The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-06-27

the crematorys helping instead Of resist
ing the process of com bustion. A coffin
of open wiokerw ork has the same pur-
pose as those of perishable fashion; j. O.,
to expose the enclosed body to contact
with mother earth. Another style of
burial case is made in the shape Of the
human form, being cast out of metal in
two parts which fit together. One in
yentor proposes to fill his alright casket
vault" intended to hold cofin, is of
iron, with catches inside SO arranged
that the receptacle cannot be opened. If
grave robbers should succeed IN carrying
1T away on truck they would have
great difficulty in forcing it open.
| Glass collins are no novelty; they were
patented in England in 1847. They were
not now even then, for it is known that
the Egyptians used them over two thou
sand years ago. Ancient Egyptian
coffins were frequently stained to repre-
sent rare woods. just as is done now.
Sycamore was the principal wood en-
ployed, carved, inlaid and painted.
of several collins, fitting neatly inside of
each other, each bearing q carved like
ness of the defunct and painted with
prayers, ETC., in hieroglyphios. The
preparation and ooffning of O mummy
| in first class style cost d silver talent, or
somewhat over $1,000. Collins os baked
clay are found In the ruins of ancient
cities of Mesopotamia The Philippians
of old used for collins followed blocks of
quartz crystal, which material is very
plentiful in that country. Thus the en-
closed body was kept visible. The only
coffin mentioned in the Bible is that of
Joseph, whose remains were 'embalmed
and coffined."
| The bodies of persons buried in the
frozen soil of Northern Siberia have been
found perfectly preserved after lapse of
nearly century. Corpses inferred in
hot sand do not decay, but become mum
mitied. There is no other way in which
body can be preserved so long-leaving
freezing and naturalization out of the
question--as by burial in lead coffin.
| If the receptacle be air-tight lack of
| oxygen brings putrefaction almost,
II not quite, to a pause and the face Of
the defunct person may be recognizable
after long period of time. The at
tempts frequently made to destroy bodies
by covering them with lime are very apt
to have the opposite effect, preserving
them by keeping out the air. When
| inferred In wet soil corpses are some
times transformed into true ammonicel
stone. which has been named s'adipo-
cere." Thus very often they retain their
| from indefinitely, inasmueh as dipocere
| is not perishable under ordinary circum-
| stances.
There is man In New York who
makes a. business of photographing
corpses. He takes a picture of the face
of every dead person who turns up at
the morgue in that city. The ikenesses
are mounted On cards and kept in q little
cabinet at the moIgue office. In each
case the photograph Is made without ar
ranging the hair or in any other way
modifying the appearance of the defunct,
1nasmuch as to do so might interfere
with the recognition of the lattsr by
| friends. Sometimes, after years have
passed, relatives of these unfortunate in
dividuals find out their fate by seeing
their features on the ea1ds. Suicides
are often neatly shaved and dressed, as
if they had prepared themselves particu-
larry to have their pictures taken. The
flikenesses in the cabinet run all the way
| back to 1868.
One of the most interesting patents in
the mortuary line Is the invention of a
loitizen of Canandaigua, N. Y. 1t is
process for preserving the ashes Of the
dead, and is designed to DO away with
some Of the prejudices against orema-
ton. The ashes of the late lamented, as
they come from the crematory are TO be
mixed with silicate of soda and formed
into paste. This paste is moulded into
| the shape Of bust or ststuetIe of the de-
funct. II preferred, 1T may be made in
to paper weight. However fashioned
| it serves to remind the bereaved of the
departed. To an heir to large estate
such memorial would be most interest
| ing The inventor makes tho additional
suggestion that the statuette or bust
might be electro-plated with copper,
silver or gold, for the sake of decorative
effect.
Another inventor has devised method
of preserving the bodies of the dead by
plating them with silver or gold. His
idea is to embalm the corpse i'll the Gus.
tomary manner, and then place 1t in
chemical bath, depositing the metal
| upon it by electricity in the ordinary
fashion. Nickel, of course, would be
good enough for persons of moderate
means. More practicable would seem to
| be a scheme for DESIGNATING bodies b.
process that is guaranteed to reduce
them to absolute dryness and about one
third of their original weight. The