Las Vegas daily optic., 1907-04-16
SIMPLE CHEMICAL
PLACED ON PAPER


TIE seird iaaginasoas of Poe and
Haffmsa delighted % dxell O. the
grewsome possibilities II premature
burial. in which they perceive equal
apaoEtanatias for the grosesqne and
tie terrible. u was not thea sup
posed BY the generA reader that
such intermenfs we're likely To take
pase In real life. for more recent In
sexsigaflons of the subject seem 20
prove that the burial alive Of an un-
c"nscioas victim frequently occurs
where ignorance Is combined With
undue haste.
In sn exhaustive paper contributes
70 Ia Nature By DE. IeaEd. q distin-
gxished physician of aarseilles. the
wwhole subject 10 treated In q purely
scientific manner. He opens his ar.
gnnent by citing from the French
journals Of today tho case Of an old
noncoumissioned officer OF a line
regiment who was buried alive at
Angouieme. In continuation he
seeks 20 prove that such cases are
by no means rare and shows how ca
~ II IL 90 mistake suspended ami.
nation for death. He quotes from
various publications xtories OF q kind
which he thinks should convince the
most ineredulous. There are many
instances on record where men and
women. apparently dead, have shown
symptoms Of returning life Just In
time TO escape premature burial.
The dangers DR.. Ieard wishes to
avoid arc those most likely to occur
In isolated country districts. where
tho medical man makes his round at
long intervals and may be absent
when . scientific test Of life or
death Ii most needed.
This IL so simple that when once
explained. II can be understood by
the least intelligent Of men, and It's
application does not enecessItate the
presence Of q physician. The old
practice. I'm the absence Of a doctor.
vas 70 walt. II there existed any
doubt Of death being actual. until the
corpse was I'm an advanced state OF
putrefaction: but this. as N. Icard
points out. was 30 grave q menace
to public health that It was rarely
resorted to.
by the new automatic test all un.
certainly II at once dispened. and
tho premature burial Of a living mas
or woman becomes impossible.
This, process consists In placing
two pieces Of paper sensitized with
asatate Of lead directly over the nos.
trils Of the supposed corpse. In these
fragments have been traced invisible
designs or inscriptions which are q.
once brought to view by the faintest
hint Of approaching decomposition
Small silver coins. held in place by
paper bandalettes. may be used In
the same manner. and the unprotec.
ted surface will at once become tar.
nished In the presence OF actual
death.
These tests are regarded as So
positive In their results that q cert.
ficate automatique is now granted. In
the absence OF regular medical
practitioner. by the local authorities
I'm the municipalities where the
deaths may have occurred In the
opinion Of DR. Icard. the new method
does away with very grave men
ace to the health Of whole communi.
ties, while IL makes the premature
burial OF a living person impossible
He urges the people OF France, es-
pecially these In the country dis.
trfcts. to avail themselves at once Of
these simple tests, and he praises
those municipalities of which Besan.
con and Bordeaux were the first, In
which the automatic method of
proving death to be actuaI has been