Monmouth weekly herald. [volume] (Freehold, N.J.) 1854-1860, 1858-06-24
Burning the Dead---How to do it.

we COpr iIOH tuc GVeHLtg. OSt lHe
following very sensible remarks relative
to cremation or burning the dead. We
should be pleased to see this question
discussed in various sections. Gentle
men Of the press, what think you Of it
"A book has lately been published il
London, which seeks to show the adj
vantages of the ancient method Of burn
ing the dead. The ouly objection its
author, who is a member or the College
oil Surgeons finds against burial is a
sanitary one. He says chat it Is proved
hey ond all douut. that during the pro-
gress Of that decomposition which a body
undergees when buried. the elements Of
which il IL composed. before entering m
10 other and pnrcr states. form certain
putrid gases Of SO deadly a nature, that
their Inhalation in Il concentrated state
has been knows to cause instant death !;
while IN u more diluted form, they are
productive OF the most serious injury to
health. These dreadful ~efluyia vary
much in their yirulence, according TO cir.
cumstances and there is probably one
particular stage OF decomposition in
which they attain their most fatal
power
Church yards are, it is well known,
most pestlterous places. And we are as
sured that the gases eminating from the
bodies when diluted possess the power of
producing various diseases, diminishing
the average duration Of life, lowering
ting tone OF the general health, and there
by rendering thousands more liable to be
attacked by fever, cholera, or other
epidemics. 1t is not because they are
often imperceptible to the sense of smell
that they are harmless
How are these evils to be ayerted ?
T~hirty.6ve millions Of human beings die
ever year-nearly four thousand every
hour. BY what means shall this great
mass OF decaying substance be so dispos-
cd OF as not to ~yitiate the air the living
breathe, and the water the living drink.
The remedy our author proposes is as We
have limited, that Of burning. To render
the idea less revolving, he proposes a
plan which seems to him without obiec.
tien
On a gentle eminencc. surrounded
by pleasant grounds. stands a convenient
well ventilated chapel, with a high spire
or steeple. At the entrance, where some
OF the mourners might prefer to take
leave OF the body, are chambers for their
accommodation. Within the ediGce are
seats for those who follow the remains to
the last there is also an organ and d GAL.
lery for choristers. In the center of the
chapel, embellished with appropriate EN-.
blems and devices, is erected a shrine Of
marble, somewhat like those which cover
the ashes OF the great and mighty in our
old cathedrals, the openings being filled
with prepared glass. Within this-a suf
hcient space int%ervening-is an inner
shrine covered with bright. non radiatino
metal, and within this again is a covered
sarcophagus of tempered FIRE clay, with
one or more longitudinal Sits near the
top, extending its whole length. As soon
as the body is deposited therein, sheets of
fame, a. an immensely high temperature.
rush through long apertures from the end;
and acting as a combination of a modified
o~xhydrogen blow pipe, with the reyerba-
tory furnace, utterly and completely con-
sumo and decompose the body in an in
credlbly short space of time even the
large quantity of water it contains is de.
composed BY the extreme heat, and it's ell
ements, instead Of retarding, aid combus-
ton, as in the case in fierce c~onfagra-
lions. The gaseous products of combus-
ton are conveyed away by Aues, and
means being adopted to consume anything
like smoke, all that is observed from the
outside is occasionally a quiyering trans
parent either floating away from the high
steeple to mingle with the atmosphere"