The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1889-06-12
LIFE OR:DEATH?
THE MYSTERIOUS PHENOMENA
, OF SUSPENDED ANIMATION.
The Difficulty Of Distinguishing tht
Living From the Dead-Re-
markable Case of the
Fal1ir Of Lahore.

the writer says:
There is the case of Colonel Townsend.
He was able of his own volition to simu-
late death so closely that all the usual
signs of that change were present. DR.!
George Cheyne witnessed this operationj
and has recorded it in detail. Colonel
Townsend remained apparently dead for
fully half an hour. On one occasion hd
performed the experiment in the presence
of three medical men, who found that
respiration and pulsation gradually ceased
until no trace of either could be detected.
In fact, the three observers became con;
vinced that the man really was dead, and
they were about to leave him, under that
belief, when signs of life appeared, and
he slowly revived. This may not have
been catalepsy, but it was certainly case;
of suspended animation.
DR.. W. B. Carpenter says in his
"Physiology:" "It is quite certain that
an apparent cessation of all the vital
functions may take place without that
entire loss of vitality which would leave
the organism in the condition of dead
body, liable to be speedily disintegrated'
by the operation of chemical and physical
agencies" 1t is also apparently fact
that such "apparent cessation of the vital
functions" may continue for an indefinite,
period when the right conditions exist:
The best known illustration of this is the,
case of the Fakir of Lahore, who was
buried for six weeks, at the instance of
Runjeet Singh, as attested by Sir Claude
Wade, the British Resident at the Court
of Loodhiana, in 1887. In this thor.
oughly authenticated case-which, how
ever, is but one of class of similar facts
known to Anglo-Indians and travellers
the Fakir was first put into linen bag,
the bag was placed in wooden box,
fastened with paddock, the wooden box
was deposited in cell in the middle ofa
square brick vault, every aperture of
which but one was bricked up, while the
remaining door was built up with mud
above the lock, and fastened with the
Raiah's seal. As final precaution,
company of soldiers was detailed to guard
the vault day and night, four sentries
constantly patroling its four sides dur
ing the whole period. When, at the ex-
piration of six weeks, the vault and the
box were successfully opened, Sir Clande
Wade, who, with Runjeet Singh, had
entered the building, and taken their
places close to the body, so as to see
everything, this is what appeared before
them: "The servant then began pour
ing warm water over the figure; but as
my object was to see if any fraudulent
practices could be detected, proposed to
Runjeet Singh to tear open the bag and
have perfect view of the body before
any means of fresuscitatiep were employed.
I accordingly did so; and may here re-
mark that the bag, when first seen by US,
appeared mildewed, as if it had been
buried some time. The legs and arms of
the body were shriveled and stiff, the
face full, the head reclining on the
shoulder like that of corpse. I then
called to the medical gentleman who was
attending me to come down and inspect
the body, which he did, but could dis
cover no pulsation in the heart, the
temples, or the arm. There was, how
ever, a heat about the'region of the brain,
which no other part of the body ex-
hibited.
"The servant then recommended bath
ing him with hot water, and gradually
relaxing his arms and legs from the rigid
state in which they were contracted, Run
jeet Singh taking his right and his left
leg, to aid by friction in restoring them
to their proper action; during which
time the servant placed hot wheaton
cake, about an inch thich, on the top of
the head-a process which he twice or
thrice renewed. He then pulled out of
his nostrils and ears the wax and cotton
with which they were stopped; and after
great exertion opened his mouth by in
serting the point of knife between his
teeth, and, while holding his jaws open
with his left hand, drew the tongue for
ward with his right-in the course OF
which the tongue flew back several times
to its curved position upward, in which
it had originally been, so as to close the
gullet. He then rubbed his eyelids with
ghee Tor clarified butter forsome seconds,
until he succeeded in opening them, when,
the eyes appeared quite motionless and
glazed. After the cake had been applied
for the third time to the top of his head.
his body was violently convulsed, the
nostrils became inflated, respiration en-:
sued, and the limbs began to assume a
natural fulness; but the pulsation was
still family perceptible. The servant
then put some of the ghee on his tongue,
and made him swallow it. A few min
utes afterward the eyeballs became di-
lated, and recovered their natural color,
when the Fakir, recognizing Runjeet
Singh sitting close to him, articulated, in
a low, sepulchral tone, scarcely audible:
do YOU believe me now2' Runjest,
Singh replied in the affirmative, and in
vested the Fakir with pearl necklccc
and superb pair of gold brccelets, and
pieces of muslin and silk, and shawla
forming what is called khelat, such aT
is usually conferred by the Princes OF,
India on persons of distinction. FROM
the time of the box being opened to the
recovery of the voice, not more than half
an hour could have elapsed: and in an
other half hour the Fakir talked with
myself and those about him freely
though feebly, like sick person; and
we then left him, convinced that there
had been no fraud or collusion in the cx-
hibition we had witnessed"
This case, so circumstantially narrated,