Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1851-09-04
Liyin. vn,npyreS.


a portion Of MSS work on Premature
lurermcnis. by George Walrcrson. was
published in Sartain's Magazine. a month
or two ago, in which number of curious
and well authenticated cases Of premature
burial are given The following coniec-
ture as TO the origin of Vampires, may be
considered as a sequel.
1t is not at all unlikely that the popular
superstition which prevailed so iiightiully
in the east Of Europe, about a century ago
namely, abelefin the existence of YAM
pyres, owed its origin to the circumstance
of intcrring human bodies before life was
extinct. a writer in Blackwood's Maya
zine thus accounts for it,
"In those days the belief in ghosts was
absolute and a vampire wasa sort Of ghost
When any one in those days became the
subject ola scnsorial illusion, representing
human being. TO certainty he identified
the creation of his fancy as somebody he
had seen or heard Of then he would tell his
acquaintanccs that the ghost of such
person haunted him. If the fright brought
on fit, or seemed to cause his death, the
neighbors would rcmcmbcr how hc had
before been haunted. Then in any case,
what more naiuraltha to disinterthc body
Of supposed visitani, to know why he is
unqnict in the grave? Then. if once h
body SO disinterrcd were found in the fresh
and undccomposcd state, the whole dclu-
sion would start into existence. The vio-
lcncc used would force blood from the
corpse, and that would be construed into
the blood Of victim. Supposing again,
that at any time, chance had brought to
light body inferred alive and lying still in
this fit, the whole yarn Of superstition
might again have bccnspun iromthat clue"
And what, it may be asked, is YAM
Pyrcl 1t has been defined to be "a dead
body, which continues to live in the grave
which it leaves, however, at night, for the
purpose of sucking the blood Of the living,
whereby it is nonrishcd and preserved in
good condition, Instead Of becoming do
composed like other dead bodies" In
illustrating the writer's position, he quotes,
among a number of others, a case mcnticn-
ed by Erasmus Francisco in his remarks up
on the description OF the Archdukcdom Of
Kran, by Valvasor This was the case of
a man named Grand, who died, was burr.
cd, and afterwards exhumed, in the belief
that he was Vampire. "Whcn they open
ed this grave" says Francisco, "aitcr he
had been long buried, his face was found
with n color, and his features made natural
sorts of movements, as if the dead man
smiled. He even opened his mouth MS If
he vould inb,l, r,.sb mir Tb,,, b.l1 H.
cruciiix before hlm and called IN loud
voice, ":Secl this is Jesus Christ, who re-
deemed your soul from hell, and died for
you'll After the sound had acted on his
organs OF hearing, and he had connected
perhaps some IDEAS with it, tears began to
How from the dead mans eyes. Finally,
when after short prayer for lrispoor soul,
they proceeded 10 hack of his head the
corpse uttered a scrcecb, and turned and
rolled just as if ii had been alive and the
grave was full of blood" This supcrsti-
ton prcvailcdto an aarmingcxtcnI through
Vcrvla and Wallachia about ilo years
ago, and innu'nerablc deaths were The con
sequence olll 30 rife had It become, that
1t was thought necessary to appoint a com
"'eSio"o vi 'h''' h'SlH'chtdi uig'piis 10
investigate the causes of these deaths il
Mcducqua, near Bclgrave. They pro
ceeded to disintcr several Of the bodies
which had been buried at different tunes,
and number Of them were found in the
Vampire ccondilion--nancly, y,undecoppos-
cd, and with blood N The chest. The skin
IN some cases separating together with the
nails, and IA new skin and nails formed be
meath. Fischer declares that the bite of u
Vampire generally leaves no mark upon
the person, but the bite is nevertheless spec
dlly fatal; unless the bitten person protects
himsclfby eating some OF the earth from
thc grave OF the Vampire, and smcarlng
precautions" be adds, "ihe life Of the vic.
tim be prolonged for II period, sooner or
later, however, he ends with becoming n
Vampire hlnscli--that Is 10 say, he dies
and IS buried, but continues to lead a
Vampire HE IN The grave, nourishlng hun
sell by injecting others, and proniiscuous-
y PropaSating VamPyrclsn." Apparent
death being sometimes produced by fright.
occasioncd w tins superstition, The body,
when disinterrcd, has been iouid 20 exit
oit Signs OF me- ana hence mas originated
me nehci IN VamPyreishn' Inc ,o'io"'ng
lnclaen' IS sl.eh :" ;''nS,i'.'o,' , OF ''''s su,
Pe.s"lo,'' o' """' - '"e''' ~ o' Soo'
""'"o'"y 20
Arnod Tao'crc,urhed rom ,fe l'cvant To
,ne ,. s'',ase o' Mea"cqia' 70 ,he spring Q,
i'2f- ne was u INC prime oi manhood and
was allowed TO be youth o. good dlspo-
s'ilon and honest principles, open, frank
and obIig'ng There was nevertheless some
thing occasionally remarkable IN his con
duct, and degree OF 'nqunetude manifest
cd. lie seemed TO shnn The society of his
friends, and especially 10 avoid meeting
with pretty young woman named Nina
xvI,na. f,,I,a,. rccnn,,I ~, coftau, ,,ax,,n