NUMBER OF CASES OF PREMATURE BURIAL.
THOSE interested in the movement, if we are right in designating the
widespread feeling of discontent by this name, are occasionally asked
if the cases of premature burial are numerous, and what estimates,
if any, have been made of them. We have no means of answering these
queries. We do not even know the percentage of people who are subject
to trance, catalepsy, shocks, stroke of lightning, syncope, exhausting
lethargy, excessive opium-eating, or other diseases or conditions
which produce the various death-counterfeits. Personal inquiries over
a considerable portion of Europe, America, and the East prove that
such cases are by no means of infrequent occurrence, and this is the
deliberate conclusion of nearly all the authorities cited in this
volume.
Dr. Chambers wrote in 1787--“Every age and country affords instances
of surprising recoveries, after lying long for dead. From the number
of those preserved by lucky accidents, we may conclude a far greater
number might have been preserved by timely pains and skill.”--_Cited in
Mort Apparente et Mort Réelle, p. 17._
In his introduction to the work above cited, “Information Relative
to Persons who have been Buried Alive,” by Henrich Friedrich Köppen,
Halle, 1799, the author says:--“General Staff Medical Officer, D. O.
in D., states that, in his opinion, one third of mankind are buried
alive.” This estimate is very obviously exaggerated, although many
trustworthy experiences prove that a certain number of those who die
have returned to consciousness in their graves. A great many are buried
alive from ignorance of their relatives, who mistake coldness of the
body, stoppage of the pulse and breathing, the colour of death, spots
of discolouration, a certain odour, and stiffness of the limbs--which
are only deceptive signs, not the signs of real death.
[DR. HUFELAND’S ADVICE.]
The very respectable Dr. Hufeland says:--“One cannot be too careful in
deciding as to life or death, therefore I always advise a delay of the
funeral as long as possible, so as to make all certain as to death. No
wonder when those who are buried alive, and who undergo indescribable
torture, condemn those who have been dearest to them in life. They will
have to undergo slow suffocation, in furious despair, while scratching
their flesh to pieces, biting their tongues, and smashing their heads
against their narrow houses that confine them, and calling to their
best friends, and cursing them as murderers. The dead should not be
buried before the fourth day; we even have examples that prove that
eight days or a fortnight is too soon--as there have been revivals as
late as that. I say every one should respect those who only seem to
be dead. They should be treated gently, and kept in a warm bed for
thirty-six hours.”
Mr. John Snart, in his “Thesaurus,” pp. 27, 28, London, 1817,
says:--“The number of dreadful catastrophes, arising from premature
interment, ... that have been _discovered_ only, or have transpired
to man, _above ground_, both in ancient and modern times, conveys to
every reflecting mind the fearful thought that they are but a _sample_
(per synecdochen) out of such an incalculable host, perhaps one in a
thousand.”
Professor Froriép, quoted in Kempner’s volume, says that--“In 1829,
arrangements were made at the cemetery, New York, so as to bury the
corpses in such manner as not to prevent them communicating with the
outside world, in case any should have awakened to life; and among
twelve hundred persons buried six came to life again.” In Holland, the
same author states, of a thousand cases investigated, five came to life
before burial or at the grave. The Rev. J. G. Ouseley, in his pamphlet
on “Earth to Earth Burial,” London, 1895, estimates “that two thousand
seven hundred persons at least, in England and Wales, are yearly
consigned to a living death, the most horrible conceivable.”
The Rev. Walter Whiter, in the “Disorder of Death,” 1819, p. 362,
calls attention to one of the reports (of Humane Societies) where the
following passage occurs: “Monsieur Thieurey, Doctor Regent of the
Faculty of Paris, is of opinion that one third, or perhaps half, of
those who die in their beds are not actually dead when they are buried.
He does not mean to say that so great a number would be restored to
life. In the intermediate state, which reaches from the instant of
apparent death to that of total extinction of life, the body is not
insensible to the treatment it receives, though unable to give any
signs of sensibility.”
