the grave, hallowed by religion and the queen of arts, poetry, has become to us the emblem of eternal rest—something that is beautiful; something in which we may sleep long and well. the weeping-willow droops its slender branches over it, sweet, fragrant flowers thrive upon its soil, and the little birds perch there to sing their song.

the rays of the sun often play upon the small earth elevation, and lend additional beauty to the green foliage of the trees, the bright color of the many flowers.

but verily, we are like the sunshine—superficial. it is the great fault of mankind to be satisfied with a film-like knowledge of things. to go deeper, to dive below the superstratum, would mean to meet, perhaps, with matters not at all pleasant; to become cognizant of facts never before dreamt of. consequently, the majority of men is content to remain on the surface; content to know a little, but not all.

thank god, there are happily individuals left who descend to the bottom of every question, scientific or social, and who daily enrich all departments of learning.

as regards the grave, let us first of all listen to him who has held generations of folk spellbound; let us bow reverently before the opinion of one of the masters among english novelists—charles dickens.

67

the crematorium at cremona.

(from dr. pini’s work.)

68it is he who tells us in measured words that the grave is naught but—

“brave lodgings for one, brave lodgings for one,

a few feet of cold earth, when life is done;

a stone at the head, a stone at the feet,

a rich, juicy meal for the worms to eat;

rank grass overhead, and damp clay around,

brave lodgings for one, these, in holy ground!”

the late prof. samuel d. gross, m.d., one of the greatest surgeons the world ever possessed, called burial a horrible practice, and maintained that:—

“if people could see the human body after the process of decomposition sets in, which is as soon as the vital spark ceases to exist, they would not want to be buried; they would be in favor of cremation. if they could go into a dissecting-room and see the horrid sights of the dissecting-table, they would not wish to be buried. burying the human body, i think, is a horrible thing. if more was known about the human frame while undergoing decomposition, people would turn with horror from the custom of burying their dead. it takes a human body 50, 60, 80 years—yes, longer than that—to decay. think of it! the remains of a friend lying under six feet of ground, or less, for that length of time, going through the slow stages of decay, and other bodies all this time being buried around these remains. infants grow up, and pass into manhood or womanhood; grow old, and get near the door of death; and during all that time the body which was buried in their infancy lies a few feet under ground in this sickening state, undergoing the slow process of decay. think of thousands of such bodies crowded into a few acres of ground, and then reflect that these 69graves, or many of them, in time fill with water, and that water percolates through the ground and mixes with the springs and rivers from which we drink.

“people turn with dread from the subject of cremation. why, if they knew what physicians know,—what they have learned in the dissecting-room,—they would look upon burning the human body as a beautiful art in comparison with burying it. there is something eminently repulsive to me about the idea of lying a few feet under ground for a century, or perhaps two centuries, going through the process of decomposition. when i die, i want my body to be burned.

“any unprejudiced mind needs but little time to reflect in forming a conclusion as to which is the better method of disposing of the body. common sense and reason proclaim in favor of cremation. there is no reason for keeping up the burial custom, but many against it; some of the most practical of which are but too recently developed to need mention. there is nothing repulsive in the idea of cremation. people’s prejudice is the only opponent it has. if they could be awakened to a sense of the horror of crowding thousands of bodies under the ground, to pollute in many instances the air we breathe and the water we drink, their prejudice would be overcome; cremation would be taken for what it truly is—a beautiful method of disposing of the body. the friends of the departed can do as they please with the remains. take the ashes of a wife or daughter and put them in an urn; place it on your mantelpiece, or in as private a place as you please. strew them on the ground if you like, and let them assist in bringing forth a blade of grass. this 70would be an advantage over the burial method, where human bodies only cumber the ground.”

this was said by a man who not only showed considerable ability as an operator, and writer on topics of medicine, but who also was honored by the famous universities of cambridge and oxford, receiving from them academical titles never conferred except upon the most distinguished.

we will take a spade (only metaphorically, of course) and investigate the narrow pit which serves to hold all that is mortal of man after the spark of life has extinguished. now we remove the plants, the clinging vines, the blooming flowrets. we throw the earth aside and finally lay bare a coffin. a coffin? something that must have been one in the remote past. a sickening odor greets us. we step back to draw a breath of pure air. at last we muster up sufficient courage to return to the grave. a touch of the spade causes the top-board of the box to fall to pieces, and there is revealed to the sight a spectacle that is horrible. the ground around the body has been moist and non-porous; what has remained of the corpse is only a mass of foul flesh in a state of putrefaction. is there anything more disgusting than such a sight?

shakespeare says in “as you like it”:—

“and so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,

and then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;

and thereby hangs a tale.”

true! the tale that hangs thereby is illustrative of the carelessness and ignorance of man alike. the grave has been at all times a kind of box of pandora, with this difference,—it did not require unclosing: unopened, the grave sent forth its children—pestilence 71and death—to decimate the ranks of the population of the globe. but all calamities caused by burial have been endured by people with perfect indifference, and it was not until modern times that any reforms were attempted at all. but in spite of these so-called reforms, the murder of the living by the dead has continued. the reforms i mentioned generally resulted in the removal of cemeteries to the suburbs of cities. in this way the evil effects of interment were deferred for some time, till the city enlarged, and the population closed in around the burial-grounds.

what is burial? for what purpose do we place the bodies of our dead in the earth? it is the beginning of a chemical process—a process which ends finally in the total dissolution of the corpse. the chemical constituents of our body are returned to nature. burial and cremation are in a sense the same; in either case the body oxydates. the great distinction between the two lies in the fact, that the burning in the grave requires years for its completion, and is fraught with danger to the living, whilst in case of incineration the body is reduced to its primitive elements in the brief space of a few hours, and is unaccompanied by anything that may do harm.

dr. a. b. prescott, professor of chemistry in the university of michigan, has determined what elements of the human body are destroyed or dissipated by cremation, and what remain in the ashes. in a letter to the detroit post he states:—

“of the 70 chemical elements or ultimate simples, known to man, 15 are found in the human body. of these, four—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen—are derived from the air, and in combustion, as in 72decay, they return to the air again. these four in their various compounds make up by far the greater part of the animal tissues. of the remaining 11 chemical elements, six are metals,—potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese; and five are non-metals,—sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, fluorine, and silicon. when combustion of the tissues is completed, the six metals, in combination with the five non-metals last named, are left behind in the ash. these were drawn from the earth. there are about 19 chemical compounds in the ash so left, compounds such as phosphate of lime, carbonate of lime, sulphate of potash, chloride of sodium, etc. the greater number of the ultimate elements contained in the living body are left behind in the ash, but the proportional quantity made up by all these elements is, of course, very small. in the first place, about two-thirds of the tissues consist of water. the proportion of the ‘ash’ to the tissues varies from two per cent in muscle and seven-tenths per cent in blood, to 66 per cent in bone. the ‘ash’ left by combustion is very nearly the same, in kind and in quantity, as the ‘dust’ left after the final completion of decay.”

what is decomposition? how does it take place normally? decomposition is the decay of an organic substance, which is completely destroyed through the influence of the atmospheric oxygen. decomposition is facilitated by moisture. the organic mass undergoing such change assumes a different color and consistency and gives up carbonic acid, ammonia, and water; the same products originate in the rapid destruction of an organic substance by means of fire.

only those parts of the body (the bones) that can 73best resist the influence of the air remain secure from decay a longer time; at last they also crumble into dust and mingle with the rest.

wetness accelerates decay. when we hear the rain fall in the silent night, we are compelled to think, shuddering, how the horrible process of destruction begins in the grave of some beloved one whom we have recently buried.

the same stench that assails our nostrils when we approach a corpse that has lain a long time above ground, meets us when we open a grave; the same poisonous gases are evolved under ground from a decaying corpus as upon the surface of the earth. it makes no difference whether the grave we explore be that of a prime minister, upon which a magnificent monument rears its costly shaft high into the air, or that of a common criminal who tried to enjoy existence by spending three-quarters of his lifetime in prison; the result remains the same: in each we find the disgusting and sickening evidence of slow destruction,—a formless, putrid mass of flesh, and sometimes numberless revelling worms.

the conditions under which decomposition can take place are a certain degree of moisture and a constant supply of air. when a corpse is embedded in a soil that is very wet, a curious change takes place. there is no decay, but instead a fatty metamorphosis, giving the body a waxy appearance and preserving its original form. the result of this transformation is called adipocere. the process by which the body is changed into this stearine-like mass is entitled saponification, and is not very well understood as yet by the scientists. 74such preserved bodies were found in the burial-grounds at paris, brussels, london, and many other cities.

the crematorium at varese.

(from dr. pini’s work.)

