The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-06-20
ASHES TO 4SHEs.
Physicians Discuss Cremation.
 From the Urn.

[From the Urn.l
 At the last meeting of the Albany
 County Medical Society, pr. Van
 Vranken presented paper. entitled
 (Which Shall It Be, Buried or Burned?'
 in which he said that while 1t is the
 province of the physician to deal with l the body before death, 1t is also to his interest from a scientific and sanitary
 standpoint to treat the question of the disposition of the body after death. l But two systems are now known among ! civilized nations for disposing of dead ! bodies-burying and burning. Under the form of burying an undertaken injects embalming fluid into the body composed | largely of arsenic, then places it in a tight-titting box, probably zinc-llned, and this box into another of heavy
 material Now, under these condi- tions decomposition progresses slowly,
 more so in high and dry soil than in low or moist earth. When decomposi- | ton takes place, the accumulation of | gases passes off into the earth, impreg-
 mating the soil and the water with germs that can but be detrimental to | health. Bodies must be returned from whence they came, and if those who | have buried @ loved one were to look upon the corpse a few months after l burial they would behold a spectacle l they probably would never forget. Within eight miles of Albany 4,000 bod ies are buried annually, giving off the | YoIJfrid not sition, and these must have some in- tluence upon our sanitary condition.
 Sorrow beats in the heart of every one for a departed relative or friend, and
 customs centuries old offer much oppo-
 sition to any new method. This oppo- sition must be met with reason and log ic, and upon scientific principles. by educating the masses up to the sani- tary principles involved The time is near when there will be witnessed re-
 form in this direction
 Natural decomposition is not rapid, and much better it would be, if bodies
 must be buried, to wrap them in clean linen and place them in wicker or pa- piermache caskets.
 The quickest method to dispose of a body is cremation or incineration. The thought of being burned Is not pleas
 ant to many; but to view body well
 on the way Of decomposition would overcome the objection of the most skeptical, after he has only once wit
 messed an incineration.
 The only objection to this form of
 disposal is, that evidence of crime may be destroyed with the body; but inter- ment may under certain conditions have the same result. And how infre- quent are those eases, and what is their importance compared with the preser- vation of proper sanitary condition.
 In 1889 there was erected in Oakwood cemetery, Troy, one of the finest crem- atories (thanks to the munificence of one man), where the incineration of the body takes place privately. and is con- dricted with all the religious ceremony that is desired. The body, enclosed in sheet soaked in alum water, is placed on car and rolled into the retort. Tn the basement of the building is a gas generator and the heat is generated by burning wood. The body does not come in contact with the flame as is generally supposed, but Is gradually consumed by the generation of gases largely within the body These gases are carried to another department and do not come in contact with the atmos- phere, or in any manner impair the sanitary condition of the crematory. The ashes are gathered in a recepta- cle, and if preserved form an ever pres ent memento of the departed one. About two hours Is required to reduce the body to ashes.
 The masses are not yet ready to ac- cept this system, but if they only under stood the advantage, the benefit to health, and what a clean and mereiful disposition of dead body can be made they would conform to scientific and sanitary principles, and this method would be accepted
 Dr. Bendell thought 1t was the duty of every physician to educate the peo- pie to the principles of this proper re- form in the disposition of bodies filled | with all sorts of disease that are bur led and from their decomposition inn | pregnate the air and soil with poison. | The gases in a cemetery are polluting | the air continually, and are menace to | health. Health and sanitary boards, | where an epidemic spreads, have seri- | ous obstacles to meet, and by burying | the body only perpetuate the germ by | allowing 1t to again escape. The best | conditions cannot be observed | so long as burials are permitted, and | enactment should fix the 1 method Of incineration. Religious | should give way to enlighten- ment, progressiveness and positive con- victions. The thought of repugnance | will then disappear and clean and | healthfu1 disposition be made of the | body.
 Dr. Van Derveer also spoke in favor | Of 4lo ,,riY,oi,,Io ;,o,,oI1ta5 Utbo raoea,,