Premature burial and how it may be prevented : with special reference to trance, catalepsy, and other forms of suspended animation / by William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum.

  • Tebb, William, 1830-1918.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Premature burial and how it may be prevented : with special reference to trance, catalepsy, and other forms of suspended animation / by William Tebb and Edward Perry Vollum. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    The Somerset Coitnty Herald (Taunton) of October 12 1895, ^3.8 the following :— extraordinary case of trance near WEYMOUTH. The wedding nuptials of a sailor from H.M.S. Alexandra and a young woman residing at Broadwey, who were recently married, have been interrupted in a most unusual manner by the newly- made bride falling into a trance. On the day following the wedding Mr. and Mrs. Mortimer, for such is the name of the newly-espoused pair, went for a driv6, and on returning in the evening the bride, remarking that she did not feel very well, went upstairs, and before long was in a sound sleep, which continued throughout the night and far into the following day. The relatives of the bride, remembering symptoms which she had previously developed, then sent for Dr. Pridham, who at once pronounced that the unfortunate young woman had fallen into a trance. Dr. Colmer, of Weymouth, was likewise called; but nothing that these two medical gentlemen could do had the slightest effect in arous- ing their patient from the state of lethargy into which she had so suddenly and unexpectedly relapsed. In this condition she re- mained for a space of five days, when she gradually showed signs of returning animation, and in the course of a few hours regained consciousness, though she was then in a very exhausted condition. After her awakening the young woman developed inflammation of the legs, which was regarded as a very serious condition for her to be in. In an interview on Saturday, Dr. Pridham described the trance as being exceedingly death-like in character, and added that, in such trances as the one in question, in the past people have no doubt been actually buried. A report of this case appears in the St. James s Gazette. A less experienced practitioner would probably have made out a death certificate, as in numerous similar cases. After burial we hear no more of them ; they may have been buried in a death-like trance, but the medical