APPARENT DEATH.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143788, 11 May 1912, Page 2

APPARENT DEATH.

Some very earnest people in Paris are endeavouring to launch a crusade against the laws and customs that make premature burial possible. The subject is one in which Parisians are interested particularly, since burial'in that city is never delayed longer than two days after death. One of the leaders of the crusade is Dr. Thainot, a prominent medical man, who is said to have devoted years to the study of the melancholy subject. A lecture which he gave recently in the Serbonne attracted a great deal of attention. Dr. Thainot mentioned a number of cases in which persons who appeared to be dead were buried before the mistake could be rectified. In tho retreat from Moscow a French, general was shot, and as he was believed to be dead, an' order was •issued that ho should be buried in tho snow l . Tho interment had been completed when the general’s aide-de-camp expressed a wish to take the body back to France. The body was exhumed and laid on a car, and within a few hours the general recovered consciousness. He lived to attend tho funeral of tho officer who had ordered his burial. Another case mentioned in Dr. Thainot’s lecture was that of a young priest, who suddenly because insensible. A medical man declared that ho w’as dead, and arrangements wore made for the funeral. The young priest was unable to speak or mov-o, but he understood all that w r ae going ’on, and at tho last moment he regained the use of his faculties and averted a tragedy. The story of this young priest was told to the French Senate many years ago h'y Cardinal Dounet, and a tremendous impression was created when the Cardinal remarked. “He is to-day among you, asking you to prevent tragedies." Dr. Thainot declares that in spite of all" the attention that has been given to the subject, science has not discovered a certain sign of death. Apparent death resembles death so closely in every respect that it seems to be impossible to distinguish with any certainty between the two states.

A social is advertised in this issue to bo held in the Omata Hall on Thursday next, when members of the North Taranaki Hunt will be present. The Omata people are making every effort to ensure a successful gathering, and have arranged to run a ’bus from town. Members of the Hunt will also be provided with paddocking for their horses, and so need not return to town after the meet.