75in 1874, the cemetery board of the burial-ground at zuerich, switzerland, discovered that the bodies interred in the graveyard since 1849 had not undergone decomposition, but had turned into adipocere. this horrible discovery materially assisted the progress of incineration in switzerland.

tripp relates that when eight bodies were taken up in a cemetery near worcester, england, the soil of which was composed chiefly of gravel and clay that was always very moist and at times so wet that the water had to be pumped out of the graves, the undecayed body of a nineteen-year-old girl was found which had been buried 51 years and had undergone saponification; the other corpses were decomposed, also the coffins, while the casket which had contained the saponified body was preserved.

i have seen but one saponified corpse. it was at the museum of the new york college of physicians and surgeons; i have forgotten whether it was a man or woman. but i still remember how i shuddered at the sight and how i walked close up to the glass case to make sure that the waxy mass within was a human being.

it is superfluous to point out here that cremation puts a stop to saponification. one need not be a chemist to know that a body cannot turn into adipocere after it has been reduced to ashes.

whenever the earth of a graveyard yet contains enough oxygen for the corpses deposited there, the dangers are very few; but whenever this is not the case, the bodies of the dead undergo a horrible metamorphosis, 76known as putrefaction, and become dangerous to the living on account of the poisonous gases and other effluvia generated.

we observe the same phenomenon in our stoves. when but very little air is admitted into them, the combustion of even very inflammable material remains incomplete; and stifling gases (for instance, carbonic oxide gas) are produced.

it is evident that a porous soil facilitates decomposition, the products of which it absorbs and retains till they have entered into some harmless combination. there is, however, a limit to its efficiency. when it becomes overcharged with the products of decomposition, it can only hold a small quantity of them; the rest are delivered to the water, which permeates it and the air which passes over it. on the other hand, it is clear that a very damp, non-porous soil into which the air cannot enter favors putrefaction.

a state of saturation is produced in the course of time in the best of cemeteries by a continued system of overcrowding.

although overcrowding of cemeteries is confined almost entirely to the countries of europe, yet there are many american burial-grounds in which this condition exists; and, what is worse, they are annually multiplying. some of these overcrowded graveyards are situated in large cities, in the centre of a dense population. in these churchyards it is impossible to dig a single grave without the disinterring of the bones of one previously buried there. imagine the consequences of such a state! isn’t it far better to remove the possibility of future disease and danger at once than to allow it to grow by degrees, till it assumes a terrible 77and fatal dimension? isn’t it better to refrain from the use of cemeteries entirely, and resort instead to the clean, pure, and undangerous system of incineration? consider! does it agree with our ideas of right and wrong to endanger the lives of our great-grandchildren or their offspring by our methods of disposing of the dead? for, by the time they appear on the stage of this world, the burial-ground now sanitary will have become a breeding-place of disease from overuse.

when we remove burial-grounds to a distance, we only postpone the evil. we insure our own safety, it is true, by so doing; but we encumber the ground with most virulent seeds, and leave to future generations—to those who come after us—a terrible crop of pollution, disease germs, and death. our own security from harm should not actuate us in this matter. we should be wise enough to prevent the evil while we have the power, so that our offspring will not justly reproach us for entailing upon them such a terrible legacy.

among american cities there is none that needs a change of method in the disposal of its dead as greatly as new orleans, in louisiana.

those that are mowed down by the grim rider of the white horse cannot be buried there, owing to the excessive moisture of the ground which surrounds the city and the proximity of the water to the surface. it is impossible to dig two feet under ground without coming to water. at all times the dead have been disposed of in a very careless manner in new orleans. it is related that during the yellow-fever epidemic of 1853, when new orleans had a population of 150,000 inhabitants, those that had died of the dread disease were thrown into trenches not over 18 inches or two feet 78deep, and covered with very little earth; so little, indeed, that the first rain that came along washed it away. in a graveyard situated in the central part of the city, were buried in this manner 400 bodies, recent victims of yellow fever, and contaminating the air with poisonous exhalations. the mayor of the city was asked to remove the dangerous condition of the burial-ground. he replied, “that’s not my business!” and the commissioner of streets, who was next approached, answered in a like spirit. the state of affairs grew worse and worse; and at last, even the negroes refused to act as grave-diggers.

at present, they have a system of entombment in the crescent city. these tombs are in the municipal cemeteries, 35 of which are within the city limits, giving them the appearance of a collection of bakers’ ovens. the tombs are almost universally made of brick, and whitewashed. they vary in size from 3 × 6 feet to 10 × 10 feet or 10 × 20 feet; there is a post in the centre, which is surrounded by shelves, on which the body—that is, the coffin—is deposited. there the dead rests for about a year, when it becomes necessary to use the tomb for another corpse; then the remains of the preceding occupant of the vault are rudely taken from the casket and dashed head over heels into a pit, where they are left to breed disease.

what wonder, exclaims kate field, that yellow fever runs riot in new orleans, when the air reeks with the festering corruption of 35 plague spots, exposed for six months of the year to a tropical sun! think how the death-rate of new orleans might be reduced by abolition of earth-burials! what better field for missionary work than our own “sunny south”?

79the unhealthfulness of these vaults is apparent to all, but, owing to prejudice, no other disposition of the dead has been adopted. but sooner or later the inhabitants of new orleans must have recourse to cremation, and burn their dead, as they were forced to do once during a cholera epidemic, when 135 corpses were consigned to the devouring element.

for 300 years english churchyards have been so full that, like the one in hamlet, yorick’s bones have had to be dug out in order to put ophelia’s in. from time to time the attention of the british authorities was directed to the shameful state of the cemeteries of the metropolis and other places. in that case the matter was brought before parliament, the government ordered an investigation, a committee was appointed to examine the grievances, the committee returned a report with the testimony of witnesses, and the report was ordered printed. the report commonly made a very large volume, which looked exceedingly pretty on the shelf on which it was placed, but became dusty in a comparatively short time from non-use. the excitement had quieted down, public opinion and the press were pacified, parliament was satisfied, and the condition of the burial-grounds remained the same as before.

the cemeteries of paris, france, are in no better condition; the mould in the old cimetière des innocents is literally saturated with corpses; montmartre and mont parnasse are overcrowded. as for père la chaise,—the burial-place that has been praised in poetry and prose (the resting-place of racine and molière), that has been adjudged the most beautiful cemetery in the world,—père la chaise is packed with decaying bodies. a cable dispatch dated dec. 27, 1883, reported that the 80municipal council of the city of paris had resolved upon leaving those that fell during the reign of bloodthirsty la commune at père la chaise for a period of 25 years. ordinary cadavers must be dug up after five years, to make room for their ghastly successors.

in portugal the soil has become so packed with corpses that an effort was made to enact a law that after five years all interred bodies should be dug up and subjected to cremation. this means that after the dead have saturated the ground with disease-producing emanations, and have exhaled nearly all their virulent effluvia into the atmosphere, sacrificing the welfare of the living to superstition and prejudice, a later incineration shall take place to save space.

of american cemeteries, i only need mention pottersfield of new york, the name of which is not spoken or heard by an american without an involuntary shudder. our graveyards are, of course, not like the cemeteries of the old world, where the exhumation of bones takes place daily to make room for the recently deceased, but they will become so unless the damaging prejudices are laid aside and something is done to prevent such a poisonous and dangerous situation. in some of the old cemeteries in our cities it has become impossible to dig another grave.

rev. john d. beugless, d.d., thus describes the burial-grounds of new york city: “of the great cemeteries about new york, there is not one, not even woodland or greenwood, in the public lots of which three or more bodies are not put in one grave,—that of john doe, who died from ‘a bare bodkin,’ being sandwiched between those of richard roe and james low, who were victims respectively of small-pox and yellow-fever. 81in the public or poor quarter of calvary cemetery a far worse state of things obtains—more appalling than even the fosse commune of paris, for it is the fosse commune sans chaux. a trench is dug, seven feet wide, ten to twelve feet deep, and of indefinite length, in which the coffins are stowed, tier upon tier, making a flight of steps, five or more deep, and with not enough earth to hide one from the next. and this is our vaunted ‘christian burial’ in this new country, with its myriads of broad acres! what shall our children say of us, when they come, perforce, from stress of space, to build their dwellings upon these beds of pestilence?”

the crematorium at brescia.

(from dr. pini’s work.)

that is the way we, “the christian nation par excellence,” treat friendless paupers and criminals. shame! shame! a dog is more decently interred.

the cemeteries of the city of brooklyn occupy nearly 2000 acres of land. a thoughtful eminent physician gives it as his opinion that the prevailing southwest wind, blowing over these corruption festering plague spots, carries to flatbush the germs of typhoid fever and diphtheria, and swells the death-rate of that city to its present alarming magnitude.

