Cremation of the Dead

What shall we say of the poisoning of our wells and water-supplies by too adjacent burial-grounds? Professor Brande has instanced a case of a well near a churchyard, the water of which had derived not only odour, but colour, from the soil, and gave it as his opinion that the water in all superficial springs near burial-grounds is simply filtered through accumulated decomposition. Some wells near a churchyard in Leicester were disused some time ago because of a perceptible taint in the water, and, in Versailles, several wells which were situated below the churchyard of St. Louis stank so much as to require shutting up. During the Peninsular War, our troops suffered greatly from low fevers and dysentery, caused by being obliged to drink the water from wells which were sunk too closely to the interred sick. Troops have often been compelled to change their encampments owing to this kind of water-poisoning. Cases are on record where men have been seriously injured by excavating amidst some water which had drained from graves. In Paris M. Ducamp, not long ago, discovered a spring which was entirely derived from the rain which fell in the cemeteries and from the liquids of decomposition; and the foolish people, discovering that it possessed the peculiar sulphur-like taste which is always concomitant with decaying organic matter, purchased it as a mineral water!

Dr. Mapother has visited the churchyards of many Irish towns, and has 'generally found them placed on the highest spot near the most central part, whence of course all percolations descend into the wells.' One churchyard he particularly describes 'as lying so low that the water from the river overflows it in wet weather, and, notwithstanding this circumstance, from 30,000 to 40,000 people are supplied from this river.'111

Instances of water-poisoning have been several times noticed of late years. The monumental cemetery of Milan, for example, is situated upon a hill some 180 yards to the north of the city, and Professors Parvesi and Rotondi have discovered in the wells of the Place Garibaldi, the water of which is collected from the valleys below the cemetery, undoubted traces of organic matter. Professor Reinhard also relates that during the murrain some cattle which fell victims were buried near Dresden at a depth of twelve feet, but that during the following year the water of a well some 100 feet distant from the pit gave off a fœtid odour, and showed the unmistakable presence of deleterious matter. At even twenty feet distance the analysis discovered considerable impregnation. During the Prussian occupation of Chalons, the city was visited by an outbreak of typhus, and to arrest the progress of the epidemic the dead were massed together in a corner of the city cemetery and interred, being first covered over with a quantity of quick-lime. At the end of some weeks, and after an episode of wet weather, the drinking water in the neighbourhood was affected by the influx of matter from the interred bodies and the lime, as was proved by an analysis made by M. Robinet.112

The latest authenticated case of water-poisoning from infiltration of this kind is given by Dr. De Pietra Santa. He confines himself to quoting the example of the hamlets of Rotondella and Bollita, the cemeteries of which, placed upon the summit of a wooded hill, and at a considerable distance from the houses, have still been the means of carrying contagion into their midst. At the foot of the hill upon which the cemetery was perched emerged the springs destined for the daily use of the inhabitants, and these being the products of pluvial waters which had once spread over the surface of the two cemeteries, the water had filtered through the earth and become impregnated with the elements of the dead bodies. This contaminated water eventually produced a fearful epidemic. Dr. Pappenheim says that, if organic chemistry had made more progress, if, above all, the organic matters contained in drinkable waters were known, springs would be easily found containing putrefied substances, to the great injury of those who use the water, and it would be easily discovered that the evils came from a distant cemetery. People, however, are now more and more alive to the danger of subterranean infiltration from dead matter, and the use of wells in towns and cities is now nearly unknown. In Paris a law forbids the sinking of a well within one hundred yards of any cemetery, but in some cases two hundred yards has proved an insufficient distance. In parts of Germany, again, the minimum distance allowed by law is one hundred yards.

A great many cases could be raked up against the present mode of burial; but I will not act the part of a special pleader. One might, however, point out that instances have occurred in which burial-grounds have been washed away by the bursting of reservoirs. In 1854, at Herrenlauersitz, upwards of one hundred bodies, the majority still encoffined, were washed out of their resting-places by an inundation, and floated into gardens, harvest-fields, and houses, nor were they wholly recovered until a fortnight after the calamity.

