From the _Pall Mall Gazette_, May 11, 1891.
“A Penn Station telegram to Dalziel says:--A singular case of simulation of death from fright occurred here on Saturday. Mrs. Sarseville, the wife of a farmer in this county, was in the cow-house attending to the dairy work when she saw a nest of squirming snakes through a hole in the plank floor. She fell to the ground apparently lifeless with fright. Help was summoned, and she was carried into the house. Before the physician arrived Mrs. Sarseville had begun to turn black, and he pronounced her dead, giving a certificate, in which he assigned apoplexy as the cause. During the night Mrs. Sarseville’s daughter sat beside the coffin of her mother, lamenting her death. Just before daybreak she was startled to see the body move. She was more shocked when her mother opened her eyes and sat bolt upright in her coffin. The supposed corpse was no less startled than the girl to find herself dressed in grave-clothes and lying in a coffin. Help was summoned, and the lady helped out of her narrow bed and into her ordinary clothes. She took breakfast with the family yesterday morning, and seemed none the worse for her ghastly experience.”
From the _British Medical Journal_, March 12, 1892, p. 577.
“The _Temps_ publishes a case of premature burial prevented by the daughter of the supposed dead man, who, on kissing her father, perceived that his body was not cold. The funeral _cortége_ was on the point of starting. Suitable measures restored the man to consciousness, and he opened his eyes and uttered one or two words. His condition is serious, but he is alive. This incident occurred at Vagueray, near Lyons.”
“A woman has just had a narrow escape of being buried alive here. She was subject to epileptic fits, and during one of these a few days ago was pronounced to be dead. The arrangements for interment were made in due course, and as the coffin was being borne into the church some of the mourners said they heard a knocking inside. The party listened, and distinct taps were heard. No time was lost in wrenching off the lid of the coffin. It was then found that the woman was alive and conscious, although terribly frightened at the awful ordeal through which she had passed. A doctor was quickly in attendance, and under his direction the supposed corpse was removed from the coffin and placed on a litter for conveyance home again.”