The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser
Sat 8 Mar 1851
Page 1-2
Reprinted: From the Glasgow Herald.
THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION
https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101736844
Note: Trove Auto-transcriber errors have been corrected, but period spelling was left intact.
THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION.
[From the "Glasgow Herald."]
Most of our readers are, we dare say, acquainted with the general nature of the vampire superstition, but few of them are in possession of the curious facts out of which that superstition has arisen, and fewer still are probably aware of the terrible consternation which, in the early part of the last century, it caused in Servia and the districts adjacent to Belgrade. It is a most extraordinary idea, that the dead should arise from their graves, and prowl about the country for the purpose of sucking the blood of the living, and yet this is the genuine notion of vampirism. By some writers, the original of the vampire superstition is referred to the habits of a peculiar kind of bat, which, in hot climates, gently fans sleeping persons with its wings, while it bleeds them to death; but from the statement about to be made, it will be evident that this can by no means account for its "rise and progress." In a note to his poem of the "Giaour," Lord Byron says, "The vampire superstition is still general in the Levant. Honest Tournefort tells us a long story which Mr. Southey, in the notes on Thalaba, quotes about these 'Vroucolocha,' as he calls them. The Roman term is 'Vardoulacha.' I recollect a whole family being terrified by the scream of a child, which they imagined must proceed from such a visitation. The Greeks never mention the word without horror."
The best original account that we have seen of the ravages committed rather more than a century ago by the vampires, is contained in the third volume of a scientific publication printed at Paris in the year 1758, and entitled "Bibliotheque de Physique et d'Histoire Naturelle" The narrative referred to forms the second division of the sixty-third articles, the title of which is, "Observations Physiques sur l'embrasement de l'air Souterain dans une mine de charbon de terre ; sur les Vampyres, on corps morts accoutums a sucer le sang des vivans." The mode in which the learned author of this article, in the absence of all knowledge of the gases, endeavors to explain the causes of coal-pit explosions, is both ingenious and curious, but has now lost its interest in consequence of subsequent discoveries. His narrative of the ravages of vampirism in Servia is more to our purpose, and we accordingly translate it for the entertainment of our readers. However, the phenomenon may be explained, the facts stated relative to the ruddy healthy-looking condition of the supposed vampire corpses have been fully authenticated. " Our author says—
"In the, village of Kisolva, belonging to the district of Rahon, near Belgrade, a man died named Peter Plogowitz. Two months and a-half after his interment, it happened that, within the space of eight days, nine persons of different ages died, after about twenty-four hours illness, and declared that the said Plogowitz had appeared to them during sleep, and rested upon their bodies, squeezed their neck so hard as to leave them in a dying state. This character of vampirism was confirmed by the widow of the alleged vampire, who declared that her husband had come to her after his death to demand his shoes, upon which she quitted the village, for the purpose of establishing herself elsewhere.
Narratives of this sort are not new in that country, as there is a regular system of vampirism esta-
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blished, according to which the accused corpse must be examined, and certain forms be gone through for the purpose of putting an end to its murderous exploits. This, in the instance before us, was done in the presence of the provost of Belgrade, and of the chief priest of Gradisch. The former avers that he discovered in the disinterred carcass all the marks by which the natives, of that country distinguish vampires ; as, 1st, the body had no smell ; 2nd, it was entire, with the exception of the nose, which was a little thinned ; 3rd, the hair had commenced growing as well as the beard; 4th, new nails had been formed in place of the old ones, which had fallen off ; 5th, under the old skin, which was peeling off, and had become whitish, a new skin was growing up ; 6th, the countenance, the hands, the feet, and the whole body, were as fresh and healthy—looking as they could have been during life; 7th, it was remarked, with astonishment, that the mouth was filled with fresh liquid blood, which it was doubted that he had sucked from the bodies of those whom he had killed. Being then convicted of being a wicked vampire, a stake was quickly driven through his heart, from which abundance of blood issued, as well as from his mouth and ears, to say nothing of different effects which were manifested in other parts of the body. Finally, to curb his passion tor running about the country, the corpse was thrown upon at pile of wood, and reduced to ashes.
