53 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the coffin, with the knowledge that it was horn or extruded after inter- 

 ment, must have a startling effect upon the ordinary bystanders, yet 

 Dr. Aveling (" Obstetrical Transactions," London, 1873) has reported 

 thirty cases where the expulsion of the child was due " either to a 

 contracting power remaining in the uterus after the death of the rest of 

 the body, or to the pressure exerted on the uterus by the gases of putre- 

 faction, the latter being the more frequent cause." 



The only motive in preparing this paper has been, not to contradict 

 the fact that premature burials may have taken place and under the 

 most unhappy circumstances, but to place renewed confidence in the 

 ability of the ordinary general practitioner of medicine to recognize 

 the distinction between a state of trance and a state of death, and to 

 induce a disregard of the idle stories of ignorant and superstitious per- 

 sons upon premature burials. 



^+++~ 



THE ST. GOTIIAKD TUNNEL. 



T ] 





JHE boring of the St. Gothard Tunnel is pronounced by one of the 

 engineers to be the greatest work hitherto attempted by man ; 

 certainly its importance and magnitude can hardly be overrated. It 

 deserves to be regarded with especial admiration as a work which was 

 marked in every department and at every stage by triumphs of the 

 highest skill in scientific engineering. The tunnel is intended to form 

 part of the railway connecting the North Sea with the Mediterranean, 

 and is situated on the most direct route between these regions, passing 

 through the chain of the Alps at a central pokit. The railroad through 

 this line was preceded by the road over the Brenner Pass of the Tyrol, 

 for that was easier of execution, and by that through the Mont Cenis 

 Tunnel, for the French Government had political reasons for construct- 

 ing a road which should be under its own control. The Swiss soon 

 saw, after the rival lines were constructed, that the traffic which be- 

 longed to them would be diverted to pass around them, and imme- 

 diately began operations to open a road through their own most direct 

 route. In this they enjoyed the cooperation of Germany and Italy. 

 The operations at St. Gothard were begun under the advantage of the 

 possession of the experience, knowledge, and skill that had been gained 

 in constructing the tunnel of Mont Cenis. 



The preliminary surveys made it certain that the only points at 

 which the opening of the tunnel could be made were near Goeschenen, 

 in the Canton Uri, on the north, 1,109 metres or 3,604 feet above the 

 sea, and near Airolo, in the Canton Tessin, on the south, 1,145 metres 

 or 3,721 feet above the sea. Considerable works were necessary to 

 reach these elevations. An examination of the map showed that the 

 tunnel might be straight and that it would be about 15,000 metres or 



