The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1885-12-02
BURIED ALIVE
Some Horrible Instances Of Frenfn i
lurc Interment.

Some Horrible Instances OF Frenfn
turc Interment.
That those supposed to be dead ar
often only in trance. like conditions j
evidenced by the numerous cases of re
covery from apparent death on record
The following instances of the danger!
of supposed death are related at random
from a notebook. Some of these case!
may be found in Walker and Chadwick!
works on sculpture; others in variou;
French and German periodicals.:
"Cardinal Somaglia was seized with a
severe illness from extreme grief. He
fell into a state of syncope, which lasted
so long that the persons around thought
him dead. Preparations were made to
embalm the body. The embalmer had
scarcely penetrated into the cardinals
! chest when the heart was seen to beat.
The unfortunate patient who was return
ing to his senses at the moment had still
sufficient strength to push away the
knife of the surgeon, but too late, for
the lung had been MORALLY wounded,
and the patient died in a most lamentatle
manner"
"Mr. B.. of Poitiers, fell suddenly
into a state resembling death. Every
means for bringing him back to life was
used without interruption. His two
little fingers we're disIocated, and the
soles of his feet were burnt; but, as
none of these procedures seemed to pro-
duce any effect, they were on the point
of placing him in a coffin, when some
one recommended bleeding from the
arms and feet, and he, to the great as
constituent of all, recovered from his
apparent state of death, and declared
that he had heard every word that had
been said, and that his only fear was
that he would be buried alive"
ga frightful case of premature inter
ment occurred not long since at Ton
neins, in the lower Garonne. The vic
tim, a man in the prime of life, had only
a few shovelfuls of dirt thrown in his
grave, when an indistinct noise was
heard to proceed from his co:1in. The
g1avedigger, terrified beyond descrip-
ton, instantly fled to seek assistance,
and some time elapsed before his return.
A crowd collected in considerable num-
bers around the grave and insisted on
the coffin being opened. As soon as the
lid was removed it was aScertained be-
yond a doubt that the occupant had
been inferred alive. His countenance
was frightfully contracted with the
agony he had undergone; and, in his
struggles, the unhappy man had forced
his arms completely out of the winding
sheet in which they had been securely
%envelopcd. A physician was on the
spot and opened a vein. No blood fol-
lowed. The sufferer from inhumation
was beyond the reach of medical art"
''In October, 1887, Mr.. Dechamps. ar
inhabitant of Lyons, France, died at the
end of a short indisposition. His obse-
quies were ordered for the next day.
When the coffin lid was about to be
nailed down at the funeral the corpse
sat upright in its shroud and asked for
something to eat. The persons present
were about to run away in terror, as
from q phantom, but were treasured by
Dechamps himself, who had happily re.
covered from his legargic sleep. Due
care was bestowed on him, and he lived.
After his recovery he stated that he had
heard all that passed around him with
out being able to make any movement or
give any expression to his sensations"
"a midwife of the commune of Paul
han, France, was believed to be dead,
and was put in a coffin. At the end Of
twenty-four hours she was carried to the
church, and from thence to the ceme-
terry. But during its progress the bear
ers felt some movement IN the coffin,
when they found the unfortunate woman
alive. She had merely fallen into a
legargy. She was carried back to her
home, but in consequence Of the shock
she received, only survived the horrible
accident a few days"
cat Bergerac, on the 9th of Decem-
Der, 1912, a man who suffered from con-
tinual want of sleep took a potion pre-.
scribed by a physician; the patient slept
so soundly that he could not be Weakened,
which caused so much. anxiety that he
was bled, the blood flowing feebly drop
by drop. Finally he was declared to be
dead. At the expiration Of a few days
the potion given to the gentleman was
remembered, and an uneasy suspicion
being entertained that the medicine
might have caused apparent death, led
the family to exhume the body. When
the coffin was opened the horrible fact
was apparent to all present. His dis
torted limbs showed how powerful had
been his struggle. He had turned around
in his coffin and suffered long"
MADAM D.. Rue Saint Jean, Caen,
France, appeared to expire after a long
illness on the 18th of February, 1S43.
The last functions of preparing the body
for the tomb were performed during the
night. On Thursday morning the coffin
was brought in, and as the two under
takers were placing the corpse in, it
awoke from a profound lethargy. Madam
is now in a state of health which leaves
little to hope"
DR.. Gordon Smith, in his book on
'Forensic Medicine" states: Il was an
eyewitness of an instance in a celebra-
ted city on the continent where a poor
woman, yet alive, was so:emnly ushered
to the margin of the grave in broad day,
and whose interment would undoubtedly
have occurred save for the interposition
of bystanders."
The daughter of Henry Laurens, first
president of the American Congress,
when an infant was laid out as dead.
When the window of the room was
opened for ventilation the fresh cir re-
vived the supposed corpse and restored
her to her family. This produced such
a profound impression on Laurens that he