The abnormal psychopathological fear of being buried alive is called Taphophobia,
(from the Greek taphos, meaning "grave".) Literally it translates into "fear of graves."
Before the era of modern medicine, this fear was not entirely irrational.
During the cholera epidemics of the 18th and 19th centuries worries reached quite a
peak, and many inventions were patented at that time, but history has recorded many
cases of live burial.
When is a dead person, really, all the way dead? It has not always been so clear.
Physicians and undertakers have employed many unusual methods to try to deter-
mine if there is any life left in the body laying before them.
From a 2001 Wired News Article:
Administering enemas of tobacco smoke to the suspected dead had a strong
following among many members of the medical profession in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Other doctors preferred to insert hot pokers into various orifices, pinch nipples with pliers,
and vigorously yank on the tongue of a presumed corpse in order to ascertain that their
patients were quite dead.
Tongue-pulling became so popular that a device was created to automate the procedure. The
suggested modus operandi was to clamp the maybe-dead person's tongue to the machine
and then turn a crank that rapidly moved the tongue in and out of the patient's mouth.
This procedure had to be continued for at least three hours, doctors believed,
so a village's most-easily amused person was usually assigned to the task.
Fear of being buried alive was elaborated to the extent that those who could afford following among many members of the medical profession in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Other doctors preferred to insert hot pokers into various orifices, pinch nipples with pliers,
and vigorously yank on the tongue of a presumed corpse in order to ascertain that their
patients were quite dead.
Tongue-pulling became so popular that a device was created to automate the procedure. The
suggested modus operandi was to clamp the maybe-dead person's tongue to the machine
and then turn a crank that rapidly moved the tongue in and out of the patient's mouth.
This procedure had to be continued for at least three hours, doctors believed,
so a village's most-easily amused person was usually assigned to the task.
it would make all sorts of arrangements for the construction of a "safety coffin"
to ensure this would be avoided (e.g. glass lids for observation, ropes to
bells for signaling, and breathing pipes for survival until rescued).
In 1995 a modern safety coffin was patented by Fabrizio
Caselli. His design included an emergency alarm,
intercom, a flashlight, breathing apparatus,
and both a heart monitor and stimulator.
No comments:
Post a Comment