EFFECTS OF ELECTRICITY. 437 



According to the Rev. Rhodin, Rector of the parish of 

 Ermelanda, a very remarkable cure was effected by elec- 

 tricity. " An individual of the name of Sven Nilsson," so 

 he tells us, " was suffering from a severe attack of cholera. 

 A thunderstorm having occurred, and the electric fluid having 

 entered the chamber in which he lay, and killed his two 

 daughters, he was instantly restored to health." 



From the great mortality, coffins could not be procured in 

 sufficient numbers. Large and deep trenches were therefore 

 made, to which the bodies were conveyed during the night, 

 and buried with quicklime. At first the ordinary forms in 

 the burial of the dead were duly observed ; but, as the 

 disease spread, these were so far dispensed with as that only 

 once in twenty-four hours the funeral service was read over 

 all the corpses at one time. 



At the Gothenburg Cemetery, and everywhere in cold 

 countries, is a building (dead-house) where during severe 

 weather, when the ground cannot be conveniently opened 

 and frequently, indeed, on ordinary occasions the dead are 

 deposited prior to burial. Soon after the breaking out of 

 the cholera this building was crammed full of coffins which, 

 owing to the numerous interments constantly going on, could 

 not be removed for several days. When the doors were at 

 length opened, the scene was too horrible for description. 

 The effluvium was dreadful, and from the extreme heat of the 

 weather, decomposition had taken place to such an extent, 

 that the shoes of the individuals employed in removing the 

 coffins were partially immersed in the putrid matter that 

 had exuded from the bodies. 



It is to be feared that whilst the disorder was at its height, 

 individuals were not unfrequently interred alive. Dreadful 