82the more one considers cremation, the more one finds himself wondering how it has come to pass that we practice interment, with its many faults and dangers, and do not burn our dead.

it is clear that overcrowding of burial-grounds must lead to evil consequences. a ground that is saturated with putrefying material can emit naught but poisonous odors, cannot fail to contaminate the purest and clearest water, must vitiate any atmosphere.

incineration deserves the respect to-day which the ancients paid to it, and is the only way of disposing of the dead so as to avoid the terrible consequences of the mephitic graveyard gases, of the dangers with which the ordinary mode of burial threatens us.

the truth was taught us by the tuscans some three hundred years ago. at that time a whale was cast upon the shore of tuscany. the inhabitants of the surrounding country hastened to the spot, and removed the ribs of the large fish, to hang them in the churches as a memento of the rare occurrence. the flesh was left to rot in the scorching southern sun. an epidemic of typhoid fever was the result; and when, ten years later, another whale happened to strand in the same locality, the people, having become wise by its previous experience, destroyed the monster by chopping it to pieces, and burning these, one after another.

there are many lurking dangers, ready to destroy the living, in the burial-grounds of the present day. the mephitic vapors increase in quantity as decomposition advances, and become far more poisonous than either arsenic or prussic acid, if these were uncombined in their natural state.

these dangerous graveyard gases can spread to quite 83a distance, and therefore can communicate the most malignant maladies at all times. dr. ayr claims that they extend to a distance of a hundred meters; some authorities assert that they reach sometimes twice the distance. this occurs generally when the grave is air-tight above, and the surface layer of the cemetery soil is imporous. then the gas escapes where it finds the least resistance,—at the sides,—and burrows along under the earth until it strikes a cavity, and bursts into it, or diffuses into the air. when the grave offers no resistance above, the gas enters the atmosphere directly. burial-grounds best fitted for cemetery purposes should be feared most, for it is evident that dryness and porousness are qualities which, although conducive to the rapid decay of a body, very much facilitate the escape of gases.

the danger is not obviated by deep burials. in that case the morbific matter is diffused through the subsoil. if the inhumations are so deep as to impede escapes at the surface, there is only the greater danger of escape by deep drainage, and the pollution of springs and wells. dr. reid detected the escape of deleterious miasma from graves more than twenty feet deep.

the danger from inhaling graveyard gases is great.

ramazzini relates how an avaricious grave-digger, by the name of pisto, met with instantaneous death on descending into a vault to steal the shoes of a corpse; he was found dead upon the body.

lancisius (de noxiis palud. effluv. ii, ep. 1, c. 2, p. 152) states that several grave-diggers died in a like manner after entering a newly opened vault, which had been set under water by an inundation of the tiber, 84and in which the stagnant water had regenerated the virulent gases.

unger gives an account of a case similar to that of haguenot, reported further on. a vault was reopened in a convent at madrid, for the purpose of depositing therein a fresh corpse. when the grave-digger was about to descend into it, he fell down dead. two other persons, who tried to save him, shared his fate.

fortunatus licetus (de annull, antiquitt. c. 23) relates that three men, who went into a vault that was full of semi-decomposed bodies with the intention of robbing, lost their lives. when the bodies were extracted, they were found to be swollen and black.

th. bartholini (historiar. anat. rarior. c. iv, obs. 32, p. 296) made experiments in denmark which confirm these reports concerning the lethal action of graveyard gases, and prove the especial danger from the gases of the dead long pent up in vaults. he affirms that these noxious gases often prove fatal, death being preceded by dizziness and fainting.

the gases of francis i operated with fatal effect upon the vandals who broke open his coffin, in the time of the french revolution, to rob it of its treasures.

books on hygiene teem with examples of the lethal properties of an atmosphere containing carbonic acid in excess. a familiar instance is that of the passengers of the ship londonderry, in 1848, 150 of whom were shut up by the captain during a storm, in the steerage 18 × 11 × 7 feet. seventy of them died in an incredibly short space of time, with convulsions and bleeding at the eyes and ears.

haguenot reports that, in 1744, the corpse of a monk of the penitent order, who had been buried in a vault 85under the church, was exhumed in the church of notre dame, at montpellier, france. a man descended into the vault to remove the cadaver, but, before he got quite down, he was taken with convulsions, and fell unconscious into the vault, where he died of suffocation. a monk went down to rescue him, but he too was taken sick, and, on having been pulled out immediately, succumbed quickly. a third, who had the courage to follow his example, fell dead without being able to retire. the same fate was reserved for a fourth victim,—a brother of the first. the bodies were pulled out with hooks; the stench of their clothing was unbearable. lights held near the opening of the vault extinguished; dogs, cats, and birds, on being brought in contact with the poisonous gases, died, with all symptoms of a severe convulsion, in a few minutes. some of the mephitic gas was bottled; but when experimented with after two and one-half months, it still had all of its dangerous qualities.

in 1749, when new vaults and graves were made in the st. eustachius church at paris, france, cadavers were dug up and placed temporarily in an old vault of the church, which had remained locked a long time. children coming to church to prepare for confirmation, and even adults, fainted on entering the sacred edifice, and some had serious attacks of illness. the same took place in st. sebastian church at madrid, spain, in 1786; three times a grave burst open, in which, but a short time before, a very corpulent lady had been buried. the horrible smell that arose from this grave prevented the reading of the holy mass at the high altar during a period of eight days. at one time the parish church of metz was so infected by the gases of 86a female corpse that it had to be abandoned, and the divine service removed to another church.

in 1841 two men who had some work to do in a grave in st. botolph’s churchyard, aldgate, england, died almost instantly on entering it.

in the churchyard at cobham, in surrey, england, on account of some changes in the church, some bodies had to be raised. the work of the navvies was horrible beyond description, and dangerous beside. it was performed very early in the morning, and was beset with difficulties. repeated doses of gin had to be given to the men to keep them at a kind of work which they could only do under the influence of alcohol. three men perished in 1852, at paris, from inhaling the gas that escaped from coffins.

fourcroy affirms that grave-digging is an unhealthy and dangerous occupation, and that all grave-diggers he examined showed symptoms of slow poisoning.

george a. walker declared that no grave-digger ever wholly escaped the influence of graveyard gases. some of the men employed in this way have noticed the peculiar smell of the gases on beginning to dig.

monsieur patissier reports several deaths due to grave-digging; and mr. chadwick asserts that the vocation of a sexton shortens life one-third. usually grave-diggers are heavy drinkers; they take to drinking to resist the malignant influence of the vapors which arise slowly but surely out of the cemetery soil, and to do away with any “maudlin sentimentality” that may still linger in their hearts, and that might interfere with their horrible work.

on march 1, 1886, marke thornton, of washington, ga., met with a singular death. his decease resulted 87from inhaling poisonous gas which seeped through into a grave he was digging by the side of another. the other men at work with him left the grave as soon as they detected the gas, but thornton, thinking there was no danger in it, remained and died.

the action of cemetery gases on the human body manifests itself in a variety of ways. sir t. spencer wells states that decomposing human remains so pollute earth, air, and water as to diminish the general health and average duration of life.

dr. lyon playfair affirms that the inspiration of graveyard gases does not always cause one form of decay or putrefaction, but that it depends entirely upon the organs attacked. entering the blood, it produces fever; communicated to the viscera, it gives origin to diarrh?a, and may, dr. playfair thinks, even be the source of consumption. when the irrespirable gas enters the respiratory tract, dr. southwood smith claims that it is conveyed into the system through the thin and delicate walls of the air-vesicles of the lungs in the act of respiration. he states that turpentine, for instance, if only inhaled when passing through a room that was recently painted, will exhibit its effects in some of the fluid excretions of the body even more rapidly than if it had been taken into the stomach. dr. riecke thinks that putrid emanations operate also through the olfactory nerves by powerful, penetrating, and offensive smells.

cemeteries are breeding grounds as well as foci of disease and death.

88

the crematorium at woking, england.

mr. chadwick, in his “report on the practice of interment in towns” (london, 1843), writes:—

“the injurious effects of exhalations from the decomposition in question on the health and life of man is proved by a sufficient number of trustworthy facts. the injurious influence is manifest in proportion to the concentration of the emanations. sometimes it produces asphyxia and sudden death. in a less concentrated state the emanations produce fainting, nausea, headache, languor. if, however, they are often repeated, they produce nervous and other fevers, or impart to fevers arising from other causes a typhoid type.... as there appear to be no cases in which the emanations from decomposing human remains are not of a deleterious nature, so there is no case in which the liability to danger should be incurred by interment amidst the dwellings of the living, it being established as a general conclusion that all interments in towns 89where bodies decompose, contribute to the mass of atmospheric impurity which is injurious to public health.”

the italian physician felix dell’acqua gives it as his opinion (in his study on cremation), that graveyards infect the earth, the air, and the water, and constantly endanger public health during an epidemic. dr. polli proved that graves deteriorate the air we breathe and contaminate the water we drink, by loading them with organic matter.

prof. antonio selmi, of mantua, claims to have discovered organic germs in the air above graves, which he called septopneuma, and which, when injected under the skin of a pigeon, caused a typhus-like disease that ended in death within three days.

specific germs may enter the atmosphere from the graves, which convey the deadliest of maladies, being carried very far by the wind. but the agent that makes cemetery gases so dangerous is carbonic acid.

dr. parkes (practical hygiene), the eminent english scientist, says:—

“the decomposition of bodies gives rise to a very large amount of carbonic acid. ammonia and an offensive putrid vapor are also given off. the air of most cemeteries is richer in carbonic acid, and the organic matter is perceptibly large, when tested by potassium permanganate.”

it is a well-known fact that carbonic acid, when inhaled in an undiluted state, causes death; it is fatal to all forms of life. when inhaled diluted with air it interferes with the introduction of oxygen into the body, and causes the carbonic acid, which should be eliminated, to be retained. this, no doubt, prevents 90the proper tissue changes, and must in time undermine the healthiest body by seriously affecting its nutrition.

dr. e. j. bermingham (disposal of the dead) says:—

“the effect of constantly breathing an atmosphere containing an excess of carbonic acid is not perfectly known. dr. angus smith has attempted to determine the effect of carbonic acid per se—the influence of organic matter of respiration being eliminated. he found that three volumes per thousand caused great feebleness of the circulation, with diminished rapidity of the heart’s action; the respirations were, on the contrary, quickened, and were sometimes gasping. these effects were lessened when the amount of carbonic acid was smaller; but were perceptible when the amount was as low as one volume per thousand.”

according to haberman, sensitive and nervous persons have been taken ill when walking by a cemetery.

p. frazer, jr., says: “a sexton and the son of a lady who died seven days before went down into the vault. both were affected with sickness and nausea; one was affected for some years; the son had ulceration of the throat for two years.”

mr. william eassie affirms that, “according to a report of the french academy of medicine, the putrid emanations of père la chaise, montmartre, and montparnasse have caused frightful diseases of the throat and lungs, to which numbers of both sexes fall victims every year. thus a dreadful throat disease which baffles the skill of our most experienced medical men, and which carries off its victims in a few hours, is traced to the absorption of vitiated air into the windpipe, and has been observed to rage with the greatest violence in those quarters situated nearest to cemeteries.”

