SUSPENDED ANIMATION AND PREMATURE BURIAL.
Facts of Startling Import.--The Case of Washington
Irving Bishop.--Other Instances of Suspended
Animation.--Vampirism.--Catalepsy.--East Indian Fakirs buried
alive for Months.--Fundamental Errors.--Catalepsy not a
Disease.--A Recuperative Agent.--The Law of Suggestion governs
the Phenomena.--Subjective Insensibility impossible.--Suggestion
of Death deepens the Lethargy.--The Appalling Dangers of
Catalepsy.--The Proper Treatment.
There is another psychic phenomenon which deserves a passing notice at
our hands, not only because it is governed by the same laws which have
been discussed, but because it is a matter of transcendent practical
interest and importance. I refer to the subject of suspended animation,
and consequent premature burial.
I know of but one physician in this country who has given serious
attention to this subject. Nothing in authoritative form has yet
appeared from his pen, but I am credibly informed that he has collected
an array of facts of veritable significance. One assertion of startling
import is that in the United States an average of not less than one
case a week is discovered and reported. This statement alone attests
the importance of the subject, although due allowance must be made for
possible exaggeration. Be that as it may, the appalling possibility of
premature burial as a result of a condition so common as catalepsy,
the psychic aspects of which are so little understood in this country,
invests the subject with more than ordinary interest.
The following cases have been personally investigated by the writer,
and serve to illustrate the dangers which menace the cataleptic
subject. Names are omitted, at the request of the parties interested.
The first case is that of a young lady, near Indianapolis, who came
to life after fourteen days of suspended animation. Six doctors had
applied the usual tests, and pronounced her dead. Her little brother
clung to her, against the opinion of the doctors and the will of
the parents, and frantically declared that she was not dead. In the
excitement the bandage which held her jaw in place was accidentally
pushed aside. The jaw fell, and the brother fancied that he saw his
sister's tongue moving slowly.
"What do you want, sister?" cried the little fellow.
"Water," was the faint answer from the supposed corpse.
Water was administered, the patient revived, and is yet living.
A lady who is now at the head of one of the largest orphan asylums
of a Western city has been twice pronounced dead by the attending
physicians, twice prepared for the grave, and twice resuscitated by her
friends. On the last occasion extraordinary precautions were taken, in
view of her former experience. All the tests known to her physicians
were applied, and all doubts were set at rest. She was a second time
professionally declared to be dead, and the physicians left the house.
In preparing the body for burial it was accidentally pricked by a pin.
Soon afterwards it was discovered that a small drop of blood marked
the spot where the pin entered. This once more roused the hope of the
family, and vigorous treatment soon restored her to consciousness. She
is living to-day, a vigorous, useful woman. It is proper to note here
that upon being restored, the lady declared that she had never for a
moment lost consciousness, that she knew all that went on around her,
perfectly comprehended the significance of all the tests which were
applied, but felt the utmost indifference as to the result, and was
neither surprised nor alarmed when it was decided that she was dead.
A few years ago, a gentleman of Harrisburg, Pa., apparently died after
a long period of suffering from inflammatory rheumatism, complicated
with heart trouble. Preparations were made for the funeral; but his
wife refused to allow the body to be packed in ice, fearing the
possibility of a premature burial, and announced her determination
to keep it for at least a week. The next day her hopes were realized
by finding her husband with his eyes wide open, and one of his arms
out of the position in which it had been placed. She called loudly
for him to arise, and with assistance he did so, and was placed in a
chair. Physicians were summoned, but before their arrival he was so
far recovered that their aid was unnecessary, and he soon recovered
from his illness. He states that during the time of suspended animation
he was perfectly cognizant of all that occurred around him, heard the
lamentations of the stricken family and the preparations for burial,
but was unable to move a muscle or utter a sound.
The reading public has not forgotten the death of Washington Irving
Bishop, the celebrated mind-reader, which occurred under circumstances
that called forth the declaration on the part of his friends and
relatives that he was not dead before the surgeon's knife penetrated
his brain; that on several previous occasions he had been in a
cataleptic state, resembling death, for many hours at a time; and that
on one of these occasions his attending physicians had pronounced
him dead. The public will not soon forget the thrill of horror which
was felt when it was learned with what unseemly haste an autopsy was
performed upon that unfortunate man.
These are not exceptional cases, nor is the phenomenon of modern
origin. It can be traced back through all the ages of which there are
records preserved, until it is lost in the twilight of tradition and
fable.
In all human probability the ancient belief in vampirism had its origin
in discovered cases of suspended animation. It will be remembered
that whenever a corpse was suspected of being a vampire, the grave
was opened and the body was examined. If it showed no signs of
decomposition, the fact was held to be indubitable evidence of guilt.
