Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-11-27
LIVING susAL IN THE EAST.
Fatal and sOnfatai Inflammation by s.t,,..
of the Orient,

Of the Orient.
The snnals OF eastern nations tn,rish
abundant examples OF this custom Wien
has been rcsorted to from variety ~ mo-
tives and under very different elrcn,n.
stances. The practice may be e,nployed for
the purpose of oxtinguishing life or main
tanning life for long period without food
or drink. There Is Therefore a fatal and
nonfatal kind Of living inhumation Tbe
most common description Of burial aiivo
Camadh) Is leper burial, which used 70 he
very frequently resorted to in India often
at the request or urgent entreatv M tbs
victims of this loathsome disease A hid
was dug by the relatives Of the leper or nv
Other. iepers and the unfortunate cast into
It and smothered with earth In some cases
the wretch was burned to death before
being thrown into the pit. Opium water
was frequently drunk by executioners and
executed on such occasions
This cruel rite fingered in Cashmere and
some parts OF Raipootana till within very
recent years Indeed it Is questionable
whether it is now altogether extinct. Lep-
ers have been known in the extremity OF
their distress and misery TO commit suicide
by jumping into pits Burial alive has also
in India constituted q mode Of suffice. or
voluntary sacrifice Of life by widows, who
have been cast by sympathizing and obhg-
ing relatives, at their own earnest request
into the same graves as their deceased hus-
bands. Homicidal burial alive has been
used us q means Of punishment of crime.
torture, revenge or murder, and the burial
has been In such cases either complete or
incomplete.
The nonfatal form of living burial has
always excited more interest than the fatal.
which, however, supplies material for a
strange and large chapter In the history
of human crime. The phenomenon of hi
bernation yields some sort of oountennnce
to the idea that the animal organism is
capable, under certain circumstances.
namely, conservation of the body, heat,
perfect inaction and preservation from all
external stimuli-of living forweeks, II not
months, without food or drink, and rec
Ords OF prolonged fasting, with or without
sleep, are forthcoming with tho regularity
Of the announcements Of gigantic goose
berries, sea serpents and eight legged
calves.
The alleged proceedings Of Indian fakirs
and Persian dervishes are cited In support
Of the possibility of human Information in
underground cells The proceedings OF
these gentry must, however, be very libcr-
ally discounted They certainly achieve
some very extraordinary feats Of endurance
and self abnegation. Their efforts 20 set at
defiance the laws and inclinations OF the
body, and by contemplation, fasting and
neglect OF the ordinary usages and require.
ments OF life TO mortify the flesh and be-
come absorbed into the divine soul, which
is, according to the tenets OF pedantism, the
spring and essence OF existence, surpass the
physiological possibility and necessarily
engender imposture, which may DO con.
scious or unconscious, or both.
The element of imposture involuntary
or designed, enters into all their proceed
ings, and is seldom either diligently looked
for or detected The love Of the marvelou,
is strongly developed among Orientals, and
fakir stories must be taken with a liberia
grain Of salt, Tales OF prolonged Living
burial are common enough In India, but IL
no case has the proceeding been subjected
to scientific observation or systemati,
watching, and IN some instances the gray,
in which the deyotee has proposed TO hi
bernate has been uncovered after the laps
OF few days and It's occupant found dead
British Medical journal.