The weekly Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1854-1861, 1858-06-17
BurnItAu tho Dtnd-Uov 40 40 ttt

BurnitAg the Dtad-HOw 10 do it!
/ A book has lately been published in Lon.
don, which seeks 90 slow the advantages of
the ancient method Of burning the dead
The only objection its author, who Il
'member Of the College of Surgeons.
| finds against burial-is sanitary one. He
says that II is proved beyond oil doubt, that
during the progress of that decomposition
which a body undergoes when buried, the
elements of which II is composed, before
entering into other and purer states, form
certain putrid easses of so deadly nature,
that their inhalation in concentrated state,
has been known TO cause instant death;
while in u more diluted form. they are pro.
ductive of the most serious injury to health.
| These dreadful effluvia vary much in their
virulence, according to circumstances; and
there is probably one particular stage Of de.
mpostion in which they attain their most
fatal power.
Church yards are, It is we'll known, most
pestiferous places. And we are assured
that the gases emanating from the bodies
when diluted possess the power Of "pro.
ducing various dsea4es, diminishing the
: a. sverage duration Of life, lowering the tone
, Of the general health. and thereby render
> ing thou sands more litble to be attacked BY
fever, cholera, or other epidemcs. 1t is not
because they are often imperceptible to the
sense of smell that they are harmless"
How are these evils TO be avertedl-
Thirty FIVE million Of human beings die evi
ery year-nearIy four thousand every hour.
r Bv what means shall this great mass Of de-
0 caving substance be disposed Of MS not to
: vi.iate the sfr the living breathe, and the
j. water the living drink. The remedy our
l. havn hinfpd thar
j.. OF burning. To render the idea less revolt
inc he proposes a plan which seems to him
i. without objs ton.
9 "Nn n gentle eminence, surrounded by
e pleasant grounds. stands a convenient, WE'LL
ventilated chapel, with high spre or stee'
.e ple. At the entrance, where some OF the
1t mourners might prefer to take leave OF the
body, are chambers for their accOmmoda.
{. tnn. Within the edifice are Sc is for those
III who follow the remains to the last; there is
Of nj o an 0rgan and gallery for choristers.
pr In the e ntre Of the chapel, embellished
9. With appropriate emblems and devices, is
l. erected shrine of marble, somewhat like
to those which cover tbe ashes of the great
p and mighty in our old cathedrals, the OPEN
ch ngs being fl led with prepared glass
H. WfEin this--a sufficient space intervening
n, lis an inner shrine, covered with bright,
L. non radi,thg metal, aud within this again
by is covered sarcophugus Of tempered fire.
in clay, with one or more longitudinal sits
ch near the top, extending its whole length
in As soon as the body is deposited therein
ct, sheets Of fhme at an Immensely high tenn
he perature. rush through the long apertures
ny from end to end; and acting as combnl'
ny ton of a modified oxhydrogen blow pipe
lr. with the reverberatory furnace, utterly, ant
.se completely consume aud decompose th'
ch body in an incredibly short space of time
e. even the large quantity OF water it t.contnin'
IL is decomppsed by the extreme heat, and it
n elements instead of retarding, aid combus
by ton, as is the case in fierce conhfgfatiohs
md The gaseous products of combustion ar
in conveyed away by fucs, and means beini
is sdopted IT, commune anything like smoke
hs u lh IT is observed from the outside is occu
~ suna!ly quivering transparent ether fioa,
", ing away from the high steeple to mingI
NO with the atmosphere"