Clarksville chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1857-1865, 1858-06-04


was a fearful change. The most perfect
silence reigned in the room. The scalpel
second time touched the body, and then,
as If the instrument had been galvanic
battery, the supposed corpse, with coun
tenance most horribly contorted sprang
up and seized the Professor by the gown {;
and then fell back quiescent. A glance
OF horror and recognition seemed to pass
between the Subject" and the Professor.
he, as if struck by lightning, staggered
back, with loud cry, or rather shrek,
and stood, in an attitude of despair and
wild terror gazing vacantly into the air.
Before we could recover from our terror
and despair, he had tainted.
We looked at the body; the muscles of
the face were working those of the limbs
were twitching convulsively, and yet, as
after investigation proved, it soas dead
Why it should have made this strange
manifestation is not to be resolved into
matter of certainty. One of the physicians
connected with the institution says that he
has witnessed the same phenomena among
the bodies of those who died suddenly by
hts, as well as of those who were slain by
cholera. Heaven only knows the reason
of the terrific and curious demonstration |
But the strangest part of my story remains
to be told.
We naturally supposed that the Profes
sor swooned from fright. We applied re-
storatives and finally he exhibited indica-
tions Of consciousness. We explained to
him that the show of life given by the
poor, faded from upon the table was purely
spasmodic, and fallacious; but he inoredu-
lously shook his head, muttered "it was
the hand of God," and rclapsed into in
sensibility. A second time we restored
him to his senses, and his first words
were:
'Remove the subject Hide it from my
sight!' and then, as if again horror stricken
he fell into violent convulsions.
We remained near him until he seemed
to have recovered from the effects of the
scene enough to be left in charge of one
watcher. Before we retired, however, the
explanation of the Professors extreme
alright at the scene of horror was made.
The revelation for such it was) was given
under a pledge of secresy-a pledge er-
torted from me by the surrounding circum
stances The corpse into which the Pro-
fessor was about to plunge the scalpel was
that Of has brother.
How or when he had reached this coun-
try is not known But it is known that
after earning an unenviable notoriety
among horse jockerys, gamblers, and the
victims of prOaigacy generally, he gradu-
ally sank into the mire of degradation
until he became a dweller in den of
thieves known to the police. Here he was
seized with disease, and deprived Of his
accustomed strong potations, delirium tre-
"'>S WV IlC wac AlCk-
ed into the street attempted to commit
highway -robbery-was arrested, tried and
condemned to the States prison. Before
reaching there, however, he was to all ap-
pearance dead, and was in that condition
conveyed to the purveyor Of Subjects" f"
and so brought to our dissecting room.
TVNN
The college Gin which we do not reside)
is for the present closed. The remains
which greeted the Mortified vision of the
Professor--which sprang from the same
loins as his own body--which he had often
embodied in his arms--and in the integrity
of the heart that animated which he had
once placed the frmest reliance
silently placed in neat coffin, and de-
posted, not to be disturbed again, hope,
until the day of resurrection, in seclud-
ed spot III cemetery.
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