It would be manifestly unfair to charge against proper interment the loose manner in which it is practised in many parts of the globe. But the evil is so persistent a one that I cannot refrain. It might be forgiven to the poor heathens of Eastern Australia to bury their dead in shallow graves, for there predatory animals are scarce, and want of civilisation could be pleaded for them. But how can we overlook the practices in the Mahomedan cemeteries of Calcutta? I am informed by a gentleman113 who was for thirty years Church missionary there, that these burial-grounds of Islam 'have long been a crying evil, and the nurses of cholera, fever, and dysentery.' The bodies are also frequently devoured by jackals. So, for the matter of that, are the bodies of the Ainos.114 But then the Ainos are heathens and the Mahomedans are – well, people who ought to know better. They are incorrigible, however, as I have myself seen. Even in Syria at the present hour many modern Moslem graves, although lined and roofed with slabs of basalt, are open and their inmates exposed.115 But a travelled Osmanli would perhaps retort and point out that Père-la-Chaise was visited by a monomaniac who was able nightly to tear up a number of bodies.116

I will conclude with one more example of the laxity with which interments are conducted. In the streets of Valparaiso, in Chili, a large and flourishing city of 75,000 inhabitants, many of whom are British and French, may be seen the Cerro de la Concepcion, a hill long since constructed into a cemetery, which is so saturated with decomposition that it has lately rent asunder and exposed the city to the foulest of all exhalations. And what is the consequence? Why, the coffins and the contents have now frequently to be submitted to the flames, in the full view of the population.

CHAPTER V

PRESENT STATE OF THE CREMATION QUESTION. 117

It will perhaps prove interesting to consider the present position of the question in some of the chief countries of the civilised world.

Italy has been the pioneer of cremation, as far as arguments and experiments go, although not the first to reduce it to everyday practice. Here, many centuries ago, it was seen in all its olden glory. Italy too was, I believe, the first to put a veto upon the introduction of the diseased dead into the country without previously reducing them to ashes, as in the case of a person who died of yellow fever in America.118

The project of cremation was laid before the International Medical Congress of Florence in 1869 by Professors Coletti and Castiglioni, and was favourably received by the whole assembly. The same opinion was arrived at by those who took part in the Congress of Rome in 1871. The Royal Institute of Lombardy (Science and Letters), in order to encourage the study of the question, offered the 1877 quinquennial Secco-Comneno prize for an essay upon the subject which would best meet objections and which would best illustrate from actual experiments upon the lower animals that the method was convenient, speedy, economical, and decent. In a second manifesto laid before the two Houses of Parliament, the Institute reiterated its conviction that the adoption of incineration would prove a new era in the march of civilisation, and expressed hopes that Italy would lead the van in the great movement. The elevated position held by these early advocates of the system gave a huge impetus to the movement.

Very important papers have been laid not only before the Royal Institute of Lombardy, but also before the Academy of Padua, and the Society (Medico-physique) of Florence. In order to popularise the practice of cremation, conferences have also been held at Florence, Milan, Naples, Genoa, and Venice. The columns of the public press have also been taken due advantage of, and many interesting articles have appeared upon the matter. Later on, Professor Maggiorani made a representation in favour of the scheme to the Senate. The Chamber of Deputies was also appealed to to sanction the practice, and Drs. Bono and Amati convoked a congress at the central city of Milan in April 1874, when upwards of 500 people interested in the matter met, and listened to discourses upon the subject spoken or communicated to them by Drs. Polli, Pini, Coletti, Musati, Amati, Tarchini-Bonfanti, Sacchi, and Du Jardin. The conclusion unanimously arrived at was to appeal to the Italian Parliament to insert in the new sanitary code an article permitting cremation under the supervision of the syndics of the commune. During the sitting Professor Sacchi observed that if the Italians resorted to cremation they would only be following the customs of their forefathers, as might be observed on all sides of them – a remark which has proved true to the very letter, for at the present moment, near the Campo Santo at Bologna, an exhibition has been opened where may be seen not only very elegant vases containing ashes, and dug up in that cemetery, but also skeletons from the same place.119 In no part of Italy perhaps can the relative worth of cremation and burial be better seen than in Bologna. Both practices were contemporaneous there about 700 B.C.

