The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1886-07-10


Tho ientilc experimenter and tho reli. q.
iuus clloJ have ever had the same enemy
to o,cr, ome-a moc&ing world. As late
in history MS ln9J George Stephenson used
every e.lort TO have William Brou han:
on, gned to Bcdlun for ad vancing his Won
lerul theory OF steam locomotion, which,
sine its adoption, has proved OF such ben.
cit to man This is but one OF the many
instances whore mans increduity has
been u proof of his Ignorance and lack Of
genius II, then, the innovations in the
form of tho most practical improvements
are looked upon assance by the world, what
a small chance must ab'truse scientific
/ knowledge have of estaUli ,hlns its theories
. and beliefs Yet there comes, from widely
diverg mt arts o, the earth, theory which
makes the most credulou, doubt, and the
most incredu.ous eager TO believe. II Is the
theory of 10 iyiiiyation, 10y which persons
apparently dead can be brought back to
/ lite.
First, the startling announce nent Of Pro-
fessor Grasselback, II distinguished Swedish
! Oh mist of the University OF l psal, III refer
ence to the EgyIta mummies found in "A
state OF perfect preservation in the ancient
| tomb, Of tie Nile surprisei tho scientific
.
! that neither tLer brains nor entrails had
! been removed, h. claims that they were not
embalmeI at all, but are really the bodies
of indii .ua!s whose lives have been mo.
mentarily suspended, with the intention of
restoring them at some future time only
the secret is lost" An instance in modern
his DRY which seems 10 give plausbility to
this belief III suspended animation" is par
t!cularly apropoS
a HINpoO FAEIH's REsUSCtTATION.
Sir Clau!e NJ. Wade political resident at
Ludianah, British agent at the court of
Ruy it Singb, airms most solemnly that he
| saw faaIr OF Hindostan brought back 10
life after being apparently dead for six
We Ks, at Lahore, in 1891. lie says he ar
rived at the place few hours after the
fakir had been buried; the Runjit Singh
and other responsible persons testifying to
the truth OF his death. The tomb contain
Ing the body was a luure room, called a
barra durii, situated in the garden djoin.
lns tue palace 1t had four doors, three of
which were hermetcally sealed, the fourth,
o. iron eng secured with a paddock, the
hole of which was sealed with the private
seal of the ia ali; hence there was no pos
sible means of entrance or egress. Besides
these precautions two companies kept guard
to pre-, ent fraul. At the end OF the SIX
weeks number OF diynitaries assembled to
witness tie resuscitation, and, on opening
the coffin, ST.. Claude Wade says the limbs
OF the fakir were shrunken as If in death,
the face only looking full and natural The
corpse was then subjected to a system Of
treatment in which hot applications to the
head and limbs were prominent, and in less
than half an hour the fakir was talking
freely The interest thus awakened in the
British agent, resulted i'll his subsequently
making Investigations bearing on the sub
ject, during which he learned that the ra
tionale of the process rested Oh the view of
the Hinloo physiolo sists that n ,at consti-
tutes the self existent principle of life, and
that ii tn. funct ous even he so far inter
rupted as TO leave this one in perfect pur
ity, life can bo retained for long periods
without air, fool OF other means OF susie
nance.
That such q thing as suspending ANNA
ton was really known and practicci at so
late a date n, the nineteenth century makes
it more than protaole that it was known to
the ancientS That there was a mysterious
"black art known to. and practiced by,
the people of the east is no myth, but that
all knowledge of il was lost IN the destruc-
ton OF the Alexandrian library, except
what tradition has handed down, is equally
certain. The object now, however, of the
scientific Investigator is to discover the
ecret by which this suspended animation
may be restored.
Mr. Franci, Gerry Fairfield, in his essay
OF apparent DEATH" gives an instance
where the knowledge terminated tragcally.
\ ertaln ia A. Ct l'uttiali, named thul,
,F F.is, do a 4, al
the hands Of hi. creditor, by dying suddenly;
his body was then given to his wife, Eeaai
Bali who lad it taken back TO IS home
and by her knowledge of the 81 ret OF reviv-
lica.lon, restored hun 10 ino original con Ii
ton. Later on, however. lie had occasion
to play the same sharp tt OK, but having III
the meantime married another vile unac-
uuainled with the art, AMI who believed him
eally dead, his body was burnt with due
ceremony.
Now we presume this is what Professor
Grasselback belle es 20 have happened to
those mummie, fuuu Ill the touhS OF the
Nile; that for some reason of their own
their animation had been suspende and
before the period set for their return to lie
had ELAPSED those possessed OF the secret
hal died and their secret with them. The
prose s)r presents many proofs OF his theory
of revivihcation. most convincing OF which
arc his own successful experiments during
the past ten or more years. lie claims 20
have treated a live snake in such way as
to make it present In every PARTICULAR the
chara teristics of q marble one even TO the
extreme brittleness; having preserved 1t IN
this condition for several years, he applied
to IL some stimulating fluid, known only to
himself, 10y which it was restored to life. This
he repeated many times for fifteen years,
during which the SNAKE was alternately
| netrited and reviNitied at the will II the
professor, who was SO delighted with his
success that be has petitioned the Swedish
Government to allow him some OF the con-
| demned criminals TO experiment on, prom
isipg TO bring them back to life n the end
of two years, the criminals to be then par
loned.
Mr. james L. Finch and DR.. Armitage,
| in our own country, give some Interesting
accounts OF resuscitating animals apparently
dead One was Il dog they killed by bleed
ing. and afterwards brought back TO life by
inserting the blood Of living dog IN its
veins. . q,
The theory Of VI. Robin. the distinguished
French chemist. il allied to reiuvenation,
che fnith of the Rosicrucians, who, 1t was