausée of Sivrai, in Poitore, in 1777; and of the Parliament of
Metz in the same year. To give an idea of the rest, it will be sufficient
to relate only that of Tuscany. By this edict, the Grand Duke forbids
the precipitate interment of persons who dies suddenly. He orders
the magistrates of health to be informed, that physicians and
surgeons may examine the body; that they may use every
endeavour to recal it to life, if possible, or to discover the cause of its
death; and that they shall make a report of their procedure to a
certain tribunal. On this occasion, the magistrate of health orders the
dead not to be covered until the moment they are about to be buried,
except so far as decency requires; observing always, that the body
be not closely confined, and that nothing may compress the jugular
veins and the carotid arteries. He forbids people to be interred
according to the ancient method; and requires that the arms, and the
hands, should be left extended, and that they should not be folded or
placed cross-wise upon the breast. He forbids, above all, to press
the jaws one against the other; or to fill the mouth and nostrils with
cotton, or other stuffing. And lastly, he recommends not to cover the
visage with any kind of cloth, until the body is deposited in its coffin.
We shall conclude this article by subjoining, from Dr. Hawes’s
Address to the Public on this subject, a few of the cases in which this
fallacious appearance of death is most likely to happen, together
with the respective modes of treatment which he recommends.
In apoplectic and fainting fits, and in those arising from any violent
agitation of mind, and also when opium or spirituous liquors have
been taken in too great a quantity, there is reason to believe that the
appearance of death has been frequently mistaken for the reality. In
these cases, the means recommended by the Humane Society for
the recovery of drowned persons, should be persevered in for
several hours; and bleeding, which in similar circumstances has
sometimes proved pernicious, should be used with great caution. In
the two latter instances, it will be highly expedient, with a view of
counteracting the soporific effects of opium and spirits, to convey
into the stomach, by a proper tube, a solution of tartar emetic, and by
various other means, to excite vomiting.
From the number of children carried off by convulsions, and the
certainty arising from undoubted facts, that some who have in
appearance died from that cause have been recovered; there is the
greatest reason for concluding, that many, in consequence of this
disease, have been prematurely numbered among the dead; and
that the fond parent, by neglecting the means of recalling life, has
often been the guiltless executioner of her own offspring. To prevent
the commission of such dreadful mistakes, no child, whose life has
been apparently extinguished by convulsions, should be consigned
to the grave, till the means of recovery above recommended in
apoplexies, &c. have been tried; and, if possible, under the direction
of some skilful practitioner of medicine, who may vary them as
circumstances shall require.
When fevers arise in weak habits, or when the cure of them has
been principally attempted by means of depletion, the consequent
debility is often very great, and the patient sometimes, sinks into a
state which bears so close an affinity to that of death, that there is
reason to suspect it has too often deceived the by-standers, and
induced them to send for the undertaker, when they should have had
recourse to medicine. In such cases, volatiles, eau de luce for
example, should be applied to the nose, rubbed on the temples, and
sprinkled often about the bed; hot flannels, moistened with a strong
solution of camphorated spirit may likewise be applied over the
breast, and renewed every quarter of an hour; and as soon as the
patient is able to swallow, a tea spoonful of the strongest cordial
should be given every five minutes.
The same methods may also be used with propriety, in the small
pox, when the pustules sink, and death apparently ensues; and
likewise in any other acute disease, when the vital functions are
suspended from a similar cause.
 ACCOUNT
Of the various
MODES OF BURYING THE DEAD,
ADOPTED BY DIFFERENT NATIONS.

