Chapter I: Preface

Shortly after having accepted, from the members of the Council of the Cremation Society of London, the office of Secretary, a wish was expressed to me by the President of the Metropolitan Branch of the British Medical Association, that I should prepare a paper upon the Bearings of Cremation upon Public Health. A short paper, with this title, was therefore read, and was afterwards published in the Journal of the Association by the Editor, Mr. Ernest Hart. It was so favourably received by all, that I have been induced to extend my enquiries and so render the work, if possible, more acceptable as an exposition of the subject. I am sensible of its many defects, but I trust that it will be found to furnish some useful information which cannot well be obtained elsewhere, besides proving an assistance to those who are desirous of studying the question more fully.

WILLIAM EASSIE.

CHILD'S HILL, LONDON, N.W.

_December, 1874._

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

The probable sanitary origin of Cremation--Not necessarily
opposed to Religion--General reasons--Wisdom of adopting it
in cases of epidemics--Sundry objections treated--The
decorousness of the practice--Cremation desirable in the
battlefield--In cases of murrain--In the destruction of
condemned food, &c. 1-23

CHAPTER II.

METHODS OF TREATING THE DEAD.

Exposure, or the absence of all burial--Consignment to the
deep--Petrifaction--Envelopment in some solid material--Burial
in the earth--Embalming preparations--Desiccation of the
body--Cremation a widely-spread practice--Examples of
quasi-cremation 24-40

CHAPTER III.

OUR BURIAL LAWS.

State of things thirty years ago--The new cemeteries--Space
allowed for, and the depths of interments--Vault burial--A
well-chosen cemetery--An improperly-chosen one--The closing
and regulation of old burial-grounds, &c.--Materials
for coffins 41-52

CHAPTER IV.

DANGERS OF OUR SYSTEM OF BURIAL.

Churchyards and the evils resulting from some of them--How the
living are affected by them--Disorders caused by putrid
emanations--Dangers of inhaling the atmosphere of some
burial-grounds--Vaults--Poisoning of wells and
water-courses--Laxity of many interments 53-67

CHAPTER V.

PRESENT STATE OF THE QUESTION.

Promoters of the practice of Cremation and prospects of its
adoption in Italy--In Switzerland--In France--In Belgium--In
Austria--In Germany--In America--In England--Sir Henry
Thompson's work--The Cremation Society of London, its objects,
&c. 68-88

CHAPTER VI.

CREMATION, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Ancient modes of cremation as illustrated by recent burnings in
Italy, India, Siam, and North America--Modern experiments
in Italy, Germany, and England--The Siemens' apparatus,
its construction, perfect working, and economy--Proposed
procedure--Disposal of the ashes--Description of cinerary
vessels, old and new--Conclusion--Bibliography of the
subject 89-130

ILLUSTRATIONS.

(_All at end of book._)

PLATE

I. VIEW OF A SIEMENS' APPARATUS (GERMAN PATTERN).

II. SIEMENS' APPARATUS (ENGLISH PATTERN).

III. SKETCH OF MORTUARY CHAPEL.

IV. URNS.

V. SKETCH OF FAMILY COLUMBARIUM, OR NICHE IN PRIVATE CHAPEL.

VI. URNS IN THE CRYPT AND CHURCH.

CREMATION OF THE DEAD.