91the most common diseases produced by graveyard gases are diphtheria, throat and pulmonary affections, severe diarrh?a, and dysentery. the number of cases reported is enormous. many cases have been made public by drs. parkes and tardieu.

ramazzini (maladies des artisans, p. 71) asserts that sextons, whose business often compels them to enter places where there are putrefying bodies, are subject to malignant fevers, asphyxia, and suffocating catarrhs.

fourcroy affirms that there are innumerable examples of the pernicious effects of cadaveric exhalations.

it has been stated that the carbonic acid generated by the decaying bodies is taken up by the plants, shrubbery, and trees abounding in cemeteries and their neighborhood. that excellent and well-edited newspaper iron declares: “the consumption of vegetables whose roots had been nourished by the defunct members of a family would hardly be enjoyed by the survivors, unless, indeed, they possessed the philosophic mind and robust appetite of the french gentleman who declared that, with a certain sauce, ‘on mangerait bien son père.’”

i do not believe that very much carbonic acid is absorbed by the botanical burial-ground decorations; certainly not enough to prevent its toxic action and the vitiation of the air.

many a time was premature exhumation followed by fatal consequences.

in the church of a village near nantes, france, the remains of an aristocrat were buried in 1774. by accident some of the other graves were opened, among them one which contained the corpse of a man who had been 92buried three months before. an unbearable odor immediately filled the church. many persons who had attended at this burial were taken sick; fifteen died in a short time, the first to depart being the grave-digger who had opened the graves.

vicq d’azyr states that an epidemic was produced in auvergne, by the opening of an old graveyard.

norman chevers (european soldiers in india, p. 404) refers to the unhealthiness of the continent at sukkur, india. fevers of the most malignant type were abounding, owing to an ancient mussulman burial-ground on which the station was placed.

tardieu, the eminent french physician and scientist, relates (dict. d’hygiene, p. 517) that the excavation of an old cemetery of a convent in paris caused illness in the occupants of the adjacent dwellings. tardieu (ibid., p. 463) compiled a very considerable number of cases, not only of asphyxia, but of several febrile affections produced by exhumation and disturbance of bodies.

bascom relates that when the parish church in minchinhampton, england, was rebuilding in 1843, the black earth of the cemetery surrounding it, or what was superfluous, was disposed of for manure, being spread upon adjoining fields. the earth was removed to change the grade of the churchyard. the result was that an epidemic broke out in the neighborhood. children on their way to school took it. seventeen deaths occurred, and more than 200 children had measles, scarlet fever, and various eruptions.

it seems, however, as though the above figures are not quite correct, for mr. eassie, who has lately made personal inquiries upon the spot, insists that the mischief 93which resulted has been even understated, and that the population was nearly decimated.

dr. adalbert kuettlinger brings forward the sequent case to prove the deleterious action of cemetery gases. a very obese lady died during the month of july, 1854. previous to death she had requested, as a special favor, that her remains be buried in the church to which she belonged. this was granted and promised her. after her demise she was interred in a vault of the church, and the next day the minister delivered the funeral oration. it was very warm that day; several months before the lady’s departure there had been aridity, and not a drop of rain had fallen in a long time. the funeral sermon had been delivered on a saturday; on the following sunday the protestant clergyman preached to an assemblage of nearly 900, who had come to attend the lord’s supper. the warm weather still continued; many had to leave church during the service to keep from fainting; many swooned away before they could withdraw. in germany people fast before they communicate. the sermon lasted nearly one hour and one quarter, after which the bread was consecrated and stood uncovered—according to custom—during the ceremony. there were 180 communicants. one quarter of an hour after the solemnity, before they had time to leave the church, more than 60 became ill; some died in severe convulsions; others, who had placed themselves immediately under medical treatment, recovered. the consternation among the whole congregation and citizens was great. there was a general belief that the wine used at the communion had been poisoned. the sexton and some other individuals who assisted at divine service were imprisoned. the next 94sunday the minister delivered a severe sermon, and pointed out several of his parishioners as participants in the conspiracy. this enthusiastic sermon was printed and widely circulated. the prisoners had to endure cruel treatment. they remained incarcerated a whole week, and some, it is said, were tortured; yet they always insisted upon their innocence. the second sunday from the time of the fatal occurrence, the city authorities ordered that a chalice should stand uncovered on the altar one hour. the time had hardly passed when it was noticed that the wine was covered with thousands of little insects, which, by means of the sunbeams, were traced to the grave of the corpulent lady who had been buried fourteen days before. four men were commissioned to open the vault and remove the coffin. when they attempted this, two of them died at once, and the others were only saved by the great efforts of the physician in attendance. the accused were liberated, and the city council and clergyman begged their pardon.

rev. dr. render, in “a tour through germany,” says:—

“two of the crew of an american merchant ship went ashore near canton, to dig a grave to bury a dead shipmate. the spade struck and penetrated a coffin of a man buried a few months before, and the discharge of gas struck down both the sailors, who, though taken back to the ship, died within five days.”

i doubt that there is any one who will assert that it is delightful to drink an aqueous solution of one’s own grandfather or great-grandmother, yet there are many who do so. the emanations from our ancestors may and do filter through the earth, and get into the water we drink. think of that!

95wells, springs, and rivers are polluted by the infiltration of water highly charged with organic matter. often such water has been the cause of fatal disease, yet nothing was done to guard against it.

the dorchester-shire cremation furnace.

prof. victor c. vaughan, m.d., ph.d., of the university of michigan, in a paper on “water supply,” read at a sanitary convention at ypsilanti, mich., july 1, 1885, states:—

“to show you the stupidity and recklessness of people, even in this enlightened century, which is manifested concerning the contamination of water, i must mention one other case. there is in the county of kalamazoo, in this state, a nice little village by the name of richland. it is situated in a most beautiful farming country. the farmers of that region have grown rich on account of the fertility of the soil and other special advantages. a few years ago the village 96board desired to select a new site for a cemetery, and chose one within the village limits, and within 30 rods of a well owned by an old physician, dr. patchin. i always tell names in such cases, because they tell the truth, and any one can investigate them. the old doctor objected to the location of the cemetery so near his house and well, and as the result of his objection there was a lawsuit; and if you will pardon me, i will mention something of the condition of the land and some experiments that were made. there were some 18 inches of rich prairie land, then below this some two or three feet of hard-pan, below this there were 18 or 20 feet of gravel, such as we have all through the southern part of michigan. in digging the graves the bodies would be put into this gravel. the gravel was so loose and so moist that in digging graves it was necessary to put in boxing to prevent the gravel from pouring in while the grave was being dug. below the gravel, and about 30 feet below the surface, was an impervious bed of clay, with a slope from the cemetery towards the well. it became a question now as to whether there was a possibility of the contamination of this well from burying bodies in the proposed new cemetery. i was called, and after studying the geological formation, concluded that there was a possibility of such contamination. the well was pumped dry twice a day, and on an average fifteen barrels taken from it each pumping. to show how ridiculous some theories are that have been advanced upon that subject, i will state that i was met in court with this statement: that it would be impossible for any of the water or rain falling upon this cemetery, 30 rods distant, to reach the well, because, as was found in some old book, all the water that goes into 97a well is that which falls upon a surface which will be enclosed in a circle whose center was the mouth of the well, and whose radius was the depth of the well. this statement was made independent of any lay of the land or the geological formation, and without any consideration whatever of the surrounding country. fortunately this can be met very easily. thirty barrels of water were pumped from the well each day. we know the amount of rainfall in michigan per year, and we can calculate very easily the number of barrels that would fall upon this surface enclosed in a circle whose center was the mouth of the well, and whose radius was the depth of the well; and as the result of such a calculation we find that the amount of rain falling upon this surface during the year would not supply the well more than two or three days. returning home and detailing the trip to dr. langley, he suggested that a direct experiment might be made to see whether matter would pass from the proposed cemetery to the well or not. he tested the water of the well for lithium, a substance easily detected, found it was absent, then had a salt of lithium sown over the proposed cemetery, and then examined the water of the well each day thereafter; and on the eighteenth day after the lithium was sown over the cemetery it was found in the water of the well, showing that the water did unquestionably penetrate the soil, pass down to the impervious bed of clay which was the watershed upon which the water in the well collected, and thence into the well. notwithstanding proofs so positive as this, a learned judge in michigan dismissed the case, and allowed the cemetery to be located there, with a possibility of poisoning a number of families. as a result, the families of the 98neighborhood had to discontinue the use of their well-water.”

