Talking in an undertone and whispering in the presence of the dying is to be peremptorily checked. What has to be said, and the less that is the better, should be in a clear, distinct, ordinary tone, somewhat, perhaps, below the ordinary.[66] The dying chamber is no place for officious interference or obtrusive curiosity. The fewer that are admitted to it the better--the nurse, the minister of religion, the medical attendant, and the immediate members of the family, comprise those whose duty and feelings entitle them to be present. “While the senses remain perfect, the patient ought to direct his own conduct, both in his devotional exercises, and in the last interchange of affection with his friends.”[67] He will be wise if he does so under the experienced guidance of his religious adviser. “The powers of the mind, after being forcibly exerted on these objects, commonly sink into complete debility, and respiration becoming weaker every moment, the patient is rendered _apparently_ insensible to everything around him. But the circumstances of the disease occasion much variety in this progress.”[68] Even when persons appear insensible, it is certain, as I have before remarked, that frequently they are cognisant of what is passing about them. “I have known them requested,” says Dr. Elliotson, “to give a sign that they were still alive by moving a finger, or by interrupting their breath when to move a finger was impossible: and they have done so, although believed by many to have been long senseless.”[69] In many cases there is a sort of lucid interval immediately before dissolution. This may be perceived by the looks and gestures where the patient is incapable of speaking. When things come to the last and the act of dissolution is imminent, all noise and bustle about the dying person should be prohibited, and unless the patient should place himself in a posture evidently uneasy he should be left undisturbed.[70] The dying are often impatient of any kind of covering.[71] They throw off the bedclothes and lie with the chest bare, the arms abroad, and the neck, arms, and legs as much exposed as possible:--Ubi supinus æger jacet, porrectis manibus et cruribus, writes Celsus--ubi brachia et crura nudat et inæqualiter dispergit. “These actions,” writes Dr. Symonds,[72] “we believe to be prompted by instinct, in order that neither covering nor even contact with the rest of the body may prevent the operation of the air on the skin. There are actions and re-actions between the air and the blood in the skin similar to those which occur in the lungs, and these are in aid of them.” Such automatic actions ought not to be interfered with, unless the patient has got into a position evidently distressing to himself, or except so far as decency requires when there is any approach to unseemly exposure.