The punishment was summary, and fully as effective as a modern autopsy;
it consisted in driving a stake through the heart. This simple process
effectually laid the "vampire ghost," and it no longer possessed the
power to "suck the blood of the living," and thus "continue to live
on in the grave," to use the language of an ancient official document
defining the characteristics of a vampire.
Revolting and gross as was the superstition relating to vampirism,
is it not possible that, like most legendary tales, it had a basis
of truth, and that an essential part of that truth consisted, as
before remarked, of the fact that the cases referred to were cases of
suspended animation? Many cases are reported which appear to be well
authenticated, and they all seem to sustain this theory. One case
(which was officially attested) is related, where the body of a man
suspected of vampirism was exhumed after it had lain in the grave three
weeks. No signs of decomposition being visible, a stake was driven
through the heart, "upon which," says the report, "fresh blood gushed
from the mouth and ears."
Another case is mentioned of one Arnold Paul, a Hungarian, whose body
was exhumed after it had been buried forty days. "His body," says the
narrator, "was red; his hair, nails, and beard had grown again, and
his veins were replete with fluid blood." The stake was brought into
requisition, and as it pierced his heart, he "uttered a frightful
shriek, as if he had been alive."
Two erroneous impressions very generally prevail regarding catalepsy,
or suspended animation. One is that depriving the subject of air will
cause death in a few hours. Another is that catalepsy is a disease, or
is always the result of disease. Both of these hypotheses are clearly
disproved by the well-known experiments of the East Indian fakirs.
One of the most clearly attested instances of the kind alluded to is
the experiment of the Fakir of Lahore, who, at the instance of Runjeet
Singh, suffered himself to be buried alive in an air-tight vault for
a period of six weeks. This case was thoroughly authenticated by Sir
Claude Wade, the then British Resident at the court of Loodhiana.
The fakir's nostrils and ears were first filled with wax; he was
then placed in a linen bag, then deposited in a wooden box which was
securely locked, and the box was deposited in a brick vault which was
carefully plastered up with mortar and sealed with the Rajah's seal. A
guard of British soldiers was then detailed to watch the vault day and
night. At the end of the prescribed time the vault was opened in the
presence of Sir Claude and Runjeet Singh, and the fakir was restored to
consciousness.
Lieutenant Boileau relates another instance where a man suffered
himself to be buried for a period of ten days in a grave lined with
masonry and covered with a large slab of stone, the whole strictly
guarded day and night. On being restored to consciousness, the man
offered to submit to burial for a year, if the lieutenant so desired.
Many other well-authenticated instances are related by British
residents in India, but these must suffice. In all these cases the
subjects were in perfect health when the experiments were made, and in
each instance the body, when disinterred, was found to present all the
characteristics indicating death, except decomposition.
Volumes might be filled with well-authenticated cases of suspended
animation, varying in duration from a few hours to many months; but it
would be foreign to the purpose of this chapter to cite any. Sufficient
instances have been given to illustrate the points which I shall
attempt to make, as well as to show the intrinsic importance of the
subject and the danger to be apprehended from ignorance of the psychic
principles involved.
The fundamental error into which many physicians have fallen consists
in the assumption that catalepsy is, _per se_, a disease. It must be
said, however, to the credit of the profession, that no one pretends to
understand it. Most medical writers confess that if it is a disease,
it is one of which the pathology is but little understood by the
profession, and they aver that morbid anatomy throws no light upon it
whatever. In fact, some well-known writers have doubted its existence,
and have attributed the recorded cases to gross imposture. It is,
however, generally held to be a functional nervous disorder; but the
tendency of modern investigation is in the direction of its psychic
aspects, and moral means are now largely employed in its treatment by
the best physicians.
The truth appears to be that catalepsy is not a disease in any proper
sense of the word. The most that can be said is that it may be
considered a symptom of certain diseases. That is to say, inasmuch
as it commonly attacks those who are suffering from certain nervous
disorders, it might be said to be a symptom indicating the presence of
such disorders. But, I repeat, it is not a disease _per se_; and one
prominent medical authority goes so far as to admit that "in itself
catalepsy is never fatal." He might have gone further, and said that
other diseases are rarely fatal when catalepsy supervenes.
Catalepsy belongs exclusively to the domain of hypnotism. I employ this
term in the broadest significance of its Greek radix; for no matter how
the condition is induced, it is purely a sleep of the objective senses,
a suspension of the vital functions, a rest of all the vital organs. It
can be induced in perfectly healthy persons by the hypnotic processes
on the one hand, or, on the other, it may supervene after a long period
of illness or nervous exhaustion. In both cases the phenomenon is
the same; and when the patient is intelligently treated, the effect
is always salutary. It is, in the highest sense of the phrase, a
manifestation of the _vis conservatrix naturæ_; it is, of a truth,
"tired nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep."
