BURIED AND RESUSCITATED AFTER FORTY DAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 5997, 5 February 1881, Page 7

BURIED AND RESUSCITATED AFTER FORTY DAYS.

We are not told whether the Seven Sleepers who retired to a cave in Ephesus dnring the I reign of the Christian-killing EmperorDecius, and only woke up 155 years afterward, when Tfieodosius ii. was on the throne, made any special preparation, but probably they did not. Perhaps it was not necessary. These were stirring times for members of the new faith, and they had little opportunity to grow obese. But, as a rule, to fast successfully it is said to be necessary for a man to abstain beforehand, and reduce himself most carefully to the required condition by a long course of preparation. Pre-eminent at the art of suspending animation—for an art it becomes— are the Easterns, and most wonderful stories are told of the natives of India, which, whether their powers are due to narcotics or any other process, seem to open up—if true— a wide field of medical study. One of these Indian stories, not easily accessible, but of considerable interest on account of the known veracity of the witnesses, will probably be read witli interest at the present time, and is inserted hare. The author of it was one Hon. Captain Osborne, and the notes made of his statement here subjoined came from an almost unique copy printed for private circulation. Runjeet Singh had heard from a •Seyd or Fakir who lived in tile mountains that the latter could allow himself to be buried when in a condition of apparent diath without really ceasing to live, seeing that lie understood the art of being brought back to life on being exhumed after several months had passed. To the Maharajah, thisappeared to be a rank impossibility. In order, however, that he should be convinced one way or the other, he ordered the Fakir to be summoned to the court, and caused him to undertake the singular experiment, under a threat that no means of precaution would be wantin-,' towards the discovery of fraud. The Fakir consequently caused himself to appear in a state of apparent death. When every spark of life had seemingly vanished lie was in the presence of the Maharajah and the nobles who surrounded him, wrapped up in the linen on which he had been sitting and on which the seal of Runjeet Singh was placed. The body was then deposited in a chest, on which Runjeet Singh, with his own hand, fixed a heavy padlock. The chest wascarried outside the town and buried in a garden belonging to the Minister. Barley was sown over the spot, a wall was erected around it, and the sentinels posted. On the fortieth day, when the chest containing the Fakir was dug up and opened, the man was found cold and stark in precisely the same condition as tliat in whieh he had been left. With much tro il)lo he was restored to life by means of heat applied to the head, attiation in the ears and mouth, rubbing the body, &c. The Minister, Rajah ])hyan Singh, assured a friend that lie had this Fakir, whose name was Haridas, for a period of lour months under the earth at.lummoo, in the mountains. On the day of the burial iie had caused his heard to bo shaved oii', and when he was taken up again his chin was just as smooth as on the day he was consigned to the earth— a proof, as would seem, of suspended animation. However wonderful and perhaps lau liable these operations appear to many, it is plain that these people have a singular control over the different or.ans of the body, and more especially over their muscular contractions. When all the necessary preparations have been accomplished, the Fakir lays his tongue way back in his throat, crosses his hands on his breast, and suspends animation by means of holding his breath. On his being brought back to life, one of the first operations is, by means of the fingers, to draw the tongue away from the back of the throat; a warm and aromatic paste of meal is then placed on his head, and air is blown into his lungs and into the ear-holes, from which the wax-stoppers have been removed, the stoppers in the nostrils being then forced out with an explosive noise. Tin's is said to be the first sign of a return to life. He then gradually commences to breathe, opens the eyes and recovers consciousness, continuous friction of the body being carried on all the time. Here is a further curious statement of opinion on the subject of the Indian stories from an equally rare source, the little pamphlet of Sir Claude W.ide, published in 1537. " I was present," he writes, "at the Court of Runjeet Singh when tho Fakir, mentioned by the Hon. Captain Osborne, was buried alive for six weeks ; and, although I arrived a few hours after his actual interment, and did not, consequently, witness that part of the phenomenon, Iliad the testimony of Ruujeet~Singh himself and others of the most credible witnesses of his Court, to the truth of the Fakir having been buried before them ; and, from my having been myself present wlien he was disinterred, anil restored to n state of perfect vitality, in a position so close to him as to render any deception impossible, it is my firm belief that there