Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1864-04-06

The following will be found a very sensible
article on a subject interesting TO the general
mind. There are few persons who have not
thought, at some time or other, of the prob
ability Of being buried before death had ac-
tually set in, and to the train of thought thus
suggested to them the following observations
will add 4 peculiar piquancy: Every nation,
however uncirilized, holds the idea Of being
buried alive in constant dread; the horrors OF
such A situation cannot be described. Bodies
have been found where the miserable victims
of precipitation had actually dcvoured the
flesh off their arms in the agonies of hunger
and despair. Such was the fate Of John
Scott and the Emperor Zeno. 1t is to be
feared that this melancholy occurrence is
more frequent than is supposed, more espe-
ciallyin countries where inhumation is speed
ily rcsortcd to. The ancients were re-
markablv cautious and particular in this re-
spcct, especially when We take into consider
alton the climate OF Greece and Rome
during the summer months. 4 law of
Greece on this subject directs that "thc
corpse should be laid out at the relations
pleasure, but that the following morning
before daylight the funeral procession should
take place" From various authorities,
however, it appears that the bodies were kept
three, and sometimes six days. Servius was
of opinion that the time for burning bodies
was the eight day. and the time for burying,
the tenth: it appears, however, that this was
a privilege granted to the wealthy, rs the
poor were consumed the day after their death
"a custom alluded to in an cpigram Of Cali
machus. Among the Romans, several days
we're also allowed to elapSc before inter-
ment-sOmetimcs seven days; during which,
loud cries, in which the deceased was called
by his name, and the noise of various in
strumcntS rcsounded near the body; this
was called the cOHcldmatiO.
The ancientS held hasty inhumation in
great dread, and grounded their apprehen-
sion on various current traditions. Thus
Plato remarks the case of warrior who was
left for ten DAYS on the field Of battle amongst
the dead, and who came 10 life when he was
being borne to the sepulchre. ASclcpiadcs
restored life 10 man who was also consigned
to the funeral pile, and Plny relates the case
of Lucius Ayiola and Lucius Lamin, who
showed signs Of life upon the pile, but were
too much injured to be saved.
Amongst the many absurd fancics regard
ing the dead, WAS the superstitious belief of
their being able to maSticate in their coffin
any substance buried with them. Women
more especially were believed to be gifted
with this post moytcm faculty of moving
their Jaw bones very loudly. Clare Son'tH,
saws the learned Michael RantIt, in his cu-
ri0us and elaborate work, dc mGSticat,One
monworWm. In this apprehension, that the
deceased, i'll their hunger, might devour their
own limbs, articles Of food were inferred
with them.
According to the laws of the Jews, who ap-
pear to have been in constant dread of pes
tilential disease, the inhumation Of the dead
was most hasty. Yet i'll this instance many
Rabbis maintain that the Talmud has been
crroneously interpreted, for although it de-
creed that a night should not be allowed to
pass before Inflammation, it clearly meant that
actual death must have been ascCrtained.
While such fears are entertained of sus-
pended animation being taken for dissolution,
il is strange that in some savage tribes the
aged are allowed to perish without any care
being taken to prolong their lives. Such is
the custom OF some of the ESquimaN, where
old and dccrepit creatures are abandoned in
their huts and left to their fate. An ancient
tradition stated that the inhabitants of the
Isle of SYRIA never died Of any distcmpcr,
bnt dropped into their graves att certain old
age.
Ii would be desirable that in cases where
intermcnt is speedily rcsorted to, Il physi-
elan attend, in order to sustain that death
had actually taken place. This is seldom
practised, from his common saving, "that
it is unciyil on the part OF doctor to visit Il
dead patient" Various means are employed
to ascertain death; the looking-giass applied
70 the mouth of the corpse, to find out
whether breath has departed; the coldness
of the cxtremeties, the falling OF the lower
Jaw, the rigidity of the limbs, and various
but in the villages OF Italy and Portugal, pins
and needles are frequently driven under the
nails, in what is vul carly called the quick, to
excite an excruciating pain ii life should not
have fled The most certain evidence, when
bodies are long kept, is most decidedly the
commencement OF decomposition; but ill
other cases, the action Of the Voltaic pile on
barred muscle is an infa,liblc test.