Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-01-07
lRtprInsed from TIE Traasaetions ef The Ned
zeal and Cnirurgieal Faculty ef he State
Of Maryland, 1885
THE NON-NECESSITY OF ANY
RADICAL CHANGE IN THE
PRESENT SYSTEM OF
DISPOSAL OF THE
DEAD.
BY GEORGE H. ROBE, n. D.

1HO@Med oy request.
Following the lead of some sup
posed sanitary authorities, many med
icsl men and Q small but enthusiastic
minority of the general public have Of
late years expressed views decidedly
antagonistic to the time honored Gus
tom Of burial in the earth as a meas
ure for the disposal of the dead. As
a remedy for certain admitted evils
connected with interment, incinera.
ton is proposed. 1t may be worth
while to examine the question wheth-
er cremation is really an unobjection-
able substitute for our present meth
Cd Of disposal of the bodies of those
who have paid the debt Of nature.
The first argument usually advanced
in favor Of cremation is one that should
receive the most careful attention and
have great weight in dcciding the
question. 1t is asserted with much
positiveness that decaying bodies pri-
marily pollute the soil in which they
are buried, and that secondarily the
ground water and ground air are ne
cessarily contaminated with the pro.
ducts Of organic decomposition.
The further inference is then drawn
that the ground water rendered i'm
pure in this manner, gains entrance to
springs or wells and contaminates the
sources Of our drinking water, and so
gives rise to insanitary conditions, or
positive disease. The air over burial
grounds, being assumedly charged
with the gaseous products of decom-
position is also accused of being
cause of unhealthiness.
In spite of the general impression
OF the unfavorable influence of the vi
cinity of cemeteries upon the health
OF the living, there is very little trust
worthy evidence upon this point. The
often quoted example of the Cimitiere
des Innocents in Paris, and of some of
the intra-mural burial grounds of Lon
don cannot be accepted az absolutely
conclusive. And even if it were pos
isively established that over-crowded
and badly managed burial grounds
are a menace to the health of those
living near them, the objection would
not be valid against properly conduc-
ted methods of earth burial.
One of the gases produced in largest
quantity BY decaying corpses is car.
bon dioxide, and yet Smolensky found
that in one of the old cemeteries of
Munich the percentage of carbon d.
oxide in the ground air was less than
half Of that found in the soil Of place
used for the deposit Of offal Of various
kinds. Pettenkofer was 90 little i'm
pressed By the supposed delsterious in
fluence of the gases of decay that he
selected the cemetery above referred
to as the site of the new Hygisnic In
stitute of Munich.
The generally observed good health
Of workmen in cemeteries and knack.
cries cOntradicts the opinion that th4
gaseous smanations from decaying an
imal matter are necessarily dangerou,
to health. Many workmen 50 en-
ployed are quite ready to testify tr
the contrary. although such testimo
nv would not perhaps be Oonsidaret
as Trustworthy evidence"
Experiments Of Buchner. Nsgsl
and others have shown that micro
organisms are not moved by air cur
rents If the organisms are attached b
6 moist surface. It is only when bot
the organisms and the surface upo'
which they are resting are quite DR.,
that they ars readily taken up an
carried bithsr and thithsr in currens
a Ia TA:s .~n,.lx "a ss..sa al. 4.M