Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1898-09-01
ALTVEjIN THE,GRAtVE.
FOR SUCH A,FAN ARE
EXTREMELY REMOTE.

Greatest Dssnger of PremAturet Burial
Exists-The,Death Test That IsLApplied
In Vienna.
Most of us have lingering love of
life, and the thought that there is just
| the barest possibility of being buried
alive sends a shudder through ne.
Medical men know that the human
body in time of illness and at other
times, too, is liable to assume all the
outward, appearances of deathi without
the final separation having actually
taken place. There are the coma, cata-
leptic and ,other forms of the uncon-
scious state, each one bringing in its
trend the REPRESENTATION of death.itself
Happily, aunedicalman nowadays, 4"
said physician to a reporter, ''expe-
riences no difficulty undertaking hisp
tient TO be dead, general rule, but
it may perhaps happen once in his life
time that he may have doubt, in
which case conviction either wa3fol-
lows upon his findings. which areJsim
pie and conclusive, and in which he
cannot be mis- taken.
at is unfortunately true thafthere
are thousands pof nervous people now
walking about in fear of beingyburied
alive. this morE id conviction looming
about through reading of an isolated
case happening here andtthere, where
perhaps some one has hadiaInarrow es-
cape of being subjected to n living bGrial
"These escapes greatly outnumber
those of the actual occurrence itself.
The cataleptic usually show signs of
life just in the niUk of time TO disap-
point the undertakers and to relieve sor-
rowing friends.
"Of course, much,of the. evidence ON
which the allegation of premature
burial is based depends on tlie factJ that
bodies on elimination, have been foCca-
sionally found distorted, thereby foster
ing the notion that this or that occu-
pant of the coffin has, died from suffo-
cation, theory whicl is supportedyb
the favorable condiri on of other /ex-
humed bodies.
''Rut the idea is altogether wrong, in
fact and In principle. lit is WELL known
among those who have' made itta study
that the apparent distortions instead
of demonstrating living burial, pure
ly depend upon natural Scauses drought
about by decomposition the Influence
of which is sufficiently strong enough
to bulge out, and even burst, leaden
collins. This phenomenoLr does not hap
pen in every case, but itsdoes in a great
many.
"No, mol shall notigo.so far as to
say that n premature burial has never
taken place, but it has not,occurred so
often as is thought. 1 daressay it'may
occur i'll times of plaques and pesti
lences. where the presumed dead are
buried within q few hours of death.
That is where much mischief lies But
when panic prevails where does thought
come in?
''In plaques, such as cholera, the
state of collapse is soIprofonnd that it
may perfectly simulate;death,itself, but
the custom of burying the dead on, the
day of death is fortunately on the wane,
even during advanced ep5demics. 1t is
probable that in the absence of medical |
aid III panic times in country places
abroad it has led to living burial-in-
deed it must have done. But theJlast |
end of all under such conditions is,mer- |
ciful, for it must not be forgotten that |
If you are unconscious only while be, |
ing Theoretically sealed in your coffin |
you Will never again experience volun- |
tary motion or sensation.
However, where the doctor can be |
consulted, living burial is impossible |
wen - * SLOASAA GsAAiASs Az ShCAO dAO 1
certain bodily movements which .gener- |
ally occur after death from cholera, in |
the absence of which n medical man |
would hesitate to certify forIburial.
I'm ages gone by and i'll 'uncivilized
countries still it is possible 'that uncon-
scious cataleptics, or persons dragged to
apparent death, may have been and
perhaps still are occasionally buried
alive, but 1 do not believe that in our
own country or in any civilized land
such events are possible.
''In Vienna the custom prevails of
taking body to the mortuary on the
eve of burial, where it is tested.
Thimbles are placed on the fingers of
the dead, to which are attached wires
connected with the mortuary bells.
'tHave the bells ever rung? Yes, once.
at Is impossible for doctor to mis-
take Inconsistencies in its varied forms
for death.
'Some time ago it was suggested that
a law should be passed making it COM
pulsory for u medical man TO test bodies
before giving a certificate of death.
Testing by electricity was thought of,
but it is al oY,en question Yet whether
electricity kills or only stuns. At all
events we in this country are not con-
WINGED that such a test would be salts
factory or afford sufficient evidence of
death, although it has its value. On the
other hand, l don't think legislation of
this kind is necessary. 1t would GER
tainly reflect upon the medical profess
sion.
1.-The Viennese custom is wise one,
and 1 should like to see it more gener-
ally adopted. Pearson Weekly.