PREMATURE BURIAL. At the sitting of the Paris Academy of Medicine, on April 10, 1827, a paper was read by M. Chantourelle, on the danger of hasty burial. This led to a discussion, in which M. Desgenettes stated that he had been told by Dr. Thouret, who presided at the destruction of the vaults of Les Innocens, that many skeletons had been found in positions seeming to show that they had turned in their coffins. Dr. Thouret was so much impressed by the circumstance that he had a special clause inserted in his will relating to his own burial. Similar revelations, according to Kempner, have followed the examinations of grave-yards in Holland, and in New York and other parts of the United States. On July 2, 1896, the author visited the grave of Madam Blunden, in the Cemetery, Basingstoke, Hants, who, according to the inscription (now obliterated), was buried alive. The following narrative appears in “The Uncertainty of the Signs of Death,” by Surgeon M. Cooper, London, 1746, pp. 78, 79:— “At Basingstoke, in Hampshire, not many years ago, a gentlewoman of character and fortune was taken ill, and, to all appearance, died, while her husband was on a journey to London. A messenger was forthwith despatched to the gentleman, who returned immediately, The Sunday Times, London, December 30, 1838, contains the following:— “A frightful case of premature interment occurred not long since, at Tonneins, in the Lower Garonne. The victim, a man in the prime of life, had only a few shovelfuls of earth thrown into his grave, when an indistinct noise was heard to proceed from his coffin. The grave-digger, terrified beyond description, instantly fled to seek assistance, and some time elapsed before his return, when the crowd, which had by this time collected in considerable numbers round the grave, insisted on the coffin being opened. As soon as the first boards had been removed, it was ascertained, beyond a doubt, that the occupant had been interred alive. His countenance was frightfully contracted with the agony he had undergone; and, in his struggles, the unhappy man had forced his RESUSCITATION IN GREENWOOD CEMETERY. Mr. Oscar F. Shaw, Attorney-at-Law, 145 Broadway, New York, furnished the author with particulars of the following case, of which he had personal knowledge:—“In or about the year 1851, Virginia M’Donald, who, up to that time had lived with her father on Catharine Street, in the City of New York, apparently died, and was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, N.Y. “After the burial her mother declared her belief that the daughter was not dead when buried, and persistently asserted her belief. The family tried in various ways to assure the mother of the death of her daughter, and even resorted to ridicule for that purpose; but the mother insisted so long and so strenuously that her daughter was buried alive, that finally the family consented to having the body taken up, when to their horror, they discovered the body lying on the side, the hands badly bitten, and every indication of a premature burial.” The Lancet, May 22, 1858, p. 519, has the following:— “INTERMENT BEFORE DEATH. “A case of restoration to consciousness after burial is recorded by the Austrian journals in the person of a rich manufacturer, named Oppelt, at Rudenberg. He was buried fifteen years ago, and lately, on opening the vault, the lid of the coffin was found forced open, and his skeleton in a sitting posture in a corner of the vault. A Government Commission has reported on the matter.” From the Lancet, August 20, 1864, p. 219. “PREMATURE INTERMENT. “Amongst the papers left by the great Meyerbeer, were some which showed that he had a profound dread of premature interment. He directed, it is stated, that his body should be left for ten days undisturbed, with the face uncovered, and watched night and day. Bells were to be fastened to his feet. And at the end of the second day veins were to be opened in the arm and leg. This is the gossip of the capital in which he died. The first impression is that such a fear is morbid. No doubt fewer precautions would suffice, but now and again cases occur which seem to warrant such a feeling, and to show that want of caution may lead to premature interment in cases unknown. An instance is mentioned by the Ost. Deutscher Post of Vienna. A few days since, runs the story, in the establishment of the Brothers of Charity in that capital, the bell of the dead-room was heard to ring violently, and on one of the attendants proceeding to the place to ascertain the cause, he was surprised at seeing one of the supposed dead men pulling the bell-rope. He was removed immediately to another room, and hopes are entertained of his recovery.” From the Times, July 7, 1867, p. 12, col. 3. “The Journal de Pontarlier relates a case of premature interment. During the funeral, three days back, of a young woman at Montflorin, who had apparently died in an epileptic fit, the grave-digger, after having thrown a spadeful of earth on the coffin, thought he heard a moaning from the tomb. The body was consequently exhumed, and a vein having been opened, yielded blood almost warm and liquid. Hopes were for a moment entertained that the young woman would recover from her lethargy, but she never did so entirely, and the next day life was found to be extinct.” From the Lancet, October 19, 1867, p. 504. “BURIED ALIVE. INTERRED WITH USUAL FORMALITIES. “The Journal de Morlaix mentions that a young woman at Bohaste, France, who was supposed to have died from cholera a few days back, was buried on the following afternoon. The The official journal of the French Senate, January 30, 1869, records that the attention of the Senate was called to this case by means of a petition signed by seven residents in Paris, and the