Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Some New Englanders in the 1800s believed that tuberculosis symptoms were caused by the dead

In the 19th century, some New England communities grew so desperate to help victims of tuberculosis that they resorted to a macabre practice: digging up dead relatives and ritually burning their organs. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll examine the causes of this bizarre belief and review some unsettling examples. — Read the rest