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.

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.

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:—

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.” PROTESTS OF GENERAL COUNCILS.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.”

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.