facts are confirmed by L. Roger, Officier de SantÉ. From the Times, May 6, 1874, p. 11, foot of col. 4. “PREMATURE INTERMENT. “The Messager du Midi relates the following dreadful story:—A young married woman residing at Salon (Bouches du RhÔne) died shortly after her confinement in August last. The medical man, who was hastily summoned when her illness assumed a dangerous form, certified her death, and recommended immediate burial in consequence of the intense heat then prevailing, and six hours afterwards the body was interred. A few days since, the husband having resolved to re-marry, the mother of his late wife desired to have her daughter’s remains removed to her native town, Marseilles. When the vault was opened a horrible sight presented itself. The corpse lay in the middle of the vault, with dishevelled hair and the linen torn to pieces. It evidently had been gnawed in her agony by the unfortunate victim. The shock which the dreadful spectacle caused to the mother has been so great that fears are entertained for her reason, if not for her life.” The British Medical Journal, December 8, 1877, p. 819, inserts the following:— “BURIED ALIVE. “A correspondent at Naples states that the Appeal Court has had before it a case not likely to inspire confidence in the minds of those who look forward with horror to the possibility of being buried alive. It appeared from the evidence that some time ago a woman was interred with all the usual formalities, it being From the Daily Telegraph, January 18, 1889. “A gendarme was buried alive the other day in a village near Grenoble. The man had become intoxicated on potato brandy, and fell into a profound sleep. After twenty hours passed in slumber, his friends considered him to be dead, particularly as his body assumed the usual rigidity of a corpse. When the sexton, however, was lowering the remains of the ill-fated gendarme into the grave, he heard moans and knocks proceeding from the interior of the ‘four-boards.’ He immediately bored holes in the sides of the coffin, to let in air, and then knocked off the lid. The gendarme had, however, ceased to live, having horribly mutilated his head in his frantic but futile efforts to burst his coffin open.” The Undertakers’ and Funeral Directors’ Journal, July 22, 1889, relates the following cases:— “A New York undertaker recently told the following story, the circumstances of which are still remembered by old residents of the city:—‘About forty years ago a lady living on Division Street, New York City, fell dead, apparently, while in the act of dancing at a ball.EVIDENCE OF UNDERTAKERS. It was a fashionable affair, and being able to afford it, she wore costly jewellery. Her husband, a flour merchant, who loved her devotedly, resolved that she should be interred in her ball dress, diamonds, pearls, and all; also that there should be no autopsy. As the weather was very inclement when the funeral reached the cemetery, the body was placed in the receiving vault HORRIFYING CASES. “Another New York undertaker told this story. The New York papers thirty-five years ago were full of its ghastly details. ‘The daughter of a Court Street baker died. It was in winter, and the father, knowing that a married sister of his dead child, who lived in St. Louis, would like to see her face before laid in the grave for ever, had the body placed in the vault, waiting her arrival. The sister came, the vault was opened, the lid of the coffin taken off, when, to the unutterable horror of the friends assembled, they found the grave-clothes torn in shreds, and the fingers of both hands eaten off. The girl had been buried alive.’ “Until about forty years ago a noted family of Virginia preserved a curious custom, which had been religiously observed for more than a century. Over a hundred years ago a member of the family died, and, upon being exhumed, was found to have been buried alive. From that time until about 1850, every member of the family, man, woman, or child, who died, was stabbed in the heart with a knife in the hands of the head of the house. The reason for the cessation of this custom was that in 1850 or thereabouts a beautiful young girl was supposed to be dead, the knife was plunged into her bosom, when she gave vent to a fearful scream and died. She had merely been in a trance. The incident broke her father’s heart, and in a fit of remorse he killed himself not long afterwards. “There are many families in the United States who, when any of their number dies, insist that an artery be opened to determine whether life has fled or not.” The following remarkable case of waking in the grave is reported from Vienna:— “A lady residing at Derbisch, near Kolin, in Bohemia, where she owned considerable property, was buried last week, after a brief illness, in the family vault at the local cemetery. Four days afterwards her granddaughter was interred in the same place, but as the stone slab covering the aperture was removed, the bystanders were horrified to see that the lid of the coffin below had been raised, and that the arm of the corpse was protruding. It was ascertained eventually that the unfortunate lady, who was supposed to have died of heart disease, had been buried alive. She had evidently recovered consciousness for a few minutes, and had found strength enough to burst open her coffin. The authorities are bent on taking measures of the utmost severity against those responsible.”