The works written in Italy upon cremation are of considerable importance. In 1857 Professor Coletti contributed a paper to the Academy of Science and Letters of Padua,120 in which he strongly recommended cremation. This was followed by an article in 1866 by Dr. V. Giro, also approving the practice.121 In 1867, and again in 1870, Dr. Du Jardin called attention to the many advantages offered by cremation,122 which first communication was followed by a paper by Dr. P. Castiglioni, similarly advising its adoption.123 Dr. Golfarelli, previously alluded to, also read a paper before the conference held at Florence in 1871, of course all in its favour.124

Dr. Polli, whose labours on this subject are so well known, published in 1872 a very interesting memoir upon cremation.125 Dr. G. Pini gave to the world his sentiments in its favour in 1871,126 and again in 1873,127 explaining the various and most likely methods of procedure. An historical review of the subject was also issued from the pen of Dr. F. Valerani in 1872.128 Dr. G. B. Ayr eloquently advocated the burning of the dead in 1872-3,129 and again in the latter year the system was upheld by Dr. Fornari.130

In 1873 Dr. C. Musatti published a very interesting historical dissertation upon the subject,131 and gave his opinion that at the beginning of the process means might easily be taken to ascertain whether the subject was in a trance. In 1873 Dr. F. Anelli published an article132 in which he dealt with some objections urged by Dr. Rota, in 1872,133 against the burning of the body, stating it as his own opinion that whilst burial recalled the middle ages and even the times of barbarism, cremation represented progress and civilisation. Much the same view was taken by Dr. O. Giacchi in a memoir read in Florence in 1873.134 Dr. L. Brunetti also explained the methods of incineration in a brochure published in 1873,135 and in the same year Professor Amati published a letter,136 in which amongst other things the economy of cremation was argued. Several articles followed from the pens of Drs. Peyrani and Foldi. The most complete work, however, issued from the Italian press was that of Dr. F. dell' Aqua, published in 1874.137 A very valuable historical report of the question has also been recently issued by M. Biondelli.138

The above represent for the most part the chief writers upon the subject of cremation in Italy. And, as will be noticed, all, with one notable exception, were learned professors and doctors. The only productions inimical to the scheme were the dissertation of Dr. Rota, which was sentimental to a degree,139 the brochure of Professor F. Zinno, which might come under the same category,140 and some utterances upon the subject from clerical points of view.141 The muses were also invoked on both sides, and poems upon the subject have been published by Dr. A. Moretti and Professor Polizzi.142

In Switzerland cremation has found an admirable and indefatigable champion in Dr. Wegman-Ercolani, whose articles and works143 upon the subject have excited the greatest attention. Owing to his exertions two associations have been founded, at Aran and at Zurich, and others are in process of organisation, for the purpose of instilling into the minds of the public the superior advantages which this method of disposal of the dead offers over the ordinary mode of burial. A public meeting held at Zurich in 1874 was attended by 2,000 persons, and a speech was made then by Dr. Ercolani, in the course of which the sentimental objections raised by Professors Blermer and Clœtia were energetically combated. On the same occasion Dr. Goll also defended incineration as a sanitary scheme. The Rev. Pastor Long followed, with some interesting remarks upon the religious side of the question, one of them akin to the now celebrated saying of his Grace the Bishop of Manchester, to the effect that with the Creator resurrection was as easy from the ashes as from the dust of a skeleton.144 Mr. Long declared the urn to be a symbol far more poetical than the tomb or the mausoleum.

Professor Weith, who made a journey to Italy to consult with the professors there as to the practicability of several methods of burning, also pronounced in favour of cremation. Professor Kinkel gave in a public adhesion to the system, and remarked that to him burial in the earth seemed a flagrant violation of the idea of eternal repose. He would rather destroy the body at once than bury it in cemeteries, and, after a lapse of time, dig up the skeleton and submit it to the flames. The meetings in Zurich have been carefully watched by the neighbouring nations and warmly approved of, particularly at Milan.145 Cremation will soon be duly established in Switzerland.

