Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1874-09-04

| was called In VINO lmmeQ1aLely emp1Oyeu
all the restoratives his ingenuity could
suggest, but at first without any apparent
effect. 1t was not until the second day
that the lethargy began to yield to their
efforts; and yet, on the evening OF the
third day, the patient was apparently as
we'll as usual.
In the same year the Countess BENZ
celli was entombed, having died, 1T was
supposed, of cholera. The coffin was at
| first deposited in vault of the Campo
| Santo, to be transferred thence to a
neighboring church. This was in Octo-
ber: The final resting-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 well pre-
served, but it bore abundant evidence OF
there having been terrible death-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 the
prevailing epidemic, had been entombed
within twelve hours.
A countryman in Charles Leres, near
| Chateau -Thierry, who was to have been
| buried Dec. 81, 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 a 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-
dence 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 apoplectic stroke
or what was supposed to be One-in con-
sequence of which he was supposed to
be dead until 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
torted, cheeks and eyes sunken, the lips
blue and bloodless, skin cold and fabby
"a phenomenon which, from hour to
hour, become more pronounced. Final
ly, even the spots that usually precede
decomposition were observed, and, as
the weather was very warm, it was
thought advisable not to delay the burial.
The woman was laid in 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 are placed in
inches, one above another, somewhat as
the folios are arranged on the shelves OF
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.
was placed.
A year later another member of the
urist's family died. The following day
he 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 coffin-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 inclosure. She
must have lost consciousness during her
efforts to force the doors, for she had
fallen against them, and her habiliments
had caught on one of their iron fasten-
ings, and in this position she had finally
died. There was, however, abundant
evidence, everywhere in the vault, of her
having been conscious for a considerable
length of time.
The scene of the following two cases.,
with which we will end our review, is. in
| 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 a p0st-m0rtem ex-
animation of the case. The relatives,
however, positively refused their con-
sent. The physicians consequently de-
cided to steal the body-not an unusual
thing in England-in order to satisfy
their curiosity. They communicated
with band of rascals who at that time
made business of stealing bodies, and
three days after the funeral had the body
of Stapleton brought to the dissecting-
room of neighboring clinic.
When they made the first incision,
which was across the abdomen, they
were struck with the fresh appearance
of the flesh and the clearness and limpid-
ity of the blood. One of the physicians
proposed that they should subject the
| body to the action of a galvanic battery
This they did, and obtained abnormal re-
/ suits; the movements and contractlons
| of the muscles were more powerful than
are usually observed. Toward evening a
young student suggested that they Should
! make an incision in the pectoral muscles
and introduce the poles of the battery
into the wound. This was done, when,
to their amazement, the body rolled from
the table, remained for second or two
on it's feet, stammered out two or three
unintelligible words, and then fell heavily
to the floor. For moment the learned
doctors were confounded, but, soon re-
gaining their presence of mind, they saw
that Stapleton was still alive, although
he had again fallen into his former leth
argy. They now applied themselves tx
resuscitating him, in which they were
successful. He afterward said that dur
ing the whole time he was fully conscious
of his condition and of what was passing
around him. The words he attempted tx
1r-o-a 80. .1.~-sr,