The Yellowstone journal. [volume] (Miles City, Mont.) 1893-1901, 1893-07-11
n.lvBT AT THE LAST.
EV0E.S-5 ~ WHICH PHYSICIANS
C-TG..aiigE DEATH.
Mankind Has Always Had "a Horror Of Ee-
ing Buried Alive. and the Cremation Of
the Ancients Stay Have F:een Due to This
Fear-SOm Peculiar Cases.

% ueCetilNe art lIs>i1y oi tLe oTtiudTN
evidences j. death that medical science
has given to this srblect u great deal OF
attention. 1t used to be supposed that
people were often buried alive through
accident. and writers of romance have
dwelt upon this species Of horror with
much JUNCTION. During the war of the
rebellion many soldiers We're said to
have been inferred while living who We're
merely in a lethargy or stupor arising
from loss of blood. exhaustion. cold and
fear Bodies have often been found
turned over in collins. as if the occupants
had walked up and tried to get out. In
numerous ether cases of a similar sort
the tongue has been discovered protrud.
ing from the mouth. az if from suffoca-
ton. and there have been stains from
ble.ding on the burial clothes.
Now. such facts as these were amply
sufficient in former days to convince the
most skeptical that the persons concerned
had been inferred alive. But it is now
known that such phenomena are exhib-
tied by dead bodies under conditions
wholly normal. The turningo of a corpse
in its coffin is brought about by the en-
PutloAOu "a NuO SitStS VI RutICldttlOil
The projection Of the tongue from the
mouth is an effect of the same cause.
Bleeding often occurs after death. In
fact. such IL hemorrhage is known to have
taken place eight days after death. In
this instance the bleeding was from
wounds inflicted during life.
The stoppage of the hearts beating is
not regarded as a satisfactory evidence
of death. In some cases ON record that
organ has apparently ceased to perform
its function for as much as Is min
utes. and yet tie person has revived.
Tidy, the great English authority, speaks
Of the instance of a certain Colonel
T~ownshend. who was seemingly able &c
die at will and to colne to life again
when he chose. On number of occasions
he had deliberately suspended his own
vital processes for a short time. Finally
he consulted physicians on the subject,
deeminy his ability to do this a suffi-
GENTLY abnormal symptom t be some
what alarming. In the presence of the
doctors he voluntarily lapsed into a state
of torpidity. his heart stopped and his
breathing also. II mirror held at his
mouth showing no dimness.
This case WAS apparently unique. AT
the same time the peculiar faculty de-
veloped by Colonel Townshend-whG
died that same night for good and all
bears a seeming likeness to the peculiar
power exhibited by certain fakirs of In
!ia. For centuries II has been a familiar
trick for certain of these fakirs who pos.
sessed the accomplishment to permit
themselves to he buried alive for months.
coming TO life again after being dug up. |
That this remarkable feat IS wholly bona
tide has been satisfactorily demonstrated.
1t has been repeatedly performed i'll the
presence of most skeptical witnesses nn.
der circumstance which preclude all
possibility of deception. 1t is an arti- |
fetal suspensionof vitality. bearing some
relation TO the natural Information o.
bats II other animals.
II the finger Of "A person in whom the
vital spark still fingers be tightly bound
with a piece of string. the end Of the hnr.l
ger will soon become red and then BLUSH. |
But if the individual be dead no such
effect viii be produced by the applica- |
tioh of a ligature. Ii during life "a clean
and bright needle be thrust into the
muscles of the body. the steel rapidly
rusts on being withdrawn. After death
NO such oxidation takes place, it is said.
However. the certainty of this latter test
is disputed. One of the most familiar
methods of determining absence Of life
is that of producing "a blister by heat, as
with the fame of a candle. II the skin
beneath and around the blister becomes
red, the individual lives: otherwise he is
dead.
One of the most reliable tests of this
question is made by'holding the hand Of
the supposed cadaver between the eve
and the light of "A candle or lamp. When
thus examined. the hand of a living per
son has a rosy color between the fingers.
This is not the case with a corpse. Only
. few days ago a woman was found dead
in bed at a hotel in Chicago witha pistol
in her hand and a bullet hole in her tenn
pie. A man who is supposed to have
left her a few hours previously was &C.
cused of having murdered her. but the
coroner's jury decided that it was a case
Of suicide. So far as the newspaper re-
ports indicated. the jury did Aot pay any
to n most important point in
the evidence. Ii the revolver was tightly
in the dead woman's hand, she
must have committed suicide. It is moi,
for another individual to tighten
The relaxed grip Of a dead person upon
weapon.
II the person has committed suicide.
he weapon will be found rigidly grasped
With fingers stiffened by the rigor mortis.
But after death the fingers cannot be
made to take 3 grip firmly. This is re-
as q most important point from
he ~medico-legal standpoint. 1t has de-
ermined the fate Of m accused prisoner
q many a trial. Army surgeons say that
he expressions on the faces Of soldiers
dlled in battle reveal the cause of
leath. Those who have persisted from
word wounds have q look Of repose.
While there is n expression Of pain on