professor vaughan holds that the popular belief that if water filters for any distance through the soil it is purified, is an erroneous belief, and cites a number of experiments made by himself, and numerous cases, in support of the assertion.

according to dr. h. b. baker, secretary of the michigan state board of health (vide report for 1874, p. 136), a terrible epidemic of cerebro-spinal meningitis, that wasted the village of petersburg in the early part of 1874, was attributable to a spring five paces from a house and 15 paces from a cemetery, which is on ground from 12 to 15 feet higher than the level of the spring. about 18 paces from the spring was a recent grave.

prof. r. c. kedzie, of the michigan state agricultural college, to whom some of the water was sent for analysis, concluded his report as follows:—

“the presence in these waters of unusual quantities of chlorides, of ammonia, of albuminoid ammonia, of nitrates and nitrites, and finally of phosphates, shows these waters to be very unusual in their composition. we might account for the presence of all these substances if matters very rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, e.g., flesh, were undergoing decomposition in their vicinity, and the results of this decomposition passed directly into this water. the fact that the spring is near and lies below the level of the graveyard, that the well is in the midst of an old indian graveyard, gives much plausibility to this explanation. the fact that the first person attacked with cerebro-spinal meningitis in petersburg used the water of this well, and that 99others who used the spring water were attacked with the same disease, would very naturally attract very significant attention to the composition of these waters as having some possible connection with the epidemic.”

for several years many residents of nyack, n.y., have protested against the encroachment of the oak hill cemetery property upon the thickly populated portions of the village, objections being principally made on sanitary grounds. examination of the ponds and wells of the village has demonstrated that they are being constantly polluted by the emanations from the cemetery.

not long ago the detroit evening news declared that the wells in the neighborhood of woodmere cemetery do not catch the rainwater until after it has been filtered through the thousands of graves in the cemetery, filled with decaying bodies, and that no water is obtained in the vicinity which is not discolored and has a brackish taste. after a heavy rain the impurities are most pronounced. the residents of woodmere have long ago given over the use of water as a beverage. i do not blame them. i would not like to drink fluid extract of dead man myself.

the new york staats zeitung, a reliable german publication, of may 27, 1886, relates that a lawsuit of north bergen township, n.j., against the weehawken cemetery company, was tried the preceding day before vice-chancellor van fleet, at newark, n.j. the township demands that for sanitary reasons the cemetery shall be closed at once and no further burials permitted in the same. several physicians testified to the fact that diphtheria and other infectious diseases are endemic in the township, and that they are due mainly to 100the unhygienic state of the cemetery, which lies in the most populated part of the township. one physician gave it as his opinion that numerous cases of diphtheria that appeared among the little pupils of a school was caused by drinking water from a well in the proximity of the cemetery.

in an address on “public health, or sanitary science,” read before the medical society of the state of west virginia, may 24, 1882, dr. t. s. camden says:—

“the board of health report for 1879 gives the investigation of an outbreak of diphtheria in northern vermont, which occurred in may, 1879. in a school of 22 persons, 16 were prostrated in two days, one-half of whom died. upon investigation the cause of the outbreak was found to be from the public drinking water from a brook into which had been thrown the carcasses of dead animals. another outbreak of the disease of great virulence was caused by persons using water that was poisoned by the dead carcass of an animal that had been buried 75 feet distant from a spring. the grass in this instance showed by its luxuriance the trace to the spring. after the germs were once developed in many of these cases by drinking the polluted water, the disease was communicated to other persons far removed from the cause of the primary outbreak. one convalescent patient communicated the disease to six persons. numerous illustrations of the importance of sanitary regulations are given in these epidemics.”

thus we have illustrations of the origin of diphtheria from putrid animal matter; and, after the germs were implanted in persons, fatal epidemics spread, and many lives were lost that could have been saved by proper hygienic measures.

101dr. prosper de pietra santa, the most enthusiastic french cremationist, and a man who has investigated everything pertaining to incineration thoroughly, calls attention to the example of the villages of rotondella and bollita. the burial-grounds of these ill-starred villages were situated on the summit of hills that were beset with woods. they were at the lawful distance, and to all appearances in a most favorable location. unfortunately, the springs from which the inhabitants were accustomed to derive their water supply emerged from the base of the hills which were surmounted by the woods. these springs were the result of collections of rainwater, which, percolating through the earth of the hills, became impregnated with the organic matter which the ground contained. in the course of time, the drinking-water of these two villages became so contaminated that it caused a frightful epidemic.

prof. dr. e. reichardt, of jena (gesundheit i, no. 1), published a large number of cases in which drinking-water was polluted by cemetery emanations.

many cases are on record where water contaminated by graveyard emanations, by poisonous fluids oozing through the soil, has proven harmful to health. numerous cases of typhoid fever sprung from this source. contagious diseases can also be communicated in this way. riecke and galtie have compiled statistics of cases of typhoid fever and other contagious maladies due to this cause that withstand the severest criticism.

“the rivers die into offensive pools,

and, charged with putrefaction, breathe a gross

and mortal nuisance into all the air.”

102

cremation in the casements of paris during the reign of the commune.

kate field, the well-known author and lecturer, says:

“these are times that are trying men’s and women’s bodies quite as much as their souls. the zymotic diseases breaking out in what were formerly healthy villages may set even the blindest to seek for causes; and perhaps the most prejudiced may finally be forced to admit that one great source of water contamination is the existence of multitudinous graveyards contiguous to habitations. in my daily excursions on horseback, which cover about 15 miles, i count seven graveyards 103perched on hills, the occupants of the adjacent towns preparing for speedy exit from this world by living below the dead and using well-water. suggest to them that the prevailing ‘malaria’ may be due to drinking up the remains of their deceased ancestors, and a howl of ‘sacrilege’ rends the air.”

and in an admirable essay on cremation in the st. louis daily globe-democrat of july 12, 1885, this graceful writer, deservedly noted, states:—

“new england villages, once so free from ills, are taking on the airs of invalids; and it is often a question whether families that remain in big towns during the summer are not better off than their wealthier neighbors, who hie to overcrowded so-called watering places, not unfrequently returning with germs of typhoid fever in their systems, that later breaks forth to their amazement, and for which they are at a loss to account. they forget how they drank well-water, the springs of which percolated through peaceful village graveyards. man’s worst enemies are his own superstition and ignorance.

“i learned by terrible experience when very young the horrors of earth burial. i now know its crime against the living.”

miss field is not only converted to but convinced of incineration, convinced that it is preferable to any other method; the moment a cremation society was incorporated in new york, she became a member.

col. r. e. whitman, u. s. a., remarks: “people who wonder at the change that has come over our new england villages, the homes of a vigorous ancestry, and deplore the advent of this mysterious ‘malaria,’ the unseen vampire that sucks the red blood of the present 104generation, would do well to look about them and see how the graveyards, old and new, have grown in two centuries, how the town has surrounded them; how the water supply is from the same old wells; how the town, never having arrived at a magnitude seeming to demand a sewerage system, allows the refuse of generations to mingle with the surface soil. it would be a theme worthy of the magic pen of nathaniel hawthorne. imagine his description of water percolating through the grave of some despised lazarus, feeding the well of his life enemy, dives, and compelling him daily to quaff the poison his own cruel ignorance had distilled.”

undoubtedly many country towns whose cemeteries are in their midst are drinking daily, despite the acknowledged impurity of the water, disease and death. an english writer very pertinently remarks that “if the formation of a deep sewer will suffice to drain dry the wells near its line of march, then the sinking of a well near a burying-ground must help to drain the latter.”

much complaint was at one time made in england, concerning the pollution of wells by cemeteries. in versailles, france, the water of the wells which lie below the churchyard of st. louis, could not be used on account of its pollution.

deep wells have been found to be infected more than 600 feet from the cemeteries. in france and in some parts of germany, the opening of wells within 300 feet of a cemetery has been prohibited. the reports of the boards of health of massachusetts and new jersey give abundant evidence that country graveyards often contaminate the water supply when the wells are on a 105lower level. the michigan reports also contain a description of a case that occurred at grand rapids.

a hygienic council held some time ago at brussels decided that wells could not be safely dug nearer than 400 yards to any graveyard, and that even at that distance absolute protection was not certain.

the constant prevalence of dysentery at secunderabad, in the deccan (india), seems to have been partly due to the water which filtered through an extensive burial-ground. one of the sources of water contained, by analysis, according to dr. parkes, 119 grains of solids per gallon; and in some instances there were 8, 11, and even 30 grains per gallon, of organic matter.

sir j. mcgrigor partly attributed the fatality of dysentery in the peninsula, at ciudad roderigo, to the use of water percolating through a graveyard in which nearly 20,000 bodies had been hastily inhumed.

