The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-10-27
s1nlSratl
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY.
FROM THE LONDON TRAVELLER, A LONDON
PAPER OF AUGUST 20, 1909.


$40. -
OF the following singular case no doubt can
be entertained. |, iscopieI from the Dublin pa.
pers, and has been dulv authenticated:
:" On Thursday last, 1T o'clock in the even
mt, rs man was passing by the lime-si,n of D.
Gusson, near Finglss, he saw in hollow b-iow
the wait tthe kills, perscn IN a grey coat W..
ing on his face on the ground At first he suppo
sed hum to be asleep, or intoxicated nut after
SOME tune, perceivng he did not stir, he yay in.
drced to examine him more Closely, when he
found him apparently dead. On timing him ON
h's back, to ascertain who he might BE-, sight
the most awful and ,lorrid, presented itself.o h,s
view.
The person was not dead, but on t'raovir,
his coat, The whole surface Of his body se.m-l a
moving mass Of worms his face was much dis
figured, apparently from some bruises inflicted
either by blows or by fall; and from evere a
perture of his head, his eyes, ars, mouth snt
nose, poured innumerable worms. as if IN. int
rior OF the skull were entirely filed with them, is
eyes were dissolved, and their cavities, a. we'll
as those OF his ears, mouth and nose. were filled
with q white moving mass, more horrii and dis.
gushing than it is possible for i'm gnation 70 con
ceive without ccc,tlar inspection. After some
time, the miserAbie man having recovered su.fi-
cient strength to walk, and so far recovered his
recollection and voice. that he distinctly answer
ed several questions put to him, he told who he
was, where he lived, &c that he was returning,
home on q car, the evening before, and having
drank too much, lie fell OFF and lsy stunned with
the tall till he was discovered. He could mot
account for the wounds in his mead, nor for his
being so far off the road but il is nro5abl> he
had received the Commissions ON his face from the
fall, or perhaps the car had gone over him. and
he had nsenslbly crawed to the place where he
lay. The humidity Of the air and heat of tho
weather had rapidly brought on solution of the
solids, IN those bruised parts already predisUo-
sed to putTescency, and now lying in contact with
The moist earth In these were div deposit
ted the eggs of innumerab insects, whose gen
Grafton WAS as rapid vs. the predisposing causes
were favorable; ard thus, while the vital pow
ers rallied at the centre, and the blood YET circu
iatIng round the heart, preserved the vital prn-
cipie, the eStremites, in which all pu,sa,on II al
ceased, were dissolfing into their primitive eI.
ments, and the whole surface of the body eyli.
bited a mass of animated corruption.
;" He was brought into an clubhouse, and laid
on some hayi the loathsome objects were reno
we'd, as far as that could be done; he WAS wash
ed with spirit and vinegar, had cordials poured
down his throat, which he swallowed, though
with some difficulty. In fact, every precautiop
was taken by the worthy people by whom he wa,
discovered, but withou, effcct-the putrescencv
rapidly increased in very yhort time the ssasn
III his throat prevented his swallowing he p,a
dualiy became insensible, & st 2 nclock the next
day. he died in state of total putrid solution.
having lived in that dreadful situation seventeen
hours from the time lie was first disco, cred, and
the greater part OF that period, in fill possessi-
on OF his senses so much so, that he at several
tunes enquired eagerly for hs pocket, i'll " Hich
he recollected he had put some money and which
to a small amount was found. That Herald, Syl-
la, &c. were devoured by worms while vet alive,
are facts recorded by ancient historians, and that
worms eDgender in the flesh, and nuclae, Ssc'is l..
so true but those are not parallel cases, as they
were the effects OF morbid pendentes an4 spe:i.
fic disorders. The only case IN modern times,
perhaps, of human beings living under such cir
cumstances, is recorded in the romsntic adven-
tares of Iscere Wand and even here the Incl
dent throws degree of discredit on the authen-
ITCHY of the work, although it was attested by
the annexed afidavits ofpersons who had seen it.
Yet IN that case, the worms had ensendercd in
the lower extremites, while the head and the
visGera necessary 10 animal life were free, but
here tie most essential organ ofthe animal econ
omy was dissolved, while yet the living being
walked and talked.
Ihe srora1s they erept in, G the 7porrs they cyspf
out,
" Ind spOrtsa his eyes and his temple. aboxt -
exhibiting an appearance even more awful than
the ghastly spectre of poetic imagination