Premature Burial and How It May Be PreventedTebb, William
Science
Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented
Tebb, William
Burial, Premature
“A letter from Constantinople, in the _Politische Korrespondenz_,
gives a remarkable case of an apparent death which would have ended
in a premature burial but for the high ecclesiastical position of the
person concerned. On the 3rd of this month, Nicephorus Glycas, the
Greek-Orthodox Metropolitan of Lesbos, an old man in his eightieth
year, after several days of confinement to his bed, was reported by
the physician to be dead. The supposed dead bishop, in accordance
with the rules of the Orthodox Church, was immediately clothed in
his episcopal vestments, and placed upon the Metropolitan’s throne
in the great church of Methymni, where the body was exposed to the
devout faithful during the day, and watched by relays of priests day
and night. Crowds streamed into the church to take a last look at
their venerable chief pastor. On the second night of “the exposition
of the corpse,” the Metropolitan suddenly started up from his seat
and stared round him with amazement and horror at all the panoply
of death amidst which he had been seated. The priests were not less
horrified when the ‘dead’ bishop demanded what they were doing with
him? The old man had simply fallen into a death-like lethargy, which
the incompetent doctors had hastily concluded to be death. He is now
as hale and hearty as can well be expected from an octogenarian. But
here it is that the moral comes in. If Nicephorus Glycas had been a
layman he would most certainly have been buried alive. Fortunately for
him the Canon Law of the Orthodox Church does not allow a bishop to be
buried earlier than the third day after his death; whereas a layman,
according to the ancient Eastern custom, is generally buried about
twelve hours after death has been certified. The excitement which has
been aroused by the prelate’s startling resurrection may tend to set
men thinking more seriously about the frequent probability of the
cruel horror of the interment of living persons.”
The above-mentioned facts have been authenticated for the author by Dr.
Franz Hartmann, of Hallein, Austria.
NARROW ESCAPES OF SMALL-POX PATIENTS.
Many physicians who dispute the frequency of premature burials admit
that the liability to such catastrophes is considerable during
epidemics of small-pox, where extreme exhaustion, amounting to a
suspension of life, is distinguishable from actual death only by
patient and prolonged observation.
From the _Lancet_, June 21, 1884, p. 1150:--
“SUSPENDED ANIMATION AFTER SMALL-POX.
“Sir,--I send you privately names and addresses by means of which you
can test, if you please, the accuracy of the following statements,
which I forward for insertion in your journal:--
[APPARENT DEATHS AFTER SMALL-POX.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account