Catalepsy is always easily induced in a hypnotic subject by the
ordinary processes known to hypnotists, and the normal condition is as
easily restored. It is always refreshing to the subject, especially
when he is exhausted by mental or physical labor,--far more so than
is ordinary sleep of the same duration. The same is true of the
catalepsy which supervenes after a long period of illness or of nervous
exhaustion. That this statement is true of the first class, we have
the testimony of all who have been subjects of intelligent experiment.
That it is true of the second class also, is attested by the fact that
suspended animation is nearly always followed by the recovery of the
patient from illness. The cataleptic condition marks the crisis in many
diseases, especially those of the nerves. If the patient is properly
managed during that crisis, his convalescence is assured.
Catalepsy may properly be divided into four classes, differing from
one another only in the causes which induce the condition. The first
is catalepsy from hypnotic suggestion; the second, epidemic catalepsy;
the third, self-induced catalepsy; the fourth, catalepsy arising from
disease or nervous exhaustion. Suggestion is the all-potent factor in
the production of the catalepsy of the first three classes, as it is
in the production of all other hypnotic phenomena. The suggestion may
come, first, from an operator who purposely induces the condition as
an experiment. Secondly, it may arise from the patient seeing other
cataleptic subjects. In such cases, catalepsy may run through a whole
school or a neighborhood, precisely as does epidemic insanity, St.
Vitus's dance, and many other nervous troubles. "Imitation," or the
disposition to imitate, has generally been assigned as the cause of
such manifestations becoming epidemic among children. But this is a
palpable error. It arises rather from the fear that each one feels--the
mental suggestion that each one makes--that he or she may be the
next victim. Thirdly, self-induced catalepsy is illustrated in the
experiments of the East Indian fakirs, and arises from auto-suggestion.
In these cases the condition is purely hypnotic, and is self-induced by
simple processes, well known to all who have made an intelligent study
of hypnotism as practised in the Orient.
It is not, however, with these classes that we have to deal in this
chapter, but rather with cases which arise from disease or nervous
exhaustion. In such cases, suggestion can hardly be considered as an
initial cause, although, as we shall see further on, it is a potent
factor in deepening, prolonging, and terminating the condition.
I have said that catalepsy marks the crisis in certain diseases.
It is, in fact, the supreme effort of nature to give the exhausted
nerves their needed rest. When this fact is once appreciated, and the
patient is intelligently treated on its basis, much needless alarm
will be saved, and many fatal errors will be avoided. The patient in
that condition is enjoying absolute rest. All the vital processes are
practically suspended. He is free from all pain, and is enjoying a
refreshing sleep,--a sleep so profound that it may be truly likened
to its "twin-brother, death." The depth and duration of the trance
will depend upon the necessities of the case. That is to say, it will
be proportioned to the severity of the patient's illness, and his
consequent need of rest and recuperation.
The primary mistake which many physicians make in managing cataleptic
patients consists in seeking, by heroic treatment, to hasten
restoration to consciousness. No greater mistake is possible. If the
attempt is successful, it causes a fearful shock to the nerves, and
the effort is thwarted which nature is making to relieve the patient
and give rest to his already overstrained nervous system. If it is
unsuccessful, the patient is threatened with the danger of being buried
alive, or of an autopsy. These dangers are ever present; and as long as
physicians fail to recognize the pregnant fact that an advanced stage
of decomposition is the only infallible test of death, just so long
will the human race be menaced with the horrors of premature burial.
The most important branch, however, of the subject of catalepsy is that
pertaining to its psychological features. I have said that catalepsy
belongs to the domain of hypnotism. I mean by this, not only that the
phenomenon is identical with the condition which can be produced by
the ordinary hypnotic processes, but that the cataleptic patient is
amenable to precisely the same psychological laws which govern the
ordinary hypnotic subject.
The two fundamental propositions which bear upon this subject are the
following:--
First, a patient in a case of suspended animation or catalepsy, induced
by disease or nervous exhaustion, is amenable to control by suggestion
precisely as he is in the ordinary hypnotic state.
Second, a patient in that condition is always conscious, subjectively,
of all that happens around him. That is to say, no matter how
profoundly the objective senses are locked in slumber, the subjective
faculties are ever alert, and the subject recognizes, often with great
acuteness, everything that goes on around him. This fact is not always
recognized by hypnotists, and it is safe to say that ignorance of this
one truth has been the source of more erroneous conclusions regarding
the significance of hypnotic phenomena than all other causes combined.
