Exploring the Notion of Death - Essay Example

Insertion of pins in certain parts of the body would do the trick. The body could also be treated with a liquid mixture of different substances.

In 1742, John Bruhier published 52 ways in his book through which a live burial could take place. The instances in this book made the public much anxious and there was a general consensus that some device should be formulated with the help of which such a condition could be avoided.

Cork (2009) explains that one such device was a place named the ‘leichenhäuser’ which means the corpse house. This was a place in 19th century Germany where corpses were put until putrefaction took place to make sure that death has occurred. Another device was the stethoscope which was invented in 1819 and could easily identify whether a person was breathing or not and hence determine death.