The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-13

a u-N ulNtdles QulAt Aihule 10 atEtANh NAN
her limbs or to cry. or TO open her eyes.
IL was only when she perspired In her
mental agony that the mOurners sus-
pectcd the true state OF matters Inen
she spoke ana uttered a most pitahle
shrek. Here the fact that the trance
was not of the unconscious kind saved
the womau's life. If her brain had been
entrance, as well as her body, she would
not have been subject TO the mental
agony which. acting on the tissues, gave
warning Of her state
Mr.. Williamson. a correspondent OF the
Daily Chronicle. points out that we need
not 20 TO America FOR proof of TINS ter
rble danger, inasmuch as cases are not
infrequently reported IN the daily ana
weekly press ~ home" The following,
he points ont, are the titles or recent
cases from well known journals, copies
OF which lie before me-" Buried Alive.
"A Grewsome Narrative" premature
Burial Mistaken for Dead "A Wo-
mans Awful Experience" Almost Bur
Alive" "Revivication After Burial" "a
Lady Nearly Buried Alive" sounds from
Another Coflin," THE Dead Alive etc.
That a person should be able TO draw up
this list from the newspapers OF the last
week or two is sufficiently remarkable.
These all allude TO cases in which the dis
Covcry was actually made that death had
not taken place. Can II be called sensa-
tional or imaginative to assert that there
must have been as many or more cases
I'm which the discovery was not made
Mr.. Williamson comments very senslbly
on the facts which he adduces. After
stating that women are more subject TO
trance than men, he goes on: How Of
ten do we read OF sudden deaths-of per-
sons going to bed perfectly we'll and
found apparently dead In the morning
verdict, heart disease, followed by prompt
burial Or. Hartmann's investigations
show that in many Instances the sup
posed deaths are really cases of trance or
catalepsy. from which the unfortunate
Nufa HNaaHnH
not been buried alive. The London
Cremation Society has pointed out. the
importance OF reform, and requires two
Independent medical certificates Of death;
and the highest authorities now affirm
that advanced putrefaction is the only
sure evidence that life is extinct"
IL may he said that the diffusion Of the
knowledge that there Is a perceptible
chance OF burying alive will be quite suf-
fcient to prevent any risks for the future,
and will insure private individuals Insist
ing on medical men making absolutely
sure that death has taken place. Those
who argue this ignore how many thousands
of superhuous people there are in the world
people who. though in no danger of be-
Ing put out of the way, create, when they
die. distinct feeling Of relief. The fam
lily would not lift a finger to inJure the
tiresome old mother or grandfather the
quarrelsome invalid daughter. or the Grip
pied son with the temper of a fiend; but
when they die there is we may be sure
no passionate desire to bring them back to
life. Death is accepted as a release for all
concerned, and on one wishes to be doubly
sure that life is extinct. 1t sounds horri-
bic to write as we are writing but when
people live hard, and three-quarters Of
the world live so. they are apt to have
their feelings indurated. They would not
kill. but hold
They need not strive
obviously TO keep alive.
That is an addition 10 the commandment
very widely accepted; and It would GER
tainly, though uncOnsciously, no doubt,
more than consciously, tend to prevent
people from making too sure that their
disagreeable and burdensome relatives had
not merely fallen into a trance. We want,
then, to do something more than awaken
opinion If we are to get rid OF the risk Of
burial alive.
AS we have said above, we do not see
why 1t should not be part OF the duty OF
the doctor who grants the death certin-
cate to see that the person assumed to be
dead Is actually dead. Why should he not
be called upon, first TO certify that he
has made an examination, and has come
to the conclusion, owing to the fact that
the blood is CONCEALED, or that putrefac-
ton has set in, or that there is some
other absolute indication, such as the dis
colonization Of the skin Of the abdomen,
that death has taken place, and secondly,
that death was due to such and such a
cause? If this were done, and the doc
tor obliged to state shortly, on the face
Of the certificate, what were the indica-
tons on winch ne DdSeQ the assurance
that death had taken place. there would
be little or no risk of burial alive Even
the most careless practitioner would hard
ly like to say that he had found absolute
proof that death had taken place when
In fact he had not. OF course we only
make these suggestions by way of Illus
tration, and not with a view of their spe-
cifc adoption. To do that we should
want TO be in possession of a scientific
definition of death, and, as far as we
know, that has not yet been given. Is the
congealng 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 human body which prevents
putrefaction Of the frame as a whole and
not merely Of it's parts? What answer
the doctors give to these questions we do
not know, but at any rate we shall be
safe is assuming that they have some alb
solute test of death which could be ap-
piled and acted upon by a doctor before
certifying person to be dead. 1t would
be better to cut the carotid artery or put
a. steel needle through the heart, even
at the risk Of killing few entranced sub
jects, than to bury alive one man per
million That Is, If no sure test of death
can be found 1t would be better TO "mak
siccar" than to leave any uncertainty in
regard to premature burial.