The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-11-24

cases, practically allow the death IN ba
assumed, and do not insist that certain
medical ritual shall be gone through in
order to insure that death has really taken
place.
mo doubt in many cases-nay. in Q 900
cases in 10,000-the opening of a vein If
that would be the ultimate test would be
the merest formality; but every now ami
then some such simple formality Womb
save life, and possibly prevent the IN.
conscious iptiiction of the most awful tor
ture of which the human mind can con-
ceive.
of burying alive is grossly eXaggerated
Indeed, there are many men who stoutlv
deny that it exists at all, as a danper
which can reasonably be taken into ac-
count. These men class it with the r{el,
of the earth being baked brown bv a snd'
den increase in activity in the sun or bv
the impact of a comet With this view
entirely disagree. l do not believe that
there are very many cases of burying
alive, but / cannot doubt that a distinct
percentage of cases takes place every
year The Science Notes of Tuesday's
Daily Chronicle contain a string of facts
in regard to burial alive of a very nor
rible kind. One story is quoted from
medical monograph on the subject. by DR..
Franz Hartmann OF Boston. "A young
lady was actually prepared for the grave
while conscious of all that was passing
yet, like a person in a nightmare. quite
unable to stretch out her limbs, to cry. or
to open her eyes. 1t was only when She
perspired in her mental agony that the
mourners suspected the true state of mat
tiers. Then she aWoke and gave a most
pitiable Shrek Here the fact that the
trance was not of the unconscious kind.
saved the woman's life. If her brain had
been entranced, as well as her body she
would not have been subject to the mem
tai agony which, acting on her tissues.
gave warning OF her state Mr.. William
son. a correspondent of the Daily
Chronicle of London, points out that we
need not go to America for proofs Of this
terrible danger, inasmuch as cases are
not infrequently reported in the daily and
weekly English press The following, he
points out, are the titles of cases from
well known journals:
" Buried Alive, "A Grewsome Nara
tive, Premature Burial Mistaken for
Dead "A Woman's Awful Experience
Almost Buried While Alive A Woman
Buried Alive Revivication After Burial
"A Lady Nearly Buried Alive Sounds
From Another Coffin The Dead Alive
etc. That a person should be able to
draw up this last from the newspapers
markable. These all allude to cases in
which the discovery was actunally made
that death had not taken place. Can It
be called sensational or imaginative %
or more cases in which the discovery was
"As 1 have said above. 1 do not see
why it should not be part of the duty
of the doctor who grants the death GER
tificate to see that the person assumed
to be dead is actually dead. Why should
ne not De Cdll6u upon, nfSI, TO ceTuly
that he has made an examination and has
come to the conclusion, owing to the fact
that the blood is CONCEALED or that pu-
trefaction has set in. or that there is
some other absolute indication, such as
the discooration of the skins of the alb
domen, that death has taken place,
and secondly, that death was due to
such and such a cause? If this was done,
and If the doctor were obliged TO state
shortly, on the face of the certificate
what were the indications on which he
based the assurances that death had
taken place, there would be little or no
risk of burial alive. Even the most care
less practitioner would hardly like to say
that he had found absolute proof that
death had taken place, when in fact
he had not. OF course, 1 only make these
suggestions by way of illustration, and
not with view to their specific adoption
To do that we should want to be in pos
session of a scientific definition of death,
and, as far as We know, that has not
yet been given. Is the congealing OF the
blood in the veins and arteries a certain
sign of death? Or, again, is death in the
last resort the ceasing Of that in the hu.
man body which prevents putrefaction OF
the frame as a whole and not merely OF
its parts2 It would be better to cut the
carotid artery or put a steel needle
through the heart, even at the risk OF
killing a few entranced subjects, tnah
to bury alive one man per million.