The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1896-01-23
ASHES no AsHEs.
The progress of Cremation.

some sanitary felotIh WHICH pAoPN9N' "
substitute burning by fire in the place
of earth burial is slowly gaining ground
in this and in other countries. The mer-
its of cremation have been so often and
SO ably discussed that there is no need
10 enter at length into the various argu-
ments that constitute, so TO speak, the
stock in trade of its advocates. So far
as we can see when the matter is SUB
jected to analysis all the conclusions
point in one direction, and that is IN
favor of fire burial. 1t is hardly pos
sible to dispute the proposition that put
refaction is merely an extended and
prolonged form of combustion, ana tnat
the ultimate products Of putrefaction
and of cremation are precisely similar
Nor is 1t any more open oquestion that
a mans body is likely to be infinitely
more, injurious to the living if taken un-
der the earth after the present pfeVa-
lent fashion, than IL it We're reduced 10
a handful of ashes in the crematory.
So, too with infectious diseases, the
germs of which have been SHOWN IN
some instances to retain their vitality
even after deep burial in the ground.
Indeed, it is fairly clear that in force
and cogency of arguments the crema-
tionists have the upper hand OF their
opponents. Yet, for all that, the reform
has had a. hard task to preserve its nut
tering life, and the signs of hopefulness
for it's future growth are, as YET, Tar
from robust. Nor are the causes for tins
struggle for existence far to seek. An
cient history shows that among the ear
1ier civilized nations the method OF ere
NATION was adopted by all save the
Egytians, the Persians and Chinese. 1t
is equally clear that in all the countries
where fire burial became the prevailing
custom, it was sanctioned by relglon,
and in many cases was regarded as a
solemn religious rite. So far as the
modern attempts at re-introductlon or
cremation are concerned, it Us notorious
that they have not received the support
of the churches of modern Europe. In
England an energetic society connected
with the established church has for
many years past been carrying on a
vigorous crusade against the present
funeral systems of this country. The
extravaganza and foolishness of UNDER
takers' customs, and the dangers of re-
tanning unburiedl corpses in the midst of
the living, no less than burying them in
vaults and inlpermeable collins have
been one and all the subjects of vigorous
and repeated onslaughts. Yet that so
ciety, SO far as we can recall, has never
uttered single word in favor of the
practice of cremation. Nay, more than
THAT, ithas always promptly and carefully
shelved the subject when intruded upon
its notice by some enthusiast. There is
hope, however, that, as religious teach
ers fall more in line with science, they
will adopt cremation as a cardinal step
in national sanitation. 1t is, perhaps,
partly as a result of their Indifference
that fire burial has not found favor in
high places. Its adoption, after all, is
very much a question of fashion, and
3 there cam he little reasonable doubt that
if ii were once blessed by the aristoc-
racy it would ere long be accepted by
the vulgar. The chief obstacle to its
progress is most likely sentiment, one
of the most conservative of social fac
tors. The attitude of the people them
selves with regard to burial customs
has been the outcome of many centuries
of custom Not until the people them
selves see fit to clamor for cremation, is
there much chance that it will ever be-
come national institution. Yet those
who advocate this rational reform may
congratulate themselves on certain
crumbs of comfort. For example, the
growth of the movement, although slow
has never for a moment ceased to bS
steadily progressive, not only in Great
Britain, but also in other continental
countries, and particularly in tbs
United States. Then. again, a steady
change of popular feeling may be traced
Y I'm the fact that those who advocate
cremation are no longer looked upon ae
irresponsible faddists or as actual foes
TO human and religious sentiment One
weighty point which is perhaps not suf
ticiently insisted upon, is the ancient ma
ture of this clearly and rational method
of the disposal of the dead. Were The
inhabitants of this country to become
cren1ationists they would simply be re
Nerting to the ways of their prehistoric
ancestors. Connected with this poin
I Mr. Aubrey Richardson, who has writ
ten an interesting book dealing will
the law of cremation, writes: That thu
custom of cremation prevailed in prehis
toric times We know from the evidence
of dolman and tumulus. These anclen
affairs and tombs are scattered through
out Europe, and in parts of Asia ant
Northern Africa. The accounts of Cae
sar, Diodorus of Sicily, and Others o
the mortuary customs of Gaul and thos
practised by the Druids, clearly prov
that the ancient inhabitants of France
and Britain burned their dead, Will
among the Scandinavians the custom
prevailed until the ninth. and anon:
the Slavs, until the eleventh century.
SO far as medical men are concerned
we hold it is their bounden duty to sup
port the revival of this ancient custom
as the apostles of gospel Of universe
sanitation. Nor is it less incumben
upon the medical journals, as mirrors o
current scientific progress, to advocat