“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.]