The primitive Christians buried their dead after the manner of the
Jews. They first washed, then embalmed them, spending, (says
Tertullian,) more perfumes, and aromatic gums, upon such
occasions, than the heathens did in their sacrifices. They wrapt the
corpse in fine linen, or silk, and sometimes put them on rich habits.
They then laid them forth for the space of three days, during which
they constantly attended the dead body, and passed the time in
watching and praying by it. Then they carried it to the grave, with
torches and flambeaus, singing psalms and hymns to the praise of
God, and in testimony of their hopes of the resurrection. They
recommended the dead likewise in their prayers, received the
communion, and made their Agapæ, or love feasts, with the
distribution of other charities for the poor.
At the end of the year, they made a fresh commemoration for
them, and so from year to year; beside the standing commemoration
for the dead, always joined with the eucharist, they frequently put
into the grave several things, as marks of honour to the deceased, or
to preserve his memory; such as the badges of his dignity, the
instruments and acts of his martyrdom, an epitaph, or at least his
name: and sometimes they threw in medals, laurel leaves, some
crosses, and the gospel. And whereas the heathens, built stately
tombs for their dead, either by the sides of great roads, or in the
open fields; the Christians, on the contrary, disposed of their
deceased, either after the common way of interment, or laying them
in vaults under ground; such were the catacombs near Rome.—They
had anciently, a religious ambition to be buried near the bodies of
martyrs, and this is that which, at last, brought so many graves and
tombs into the churches; which were frequently erected over the
graves of martyrs: this was the occasion of burying in churches; for a
long time it was the custom to bury the dead no where but without
the walls of cities.
As to the old Greeks, after they had closed the eyes of the
deceased, they used to make a great noise with a sort of bell, done
as it is supposed either to scare away the furies and hobgoblins, or
else to wake the person, in case he was only in a lethargy or
apoplectic fit. Afterwards they put a piece of money into his mouth, to
pay his passage over the Styx, giving him likewise a piece of meat to
put Cerberus in good humour: they then put a bandage, or little scarf
over his eyes, and his face was covered to his chin with cloth. This
office was to be performed by the nearest relations, who were
likewise obliged to wash the body with warm water and anoint it. This
was properly the business of women. The corpse was likewise wrapt
in fresh linen, or new cloth, made into a sort of straight gown. The
body was afterwards crowned with chaplets, to intimate the
deceased had conquered the misfortunes of this life. They likewise
put some sweetmeats into his mouth, which was part of the
entertainment of the Olympionces. The funeral being thus far
prepared, they placed the corpse at the gate of the house, which
was a sort of laying in state.
The day after, before sun-rise, the Greeks used to carry the corpse
to the funeral pile. The expence upon this occasion, though
moderate at first, grew afterwards to a great excess; therefore Solon
made a sumptuary law, to oblige the Athenians to frugality. The
relations used to attend the corpse to the funeral pile; women under
three score years of age, unless pretty near related, were not
permitted to come into the house where the corpse lay; however all
of that sex were allowed to accompany the body to the place of
sepulchre: at the latter end of the solemnity the company had a treat
at the expence of the relations, at which time, if the deceased had
done any thing remarkable, it was set forth in a speech; which
privilege was afterwards granted to none but those who died in the
field, for their country, or such as were buried at the charge of the
state, which in such cases was done in the Ceramicus.
It was a custom among the Greeks, to bury persons of the best
quality in raised grounds, till, at last, there were two public burying
places appointed by the state, called Ceramici, one within, and the
other without the wall. In the first of which, those who died in the
field, were buried. If any person happened to die on their travels, or
in another country, their way was to anoint the corpse with honey, to
preserve it from putrefaction, till they could bring it home. And
sometimes they wrapt them alive, in cerecloth for the same purpose.
The Egyptians of which we shall speak more fully hereafter, used
to embalm their dead with a composition made of wine and
odoriferous drugs, such as myrrh, cinnamon, cedar, &c. This
embalming was a whole month in finishing, it being necessary to
repeat the aromatic gums under the corpse a great many times.
Herodotus observes, that the Egyptians used to dress the corpse in
the same habit that the person wore, and put it into a transparent
glass coffin.
The Romans paid the last offices to the dead, in the following
manner: after they had closed the eyes of the dead, they called out
to him several times, to see if he was not fallen into a swoon, or
lethargical distemper.—After this, they washed the corpse with warm
water, and rubbed it with perfumes. This being done, they put a sort
of white gown upon him, and brought him to the door with his feet to
the street, then they stuck branches of cypress before the house.
This ceremony continued seven days, and upon the eighth they
carried the corpse to the place where it was to be burnt: amongst
people of fortune, the bier, or coffin, was generally carried by
relations: and at the funerals of Emperors and Consuls; the
Senators, and Magistrates of the Republic did this office; but the
common people were carried by Vespillones, or common bearers.
When persons of high blood, or who were eminent for posts in
government, or remarkable actions, were brought to the pile, the
distinctions of their quality were carried before the coffin, as the
consular fasces, the sword and mace, their ancestors in wax work,
the plunder they had gained upon the enemy, the civic, mural, &c.
crowns which they had deserved, and every thing else that might
add to their figure. Servius observes, that in the beginning of the
Republic, they buried their dead in their houses: but by a law of the
twelve tables, it was forbidden either to bury, or burn any corpse
within the city of Rome; but afterwards, the vestal virgins, and
Emperors had a privilege of exception; as for other people they were
either interred in the highways, or in their ground, out of the town. At
the burning of the corpse, they laid it fast upon a pile of wood, of
pines, yew, and other resembling trees, which lay one upon another
in the figure of an altar. The corpse being dressed, and sprinkled
with rich liquors, lay in a coffin, made on purpose, with his face
upwards, and a piece of silver in his mouth to pay Charon for his
fare. The pile was surrounded with cypress, an embalm of grief and
death; after this some of the nearest relations, turning their back to
the pile, set fire to it with a torch, which they held behind them; and
the fire being lighted, they threw in the clothes, arms, and other rich
goods, which the deceased person had the greatest fancy for. When
the corpse was burnt, they wetted the bones and the ashes with milk
and wine, and then put them into an urn, which they buried in a
sepulchre for that purpose. Before this urn, they set a little altar,
where they burnt perfumes.
Their mourning lasted ten months, which was Romulus’s year; but
it was possible to shorten this term by some public success of the
state, or any extraordinary good fortune, which happened to a
private family.

