Premature burial and how it may be prevented : with special reference to trance, catalepsy, and other forms of suspended animation / by William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum.

  • William Tebb
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Premature burial and how it may be prevented : with special reference to trance, catalepsy, and other forms of suspended animation / by William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    her jaw, and died. In about half an hour after her supposed departure she was washed, and attired in clean linen, the jaw was tied by a white handkerchief, penny-pieces laid over her eyes, her hands, semi-clenched, placed by her side, and her feet tied together by a piece of tape. She was then carried into another room, laid on a sofa, and covered over with a sheet. She appeared stiff and cold, two large books were placed on her feet, and I have no doubt she was considered to be a sweet corpse. About nine a.m., the grandfather of the supposed dead went into the death-chamber to give a last kiss to his grandchild, when he fancied he saw a convulsive movement of the eyelid, he having raised one of the coins. He communicated this fact to the parents and mourning friends, but they ridiculed the old man's statement, and said the movement of the eyelids was owing to the nerves working after death. Their theory, however, did not satisfy the experienced man of eighty years, and he could not reconcile him- self to her death. As soon as I reached home, after having been out in the country all night, I was requested to see the child, to satisfy the old man that she was really dead. About half-past ten a.m. I called ; and immediately on my entrance into the chamber I perceived a tremulous condition of the eyelids,*such as we frequently see in hysterical patients. The penny-pieces had been removed by the grandfather. I placed a stethoscope over the region of the heart, and found that organ performing its functions perfectly and with tolerable force. I then felt for a radial pulse, which was easily detected, beating feebly, about seventy-five per minute. The legs and arms were stiff and cold, and the capillary circulation was so congested as at first sight to resemble incipient decomposition. I carefully watched the chest, which heaved quietly but almost imperceptibly ; and immediately unbandaged the maiden, and informed her mourning parents that she was not dead. Imagine their consternation ! The passing-bell had rung, the shutters were closed, the undertaker was on his way to measure her for her coffin, and other necessary preparations were being made for her interment. [The writer then proceeds to give in- teresting details as to the treatment of the case, and the means taken to promote recovery.] Richard Bird Mason, M.R.C.S., L.S.A. Bridge Street, Nuneaton, December 14, 1858.