Maximilian Misson, in his “Voyage Through Italy,” vol. i., letter 5,
tells us “that the number of persons who have been interred as dead,
when they were really alive, is very great, in comparison with those
who have been, happily, rescued from their graves.” He then proceeds
to substantiate his statement by the recital of cases.
[VARIOUS ESTIMATES.]
Dr. Léonce Lénormand, in his able treatise, “Des Inhumations
Précipitées,” has given his deliberate opinion that a thousandth part
of the human race have been, and are, for want of knowledge, annually
buried alive. This we regard as an under, rather than an overestimate.
M. Le Guern, in his “Danger des Inhumations Précipitées,” which has
passed through several editions, declares that he has personally met
with forty-six cases of premature burial in twelve years. He devoted
thirty years to the study of the facts, and collected a list of two
thousand three hundred and thirteen cases from various sources. He
estimates the number of premature burials in France at two per thousand.
On February 27, 1866, the petition of M. Cornot was presented to the
French Senate by M. de la Gueronnière, stating that a comparatively
large number of persons are annually buried alive, which he supported
by statistics. The author has tried to procure a copy of this petition,
but these documents are not published by the State department.
The following appears in the _Lancet_, June 14, 1884, p. 1104:--
“BURIED ALIVE.
“Sir,--That this is an incident that does happen, and frequently
has happened, has for some years past been my firm conviction; and
during epidemics, particularly in the East, its possible contingency
has frequently caused me much anxiety; and when the burial has, for
sanitary reasons, had to be very hurried, I always made it a rule to
withhold my certificate unless I had personally inspected the body and
assured myself of the fact of death.
“The reason and necessity for extreme caution in such matters were
impressed vividly upon me some years ago, when visiting the crypt
of the cathedral at Bordeaux, where two bodies were shown, to whom,
I think it obvious, this most terrible of all occurrences must have
happened; and I am unable to attribute the position in which they were
found in their coffins, and the look of horror which their faces still
displayed, to any action of _rigor mortis_ or any other _post-mortem_
change, but simply and solely to their having awakened to a full
appreciation of their most awful position. In the case of one of
these bodies, which was found lying on its side, the legs were drawn
up nearly to a level with the abdomen, and the arms were in such a
position as to convey the impression that both they and the legs had
been used in a desperate, but futile, attempt to push out the side of
the coffin; whilst the look of horror remaining on the face was simply
indescribable. In the other case, the body was found lying on its
face, the arms extended above the head, as if attempting to push out
the top of the coffin. In the year 1870 these two bodies were still on
view; and the attendants used to dwell at some length upon the horrors
of being interred alive. It appears that some years prior to 1870,
in making excavations in a church-yard in the immediate vicinity of
the cathedral, the workmen came upon a belt of ground that apparently
was impregnated with some antiseptic material, as all the bodies
within this belt, to the number of about two hundred, were found to
be almost as perfect as when they were buried; of these a selection
appears to have been made; and at the time I mention about thirty or
forty were exhibited, propped up on iron frames, in the crypt of the
cathedral. The impression left on my mind at the time was that; if out
of two hundred bodies so discovered there could be two in which, to
say the least, there is a strong probability of live interment, this
awful possibility was a thing that should receive more attention than
is generally devoted to it.--I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
“H. S.
“Bayswater, June 10, 1884.”
[PROTESTS OF GENERAL COUNCILS.]