The question of cremation has been considerably agitated in France. A memoir written by Legrand d'Aussy,146 in the year V. of the Republic, put very succinctly the necessity of substituting cremation for inhumation, and the project was shortly after laid before the Tribune, Article 5 of which manifesto left it optional for each family to choose between the two modes of sepulture.147

The Institute of France later on offered a prize of 1,500 francs for a report upon the scientific side of the question, and of forty dissertations sent in, the only fear expressed was concerning the possibly excessive price of the fuel necessary to a complete combustion.

Dr. Caffe, to whom I am indebted for several interesting communications, published in 1856, and again in 1867, résumés upon the whole subject which are eminently worthy of conservation. He leans to the idea of the formation of columbaria, similar to the sepulchral chambers of the Romans, and in his letter to me he says, 'that the presence of ancestral urns is calculated to restrain many a one who is tempted to tread the path of crime and ruin.' M. Bonneau,148 Drs. Lapeyrère,149 Dechambre,150 and Latour,151 have also inserted several valuable articles in their various journals. Dr. Latour emphatically remarks also that if the human race had for the last 3,000 years practised, for instance, embalming, there would not have been to-day a portion of the earth's surface which was not occupied by a mummy. Dr. Lapeyrère upholds cremation, citing as a chief reason the dangers which may result to public health when there are many thousands of dead soldiers.

Inspector Laveran having called the attention of the Council of Public Health to the necessity of resorting to cremation, Intendant-General Robert proceeded to ask the advice of the Medical Chief of the Army Staff, but I understand that the result arrived at was of a very undecided character. The Medical Chief of the army also called together the two Councils of Public Health of Paris and Versailles, in order to take proper steps under the circumstances which immediately followed the late investment of Paris. Baron Larrey issued a report upon the general subject, and laid down the conditions upon which a cemetery should be chosen under such pressing circumstances. He recommended interment in deep pits, and the use of quick-lime, as being a slow kind of cremation and as not offensive to religious and other feelings.

The most recent document is the report presented to the Municipal Council of Paris in 1874 by M. Herold respecting the establishment of a new cemetery at Méry-sur-Oise. Many interesting passages are to be found in it, advocating the permissive practice. The chief French dissertations upon the question of cremation are, however, those of Dr. De Pietra Santa, who published them at first in 'l'Union Médicale.' They were afterwards published with some additions in 1873.152 This last work,153 which embraces all that previously appeared from his pen, must be regarded as a complete manual of the subject, and I am indebted to its pages for much of the information given in this chapter. He has carefully traced the modern history of cremation, and has accorded to Sir Henry Thompson great meed of praise. He deplores, however, the paucity of sympathy which the subject has met with in France. The scruples of some, the open objections of others, and the listlessness of all, have been only too apparent. The learned doctor may, however, rest assured that when calmer times fall upon France, his work will be studied with the care to which it is entitled, and the commission which he seeks will be appointed to consider the question. In less quiet times the question as to the site of a new cemetery would have been linked with a query as to the best kind of cinerator. France will not forget Dr. Santa, and a place will be reserved for him in the roll of her benefactors. At the present moment the Prefect of the Seine has addressed a circular to all the cremation societies in Europe, asking for information respecting burning of the dead, with an offer to exchange publications issued upon the subject.

In Belgium no practical results have as yet been arrived at; still cremation is affirmatively upheld by very many persons. In a small country like this, where the cemeteries alone occupy over 18,000 acres, the useless waste of land alone would in due time insure the adoption of burning.

