Chapter VI: Cremation, Ancient and Modern (1)

It is not my intention to describe the funeral rites of the ancient Greeks and Romans &c.,[176] because the practices of some Eastern nations at the present day somewhat resemble them, and it will consequently be sufficient to refer to some of these. Moreover, descriptions of cremation in classic times may be met with in every encyclopædia. Full details of these ancient forms of sepulture will also be found in numerous antiquarian works.[177]

[176] In the play of 'Virginius' the body of Virginia is represented
as having been placed in an urn, and when the distraught father
enquires for his missing daughter, the vase is placed in his hands
by the sorrowing lover. When this scene is presented, the thrill
which seizes the audience is succeeded by a sensation of admiration
at the eminently superior system of the ancients. I have seen the
actor Brooke in this tragedy, and the effect which he here produced
was inexpressible. Many whom I have consulted as to the feelings
engendered at this point, have invariably declared that they were
at the time complete converts to cremation, and that the sense of
approval only left them when they began to realise how impossible
were funeral pyres in this country. Happily the Siemens apparatus is
now at hand, and its suitability proved beyond all cavil.

[177] Laurentius, 'De funeribus antiquorum;' Kirchmannus, 'De funere
Romanorum;' Montfaucon, 'Les funérailles des Grecs, des Romains,'
&c.; Muret, 'Cérémonies funèbres de toutes les nations;' Porcacchi,
'Funerali antichi;' and many others to be found in public libraries.

For a similar reason I will not describe the burning of the bodies of Williams and Shelley.[178] The ceremony was moreover somewhat harrowing owing to the impossibility of obtaining proper materials for the purpose. It will be more interesting to the reader to furnish him with a description of a still later instance of cremation; I allude to the burning of the body of the Rajah of Kellapore at Florence in 1873, and I quote here the description of the affair as given by Dr. Pini in the _Gazetta di Milano_.

[178] _See_ Trelawney's 'Last Days of Shelley and Byron.'

At the hour of midnight the mortal remains of the Indian
prince were carried to the banks of the river. The funereal
pile consisted of a heap of wood, about five feet square,
firmly fixed and secured to the ground by seven bars of iron.
A second heap of wood was thrown loosely around. After certain
religious ceremonies, the pile was powdered with camphor and
other aromatic substances, and the dead rajah was laid upon it.
The body was anointed with pure naphtha, the features covered
by a mask of some greasy substance, and all the limbs covered
with resinous matter, betel-leaves, perfumes, and powdered
sandal-wood. The corpse was then covered with more layers of
wood, alternated with inflammable substances, and the next of
kin to the prince set fire to the pile. Although the flame was
fanned by a strong wind, the body was barely consumed at seven
o'clock the next morning. At ten, when the fire had almost
entirely burned out, nothing remained but a heap of ashes. An
Indian priest collected a small quantity from the centre of the
heap; the remainder was thrown to the wind, in the direction of
the current of the Arno.[179]

[179] It has been seriously debated by some eminent men whether or
not the ashes should be utilised, instead of being thrown away or
gathered for preservation in urns.

Let us now see how cremation is performed at the present day among the poor in India.[180] The Madras correspondent of the 'Medical Times and Gazette' thus describes the mode practised in Madras:--

The actual process of burning here is simple and effective, and
well suited for people amongst whom fuel is one of the dearest
of the necessaries of life, besides being subject to a tax,
which has been greatly mitigated by the present governor. A
bed is prepared; it is said in the old books that it should
be as long as a man with his arm extended above his head, a
fathom wide, and a space deep; it is also said that it ought
to be on rising ground, so that the water poured on the ashes
may easily run off. On this bed is laid a layer of wood and
'bratties'--that is, cakes of dried cow-dung, which in this
country is the most frequent form of fuel. The body, which is
brought on an open bier, is laid on this, and covered with fresh
layers of wood and bratties. Fire is set to the heap, which
is then covered with a thinnish layer of earth. The process,
which lasts altogether twelve hours or more, is divisible
into two portions:--First, the fire is allowed to char and
smoulder, out of the free access of air, till all the heap
becomes a glowing red-hot mass, just as in charcoal-burning or
ballast-burning at home. But after the fire has penetrated the
whole heap it is poked up, the air admitted, and there is a
thorough blazing fire, which goes on burning till all the fuel
is turned into ashes, amongst which are discernible some of the
hardest bones--as the malar, temporal, and shafts of the long
bones--semi-vitrefied.

