Super Frage!!! Die Sache beruht auf einem alten, englischen Aberglauben:
Radford's Encyclopaedia of Superstition, by E. and M.A. Radford
(1947), describes a "widespread" British superstition that "a gun fired
over a corpse thought to be lying at the bottom of the sea or a river,
will by concussion break the gall bladder, and thus cause the body to
float." The superstition evidently found its way from England to the
U.S., and is mentioned in Edgar Allen Poe's 1842 story The Mystery of Marie Rogêt (thanks to Ninjagrapefruit on The Straight Dope Message Board for calling the Poe mention to our attention.)
Does it work? Of course not.
Quelle:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2092/will-shooting-a-cannon-cause-a-drowned-body-to-rise-to-the-surface
Fazit: Man glaubte, dass durch die Erschütterungen die Gallenblase der am Boden liegenden Leichen platzen würde, und diese dann an die Oberfläche treiben würden.
