ELISHA MITCHELL SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY. 59 



NOTES ON A "PETRIFIED HUMAN BODY." 



T. W. HARRIS AND J. A. HOLMES. 



During the past autumn several papers published accounts of a 

 *' petrified "' human body, discovered at Bell's Cross Roads, Chat- 

 ham county, N. C. Through the kindness of the friends of the 

 body, permission wps granted the writers to make an examination 

 of the case, with the following results : 



The body was that of a white woman, past middle age, who died 

 in March. 1879, and was buried a short distance from the cemetery 

 at Bell's Cross Roads. After remaining in this place for six years, 

 it was taken up and removed to the cemetery. During this removal 

 it was observed that the form of the body was well preserved, and 

 the surface comparatively hard, and hence the report as to petri- 

 faction . 



At the time of our examination (April last), upon re excavation, 

 the body exhibited the same characteristics. The features of ti.e 

 face, the ears and nose were gone, but the general form of the limbs 

 and other external parts of the body were well preserved. The 

 outer surface was rather dark in color. The clothing was still in 

 place but pretty well decomposed. The body was light in weight, 

 and showed no tendency toward falling to pieces on exposure to the 

 air. On examination we found, as we had anticipated, and what is 

 probably true of all the reported cases of so-called petrified human 

 bodies, that there was no petrifaction at all. but the formation of 

 adipocere. That is, all over the body the adipose tissue just under 

 the skin, instead of decomposing, as it does ordinarily, had changed 

 into a light colored granular substance, soapy to the feel, and oth- 

 erwise possessing the characteristics of adipocere. This layer of 

 adipocere was firm but easily cut with a knife. It varied in thick- 

 ness from ^ of an inch over the arms, to i inch through the mam- 

 mary glands. 



The muscular tissues of the body had not generally undergone a 

 similar transformation, but had disappeared, so that cutting through 

 this outer layer of adipocere on the limbs, the space between it and 

 the bones was hollow, except that here the muscle sheaths of con- 

 nective tissue were in many cases in place, and suflBciently well 

 preserved to be readily distinguished. On examination of the heart, 

 however, here the thick muscular walls appeared to have changed 

 in part to adipocere. The connective tissue of the heart was soft 

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