This fact is confirmed by many others, and particularly by another vampire of Kisolva, who took it into his head to demand food, and who, in effect, ate whatever was given to him. But he too, having committed many murders, was disinterred, when he appeared with his eyes open, his skin of a vermilion color, his respiration natural, but the body at the name time stiff and dead. Dead or not, however, from a dread of some trickery being practiced, he was again killed with blows of stones, and then burnt. But the most important circumstance connected with this second example happened in the year 1728, and related to the case of one Arnold Paule, who, having been tormented by a vampire, had the good fortune to save his life by eating a quantity of earth taken from the vampire's grave, and by rubbing himself with his blood. This, how- ever, did not prevent one of the most distressing consequences attributed to the attacks of vampires, namely, that those who have been sucked themselves regularly suck others in their turn—in other words, that those who, during life, have been passive vampires, become active vampires after death.
In fact, Arnold having been exhumed forty days after his burial, was found to have all the marks of an arch-vampire. Thus, when he was pierced with a stake, according to the ordinary method, the history states that he uttered a frightful yell, as if he had been alive. Several other persons who had died from the effects of vampirism were similarly proceeded against. In the year 1731, vampirism carried off seventeen individuals of different sexes and different ages, within the space of three months, and the chief complaint lay against a young noble man named Milo, who, nine weeks before his death had acted the hobgoblin, for the purpose of seducing the young females of the village. After many researches, it was agreed that all this mischief sprung from poor Arnold, who had been reduced to ashes five years before, as he had sucked not only the four persons whose bodies had been burnt along with his own, but he had also sucked beasts ; and the mischief was, that all who had eaten any portion of those vampire beasts became in course vampires themselves. Milo was one of these persons ; and on the occasion of his examination, the whole grave yard was scrutinized out of 40 bodies which had been interred within a certain period, 17 were found bearing the signs of vampirism. It need not be asked if a long time was spent in going through the established process. It remains only to be remarked, that the fact stated is attested by a great number of individuals of the strictest probity." As to the flat, that in the district mentioned corpses were found exhibiting the singular physical appearances above related, no doubt seems to be entertained. At least, on the testimony of so many and so unexceptionable witnesses, our French philosopher takes the fact as abundantly proved, and then he enters into an elaborate disquisition, in order to account for it upon the principles of natural science.
We need scarcely inform our readers that he very properly rejects the superstition founded upon it. To enter into the details of this argument would not be interesting to the majority of our readers, and we may therefore mention, that to the action of saltpetre he attributes the fluidity and freshness of the blood, and the ruddy color of the skin of the imaginary vampires. We translate the following detached passage, which will give some idea of his theory. Our author says—" From these discoveries" (alluding to certain facts in natural history, previously adduced), " we conclude that the fluidity of the blood in vampires is merely the effect of saltpetre, which had penetrated the pores of these bodies, and that the phenomena which the good priest of Gradisch took for nails and skins falling off and for renewed hairs and beards, were only a very subtle moss of saltpetre, which had been formed as a tissue over the different parts of the body, and which, in proportion as the dead bodies were roughly handled, became detached in form of a skin. The moss on the nails represented the old nails as having fallen from the fingers so much the more naturally, as it was by no means so firm as the skin, in consequence of the exceedingly minute pores of the nails.'
Here we close our extracts from this curious essay : but we have done enough to call the attention of those who have made physical science their study, to an exceedingly singular phenomenon in the history of the animal economy.
Citations
Article identifier http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101736844
Page identifier http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page9710608
APA citation
THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION. (1851, March 8). The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859), pp. 1-2. Retrieved February 1, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101736844
MLA citation
"THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION." The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859) 8 March 1851: 1-2. Web. 1 Feb 2019 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101736844>.
Harvard/Australian citation
1851 'THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION.', The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser (NSW : 1848 - 1859), 8 March, pp. 1-2. , viewed 01 Feb 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article101736844