The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1872-10-09
A Dead Woman Turned to Wax.

'NN s4iN oou'h DSuu NiHu.l IElDune.
Ten years ago this month, Mrs. Anna
Reese, mother of Mrs. Mary Owens. of this
city, died from overwork, and was buried in
the Lakevlle Cemetery. At the time of her
death she was in her fifty-third wear. a me-
dium-sized, well-kept woman, and weighed
rs nearly as can be remembered about 15O
pounds. Some time ago Mrs. Owens deter
mined to remove her mothers remains to
the cemetery here, and on Saturday last
the grave was opened by the city sexton. e.
Peak, and Mr.. Deal, of the firm of Myers &c
Deal, and they found themselves unable to
handle the coffin, on account of its great
weight. 1t was supposed that the corpse had
become petrifed, and on raising the coffin
from the grave it was opened, and although
petrlfaction had not taken place, the corpse
was as perfect as the day it was placed in
the coffin. After it had been brought to this
city more careful examination was given it,
1t was estimated to weigh about two hundred
pounds.
The whole body was perfectly preserved
even to such parts as the tongue. which
could be moved back and forth i'm the mouth.
The expression of the face was retained. ana
tne color OF the face was natural, except for
It's waxy appearance. The shroud, when
exposed to the air, fell to dust This is the
first instance known here of this kind of con-
version OF the flesh of dead body into what
is technically called "adipocere"- product
oi the decomposition of flesh, which looks
like spermaceti-although there are many
cases on record where the bodies of soldiers
who were buried in trenches, in low, wet
grounds, at Shiloh, have been reinterred.
Ihls change rarely occurs except where the
lnterment has been made in moist places. as
was first brought to pu lie notice in 1871 at
the cemetery of the Innocents in Paris.
The INTRODUCTION OF GRAvER CoIoRs
INTO DREss.-Down to the time of the bat
tie OF Pavia, or thereabout, Spanish influence
in dress had been unfelt beyond the Pyrenees
In truth, the Christians of Spain, engaged
Tor centuries in their long grappe with the
Moors, were of no more account to other ma
tlons than If their country had been on the
south of the Mediterranean. PoliticaIIv
speaking, Spain was in Africa not in Europe.
She had more to do with armaments at Fee.
with revolution in Tafilet, the rise of cali
pilates and the incursion of Amazirghs. than
what happened in France and Flanders She
could send few lances to the Crusades The
lnhdels were at her threshold, and every
nerve had to be strained to keep the crescent
from bearing down the cross. At last the
Moor grew feeble and Spain, mistress of
the Netherlands and half of Italy, with her
fires ablaze for Jew and Moslem, with her
sternly disciplined infantry aud tall war-ships
horrent with cannon, the silver of sub
Ject continent gorging her exchequer. as
sumed very high place in the scale of ma
tions 1t so happened that the Spaniards-
probably through their aversion to the favor
ite Moorish whitehead peculiar liking for
black garments, and that this fancy was
strongest among the aristocraey Sancho
Panza speaks of some richly dressed person
as being in ''gold and jewels like a foreign
count" and, indeed, the hidalgos of CASTLE
were prone to leave gay hues to the alien, and
to wear few ornaments beyond a weighty gold
chain and a collar of pearls. The Puritans
then in every land, becoming formidable, had
for widely different reasons an adherence of
glittering colors and gew-gaws, and the don
and the preSician between them brought in
that custom of wearing sober black, which
has gained ground ever since. until in the
United States it almost rises to the dignity of
national uniform.-AU the Year Round