Protests against the present state of the law in France are very
frequent. M. Gaubert in “Les Chambres Mortuaires d’Attente,” page 80,
says: “During the monarchy of July petitions have not ceased to come
in from all parts of France to the Chamber of Deputies.” For a great
number of years, said the Deputy Varin, in the sitting of April 10,
1847, every year petitions having the same object (the prevention
of premature burial) are presented to the Chambers and referred to
the Ministry. What has been done, however? Nothing! Again M. Gaubert
in p. 88, referring to resolutions of the General Councils of the
Departments, observes: “That under the movement of protest, which we
are examining and find particularly serious, is shown the widespread
character which it assumes. It is, indeed, from all parts of France,
and under every form, that the sad complaints of the public (for the
prevention of premature burial) arrive at the office of the Minister
of the Interior. Those protests adopted by the General Councils (of
Departments) were not the less numerous nor the less conspicuous in
important places. Many of those who take the trouble to petition
or draw up resolutions have been prompted to action by melancholy
experience of such catastrophes in their own families.”
M. Gaubert in “Les Chambres Mortuaires d’Attente” (Paris, 1895), pp.
193-195, says that in France there are in round numbers thirty-six
thousand Communes, and it is beyond doubt that in every one of these
will be found cases of premature burial. Communes with a population
of eight hundred have even several. Dr. Pineau has recorded twelve in
the single Commune of Fontenay-le-Comte in Poitou. In the large towns,
especially in those which have great hospitals, the proportion is
more considerable. In Paris, Dr. Rousseau, verificateur of the dead,
in 1853 wrote: “Le médecin n’est jamais appelé que pour constater la
mort apparente.” M. Gaubert declares that he would not be far from the
truth in estimating the number of victims to apparent death at eight
thousand a year, and asks if France be so rich in population as to be
able to pay such an enormous tribute. Dr. Josat, lauréat de l’Institut,
declares that a considerable number of people refuse to visit France
through fear that they might be overtaken by apparent death and
precipitately buried alive.
The _Undertakers’ Journal_, July 22, 1889, the editor of which has
exceptional opportunities of knowing the true facts, observes: “It
has been proved beyond all contradiction that there are more burials
alive than is generally supposed. Stories of these cases are numerous.
Five cases are reported on p. 85 of this same issue, one the wife of a
well-known tradesman at St. Leonards, medically pronounced dead, but
who revived before it was too late. Many undertakers could describe
similar experiences.”
[OPINIONS OF DRS. CHEW AND HARTMANN.]
Dr. Roger S. Chew, of Calcutta, in reply to the author’s inquiries
while in India in the early part of the year (1896) says: “There are
hundreds of instances on record where from some cause, as syncope,
shock, chloroform, hysteria, or other condition not clearly understood,
the powers of life assumed a static condition in which oxidation
was completely arrested, carbonification was held in abeyance, and
nitrification maintained at positive rest, with the consequence that
the vital functions have passed into a condition of hibernation or
apparent death so closely simulating real or absolute death as to
render differential diagnosis an almost impossibility, and to lead to
the interment or cremation while yet alive of a body apparently dead.”
Dr. Franz Hartmann, of Hallein, Austria, whose book, “Buried Alive,”
is now being translated into French, has collected seven hundred cases
of premature burial and narrow escapes, several of which have occurred
in his own neighbourhood, and is of opinion that the actual danger to
every member of the human family is of serious proportions, and that
the subject should not be trifled with. He is a strong advocate for
cremation as offering the easiest practical method of prevention.
It will have been noticed that whenever the subject of premature burial
has been introduced in an influential journal published in England,
the United States, or the Continent, one contribution follows another
in quick succession, by persons furnishing particulars of cases of
trance, catalepsy, and of narrow escapes from living burial. The Paris
_Figaro_ opened its columns two years ago for this subject, and in
fifteen days received four hundred letters from all parts of France.
When we consider that nearly all the reported cases of resuscitation
have come about spontaneously and independently of human intervention,
it becomes evident, owing to our ignorance and apathy, that cases of
premature burial are far from infrequent, and our church-yards and
cemeteries, like those examined by Dr. Thouret in Paris, are probably
the silent witnesses of unnumbered unspeakable tragedies. Immediate
legislation is called for to remedy a national evil, and to remove the
feeling of disquietude which extensively prevails.