medical councilor, dr. kuechenmeister, who examined the wells of dresden, germany, discovered the water to be very impure, especially in the new parts of the city, and in the vicinity of the so-called “french” graves. the same results were arrived at in zuerich, where it was demonstrated that the typhoid fever epidemic of auszerbuehl was due to water rendered impure by cadaveric effluvia.

in philadelphia, three cemeteries, containing 80,000 graves, are so situated as to be liable to drain into the schuylkill, the drinking-water of 1,000,000 of people. the diarrh?a prevalent during the centennial exhibition in the quaker city is said (by many eminent sanitarians) to have been caused by burial-ground water drunk by strangers unaccustomed to it.

the monumental cemetery at milan, which is situated 106upon a hill some 180 yards to the north of the city, was proved to have been the cause of serious illness in its neighborhood, produced by the contamination of the wells in the vicinity. the water of the well of the place garibaldi was analyzed by professors parvesi and rotundi, who found it tainted by organic matter.

the atlanta medical journal states that two young ladies who drank water from a spring situated on a hillside, near an old graveyard, became severely ill. one was seized with py?mia and diarrh?a, the other with typhoid fever; both died. cattle that drank of the water were also made sick.

professor pumpilly has made certain by recent experiments that sandy soil does not prevent bacterial infection from entering a well situated at a considerable distance from cesspools and cemeteries. indeed, he claims further that “dry gravel and coarse sand do not prevent the entrance into houses built upon them of those microorganisms which swarm in the ground-air, around leaky cesspools, near graveyards, and in the filthy made land of cities.”

anent the idea that the gases and organic matters which arise from the graves rapidly undergo changes by entering into new combinations when brought into contact with the earth, dr. john o. marble, of worcester, mass., says:—

“the monstrous delusion that the mere contact of the corpse with fresh earth renders it innocuous, and suffices for safe disinfection, is dissipated by overwhelming evidence. i distinctly remember my boyish scruples concerning the water of a well situated not fifty yards from graves in the churchyard adjoining my father’s garden. this old ‘god’s acre’ i have a hundred times 107passed, in my timid boyhood, in the shades of night, with palpitating heart, and a pace rivalled only by that of tam o’ shanter’s steed from witch-haunted kirk alloway to the ‘keystone’ of the ‘brig o’ doon.’ my father overcame my scruples concerning the water by stating the belief then held, that the earth was a purifier and a safe depurator, and that no harm could come to that well, 30 feet deep, the pride and unfailing source of supply of the neighborhood. yet i, that same autumn, suffered a severe and nearly fatal attack of typhoid fever, and another member of the family was similarly affected a year later. the fever occurred when the well was low, and i have no doubt, in the light of present knowledge of such dangers, that, repulsive as is the thought, i drank water filtered through the bones of my revered ancestors buried there, and that the polluted water caused that illness. to those who criticise the advocates of cremation for quoting ancient examples only, of harm from graves, this instance will appear sufficiently recent and intimate.”

opponents of incineration, who lay great stress upon the disinfecting powers of the earth, forget that the soil is easily saturated by the emanations from the dead. professor presscott, of the university of michigan, says in regard to this matter:—

“the purifying power of ground, like that of the air above it, is limited and easily overcharged. if ground-air be loaded with more putrescent vapor than it can oxidize, then poison is carried through the porous earth.”

dr. william porter, of st. louis, mo., has recorded the following case:—

“a young man died suddenly from diphtheria, and was buried in the village churchyard. at some little 108distance was a well, from which the good church-goers drank freely each sunday. finally the water of the well became f?tid, for the supply was infiltrated by the horrible decomposition from this, the nearest grave. was it not suggestive that 20 from that congregation died from diphtheria while this impure well was in use? these people lived in mountain homes, in a pure atmosphere, and though many of these cases were isolated,—far removed from others,—yet in all the disease was alike virulent and deadly.”

churchyard emanations can penetrate almost anything; they have a remarkable force. the chairman and superintendent of sewers of holborn and finsbury division, london, claimed that putrid matter from cemeteries over 30 feet distant had penetrated the cement and brick of his drain.

several years ago, when mr. holland, the english government inspector of burial-grounds, investigated the state of tooting cemetery, it transpired that the drainage provided for the burial-ground was insufficient; there was merely a system of surface drainage. in one case (admitted by the cemetery board) a coffin was placed in a grave that contained enough water to cover the head of it. the entire drainage of the burial-ground was conducted into a ditch near by, which ended in the river wandle, from which the inhabitants obtained their drinking-water.

lefort (in a monograph to the paris academy of sciences) points to the possibility of well-contamination by neighboring cemeteries. in one instance he detected, by chemical analysis, that a well was polluted by a burial-ground 50 metres distant.

109

retort

lancaster crematorium

the parisian scientist m. duchamp detected a spring 110that percolated entirely through graveyards, picking up organic matter on the way, and that tasted very strongly.

not a few analyses of water tainted by graveyard emanations testify to the fact that it is harmful, nay, that it is extremely dangerous, to those who consume it. nor is the danger always apparent. in 1874 the broad street pump at london, england, carried cholera to those who drank its water; yet the latter looked clean, had no perceptible taste, and was odorless.

“the very witching time of night

when graveyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out

contagion on this world.”

—shakespeare.

to the question, “can an epidemic of any kind be caused by graveyard emanations?” there is but one reply; the facts on record compel us to answer in the affirmative.

dr. buck, in his excellent work on hygiene, writes: “it is impossible for any one to say how long the materies morbi may continue to live underground. if organic matter can be boiled and frozen without losing its vitality, and seeds 3000 years old will sprout when planted, it would be hardihood to assert that the poison of cholera, or small-pox, or typhus may not for years lie dormant, but not dead, in the moist temperature of the grave.”

dr. wheelhouse, of leeds, england, says: “do we not shun, and that most wisely, the presence of those afflicted with infectious diseases as long as they remain amongst us; and yet, no sooner are they removed by death than we are content, with tender sympathy indeed, and most loving care, it is true (but with how much wisdom?) to lay them in the ground, that they 111may slowly dissipate their terribly infectious gases through the soil, and saturating that, may thereby recharge the rains of heaven as they filter through it, with all their virulence and terrible power of reproduction in the systems of the living. i am not the thorough and entire believer in the disinfecting and depurating power of the soil that i once was, for terrible examples of its failure have, in my judgment, come under my notice.”

often the site of an old grave is used to make a new one, and in consequence earth is brought to light that is saturated with the effluvia of corpses of those who, perhaps, have died of some contagious or infectious disease. the crime that is committed by individuals when they bury persons deceased of such maladies is pithily expressed by that champion of modern cremation, sir henry thompson, who says: “is it not indeed a social sin of no small magnitude to sow the seeds of disease and death broadcast, caring only to be certain that they cannot do much harm to our own generation?” but such is selfish human nature!

the first to show the connection between epidemics and the process of decomposition was professor pettenkofer, of munich, bavaria. he demonstrated that the presence of putrefying organic bodies, air, moisture, and warmth, in a porous soil, are the potent factors which originate and develop pestilential germs.

the great mortality, the severity, that attended in former times the appearance of epidemics in cities where graveyards were situated in the center of a large population, illustrates the deadly influence which these “god’s acres” have.

112saint augustine pointed to the fact that epidemics are caused by decomposing organic bodies.

forestus reported many cases of malignant fever caused by the emanations of cadavers.

ambrose paré, the renowned french surgeon, in 1562 demonstrated that a malignant (pestilential) fever, then raging in l’agenois, was due to the putrid vapors arising from a neighboring well into which many dead bodies, soldiers fallen in battle, had been thrown.

raulin (observ. de med.) relates how the section of a corpse at leicturm, in the plain of armagnac, caused a frightful epidemic.

a terrible pestilence, which decimated especially the lower classes, was originated in riorno (auvergne) by the digging up of the ground of an old cemetery, done to beautify the city.

jean wolf, who reported upon an epidemic of malignant fever in 1731, attributed it to putrefying animal remains.

in 1752 a man who had died of small-pox 30 years ago was dug up in chelwood, a village near london, england. he had been buried in an oaken coffin which, when taken up, was yet entire and could have been so removed from the grave. but because the grave-digger could not handle it properly he got impatient and beat in the cover of the casket with his spade, whereupon immediately a mephitic smell arose that filled the air to some distance. the corpse, which was to be deposited in a vault, had been a person of consequence, and therefore not only the inhabitants of his native village attended the exhumation, but a good many people from neighboring places. but a few days after 14 113persons contracted small-pox, and within a short time the entire village was infected, only two individuals enjoying immunity because they had had the disease. although the epidemic was of a light character, two persons died of it. all those in the surrounding villages who had been at the exhumation were also attacked by small-pox.

riecke adduces analogous cases, and relates that the opening of a vault which contained a victim of small-pox was followed by the death of a workman and the infection of another person.

maret is authority for the following statement: a fever, complicated by gastric and catarrhal disorders, was prevalent in 1773 at saulieu, burgundy; but few of those it attacked died. this was in the latter part of february. on the 3d of march, a corpulent body, a victim of the disease, was buried in the cathedral, and on the 20th of april following, very near to the first, that of a woman who, in child-bed, had succumbed to the fever. maret reports that when the coffin was lowered into the vault, the ropes slipped from the grasp of the men who held them; the coffin fell to the ground and broke; a putrid fluid, that filled the church with a most nauseating odor, oozed from it. of 170 persons who remained in the church from the time that the grave was opened until the conclusion of the ceremony, 149 were attacked by a malignant putrid fever, which, bearing many of the characteristics of the prevalent fever, was undoubtedly the result of the vitiation of the church.

