Taphephobia

Taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive, which was a widespread concern in the 19th century. Irish patriot Daniel O'Connell left instructions not to be buried until they were absolutely certain he was dead. I'm guessing there was no more certain a way than waiting for decomposition to set in.

There were many accounts of 'revival after death', as well as evidence of premature burials. One example is of the incredible naturalist Frank Buckland's 16 day venture into the vaults of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in London, searching for John Hunter's coffin so the anatomist could be re-interred in Westminster Abbey. While down there, Buckland found evidence from at least 3 coffins that premature burial took place.



















This prompted people to come up with precautionary measures to ensure their loved ones were adequately expired before interment. Cemeteries in Germany were often provided with a 'corpse house'. This was essentially a waiting room for the bodies to begin showing signs of decay so that they were able to be buried. Other efforts included contraptions where a rope was tied to the corpse's hand so if it were to move it would ring a bell above ground. There were also vaults where a body was kept inside for a number of days until they were absolutely ready for burial.

The German poet Gottfried Keller (1819-1890) wrote verses entitled Lebendig begraben or Buried Alive.

The top picture is of a body buried in the 1840's... however, the skeleton was found posed in a very distressed position suggesting this person was most likely buried prematurely. You can read more about it here.

Hunterian Museum Glasgow

We finally made the trip to the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow University (after recently visiting The Hunter House Museum in East Kilbride) and it was fantastic! The Hunterian is the oldest public museum in Scotland. In 1783 William Hunter (1718-1783) donated an extensive and varied collection to the University of Glasgow. The Museum first opened in 1807 in a building off High Street, it moved to it's present location in 1870.

William's brother John (also a surgeon) founded his own museum in London, also known as 'The Hunterian Museum'. John's collection is most notable for his obtaining the skeleton of Charles Byrne's known as "The Irish Giant".


View the Flickr set here... Lot's of interesting specimens!

Hunterian Museum Glasgow

Pictures: the Museum and William Hunter's death mask.

Hunter House Museum & the Hunter brothers.

I finally managed to make it to the Hunter House Museum in East Kilbride, Lanarkshire (about a 15 minute drive from where I live). A few months ago I had read the book 'The Knife Man' by Wendy Moore. It was all about John Hunter and his incredible forward thinking in medicine, during a time when they were still practising Medieval procedures.

John hunter is famous for obtaining the corpse of the Irish giant Charles Byrne. Like most people in the 18th century, Byrne did not want his body going to an anatomist. So as to avoid this fate (which would have been a certainty given his proportions), his friends agreed to bury him in a lead coffin and dump it in the river Thames. John Hunter, however, managed to keep Byrne from his watery grave, and added his skeleton to his anatomical collection, which is now The Huntarian Museum in London. There is also a Huntarian Museum here in Glasgow at the University, but that collection was donated by John's elder brother William upon his death.


I would recommend reading the fantastic story of John Hunter: the man infected himself with syphilis in the name of science! He is truly the father of medicine as we know it today.