Tuesday 23 September 2008

That porphyria theory is hard to put to rest...

In the spring 2006 issue of the Polish journal Foton there is yet another paper (A Vampire Story: Science, Folklore and Beyond by Bakó, Gudowska-Nowak and Smoluchowski) speculating whether the vampire cases could be explained by Porphyria. The authors don't make a better case for this, honestly, absurd theory than so many others have done. Still, it's interesting to read their short review of the 18th century vampire debate, including the vitalist-animalist school of Georg Ernst Stahl. The illustrations and the usual quote from Montague Summers ('Throughout the vast shadowy world of ghosts and demons...') don't make their case more sound.

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