[180] The cost of a Hindoo funeral of the humbler class in the
neighbourhood of Poona, according to Col. Martin, is as follows:--

+-------------------------------------------------+----+----+----+
| | R. | A. | P. |
| +----+----+----+
| Bamboo sticks for making the trestle | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| Dungaree cloth for winding sheet | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Twine for binding the trestle | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| One bundle of kurbie for placing on trestle | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Golal powder for sprinkling over the body | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Flowers and betel-leaves for placing upon it | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Saffron for the sprinkling water | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Vessel for carrying fire | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Piece of gold or pearl for placing in the mouth | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Three copper pice to tie in the clothes | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Rice, &c., for dropping on the road, &c. | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Sandal-wood for burning | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Firewood for making fire | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Oil or ghee for increasing the flame | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Refreshments for friends | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| +----+----+----+
| Total | 12 | 7 | 3 |
+-------------------------------------------------+----+----+----+

The above describes a funeral of the poorer kind, but in a late number of the 'Bombay Times' appears an interesting account of the burning of the body of Mr. Veneyekras Juggonath Sunkersett, an eminent citizen of that city.

The funeral procession from the house of the deceased was
sufficiently large to demand a special report. Not less than a
thousand persons figured therein, 'every family in the caste
having furnished one or two of its male members to swell
the melancholy cortège.' Bareheaded, and dressed in white
garments, the procession marched slowly on. First came an array
of link-bearers; then, also surrounded by lighted torches,
and borne aloft on the shoulders of six men, the corpse was
carried, preceded by Brahmin priests chanting a monotonous
dirge. Arrived at the burning-ground--a spot to which admittance
is made difficult--the body, lying on a bier, was deposited on
the ground, the torch-bearers forming a circle around. The bier
consisted simply of split bamboo sides and arms, with a rush
bottom, and was subsequently broken to pieces and burnt. The
object of depositing the bier on the ground was to allow all
present to take a last look at the features of their friend and
leader. Many simply salaamed, others knelt and appeared to pray,
while others indulged in tumultuous ululation.

During the time occupied in these last farewells, the men
attached to the burning-ground had been busily employed in
erecting the funeral-pyre; and the corpse was at length lifted
off the bier, and placed on the pile. Officiating Brahmins
then anointed the body with a mixture of which the principal
constituent was ghee. Hard by was piled a heap of fragrant
sandal-wood, split into thin faggots, and these the relatives
of the deceased laid one by one upon the body, the priests all
the while reciting prayers for the dead.[181] This ended, the
servitors of the dead-ground built up the pyre to its proper
height with common firewood. All being ready for the final
ceremony, the Brahmins lit a small fire of sandal-wood, and,
having consecrated it, gave a flaming brand to each of the
kinsmen present, whose duty it was to light the pyre. Then the
flames shot up into the air, a canopy of smoke overhung the
spot, and all was over. The mourners dispersed, and by midnight
nothing remained of our well-known citizen but a handful of
white ashes and a few calcined bones.

[181] The following compilation from a burial service of the
Brahmins, who are the priests of all the other castes of Hindoos
that burn their dead, may prove interesting to the reader. It is
extracted from the 'Sacred Anthology.'

'_O Earth!_ to thee we commend our brother: of thee he was formed,
by thee he was sustained, and unto thee he now returns.

'_O Fire!_ thou hadst a claim on our brother during life: he
subsisted by thy influence in nature: to thee we commit his body,
thou emblem of purity; may his spirit be purified on entering a new
state of existence.

'_O Air!_ while the breath of life continued, our brother respired
by thee: his last breath is now departed, to thee we yield him.

'_O Water!_ thou didst contribute to the life of our brother: thou
wert one of his sustaining elements: his remains are now dispersed,
receive thy share of him who has now taken an everlasting flight.'

