Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1904-10-08
ROOT SHAPE OF HUMAN BODY.
Tree Grew Over the Burial Place of a
Young Hunter.

Tree Grew Over the Burial Place OF a
Young Hunter.
Stories of petrifcd bodies are common
enough, but so far only two human bodies
turned into wood have ever come to light,
and one Of them is hanging up in the labo-
ratory Of DR.. \. L. Metz. professor of
chemistry in the medical department of
Tulane university The other is in Brown
university, and is said TO be the body of
Roger Williams. Both of these curiosi-
ties We're found at the root of tree. hav-
ing the exact shape of a human body, and
were found in the attempt 10 cXhume a
human body over the spot of whose burial
a tree had grown.
The specimen in DIR. Metz's laboratory
consists of trunk, two legs, ON one of
which is part of Il foot, and ono arm.
The outline is almost perfect. some Of
the details of the human body being out
lined with remarkable precision. The
specimen was sent TO DR.. Metz by what
he calls one Of his boys" in his usual
method OF referring to Tulane medical
graduates. This particular boy" is Il
graduate Of the class of '9G, and is now
Il pIacticing physician III Arkansas,
where the human root, or carbunaceous
human body. or whatever one might
choose To call it. was found.
The body was found under circum-
stances exactly similar to those under
which shat of Roger Williams was found.
A boy about - years old was found dead
one day out in the woods. evidently Killed
by the discharge of a shotgun which he
carried with him. i'll which was found an
empty shell. He also carried other hunt
ng paTaphcrndlia, and everybody came to
the conclusion that he was out hunting
and had accidentally shot himself He
was stranger in the place, and no one
around seemed to know where he came
from or who his people We're. After wait
ing Il while to see if anyone would come
to clam him, and after search and ad-
vertisng proved unavailing. planter
finally took charge of the body and buried
it on his place, planting tree over the
spot for future Identification.
Years later, when the sprout planted BY
the farmer had grown into huge tree.
the almost forgotten incident was recalled
to the people of those parts by the APP
pearance there of certain parties TO whose
ears the story had just come. They said
that from what they had heard of the
story they believed the boy to have beeen
a relative of theirs whose parents were
still living, and who had been mourning
nm rs dead ever since ii fatal day when
he left home on hunting trip. n day that
correspondent with the time of the finding
of the body. They had come TO that
place TO make further investigation, and
upon hearing the story from some of the
inhabitants who still remembered it were
convinced that the body buried under the
tree was that of the boy they were look.
ing for. Permission was given to ex-
hume the body.
Upon digging beneath the tree they
found a carbOnaceous outline of the box
in which he was buried, and inside of this
the carbonaceous outline of a human
body. As in the case of the burial plac.
Of Roger Williams though there was IN
questionable proof that a body had been
buried Mt this spot, some people living
having been present at the burial, no
bones, dust or other signs of a body wprn
to be found. nothing but this human
shaped root that now hangs in the med
zeal department of Tulane.
In discussing the matter with report
er. DIR. Metz said
1T is one of the prettiest demonstra-
tions of the indestructiblity of matter
that know of."-New Orleans Picayuno.