—Undertakers’ Journal, August 22, 1889. The Undertakers’ and Funeral Directors’ Journal, July 22, 1890. “A horrible story comes from Majola, Mantua. The body of a woman, named Lavrinia Merli, a peasant, who was supposed to have died from hysterics, was placed in a vault on Thursday, July 3. On Saturday evening it was found that the woman had regained consciousness, torn her grave-clothes in her struggles, had turned completely over in the coffin, and had given birth to a seven-months’-old child. Both mother and child were dead when the coffin was opened for the last time previous to interment.” “A shocking occurrence is reported from Cesa, a little village near Naples. A woman living at that place was recently seized with sudden illness. A doctor who was called certified that the woman was dead, and the body was consequently placed in a coffin, which was deposited in the watch-house of the local cemetery. Next day an old woman passing close to the cemetery thought she heard smothered cries proceeding from the watch-house. The family was informed, but when the lid of the coffin was forced off a shocking spectacle presented itself to the gaze of the horrified villagers. The wretched woman had turned on her The Progressive Thinker, of November 14, 1891, relates that:—
From the London Echo, October 6, 1894. “BURIED ALIVE. “A story of a horrible nature comes from St. Petersburg in connection with the interment at Tioobayn, near that city, of a peasant girl named Antonova. She had presumably died, and in due course the funeral took place. After the service at the cemetery, the grave-diggers were startled by sounds of moaning proceeding from the coffin. Instead, however, of instantly breaking it open, they rushed off to find a doctor, and when he and some officials arrived and broke open the shell, the unhappy inmate was already the corpse she had been supposed to be a day earlier. It The following case, cabled by Dalziel, appears in the London Star, August 19, 1895:— “SOUNDS FROM ANOTHER COFFIN. “Grenoble, August 17. “On Monday last a man was found in a dying condition by the side of a brook near the village of Le Pin. Everything possible was done for him, but he relapsed into unconsciousness, and became to all appearances dead. The funeral was arranged, and, there being no suspicion of foul play, the body was interred on the following day. The coffin had been lowered to the bottom of the grave, and the sexton had begun to cover it with earth, when he heard muffled sounds proceeding from it. The earth was hastily removed and the coffin opened, when it was discovered that the unfortunate occupant was alive. He was taken to a neighbouring house, but rapidly sank into a comatose condition, and died without uttering a word. The second burial took place yesterday.” While in India, in the early part of this year (1896), Dr. Roger S. Chew, of Calcutta, who, having been laid out for dead, and narrowly escaped living sepulture, has had the best reasons for studying the subject, gave me particulars of the following cases:— “Frank Lascelles, aged thirty-two years, was seated at breakfast with a number of us young fellows, and was in the middle of a burst of hearty laughter, when his head fell forward on his plate and he was ‘dead.’ As there was a distinct history of cardiac disease in his family, while he himself had frequently been treated for valvular disease of the heart, he was alleged to have ‘died’ of cardiac failure, and was duly interred in the Coonor Cemetery. Some six months later, permission was obtained to remove his remains to St. John’s Church-yard in Ootacamund. The coffin was exhumed, “Mary Norah Best, aged seventeen years, an adopted daughter of Mrs. C. A. Moore, nÉe Chew,DR. ROGER S. CHEW’S CASES. ‘died’ of cholera, and was entombed in the Chew’s vault in the old French cemetery, at Calcutta. The certifying surgeon was a man who would have benefited by her death, and had twice (though ineffectually) attempted to put an end to her adopted mother, who fled from India to England after the second attempt on her life, but, unfortunately, left the girl behind. When Mary ‘died’ she was put into a pine coffin, the lid of which was nailed, not screwed, down. In 1881, ten years or so later, the vault was unsealed to admit the body of Mrs. Moore’s brother, J. A. A. Chew. On entering the vault, the undertaker’s assistant and I found the lid of Mary’s coffin on the floor, while the position of the skeleton (half in, half out of the coffin, and an ugly gash across the right parietal bone) plainly showed that after being entombed Mary awoke from her trance, struggled violently till she wrenched the lid off her coffin, when she either fainted away with the strain of the effort in bursting open her Dr. Chew says:—“Though a layman, still it would be hard to find a more indefatigable sanitarian than my late commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel R. C. Sterndale, of the Presidency Volunteer Rifle Battalion, and for many years vice-chairman of the municipality of the suburbs of Calcutta. In order to prove his theory that a great deal of danger existed in the rainy season from subsoil water rising up into the graves, saturating the bodies, and then poisoning the neighbouring tanks and wells, he caused a trench, ten feet long, six deep, and four wide, to be dug across an old Mahomedan grave-yard. Soundings and measurements having been taken of the subsoil water, he had a tarpaulin stretched over the trench, and daily measured the ‘fall’ of the water-level. He had a drawing made of the section of that grave-yard in which the action of the nitre-laden water seemed to mummify some of the bodies. Amongst the rest was a somewhat mummified male corpse which, instead of being on his back, was lying on his abdomen; the left arm supported the chin, but had a piece of it missing; the right hand clutched the left elbow, and the general position of the body was as if, consciousness Dr. Chew adds:—“I have heard and read of several other instances, but, as they have not come within my personal observation, I do not mention or refer to them.” |