The home-produced literature of cremation in Belgium is small in extent, but reprints of Italian and other authors are common. The admirable work of Dr. Polli, for instance, was translated and published in 1873.154 Another translation appeared in the 'Presse Médicale Belge' during the same year. The 'Gazette de Bruxelles' of March 1873 also contained articles upon the subject.155 During the year 1874, a séance was held at Brussels through the exertions of M. Adolphe Prins, an avocat of that city, and the manner in which the subject was received by the artistic and literary élite augurs well for the future of cremation in that country.156

The exhibition of Professor Brunetti's examples of cremation at the International Exposition of Vienna gave perhaps the first strong impulse to a study of this subject in Austria, and the unsatisfactory state of the cemeteries in Vienna has convinced a great number of the desirability of resorting to cremation. In February 1874 the Municipal Council of Vienna unanimously passed a proposition to the effect that the superior administration be asked to provide for the immediate carrying out of the system of cremation, now that the question of a new cemetery had been mooted. One of the council, M. Geissler, was mainly instrumental in bringing forward the motion. At the same time the Imperial Academy of Medicine are making an appeal to the professors of hygiene and chemistry in the Empire for a complete report upon the subject. The cremation committee is formed of five persons, Drs. Hoser, Gauster, Novak, Haschek, and Steniger.157

The municipality of Vienna – the annual mortality of which place is about 20,000 – acting upon the advice given by the Board of Health in that city, has now decided that cremation shall be carried out by those who prefer it, upon the plan inaugurated at Leipzig. The cemeteries of Vienna are not only well filled with dead, but they are unpleasantly near to the city. A plot of ground has therefore lately been acquired by the municipality, about five miles from the centre of the city. This new cemetery was opened in November 1874, and on the same day the five Catholic churchyards were closed against all further interments. With the poor, however, the removal of the body from the mortuary chamber to the mortuary building of the district, and then next morning to a distant cemetery, is a serious matter.

Nothing can apparently look more charming than a cemetery sparsely dotted with monuments, as, for instance, the Necropolis at Woking, seen from the railway station; but they speedily, far too speedily, fill. The cost of conveying bodies to these distant cemeteries must also be taken into account. In Vienna, where the city burial-grounds are 'more than full,' the question of conveyance to the new cemetery has provoked a great deal of angry discussion, and has been the means of bringing into notice several schemes for the transportation of the bodies to the site of burial. Mr. von Felbinger, engineer, and Mr. Hubetz, architect, there, have submitted a scheme of pneumatic burial to the municipal council. They propose to erect in the city a central temple, from which a subterranean passage would lead to the cemetery. A line of rails would be laid down in this passage, and an iron car with its freight of coffins would be propelled through it by means of a blast of compressed air. The tubular passage would be five feet in diameter, and by the aid of a 150 H.P. engine they would undertake to convey the car some 15,000 feet in ten minutes. The funeral ceremony would be performed at the central chapel, and it would be optional with the mourners as to witnessing the actual interment at the cemetery terminus. The temple would be built with three distinct compartments, so to speak; one for the accommodation of the Roman Catholics, one for Protestants, and one for the use of the Jews.

The question of burning the dead has therefore come to the front, and a society called the 'Urne' has been constituted to realise the idea. Several meetings have been held, the persons present giving their most cordial support to the movement. Hitherto little or no opposition has been met with from clerical parties.158 It has been stated, moreover, that a donation of 30,000 florins has been presented to the society by a wealthy lady, in order to help on the practice.

Cremation has met with the greatest enthusiasm in various parts of Germany, as might have been expected from so practical a people. The authorities in the town of Dresden, in Saxony, offered to make it conditionally legal, provided that its advantages were thoroughly made manifest by the promoters, which must have been duly done inasmuch as the Presse of Dresden informs the world that the first corpse was reduced to ashes in the Whitsuntide of 1874.159 When the ashes were withdrawn, the funeral ceremony was celebrated in the usual manner. Several other cremations have also taken place there.

The best German apparatus for cremation is that constructed by Professor Reclam and Mr. Friedrich Siemens, C.E., and was first tested upon the lower animals on June 2, 1874, in the presence of Drs. Fleck, Küchenmeister, Roth, and other medical celebrities.160 Mr. Steinmann, of Dresden, also made some improvement upon the Siemens apparatus as at first produced.