Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-26
ALIVE In THE GRAVE
The Horror of Burial In State of
Catalepsy.
AN INTERVIEW WITH vRCHoW.
Washington Irving Bishops Case
Scientifically Discussed.
DiSSECTING A LIVING MAN.
The Scientist Thinks the Mind
Reader Was Dead.
WHAT THE BRAIN REALLY DOES.
When the Circulation of the Blood
and Respiration Cease, a Man
1s n Goner-Ihe Need
of Care.
DlSSECTING A LIVING MAN
The Scientist Thinks the Mind
Reader Was Dead.
WHAT THE BRAIN REALLY DOES
An Anato micaI Opinion.

tCopyrtght 1889 by James Gordon Bennstt.1
BERLIN, May 25.-[New York Herald
Cable-Special to Tue BEE. The dread of
being dissected, or buried while in state Of
trance, has occurred to every thinking human
being at least once during his or her life
time. The idea of itself, is such hideous
enc that it is seldom spoken of to another
being 1t is Included among those fancies,
which hover around the feversh bed of
sleeplessness in the silent watches of the
night and flee like an evil spirit at the APP
proach of dawn.
No living man has dissected as many hu-
man beings or inferior animals as Prof.
Rudolf Vlrchow of the University of Ber-
lin. The case of Washington Irving Bishop
is one of such vital interest to the whole
human race that the Herald correspondent
did not hesitate to break in upon
the labors of the great scientist to
ask him, in the interest of humanity, for an
opinion concerning Bishops case. When 1
stated it to him, the Professor paused for
moment and then with that modesty and re.
serve in stating his views, common to all
those whose knowledge is really profound,
he quietly said:
ut is somewhat difficult to give positive
opinion concerning such cases. unless one is
in possession of all the facts bearing on them;
but have no hesitation in saying that the
fact of the brain having been warm at the
time Of its removal is no proof at all that
Bishop was alive at the time the post mortem
examination of his body was made"
AFTER death the internal organs fre-
quently remain warm for long time after
the surface of the body has become cold and
there are certain maladies, mainly of the
nervous system, wherein not only is the
temperature of the brain is not diminished
after death but actually undergoes an in
crease. This has been proved beyond the
slightest doubt by number of experiments
made on man and on the inferior animals.
''1n the whole course of my long experience
as an anatomist, have never known or heard
of case of a man being dissected alive, ex-
cept in one instance, and that is matter of
history, although the evidence IN it is i'm per-
feet. That was the case of Vasel. or
Vaselius, the great anatomist of the Six
teenth century. He revolutionized in break
ing loose from the traditions handed down
from the time of Galen 1t is said that he
lived in concealment somewhere IN Spain
during the last ten years of his life after
having filled a prominent part at tn court as
well as in science, for he was the body sur
geon of Charles v. The reason alleged for
his retirement from the world is that he in
advertently anatomized the body of man
who was alive at the time. This, as say, is
the only case of the kind have ever heard
of, until you mentioned Mr. Bishops, and it
is very far from being sustained.
81 have heard of many cases where per-
sons are alleged to have been burned while
in state of trance, but, sir, in no case thor
oughly investigated was this proven.
Even if it be admitted that Bishop was
alive at the time his brain was removed, the
| allegation that he was conscious of what was
| being done to him then is absurd Conscious
ness Is function of the BRAIN the result of
| its activity. In order that this activity may
| continue, it is necessary to renew a supply
of oxygen to the brain, which can only be
| supplied by means of the blood, and the sup
| ply of oxygen to the blood can only be NAM
| tained as long as respiration is continued If
| the circulation of the blood and respiration
| both cease, the brain is necessarily deprived
| OF the oxygen necessary to the activity,
| which alone produces consciousness. In that
| case decomposition would soon set in, as the
| brain belongs to that portion of the body that
most quickly decomposes
"Our only means of knowing whether life
still exists in the human body are certain
action We have no other means. There is
| often no positive proof that life is extinct;
and on the other hand, there IS no proof to
show it to be still remaining. If respiration
and circulation are discontinued they never.
for the reason above stated, return. The
signs that show their presence may be SO
slight as to escape the closest observation,
but they are there. Breathing still con-
| tinues although so family as not to affect a
| mote In air near the mouth.
L mi. l.
parted or not are the most powerful excit-
ants, a galvanic battery, for instance, one
| pole of which should be attached to the dia-
phram, the most powerful muse lie of respira-
ton, and the other to the medulla oblongata,
which controls the nerves descending from
the head to the neck and is the vital citadel
of the body, the center OF respiration and
| circulation.