f Punjaub who allowed himself to be buried in a
well-secured vault for such a long time that grain sown in the soil
above the vault sprouted into leaf before he was exhumed. Honigberger
affirms that the time of burial was over 40 days, and that on being
submitted to certain processes the man recovered and lived many years
after. Sir Henry Lawrence verified the foregoing statements. The chest
in which the fakir was buried was sealed with the Runjeet stamp on it,
and when the man was brought up he was cold and apparently lifeless.
Honigberger also states that this man, whose name was Haridas, was four
months in a grave in the mountains; to prove the absolute suspension of
animation, the chin was shaved before burial, and at exhumation this
part was as smooth as on the day of interment. This latter statement
naturally calls forth comment when we consider the instances that are
on record of the growth of beard and hair after death.

There is another account of a person of the same class who had the
power of suspending animation, and who would not allow his coffin to
touch the earth for fear of worms and insects, from which he is said to
have suffered at a previous burial.

It has been stated that the fakirs are either eunuchs or
hermaphrodites, social outcasts, having nothing in common with the
women or men of their neighborhood; but Honigberger mentions one who
disproved this ridiculous theory by eloping to the mountains with his
neighbor's wife.

Instances of recovery after asphyxia from hanging are to be found,
particularly among the older references of a time when hanging was more
common than it is to-day. Bartholinus, Blegny, Camerarius, Morgagni,
Pechlin, Schenck, Stoll, and Wepfer all mention recovery after hanging.
Forestus describes a case in which a man was rescued by provoking
vomiting with vinegar, pepper, and mustard seed. There is a case on
record in which a person was saved after hanging nineteen minutes.
There was a case of a man brought into the Hopital Saint-Louis
asphyxiated by strangulation, having been hung for some time. His
rectal temperature was only 93.3 degrees F., but six hours after it
rose to 101.6 degrees F., and he subsequently recovered. Taylor cites
the instance of a stout woman of forty-four who recovered from hanging.
When the woman was found by her husband she was hanging from the top of
a door, having been driven to suicide on account of his abuse and
intemperance. When first seen by