The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-09-05

conn tley noticed an almost impercep
tible movement of the lips. A physical,
was called in who Immediately employed
all the restoratives his ingenuity coult
suggest, but at first without any apparen
effect. 1t was not until the second da,
that the lethargy began to yield to thei1
EFFORTS; and yet, on the evening of tht
third day, the patient was apparently a!
we'll as usual
In the same year the Countess Benz
celli was entombed, having died, it was
supposed, of cholera. The coffin was al
first deposited in vault Of the Campo
Santo, to be transferred thence to 8
ncighboring church. This was in Octo
Der. The final rcsting-place in the ca
thedral was ready during the following
February, when the coffin was removed
and opened. The body presented hor
rible aspect. 1t was tolerably we'll pre-.
served, but it bore abundant evidence OF
there having been a terrible dcath-strug.
gle. The face had clearly been torn by
the hands, the hair was in wild disorder
and the right arm was broken. The un-
fortunate lady had been the victim of a
nervous attack, and, on account of tho
prevailing epidemic, had been entombed
within twelve hours.
"A countryman in Charles-Leres, near
Chateau -Thicrry, who was to have been
buried Dec. 27, 1866, was more for
tunate. Just as the priest arrived and
the funeral ceremonies was about to be-
| gin, the cOuntryman raped energetically
on the coffin-cover He was, of course,
Immediately released, when his first de-
mand was for food. He ate whole
roast chicken that had been prepared
| for the funeral guests, and washed it
down with three pints of red wine, which
he doubtless thought was the best evi-
dencc he could give his neighbors that
he was not dead, and had given up all
thought of dying for the present. Hav-
ing thus stayed his stomach, he thanked
the assistants for the honor they had
done him in coming to his funeral, and
| then, as soon as the funeral repast could
be gotten ready, he presided at it in per-
son. During the following three hours
he consumed another chicken and two
pigeons and a considerable quantity Of
wine.
The Able Provost, the famous author
OF Manon Lescaut," was less fortunate
in his experience than was the peasant
One day, in the forest of Chantilly, he
was Frustrated by an apoplcctic stroke
or what was supposed to be one-in con-
sequence of which he was supposed to
be dead until a surgeon began an au-
topsy, and had made several wounds,
which proved fatal. The physician, who
thus brought the abbe to life, only to see
him die of the wounds he had innocently
inflicted, lost his reason.
In a populous city of Northern Italy
! the wife of distinguished jurist was
seized with epileptic spasms, which, to
all appearance, ended in death. The
physicians recognized all the evidences
| OF dissolution; her features were dis
tortcd, checks and eyes sunken, the lips
blue and bloodlcss, skin cold and flabby
| "a phenomenon which, from hour to
hour, become more pronounced Final
! ly, even the spots that usually precedc
decomposition were observed, and, as
| the weather was very warm, it was
| thought advisable not to delay the burial
The woman was laid in a wooden coffin
and deposited in the family vault. Those
who are acquainted with the arrange
! ment of the Italian cemeteries know that
| the individual coffins arc placed in
| inches, one above another, somewhat as
the iolios are arranged on the shelves of
a library. The inches are lined with
thin marble slabs, but left entirely open.
The vault itself, on the contrary, is Sc
curely closed by heavy wooden doors.
In such Il niche the coffin in question
was placed.
| A year later another member of the
urist's family died. The following day
lie went himself to the cemetery to see
which niche the new coffin should be
placed in. When he opened the door the
skeleton of his wife, enveloped in what
remained of her shroud, fell into his
arms.
| A careful examination revealed the
following facts: The woman had burst
off the coftin-lid, and then gone to the
door and made an effort to force it also
but in vain. The double-door would, of
course, tend to deaden her cries, and then
the guardian of the cemetery lived on
the opposite side of the inclosurc. She
must have lost consciousness during hel
efforts to force the doors, for she had
fallen against them, and her habilimcnts
had caught Oh one of their iron fastcn
ings, and in this position she had finally
died. There was, however, abundant
evidence, everywhere in the vault, of hel
having been conscious for a considerable
length of time.
The scene of the following two cases
with which VIC will end our review, is il
England:
One Edward Stapleton died-as was
supposed-of typhus fever. The disease
had been attended by such strange phe
nomena throughout that the physicians
were desirous to make Iost-nortena ex
however, positively refused their con
cided to steal the body-not an unusual
thing in England-in order to satisf,
their curiosity. They communicated
with band Of rascals who at that time
made business of stealing bodies, ant
three days after the funeral had the bod,
of Stapleton brought to the dissccting
room Of a neighboring clinic.
When they made the first incision
which was across the abdomen, the,
were struck with the fresh appearance
} ity of the blood. One of the physician!
| proposed that they should subject til,
body to the action of galvanic battery
| This they did, and obtained abnormal re
suits; the movements and contraction
! of the muscles were more powerful thai
} are usually observed. Toward evening
young student suggested that they shoult
make an incision in the pectoral muscles
and introduce the poles of the batter,
} into the wound. This was done, when
} to their amazement, the body rolled from
the table, remained for a second or tw,
on it's feet, stammered out two or thre'
unintelligible words, and then fell heavil,
to the floor. For moment the Learned
doctors were confounded, but, soon re
gaining their presence of mind, they say
that Stapleton was still alive, although
: he had again fallen into his former leth
, argy. They now applied themselves t,