During the past year the remains of the Hon. Narayan Wassadeo, a member of the Legislative Council of Bombay, were solemnly burnt on the burning-ground at Sonapore, and the ceremony is thus described in the 'Times of India,' Aug. 6, 1874:--

The body was placed, after it was recovered from under the
ruins, on the floor of a large apartment at the rear of one
of the wings of the house; and the female members of the
family, seating themselves around it, gave themselves up to
uncontrollable grief. The unhappy widow was overwhelmed by the
dreadful calamity which had befallen her. A great number of the
leading members of the European and various native communities
called and took a last look at the remains as they lay covered
with a white robe, the lower part of the face being alone
exposed.

The procession started at about 7 P.M. The bier, composed of
two long pieces of bamboo, with a couple of cross-pieces, and
covered with a rich white shawl, was upheld by the deceased's
eldest brother and three of his most intimate friends and
relatives. The sacred fire, which had been kindled with due
ceremonies at the house, was carried in front in a brazen vessel
by the deceased's son. The funeral was largely attended, not
only by members of his own caste, but by those of other castes
and denominations. When the procession reached Sonapore the bier
was placed on the ground while the pyre was being constructed.
Men with short crowbars made six holes in the earth, and in each
of these was placed a rough piece of timber about four or five
feet high. The posts, ranged two and two, were about a yard
distant from each other. Three logs about six feet long each
were placed on pieces of wood between each pair of uprights,
so as to allow a free draught under the whole. A number of
smaller logs were placed on these large ones, and were covered
with sandal-wood, which made a sort of bed for the reception
of the body. While this was being done, a number of torches
of sandal-wood were being carefully ignited by the deceased's
son at the sacred fire, which he had brought with him for the
purpose. Prayers were said while the ignition was in progress.
All being ready, the bier was brought to the side of the pyre,
and the body was divested of all covering, except a cloth around
the loins. It was then lifted on to the pyre, which was by
this time between three and four feet high. The upright posts
confined the body on either side, and prevented the possibility
of its rolling off. Small blocks of sandal-wood, of various
lengths--from six inches to two feet--were placed lightly on
the body. The deceased's son then took a brazen vessel full of
water, and carefully sprinkled a circle on the earth around the
funeral pile. He next seized a brand from the sacred fire, and
applied it to some dried leaves, or similar combustibles, placed
under the pyre. That did not set fire to the pyre, however,
and was not intended to be more than a compliance with the
ceremonial; the brand was red, but not blazing, and a spark or
two only fell from it. The relatives were then, as is usual in
such cases, led away from the pyre by the friends around, so
as to spare their feelings as much as possible. When they were
taken a few yards off, and their backs turned to the pyre, large
logs, similar to those at the base, were placed over the body,
which now became completely concealed--all but the feet, which
were left exposed either by accident or design. The friends
applied matches to the sandal-wood brands, and, when they
blazed up, set fire to the combustibles. Owing doubtless to the
dampness of the ground, and occasional drops of rain, it was
a matter of some difficulty to get the mass to burn. Cocoanut
oil was thrown on the wood, and screens were held by men so as
to regulate the draught; and, after a long interval, the pyre
blazed up fiercely. In three hours only a handful of ashes
remained of him who was but that morning the influential leader
of the Hindoo community, full of life and hope.

The above two cremations may be regarded as sumptuous ones, and far above the means of the common people. With the latter an incomplete burning was often performed with revolting results. Descriptions of these failures have frequently been given by travellers of more or less veracity. The matter was lately taken into consideration by the English authorities, and this has led to the suppression of such imperfect cremations.

By the order of Sir Cecil Beadon a cinerator was erected
at Calcutta for the burning of human bodies; and various
regulations were issued with the view of abolishing the ancient
system of imperfect cremation. The funeral pyre was not
absolutely prohibited within the limits of the city; but the
disgusting custom of throwing partially-consumed bodies into
the river was at once put down. Sir Cecil Beadon also forcibly
suggested that all bodies should be taken outside of the city,
to be burned in some suitable place set apart and enclosed for
the purpose. Against this excellent proposition a fearful outcry
was raised, and the municipality was induced to confine the
suggested improvement to building the cinerator on the site of
the old burning-ghât, on the banks of the Hooghly. At first the
Hindoos objected to use the cinerator; but, on finding that it
involved no interference with their religious rites or feelings,
they partially acquiesced in its use. The cinerator built at
Calcutta was not quite a success; but the bodies were consumed
to ashes, and the fumes carried away through a tall chimney or
stack.[182]

[182] 'Iron.'

