Buried Alive: the Terrifying History of Our Most Primal Fear.JAN BONDESON In this compilation of macabre ma·ca·bre adj. 1. Suggesting the horror of death and decay; gruesome: macabre tales of war and plague in the Middle Ages. See Synonyms at ghastly. 2. incidents taking place between the 18th and 20th centuries, Bondeson contends that premature burial was a common occurrence before there were scientific methods for confirming death. The justified fear of premature burial had a far-reaching influence on medical professionals, some of whom went so far as to insist on witnessing the onset of putrefaction putrefaction: see decay of organic matter. before declaring death. With advances such as the stethoscope stethoscope (stĕth`əskōp') [Gr.,=chest viewer], instrument that enables the physican to hear the sounds made by the heart, the lungs, and various other organs. The earliest stethoscope, devised by the French physician R. T. H. and resuscitation resuscitation /re·sus·ci·ta·tion/ (-sus?i-ta´shun) restoration to life of one apparently dead. cardiopulmonary resuscitation techniques, the mainstream medical community came to regard premature burial as highly unlikely. However, Bondeson maintains that many premature burials did happen and still occur today. Originally published in hardcover in 2001. Norton, 2002, 320 p., b&w photos/illus., paperback, $14.95. |
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