A coroner's inquisition was taken on Monday last, at Osbournby, near Falkingham, on the body of a man named Page, who had died under circumstances of peculiar horror. The deceased was a pauper, belonging to the parish of Silk Willoughby, but not choosing to stay in the workhouse, he was in the habit of strolling about from town to town, subsisting upon the provision which he begged.
It was his custom to deposit what he procured in this way beyond the immediate cravings of nature, within his shirt next to his body; and having considerable store of meat and bread so placed, he, in the early part of last week, it is supposed, feeling unwell, laid himself down in a field in the parish of Scredington, to sleep. The meat, from the heat of the weather and of the man's body, soon becoming putrid, was struck by flies; and in a short time the maggots which were so occasioned, not only preyed upon the inanimate pieces of flesh, but began literally to consume the living substance.
Favoured by the drowsiness and sloth of the wretched man, these vermin made such havoc in his body, that when, on Tuesday, he was found by some persons who were accidentally passing in the field, he presented a sight disgusting in the extreme. White maggots, of an enormous size, were crawling in and upon his body, and the removal of the outer ones only served to show hundreds of others, which had penetrated so deeply, that it was clear the very vitals of the miserable man were invaded by them.
Page was conveyed to Osbournby, and a surgeon was immediately procured, who dressed the parts affected; but the sufferer died in a few hours after.
The jury returned a verdict to the effect that the deceased was "eaten to death by maggots!"
No comments:
Post a Comment