I am informed by the Sanitary Commissioner of Madras, that the Cinerator[183] erected by the authorities is scarcely ever used, but he is of opinion that if the Siemens principle of a furnace were exhibited before the educated Hindoos they would very probably adopt it.

[183] See foot-note, p. 39.

Here is another extract explanatory of the reform just alluded to.

From the Health Officer's Report to the Bombay Municipality we
find that the cost of fuel for cremation is exceedingly heavy;
and that a body cannot be consumed under four hours. 'On more
than one occasion bodies have not been totally consumed, the
relations having brought too scanty a supply of firewood.' In
this document we also find a recommendation 'that a cinerator
be erected at the burning-ghât, which would be at the disposal
of the poor on the payment of a small fee. By this means the
Hindoo community would get accustomed to it, and would see its
advantage. A body would be put in at one end of a closed vessel,
which in its transit through the cinerator would be exposed to
intense heat, and after a certain time drawn out and opened. The
ashes of the deceased would alone remain, which could be carried
away and kept.'

As it may prove interesting to some reader, I will now give a description of a cremation ceremony of the very highest class, as performed in Siam, in which country, as has been stated elsewhere, only those dead are buried whose survivors cannot pay the fees of the priests. It is said to be from the pen of a lady[184] who was a resident for several years in that country, and is an extract from a paper of hers which appeared in a late number of 'Lippincott's Magazine.'

[184] F. A. Feudge.

Burning is now, and has been for centuries, the universal custom
in Siam--preferred, it is supposed, because of the facility it
affords for removing the precious dust of the loved and lost.
In old, aristocratic houses I have seen arranged in the family
receptacle massive golden urns, containing the ashes of eight,
ten, or twelve generations of ancestors; and these are cherished
as precious heirlooms, to descend through the eldest male branch.

The time, expense, and character of a burning depend mainly
on the rank and wealth of the parties, though the ceremony
is always performed by the priests, and always within the
precincts of a temple. The only exception is in seasons of
epidemics or when the land is laid waste by famine. Among the
better classes the dead body is laid unmutilated, save by the
removal of the intestines, in a coffin, and it is more or less
carefully embalmed, according to the time it is to be kept. If
the deceased belonged to a private family of moderate means, the
burning takes place from four to six days after death; if he was
wealthy, but not high-born, the body may be kept a month, but
never longer, while the remains of a noble lie in state from two
to six months, according to his rank; and for members of the
royal family a still longer period intervenes between the death
and the burning. But, whatever the interval, the body must lie
in state, and the relatives make daily prostrations, prayers,
and offerings during the whole time, beseeching the departed
spirit to return to its disconsolate friends.

When the time for the funeral has arrived, the body is laid
in a receptacle on the summit of a stately pyramid, the form
and material of which indicate the wealth and position of the
deceased. It is thickly gilded, and the receptacle lined with
plates of solid gold when the body has belonged to one of royal
lineage and well-filled coffers. The last is quite as essential
as the first to a gorgeous Oriental funeral, since for rank
without money an East Indian has ever the most profound contempt.

Both requisites were fortunately united in the person of the
queen-mother of King Pra-Nang-Klau. At the funeral of this
aged queen there was such a display of Oriental magnificence
as rarely falls to the lot of Western eyes to witness. The
embalmed body lay in state under a golden canopy for eight
months; the myrrh, frankincense, and aromatic oils used in its
preparation cost upwards of one thousand pounds, and the golden
pyre above twenty thousand. The hangings were of the richest
silks and velvets, trimmed with bullion fringe and costly lace,
and the wrappings of the body of pure white silk, embroidered
with pearls and precious stones. Incredible quantities of
massive jewellery decked the shrunken corpse, and a diadem of
glittering gems cast its prismatic radiance over the withered
features. Tiny golden lamps, fed with perfumed oil, burned day
and night around the pyre, while every portion of the vast
saloon was decorated with rare and beautiful flowers, arranged
in all the various forms of crowns, sceptres, temples, angels,
birds, lanterns, wreaths, and arches, till Flora herself might
have wondered at the boundless resources of her domain. Day and
night musical instruments were played, dirges wailed forth,
and prostrations perpetually performed; while twice every day
the king, attended by his whole court, made offerings to the
departed spirit, beat his breast, tore his hair, and declared
life 'utterly unendurable without the beloved one.'

