The weekly Lancaster gazette. (Lancaster, Ohio) 1852-1855, 1853-07-14

SlSeUtAR DIscoyEETZfhers Is moth
ans new audes4the san The Ameficau
colin which attracted so much attention at
the great Exhibition oe 1851 and which by
producing u vacuum by mslas OF the air
pump, was thought TO be an entirely new
1 method of preserying corpses from decay
has been proved Ia have been known in the
middle ages. Wnilst demolishing. some
lime ago. tho very church ofthe ancient
Welsh coifege. at Heinsteat. near Bruns-
wick, a cof6n was found made oflead, the
lid o (which was of glass of immense thick
ness. II contained the body of a young
girl apparently about twelve years of age.
which still preserved overy appearance OF
youth and freshaess. although tho coffin
bore date Of liSl. A SystandeE tells ia
That.
t.Ths face and figure ofths child were
perfect ssin iie, not a sipgle sign ofdc-
edy efagvisible throughout tho whole per!
son. The cheeks preserved their delicate
rose tint; the forehead its snowy whiteness.
| The hair, which'was OF a beautiful gold coll
or, was parted on the brow aud felt in long
ringlets over the bosom, crisp and fresh, Us
though the child hadlaid dowr~the moment
before. The dress of whitet satin, ombroid,
cred in gold lowers, the Oh of white vel
vet, the hes apron, all see nsd bright asif
newly purchased; aud moro astonishing still
the bunch of lilies held ia the hand Of the
corpse, still looked az fresh and moist as
though the dew still hung upon 1t, The
wOfkmen enIiged in tho demolitiou Of the
building were struck with awe; and imme-
diately went in quest Of the chief magis>
trate Of the place, who soon arrived on the
spot acc ,mpanied BY several OF tho inhabit-
ants. Unfortunately tho worthy function
ary hlving recently been made the victim OIL
a prAclicalioke in the town, and being hall
suspicious that the SINE thing was-intend.
ed would not beleye in The reality, and
scizing a spade OF one ofths workman VIII
stood near dealt a heaVybl5w upon the lid o.
/, tho coffin, and smashed one or two Of the
diamond shaped aues sof glass of-whlch q II
: was composed In a mo meut, q While we
: lgazsd, q thin oi6ul OF dust or tapor, like o
wreath OF soIpke.. rose up from the cotdn
and. dimnfd the sight, yelling tho corpse
from ourFiew. When it had disappeared,
we gagged lonwards in awe; nothing re-
manned osthat which had struck Us with 50
! much interest aud wondcr--ah had vanished
and left naught behind but u heap otdlscol'
/, orld dust "a few rags Of uHsel and one OF
two dried boneS!"
= The range and despair of dorr W-tht
!, great antiqaary sayan,ottbe place, knew nc
!, bounds. lie did his best to collect ths trag
a ments that Cemained, aud the same evening
> The coffin was conveyedto Brunswick where
n it will no doubt form'one OF the greatest or
:, nanents of the museum. There appears
q no doubt that the high preservation OF tn
4 corpse had been PRODUCED by the abstrae
tioa OF oil the air from the coffin, and it /
supposed the child belonged to some pro
lessor Of The University, who bad perform
ed the experiment. in secrets as II ID curiou
that amid oil this pains and care concern
!. ing the body OF this child no means shoul
d have been taken to preserve her name from
!, Oblivion. No name is engraved upon tn
coffin not even her initials nothing bu
!. the date of the year in which she died o
was buried, (ltSD-tLondon Atlas.