Hundreds of cases are reported where the patients noted all the
preparations for burial and all that was said and done, and yet were
unable to move or make the fact known that they were alive. This seems
to be the universal testimony, although it is possible that the patient
might not, in all cases, remember what he had experienced. In fact,
it is common for hypnotic subjects to forget their experiences during
the sleep; but that does not militate against the fact that they were
subjectively conscious at that time.
The conclusions derivable from these premises are as important as
they are obvious. The first and most vital is that when a patient is
suffering from a disease which will induce catalepsy, and begins to
enter that state, the usual remarks and conversation of those at the
bedside must inevitably tend to deepen and prolong the lethargy. The
patient appears to be dying. The friends, by word and action, are
conveying the impression that death is at hand. The physician feels
the pulse, which grows fainter and fainter, until it is no longer
perceptible. He examines the heart until its pulsations cease. Finally,
he turns to the stricken friends, and in a solemn voice announces that
all is over,--the patient is dead. Now, if it happens that it is merely
a case of catalepsy, or suspended animation, the announcement by the
physician that the patient is dead is an all-potent suggestion which
is, and must inevitably be, seized upon by the subject and carried to
its legitimate conclusion. A case of prolonged suspension of animation
is the inevitable result, as the laws of hypnotism teach, if they teach
anything. The patient actually believes that he is dead. The statement
of this proposition seems almost ridiculous; but when it is remembered
that no suggestion seems absurd or incongruous to the hypnotic subject,
the proposition is seen at once to be an absolute verity. Who has not
dreamed of being dead? Few, if any, have not had this experience; and
yet the incongruity of the two ideas--of being dead and of calmly
reflecting on the subject--never strikes the dreamer's subjective
intelligence. Subjective impressions never seem absurd or incongruous
to the subject. This principle runs through all subjective mental
action, from the dreams of the healthy sleeper to the hallucinations of
the monomaniac. Subjective intelligence, be it remembered, is capable
of exercising but one form of reasoning,--the deductive. But it will
reason deductively from any premise imparted to it, by any form of
suggestion, with great acumen; and it never arrives at a conclusion
inconsistent with the premise,--that is, the suggestion. All the facts
known to the individual's objective experience which are inconsistent
with that premise stand for nought in presence of the one ever-present
idea. That idea is the major premise, unquestioned and indisputable, of
a syllogism which he will inevitably complete with logical accuracy.
It is easy to see from what has been said what an appalling,
ever-present danger menaces the patient who, from any cause, becomes
cataleptic, especially the one who has reached the crisis of a
lingering illness, and is surrounded by physicians and friends who are
ignorant of the psychological principles involved. The natural language
of the emotions of the surviving friends, the wail of hopeless grief,
the administration of the sacraments of the Church, and, finally, the
authoritative announcement of the doctor that "He is dead!" all tend to
the one result. When to these are added the ice-pack or the embalmer's
fluid, it remains only for the performance of an autopsy to give the
_coup de grâce_.
I shall not attempt to apply the principles here laid down to
particular cases. Those who are cognizant of the circumstances of any
case, either recorded or within their own private experience, will
easily recognize their significance. Nor shall I attempt to prescribe
the specific course to be pursued where suspended animation is
suspected, as that is the province of the physician in attendance on
each particular case. My object will have been accomplished if what I
have said shall be the means of directing the attention of the medical
profession to the psychic aspects of catalepsy, and to a more careful
study of the psychology of that science which has suffered so much
at the hands of charlatanism on the one hand, and prejudice on the
other,--hypnotism.
Nevertheless, a few general observations regarding the proper course to
be pursued may not seem impertinent. It is obvious that when catalepsy
is suspected, or is possible, all allusion to or suggestion of death
should be avoided, especially by the physician in attendance. It should
not for a moment be forgotten that, however profoundly the objective
senses may be locked in insensibility, subjectively the patient is
awake and is taking cognizance of all that occurs, and appreciates with
wonderful, acuteness the significance of every word that is uttered. It
should be remembered that since suggestion can induce catalepsy, it can
also deepen and prolong the period of its duration. Conversely, it is
the most potent means of restoration. Other restoratives should rarely,
if ever, be resorted to. Violent means should never be employed. The
essential thing is a cheerful, confident demeanor in all present at the
bedside. Time should always be given for the conservative forces and
recuperative powers of nature to do their legitimate work, and in due
season the patient, who "is not dead, but sleepeth," will awake; or, in
obedience to suggestion, will "arise and come forth," saved from the
jaws of death,--rescued from the horrors of a living grave.
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