All this was kept up for eight months, and then the scene
changed for one of festivity. For thirty days, during most of
which time I was present, there was a succession of _levées_,
concerts, and theatricals, with feats of jugglery, operas, and
fireworks; and then the embalmed body, surrounded by perfumes
and tiny faggots of sandal-wood, was consumed by fire, and the
ashes collected by the high-priest or his deputy in a golden
urn, and deposited, with other relics of royalty, in the king's
palace.

How very different from the above is a cremation amongst the North American Indians (the Cocopa tribe), on the Colorado river! Here is an account of one published in a late New York paper by an eyewitness, Professor Le Conte.

A short distance from the collection of thatched huts which
composed the village, a shallow ditch had been dug in the
desert, in which were laid logs of the mezquite (Prosopis and
Strombocarpus), hard and dense wood, which makes, as all Western
campaigners know, a very hot fire with little flame or smoke.
After a short time the body was brought from the village,
surrounded by the family and other inhabitants, and laid on the
logs in the trench. The relatives, as is usual with Indians, had
their faces disfigured with black paint, and the females, as is
the custom with other savages, made very loud exclamations of
grief, mingled with what might be supposed to be funeral songs.
Some smaller faggots were then placed on top, a few personal
effects of the dead man added, and fire applied. After a time
a dense mass of dark-coloured smoke arose, and the burning of
the body, which was much emaciated, proceeded rapidly. I began
to be rather tired of the spectacle, and was about to go away,
when one of the Indians, in a few words of Spanish, told me
to remain, as there was something yet to be seen. An old man
then advanced from the assemblage, with a long pointed stick in
his hand. Going near to the burning body, he removed the eyes,
holding them successively in the direction of the sun, with
his face turned towards that luminary, repeating at the same
time some words which I understood from our guide were a prayer
for the happiness of the soul of the deceased. After this,
more faggots were heaped on the fire, which was kept up for
perhaps three or four hours longer. I did not remain, as there
was nothing more of interest, but I learned on inquiry that
after the fire was burned out it was the custom to collect the
fragments of bone which remained, and put them in a terra-cotta
vase, which was kept under the care of the family.

From these old-world practices--for they are old-world practices, although performed at the present day--we will now turn aside to examine into the modern and improved systems of cremation. The extracts which I shall make will be mostly from the work of Dr. De Pietra Santa.[185] First of all come the experiments made by Dr. Polli at the gas works in Milan.

[185] The descriptions of Dr. Santa are so admirably translated in
'Iron,' that I quote from that paper nearly in full.

In a cylindrical retort of refracting clay, used for the
distillation of coal-gas, was placed the body of an unfortunate
poodle dog, drowned for contravention of the muzzle laws
promulgated by the police. The dog weighed twenty-two and a half
pounds. The apparatus was heated by a crown of flames issuing
from a perforated circular tube. In order to render combustion
as active as possible, the coal-gas was mixed with a certain
quantity of pure air. Our readers will recollect this addition
of atmospheric air is the principle of the Bunsen burner, which
ensures perfect combustion of coal-gas, and produces a maximum
of heat with a minimum of light. The cremation lasted several
hours, producing a thick smoke, &c. After carbonisation, the
skilful chemist succeeded in obtaining complete incineration,
that is to say, the calcination of all the solid parts of the
body, which weighed one pound fourteen-and-a-half ounces.

Satisfied with the result of this experiment, which proved
the possibility of reducing the carcase of an animal to ashes
by ordinary coal-gas, Dr. Polli proceeded with a second and
more complete experiment. One improvement was the disposition
of a vertical retort in such manner as to consume the gaseous
products of combustion. This is easily effected by placing at
the upper orifice of the retort a second ring of gas jets. On
this occasion better arrangements were made for carrying out the
principle of the Bunsen burner, with the result of producing
the complete incineration of a dog weighing forty-two and
three-quarter pounds in the space of a couple of hours. On this
occasion the solid residue weighed only two pounds and some
ounces.

