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.