Account of the opening of the Tomb of King

Edward I. in Westminster Abbey, 467 years after
its Interment.
The following interesting account of the effect produced by the
mode of preservation, which, for many centuries, has been made
use of upon the bodies of royal personages, will it is presumed, be
found not unacceptable to our readers. It is extracted from Sir
Joseph Ayloffe’s account of the opening of the Tomb of Edward the
First, in Westminster Abbey 467 years after its interment. After
describing the manner of opening the tomb and coffin, which was
done with the utmost care, in the presence of the Reverend Doctor
Thomas, then Dean of Westminster, two of the prebends, and the
President of the Antiquarian Society, the writer says,
“On lifting up the lid, the royal corpse was found wrapped up within
a large square mantle of strong, course, and thick linen cloth,
diapered, of a dull, pale, yellowish brown colour, and waxed on its
under side.”
The head and face were entirely covered with a sudarium, or face
cloth, of crimson sarsenet, the substance whereof was so much
perished, as to have a cobweb-like face, and the appearance of fine
lint. The sudarium was formed into three folds. When the folds of the
external wrapper were thrown back, and the sudarium removed, the
corpse was discovered, richly habited, adorned with ensigns of
royalty, and almost entire, notwithstanding the length of time that it
had been entombed. Its innermost covering seemed to have been a
very fine linen cerecloth, dressed close to every part of the body, and
superinduced with such accuracy and exactness, that the fingers
and thumbs of both the hands had each of them a separate and
distinct envelope of that material. The face, which had a similar
covering, closely fitted thereto, retained its exact form, although part
of the flesh appeared to be somewhat wasted. It was of a dark
brown, or chocolate colour, approaching to black, as were the hands
and fingers. The chin and lips were entire, but without any beard;
and a sinking or dip, between the chin and underlip, was very
conspicuous. Both the lips were prominent, the nose short, as if
shrunk; but the apertures of the nostrils were visible. There was an
unusual fall, or cavity, on that part of the bridge of the nose which
separates the orbits of the eyes; and some globular substance,
possibly the fleshy part of the eye-balls, was moveable in their
sockets, under the envelope. Below the chin, and under jaw, was
lodged a quantity of black dust, which had neither smell nor
coherence; but, whether the same had been flesh or spices, could
not be ascertained. One of the joints of the middle finger of the right
hand was loose, but those of the left hand were quite perfect. The
corpse, from the waist downward, was covered with a large piece of
rich figured cloth of gold, which was loose over the lower part of the
tunic, thighs, legs and feet, and tucked down behind the soles of the
latter. There did not remain any appearance of gloves; but, on the
back of each hand, and just below the knuckle of the middle finger,
lay a quatre-soil, of the same metal as those in the stole (i.e. of
fillagree work, in metal gilt, elegantly chased in figure.) The feet, with
their toes, soles, and heels, seemed to be perfectly entire; but,
whether they have sandals on them, or not, is uncertain, as the cloth
tucked over them was not removed. On measuring the body by a
rod, quadrated into inches, divided into quarters, it appeared to be
exactly six feet and two inches in length.

The following remarkable fact is translated from

the Imperial Gazette of Petersburg, dated
December 17th, 1798.
“In 1796, a coffin was found at the Convent of Sumovin, in the city
of Trotma, in the eparchy of Volgoda, containing a corpse, in the
habit of a Monk. It had been interred in 1568, yet was in a state of
perfect preservation, as were also the garments. From the letters
embroidered on them, it was found to be the body of the most
memorable Feodose Sumovin, founder and superior of the Convent,
and who had been acknowledged as a saint during his life, for the
miracles he had performed.”
The Emperor Paul, on hearing this report caused the following
proclamation to be issued.
“We Paul, &c. having been certified by a special report of the most
holy synod, of the discovery that has been made in the Convent of