A essay on body Decay comparing fact to vampire myth
by "QV" (VRSWO researcher)
Article posted on July 4, 2001
I'm going to start with this simple list which helps me seperate the 'mis-understood'
from the 'true possibilities.'
Many historical documentations, usualy filled out by doctors describe
bodies with irregular conditions.These
are listed below:
*body is undecomposed
*the skin seems growing (old skin falls off, new skin underneath
showing)
*Hair, beard, and nails growing
*body has moved in the coffin (not sitting how it was positioned)
*Fresh blood in the mouth.
*when body was pierced fresh blood flows from it.
Ok...now we have this re-occuring list in nearly every document.These are taken around the 1700s.Some earlier, some later, but all are consistant with the
symptoms.
Now, here comes the post mortum descriptions of modern day science.(In plain english, this is what happens to the body of a dead
person.)
Listing comes from Glaister and Rentoul's dissertation on the subject
and provides external, distinct signs of decomposition:
*greenish coloration over the right ileac fossa (depression at lowest
part of small intestine).
*extention of greenish color over the whole abdomen, and other part of
the body.
*discoloration and swelling of the face.
*swelling and discoloration of the scrotum, or the vulva.
*distention of the abdomen with gases.
*brownish coloration of the surface veins, giving an arborescent patten
or the skin.
*development of blisters, of varying sizes, on the surfaces.
*bursting of blisters, and denudation of large irregular surfaces due to
the shedding of the epidermis.
*escape of blood-stained fluid from the mouth and nostrils.
*liquefaction of the eyeballs.
*increasing discoloration of the body generally, and greater and
progressive abdominal distention.
*presense of maggots.
*shedding of the nails and loosening of the hair.
*facial features unrecongnizable.
*conversion of tissues into a semi-liquid mass.
*bursting open of the abdominal and thoracic cavities.
*progressive dissolution of the body.
Decomposition is aided by the presence of air, moisture, microorganisms,
moderate temperatures, and by the presence of insects.The body, however, can be preserved in a number of ways, one of
which is burial, intentional or accidental, in lime.When a body is buried in lime, decomposition is retarded and the
tissues maintain their suppleness.If we were to put a stick into the hand of such a corpse, it
would not be unusual for the dead hand to go on grasping, appearing not
to be willing to let go.The
reason for this is that the dehydrated hand remains in whatever position
it is placed.
For hundreds of years grave diggers, exhumers and those working in
morgues or hospitals have reported corpses suddenly sitting up some time
after death, the body rising elegantly and without hesitation to a
sitting position.Until
recently such occurrences were very simply put down to supernatural
activity.Many in a number
of cases the bodies actually appeared to slide off the table before
collapsing once more.
Within the throat and trachea regions of the body there are certain
chemicals and fluids that continue to function after death.The body has its own post-death system which continues to work,
preparing the corpse for its deterioration and decomposition..Among these fluids there are some that, after the rest of the
fluids have dried up, contract at a later point, drawing the other
organs into this "dance" of contraction.In effect, the muscles and tissues within the stomach and lower
digestive tracts are reduced and in this process the body arches forward
into the sitting position.
If the arms are in a state of rigor mortis at the front of the body
placed across the thighs, as is often the case, they will appear to move
upwards as pushed by the lifting of the trunk, thus performing in the
all-time fashion of the horror movie.
(Most of this taken from the book: Vampire:
The complete Guide to the world of the undead. By Manuela Dunn Mascetti.)
In my personal experience talking to a lady who worked in a morge doing
corpse makeup for viewings she told me that often bodies will 'scream'.What is initially going on is that air remains in the lungs until
some position causes it to escape.The shape of the wind pipe and perhaps even mouth often makes a
whiseling sound as the air escapes.This can sound very much like a scream, however, once the air has
gone it does not reoccur.
Ok, lets do a recap on the list we had earlier of 'sure signs they are a
vampire' one by one.
*body is undecomposed
Was it bearried in lime?What
did it die of?Is it
possible a disease it died of did not allow the decomposing chemicals to
react?
(Note: in the areas that most vampirism was reported was in europe, many
places in europe have great amounts of lime.Many buildings are made of that.)
*the skin seems growing (old skin falls off, new skin underneath
showing)
This is blisters, when they fall off a lower layer of skin is exposed,
but is not NEW skin.It may
be more pink or red in color because it is a deeper level of skin.
*Hair, beard, and nails growing
Nails and hair are falling away...could be mistaken for being longer.
*body has moved in the coffin (not sitting how it was positioned)
Chemicals react and make the limbs and midsection move up.
*Fresh blood in the mouth.
Blood colored liquid.Its
normal according to the description.
*when body was pierced fresh blood flows from it.
Blood colored liquid, the fluid is the chemicals still reacting and
turning tissue into fluid.Just
because its red and liquid doesn't mean its blood.
Ok, to finish this email, I have listed one book that this was described
in.It is only one in my
vampire library.Many books
repeat others so I try only to list the ones I quote from.This seems to be a very good one and I would recommend it.I recently saw a used edition on ebay for $3.So things don't have to cost alot.
I still search for evidence of a 'undead' vampire, even though so far
everything I've come across can be scientifically explained as normal.However, when checking out the Vampire Research Socity UK website
I learned something about a vampire described as the "Highgate
vampire".By the way,
we are in NO WAY connected with that group.The Highgate vampire is said to have witnesses, and on the
website it described pictures, even of a vampire they later 'staked!'But the pictures look like a normal decomposing corpse. Its
eyes have visibly already decomposed.
The search continues, and I will post more of my findings in the future.Please share what you know and have found.
thank you,
QV
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