was no collusion in producing the extraordinary sight which I have to relate. Iwillbricfrystate wliatlsaw, to enable others to judge of the weight due to my evidence, and whether any proof of collusion can, in their opinion, be detected. On the approach of the appointed time, accordding to invitation, 1 accompanied Runjeet Singh to the spot where the Fakir had been buried. It was in a square building called a barra durra, in the middle of one of the gardens adjoining the palace at Lahore, with an open verandah all around, having an enclosed room in the centre. On arriving there Runjeet Singh, who was attended on the occasion by the whole of his court, dismounted from his elephant, and asked me to join him in examining the building to satisfy himself that it was' closed "as he-lwd \effe it: After our examination we seated ourselves in the verandah opposite the door, while some of Runjeet Singh's people dug away the mud wall, and one of his officers broke the sea! and opened the padlock. When the door was thrown open nothing but a dark room was to be seen. Runjeet Singh and myself then entered it, in company with the servant of tiic Fakir, and, a being brought, we descended about 3 feet below the floor of the room, into a sort of cell, where was a wooden box about 4 feet long by 3 feet I road, with a sloping roof, containing the Fakir, the door of which had also a padlock and seal similar to that on the outside. On opening it we saw a figure enclosed in a bag of white linen, fastened by a string over the head, on the exposure of which a grand salute was fired, and the surrounding multitude came crowding to the door to see the spectacle. After they had gratified their curiosity, the Fakir's servant, putting his arms into the box, took the figure out, and, closing the door, placed it with its back against it, exactly as the Fakir had been squatting (like a Hindoo idol) in the box itself. Runjeet Singh and mysolf descended into the cell, which was so small we were only able to sit on the ground in front of the body, and so close to it as to touch it with our hands and knees. The servant then began pouring warm water over the figure, but as my object was to sec if any fraudulent practices eould be detected, I proposed to Runjeet Singh to tear open the bag, and have a perfect view of the body before any means of resuscitation were employed. I accordin, ly did so, and may here remark that the bag, when first seen by us, looked mildewed, as if it had been buried some time The legs and arms of the body were shrivelled and stiff, tfie face full, the head reclined on the shoulder like that of a corpse. I then called to the medical gentleman who was attending me to come down and inspect the body, which he did, but could discover no pulsation in the heart, the temples, or tho arms. There was, however, a heat about the region of the brain, whieh no other -part exhibited. The servant then commenced bathing him with hot water, and gradually relaxing his arms and lega from the rigid state in which they were contracted, Rnnjeet Singh taking his right and I his left leg, to aid by friction in restoring them to their proper action, during which time the servant placed a hot wheaten cake, about an inch thick, on the top of the head—a process which he twice or thrice repeated. He then pulled out of his nostrilsiind earstlie wax and cotton with which they had been stopped, and, after great exertion, opened his mouth by inserting the point of a knife between his teeth, and, while holding his jaw open with his left hand, drew the toticruc foru-ard with his fight, in the course of which the tongue flew back several times to its curved position upward, in which it had originally been, so as to close the gullet. He then rubbed his eyes with ghee (or clarified butter) for some seconds, tin lie succeeding in opening them, when the eyes . appeared quite motionless and glazed. After I the cake had been applied for the third time to the top of the head the body was violently convulsed, tho nostrils became inflated, when respiration ensued, ami the limbs hc«an to assume a natural fulness ; but the pulsation was still faintly perceptible. The servant then put some of the ghee on his tongue and made him swallow it. A few niinntcs after

ward the eyeball became dilated, when the Fakir recognised Runjeet Singh, sitting close to him, and articulated in a low sepulchral tone, scarcely audible, ' Do your believe me now?' llunjc'et Singh, replied in the affirmative, and invested the Fakir with a pearl necklace and a superb pair of gold bracelets, and pieces of silk and muslin and shawls, forming what is cailciluhhclat, such

as is usually conferred by the Princes of India on persons of distraction. I share entirely in the apparent incredibility of the fact of a man being buried aliveand surviving the trial without food or drink for various periods of duration ; but, however incompatible with our knowledge of physiology, iii the absence of any visible proof to the contrary, I am bound to declare my belief in the facts which I have represented, however impossible their existence may appear to others."—London Telegraph. ,