Virginia gazette. [volume] (Williamsburg, Va.) 1893-192?, 1897-10-30
FEW ARE BURIED ALIVE.
Tns SIGNS OF DEATH SURE BEYOND
MISTAKE.
when the Heart Ceases Beating. the Jaw
Drop-. the Rye Lc.cs Lossrc. and the
Gray Veil Covers the Face. the Physi-
clan Knows That the End Has Come.

clan Know. That the End Has Come.
Many persons live in fear Of being 4
buried alive. This is pity, since 4, /
is 50 easy 70 distinguish spparen;
death from real death. When asked /
to talk about premature burial. and /
more especially how - distinguish APP /
parent from real death. Dr. George Z. I
Shrs5y. Of this city. said.
1T - really astonishing how many |
persons fear being buried alive. and |
more astonishing the number who /
have their dead disinterred 20 see If
they have been buried alive. This i
done quietly and does not reach the
ears Of the public. A child takes
notion that ats mother has been buried
alive or a husband concludes IN his
hopeless grief that perhsps. after all,
his wife was not dead. and the bodies
are taken up 10 satisfy distorted ina
gina;lon.
There Is little II any csnger Of a
body being buried alive. All of these
horrible stories abou: premature buri-
ais are on a par with the ghost stories
told IN the nursery. the more improha-
BILE they are the more readily are they
believed These stories are circulated
usually IN times Of an epidemic. when
bodies have 70 be disposed Of quickly
In almost all cases where burials
are said - have been premature they
have been investigated by unscientihc
persons Physicians 10 not make any
tests OF death ordinarily when a pa
tient dies II Is altogether unneces-
sArv for them 20 do So. \ scientific
man i never in doubt IN his practice
as - whether a patient = really dead
or not. / don't think there can be
such a thing a. premature burial
where q body can b. examined 10y q
. scientific physician. The phvsioEnomy
i OF death Is SO well known that Il
hardly needs a description. In truth.
IL seems almost absurd 90 talk about
il. There j. the palhd lip. the
dropped Jaw, the lus;reiess eyes. aud
so "a. Besides. any old nurse can see
the approach Of death The poet
speaks ot il Is a gray veil. aud that de-
scribes 10 about o. accurately As any
thing
.'Of course. death approaches diff
ferentlv II different sets OF diseases"
sometimes II comes through the brain
sometimes through the heart. an,
again through the lungs. AL signs III
each are we'll understood by phvsi
clans. and death Is expected by them
Death comes a. a regular. logical con
clusion. aud hsve never yet heard o
a scientific doctor pronouncing a liv'
patient dead
Cases Of apparent death are yer,
49,
burial are still rarer. There are con
dit;ons OF trance where patients ar
apparently dead for days AZ a time. Z
the ordinary observer. A person =
such a condition might be buried aliv
out on the plains OF Ia the woods. @
We might say that a miner could fall !
a cataleptic state and be buried prems
turelv by his fellow miners, but thes
possibilities would not be realized one
Ia a million cases. There are too man
= conditions q take into account. tt
, seat of vital power Is the heart. Whe
that ceases @ beat. person * As dea
: a. julius Gear. An imaginative. a.
: citabTe layman could not listen 20 Il
a heart and distinguish case OF appa
, eat from real death, but doctor b.
10 trouble IN doing this.
=, The creates; danger Of prematui
burial. Il there j. ans ~ all, i ID cas-
i. OF sudden death IN times Of epidemi
q Over century ago several mortua
chambers were established N German
The mrs. WAS q Weimar, aud the secoi
az Munich Dead bodies were broug
- these places aud watched closely
= medical men During the nrst fort
eight hours af.er death bell rope
j., attached 70 tie hand OF the corpse
4 that In case death was not real :
~ slightest movement will ring the be
P Ia all Of these hundred years only on
has the sound Of bell been heard
d, any OF those mort1ary chambers, a.
~ then il was due 20 the relaxation OF
stiffened hand OF q corpse.
J. ITO distinguish apparent from r
J. death many things have TO be tax
a. into account. The signs OF real de'
are manifold. There Is respiratiC
breathing, however, often stops bef'
the heart ceases 70 beat. The dis
pearance Of the pulse a. the wrist
another sign. Almost the instant q
- death occurs the eye loses its lust
"a the pupil dilates, and a tilm comes o
% the eve. Hippocrates, the father