the city of tacna, peru, was yearly visited at certain times by a pernicious fever, which caused many deaths. the cemetery was in the center of the city. finally, 114the dead were buried outside of the city limits, and the fever disappeared.

during the month of march, 1781, and the half-year preceding it, an epidemic raged at pasajes, spain, which befell 127 persons, of which number 83 died. this epidemic was attributed to the poisonous vapors arising from the overcrowded vaults of the parish church.

trousseau mentions the case of a grave-digger who was attacked by small-pox soon after opening the grave of an individual who had died of that malady many years ago.

mr. cooper charged an outbreak of small-pox in eyam, derbyshire, eng., to the excavation of an old cemetery.

a dispatch from montreal, dated oct. 26, 1885, states that a grave-digger of st. sulpice, named robitaille, made a grave next to where a man who died from small-pox a month ago was buried. at the time there was no small-pox in the village; but robitaille, some days after digging the grave, sickened and finally died of small-pox, making it evident that he contracted the disease from the body of a man who had been buried for a month.

recent scientific discoveries confirm the opinion long held by persons endowed with common sense that the germs of many infectious and contagious diseases retain their vitality and the power to spread the respective malady in the grave and the layers of earth surrounding it. by means of these germs, yellow fever, cholera, small-pox, splenic fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and other diseases belonging to the same category, can be communicated from the dead to the living, even years after burial. concerning splenic fever, which can be 115transmitted from animal to man, the great french investigator and pathologist, louis pasteur, says:—

“recently, we discovered the characteristic germs in pits in which animals dead of splenic fever (charbon) had been buried for 12 years; and their culture was as virulent as that from the blood of an animal recently dead. anthracoid germs in the earth of pits in which animals have been buried are brought to the surface by earthworms; and in this fact we may find the whole etiology of the disease, inasmuch as the animals swallow these germs with their food.”

the british medical journal in 1880 commented on pasteur’s great discovery as follows:—

“pasteur’s recent researches on the etiology of ‘charbon’ shows that this earth-mould positively contains the specific germs which propagate the disease, and that the same specific germs are found within the intestines of the worms. the parasitic organism, or bacteridium, which, inoculated from a diseased to a healthy animal, propagates the specific disease, may be destroyed by putrefaction after burial. but before this process has been completed, germs or spores may have been formed which will resist the putrefactive process for many years, and lie in a condition of latent life, like a grain of corn, or any flower-seed, ready to germinate and communicate the specific disease. in a field in the jura, where a diseased cow had been buried two years before at a depth of nearly seven feet, the surface earth not having been disturbed in the interval, pasteur found that the mould contained germs which, introduced by inoculation into a guinea-pig, produced charbon and death. further, if a worm be taken from an infected spot, the earth in the alimentary canal of the 116worm contains these spores or germs of charbon, which, inoculated, propagate the disease; and the mould deposited on the surface by the worm, when dried into dust, is blown over the grass and plants on which the cattle feed, and may thus spread the disease. after various farming operations of tilling and harvest, pasteur has found the germs just over the graves of the diseased cattle, but not to any great distance. after rains or morning dews the germs of charbon, with a quantity of other germs, were found about the neighboring plants; and pasteur says that in cemeteries it is very possible that germs capable of propagating specific diseases of different kinds quite harmless to the earthworm may be carried to the surface of the soil, ready to cause disease in the proper animals. the practical inferences in favor of cremation are so strong that, in pasteur’s words, they ‘need not be enforced.’”

furnace of the buffalo crematorium.

(venini system.)

sir t. spencer wells pointed out, in his paper read 117before the british medical association, in august, 1880, that the observations of darwin, “on the formation of mould,” made more than 40 years ago, when he was a young man, are curiously confirmatory of the conclusions of pasteur. in darwin’s paper, read at the geological society of london, in 1837, he proved that, in old pasture-land, every particle of the superficial layer of earth, overlying different kinds of subsoil, has passed through the intestines of earthworms. the worms swallowed earthy matter, and, after separating the digestible or serviceable portion, they eject the remainder in little coils or heaps at the mouths of their burrows. in dry weather the worm descends to a considerable depth, and brings up to the surface the particles which it ejects. this agency of earthworms is not so trivial as it might appear. by observation in different fields, mr. darwin proved, in one case, that a depth of more than three inches of this worm-mould had been accumulated in 15 years; and, in another, that the earthworms had covered a bed of marl with their mould, in 18 years, to an average depth of 13 inches.

professor klebs, of prague, bohemia, discovered the bacteria of malarial fever. they were called by him bacilli malari?. his discovery was verified by prof. tomassi crudelli, of rome, italy.

dr. robert koch, of the imperial sanitary bureau at berlin, germany, detected the bacillus tuberculosis; there is no doubt, to my mind, but that consumption can possibly be spread by the upturning of the soil of a grave containing the victim of tuberculosis.

the same gentleman, now professor in berlin university, discovered the comma bacillus of cholera. he 118expressed his belief in its propagation in the grave, especially when the latter is moist.

houlier and feruel are responsible for the statement that, during the prevalence of the plague in paris in the beginning of the 18th century, the disease lingered longest and was the most severe in the vicinity of the “cimetière de la trinité.”

the detroit evening news, of sept. 23, 1886, reports the following case in which diphtheria was contracted from a corpse:—

“blanche hunt, a 12-year old girl, died at albion of malignant diphtheria last week. sophie calkins, aged 13, died at fair haven, vt., of the same disease, contracted the week before at albion. there are no other cases in town, and these two girls are supposed to have taken the disease at the cemetery, where they went into the vault containing the remains of a woman sent there from abroad, who had died from what the physicians called black jaundice. it is believed her disease was really diphtheria.”

as early as 1878, the massachusetts state board of health—one of the best in the world—showed that diphtheria is originated and diffused by the emanations of victims of that disease.

in 1875 the same high authority had reached similar conclusions regarding typhoid fever.

there is much evidence to show that cholera was repeatedly caused by the excavation of the graves of those who had died of the disease, and that it raged with special violence in the vicinity of cemeteries.

dr. sutherland attested the fact that cholera was unusually prevalent in the immediate neighborhood of london graveyards. this, however, need not astonish 119us, when we consider that the soil of churchyards in some of the poorer districts in london was raised two, three, or even four feet in a few years. the great prevalence of epidemic diseases in some parts of the city finally led to the formation of the epidemiological society of london, under the presidency of dr. babington.

when the cholera visited london in 1854, mr. simon asserted that if the soil of the cemeteries in which the plague-stricken of 1665 were buried would be upturned, it would make the prevailing scourge more virulent. it was done in spite of his warning, and his prediction was verified.

in 1826, when cholera made its appearance in egypt, the french government sent out medical officers to discover, if possible, its origin. it was traced to an old and disused cemetery at kelioub, a village near cairo.

the outbreak of cholera at modena, italy, in 1828, was shown by professor bianchi to be due to the upturning of the ground of burial-yards in which victims of the plague had been inhumed 300 years before.

nov. 12, 1836, miaulis, the adjutant of otto the first, of greece, was attacked by cholera, of which he finally died. the body was given in charge of three men, who also assisted at the post-mortem examination. on the third day after the funeral of the adjutant, one of the men, jacob kuehnlein, 72 years of age, was taken ill, and died the following day. the autopsy proved the disease to be asiatic cholera. three days after kuehnlein’s burial, the second of the men who had guarded miaulis’ remains, j. stroehlein by name, aged 48, was stricken down by the cholera, to which he succumbed within two days.

120schauenburg (cholera, etc., wuerzburg, 1874, p. 8) gives it as his opinion that decomposition is favorable to the development of cholera germs, which means the propagation of the comma bacillus.

the italians do not only stand at the head of the cremation movement to-day, but they recognized the value of that sure and never-failing germicide—fire—as early as 1837; in that year thousands of the victims of the cholera epidemic, then raging in italy, were burned on the seashore at palermo.

the report of the london board of health for 1849 directs attention to the fact that the cholera was especially prevalent and fatal in the neighborhood of graveyards. this, however, need not cause any surprise, as the london athen?um, to this day one of the most reliable journals of the united kingdom, states in 1850 that, during the prevalence of the scourge, 500 bodies, dead of cholera, were daily interred, in addition to those of other diseases.

professor jaccoud, of the faculty of medicine of the university of paris, claims, in his “pathologie interne,” that there are three ways of transmission of cholera, of which the third is by corpses.

an employee of the french marine hospital at therapia, near constantinople, was present at the autopsy of marshal saint armand, who had died of cholera, which was held in the amphitheatre of the institution. a few days after the man succumbed to a severe attack of de choléra foudroyant, which he had contracted at the post-mortem examination.

dr. f. bidlot, of liege, belgium, states that, in 1867, he was called to a robust cholera patient who, when asked about the cause of his illness, said that until 121noon he had worked at the grave of a person, dead of cholera, who had been buried very superficially, since an exhumation was to take place: when the body was disinterred, he was seized by an illness which soon proved to be cholera.

the following case was also reported by dr. bidlot. a nun who had nursed cholera patients in a hospital died of the dread disease in the summer of 1860. at 10 a.m. in the latter part of october she was exhumed. at four o’clock in the forenoon of the same day dr. bidlot was called to dr. romiée, who had attended the disinterment. he was found to be suffering from cholera, and declared that his illness was owing to his exposure to the emanations of the body dug up.

trinity church graveyard, at new york, was the center of very fatal prevalence of cholera at every visit of that pest from 1832 to 1854.

dr. rauch relates (intra-mural interments in populous cities, chicago, 1868) how the cholera was spread in burlington, ia., in 1850. not a single death took place in the vicinity of the cemetery of the city, until 20 persons, deceased of cholera, had been interred therein; then one case after another occurred, till the epidemic became truly alarming.

in 1865, when a cholera epidemic invaded paris, france, it raged with great virulence in the old quarter of montmartre; in that part of the metropolis there was a vast burial-ground, from which toxic vapors were continually escaping. of 5000 victims of the epidemic, 1800 belonged to this ancient community. the great mortality in this quarter of the city was no doubt due to the presence of the overcrowded cemetery.

dr. john murray, inspector-general of hospitals in 122bengal, india, wrote a book, in which he endeavored to determine whether or not cholera can be propagated by human remains. he declares emphatically (propagation of cholera, 1873, p. 216), that the body of a cholera patient, dead or alive, must be regarded as an agent of transmission of the disease; and adduces the sequent facts to prove his assertion. several women, whose business it was to lay out corpses, had contracted cholera. in 1818 a man died of the dread disease; five fellow-men, who carried his body to the last resting-place, were taken down with cholera, and died in the night after the burial. dr. townsend reported that, in 1869, three men were commissioned by the police to carry a corpse to dumwahi. the day following their arrival the cholera appeared in this city, and the first to die of the scourge were the three who had borne the corpse.

cholera from time to time threatens to invade our peaceful land. when it comes, shall we, in view of what has just been shown, bury its victims, saturate the earth with its specific germs, which, if the grave should ever be disturbed, may breed a terrible pestilence, if not during our lifetime, yet surely during that of our descendants? there can be but one answer: to secure ourselves against a repetition of epidemics, we must burn our dead; it is a duty that cannot be evaded, that we owe to all mankind, that, when sinned against, as it has been in the past, is revenged by the resulting visitation.

when the cases above related are taken into consideration, even the most vehement anti-cremationist cannot deny that the specific germs of infectious and contagious diseases are propagated by earth-burial, and that the only sure medium for their destruction is fire, 123for no disease germ can pass through the rosy heat of the crematory and survive to propagate its species.

furnace of the cincinnati crematorium.

(designed by m r. conway.)

the scientific world was lately startled by the gladsome news that dr. domingo freire, a physician of rio de janeiro, brazil, had discovered the peculiar microbe of yellow fever. the blood of yellow fever patients swarms with these microbes (cryptococci), which, by inoculation, produce the disease in animals. dr. freire named the microbe cryptococcus xanthogenicus. he was aided in his labors, to detect the specific germ 124of yellow fever, which included microscopic and spectroscopic examinations as well as experiments on animals, by his able assistant, se?or menezes doria.

dr. freire also examined some soil from the cemetery of jurujuba, where victims of the yellow jack (as we call this fever sometimes) lie interred. some of this earth was dried and then placed in a cage which contained a guinea pig. previously to the introduction of the earth, the blood of the animal was examined microscopically, and found to contain no bacteria of any kind. the animal became ill, and died within five days. when its tissues were examined after death, they were found to present all the characteristic changes which yellow fever brings about. the blood was full of cryptococci xanthogenici in various degrees of development. the urine was highly albuminous. the brain and the intestines were stained yellow by the infiltration of the coloring matter of the cryptococci. after this discovery, the doctor recommended that all victims of yellow fever be destroyed by fire, to prevent general infection. the brazilian government (one of the most enlightened in the world) immediately ordered that a cremation furnace be built at jurujuba, in which all those that die of yellow fever there must be incinerated.

the st. louis medical and surgical journal makes this very sensible suggestion regarding the disposition of the remains of those dying of yellow fever in our own united states. it says:—

“from what we have learned from private sources, the resurrection of the bodies, during the winter months, of those who died of yellow fever, has done much to perpetuate this terrible disease in southern cities, until 125the warm weather has set in. cremation obviates all possible harm that can come from the dead, and duty to the living demands that everything be done to destroy the possibility of propagating this and all contagious diseases that run so malignant a course.”

dr. j. f. a. adams says:—

“dr. joseph akerly expressed the belief that trinity churchyard had been an active cause of the yellow fever in new york in 1822, aggravating the malignity of the epidemic in its vicinity. this church was built in 1698, and the ground had been receiving the dead for 124 years. sometimes bodies were buried only 18 inches below the surface, and it was impossible to dig without disturbing the remains. during the revolutionary war, this burial-ground had emitted pestilential odors, and in 1781 hessian soldiers were employed to cover the ground with a layer of earth two or three feet in depth. the ground was unusually offensive in 1782, and annoyed passengers on the surrounding streets previous to the appearance of the yellow fever in july. during the epidemic, the condition of this churchyard, and the virulence of the disease in its vicinity, called for some active measures, and on the night of sept. 22 dr. roosa covered the ground with 52 casks of quicklime, the stench being at the time so excessive as to cause several laborers to vomit. on the 25th and 26th of the same month st. paul’s churchyard, and the vaults of the north dutch church in william street, received the same treatment, these being likewise very offensive and foci of epidemics.”

when the yellow fever raged in new orleans in 1853, the death-rate in the fourth district (in which there 126were three large burial-grounds) was 452 per 1000 of the population.

dr. bryant, writing on yellow fever at norfolk in 1855, regards cemeteries as a constant source of danger in an epidemic, and urges the total forbidding of intramural or even near-by suburban cemeteries.

sir spencer wells related a fact recently at a meeting of the health exhibition in london, england, which has a strong bearing on the source of epidemics and their annihilation by cremation. some persons who had died of scarlet fever were interred in a country graveyard. thirty years afterward the cemetery was included in a neighboring garden, and the old graves dug up. scarlet fever forthwith broke out in the rectory and parish, and no other probable source having been discovered, it is impossible to avoid the inference that the germs of scarlatinal infection can retain their vitality a third of a century.

in epidemics individuals should be forced to allow their dead (unless they succumb to some disease other than the prevailing scourge) to be cremated. to stamp out a contagious or infectious malady, or to arrest its progress, incineration must be made general; its benefits are nil when confined to isolated cases. the individual must stand back when the public health is in jeopardy.

governments should not allow bodies to be introduced into their respective countries from an infected land, unless such bodies have been previously reduced to ashes.

thousands of cases of malignant sickness, i have no doubt, could be prevented by the prompt introduction of cremation. why not, then, introduce it? simply 127because there is an unreasonable prejudice against the custom? it is ridiculous! should any mere prejudice stand in the way of a sanitary reform? i leave it to any sound mind to decide the question. i am not advocating obligatory incineration in times of peace except in cases of infectious and contagious disease. i would rejoice to see it generally introduced, but not by force. cremation, moreover, needs not the aid of the sword or law; it will find its way unassisted.

besides human and animal remains, i think all garbage should be destroyed by fire.

the idea of cremation which, carried by the wings of enthusiasm, traversed the whole civilized world in the spring of 1874, is really naught but a demand of hygiene in favor of our own health. not only physicians, but also laymen, should enter the arena where the great fight between earth-burial and cremation is going on, and combat for glorious incineration.

the international medical congress which convened at florence, italy, in 1869 examined into the various methods of burial, and concluded by expressing its belief that cremation was necessary, and should be adopted in the interest of civilization and public health.

dr. c. w. purdy, of chicago, ill., says: “burial-grounds are unquestionably ruinous to health, as both theory and facts amply demonstrate; many sections of population suffer annually disease and death which are exposed to their influences; all engaged in this unwholesome system suffer—the grave-diggers, the gardeners, the men who repair the vaults and tombstones, the friends who visit the graves, and the whole funeral procession are exposed directly. there is no redeeming 128feature about this burial system, degrading to the dead and dangerous to the living.”

the celebrated medical author, moleschott, even more vehemently condemns cemeteries. he claims that they emit a vapor which causes malignant fevers, and concludes his remarks by calling them “workshops and factories of the devil.”

beyond a doubt, cremation soonest places the bodies of the dead in a condition where they can do the least harm to the living. incineration destroys all disease germs and at once removes all possibility of the contamination of air and water by the dead.

then why not introduce cremation and do away with all the evils described in this chapter? it is of no consequence to the dead, whether they rot in the earth and originate miasma, or are transformed by fire into pure white ashes. they feel as little of the process of decay as they do of the flame; their eye is surrounded by the same darkness, whether they are down in the deep grave or in the glowing light of the crematory furnace. but it is of the greatest consequence to us, the living; and the only way to protect ourselves from poisonous infection by our dead is to burn them.