Few have given more time and study to practical cremation than
Professor Brunetti. This gentleman sent a case of apparatus
to the Vienna Exhibition, and records his conviction--arrived
at after five experiments upon human bodies--that the total
incineration of a corpse and the complete calcination of the
bones by fire is, under ordinary conditions, impossible. He has
tried various combustibles, gas retorts, closed vessels, and
the open air, and has arrived at the conclusion that special
apparatus is indispensable to the success of any attempt at
perfect cremation. His apparatus consists of an oblong furnace
built of ordinary, or, still better, of refracting brick, and
furnished with ten side openings, in order to give the power of
regulating at will the draught, and consequently the intensity
of the fire. In the upper part is a cornice of tiles, destined
to support an iron framework, above which is the dome-shaped
roof, furnished with cast-iron shutters, which may be opened
or closed by means of regulators, to shut in the flame and
concentrate the heat. The body to be incinerated is placed
upon a thin metallic plate, suspended by stout iron wire. The
operation may be divided into three sections. Firstly, the
kindling of the body; secondly, its combustion; thirdly, the
incineration of the soft parts, and the calcination of the
bones. Wood having been piled up in the furnace and lighted, the
body catches fire at the end of half an hour. A considerable
quantity of gas is now evolved, and the moveable shutters come
into operation. The body then burns freely, and, if the pile of
wood have been deftly arranged, complete carbonisation ensues
at the end of a couple of hours. The shutters are then opened,
another sheet of metal is lowered over the carbonised mass to
concentrate the heat still more, and the wood is renewed. By
means of this apparatus, and at the cost of 160 or 180 lbs. of
wood, complete cremation is achieved in two hours more. When
the furnace is cold, the residue is collected and placed in a
funereal urn. The last experiment of Dr. Brunetti was made upon
the body of a man who died, at the age of fifty, of chronic
bronchitis.

A description of a Siemens apparatus as constructed for use in Germany is given by Professor Reclam in an article entitled 'Die Feuerbestattung' in the 'Gartenlaube.' A sketch of it in action, partly copied from this article, is given in Plate I.

It consists of (1) a gasometer for the manufacture of the gas
necessary to heat the furnace; (2) the furnace itself, with a
regulator and a space for burning; (3) a chimney to take away
the smoke &c. We may conceive a large, beautiful dead-house
built for the purposes of cremation. In the midst, but invisible
to those present, is a furnace. The funeral procession arrives
at the house, and enters it the same as the churchyard is now
entered. When the coffin has been placed on the tressel, and
the usual ceremony ended, it is let down into the grave and
disappears. In a short time after it is let down the covering of
the furnace is removed, and replaced when it has received the
coffin.

The process of cremation is effected by means of heated air. The
gasometer is put in action by the consumption of coal, charcoal,
peat, or wood. The gas thus produced is conducted through a pipe
provided with a regulating-valve, where, meeting with a stream
of air, also under regulation, it is converted into a flame.
This flame extends through the room which has the regulator,
so that the brick material which is piled up there is heated
to white heat, and kept to this. The flame still continuing,
supplies heat till the furnace or place for the reception of
the body is heated to a weak red heat, when the flame escapes
through a pipe into the chimney.

As soon as the furnace is in the condition thus described, the
process of cremation goes on. The covering of the furnace is
removed by the man who superintends the burning of the bodies.
It is put back again, and the body subjected to the action of
the red heat for a longer or a shorter time, according to its
physical condition. After this is done the gas-valve is closed,
and the air in consequence goes through the regulator into the
place for burning. It is here heated in the regulator nearly to
red heat, in which condition it comes to the bodies already,
in some measure, dried, so that decomposition soon follows.
The bones are decomposed by the action of the heat, while the
carbonate dissolves, and the lime remains as dust. To collect
this dust an instrument is provided, that it may be placed in a
jar, or any other vessel, and preserved by the relatives of the
deceased.[186]

[186] From a translation in the 'Saturday Journal.'

The most perfect apparatus, however, yet devised for the reduction of a body to ashes is that adopted by Sir Henry Thompson. From his work upon cremation I take the following description, which will be always studied with interest. This extract will fitly conclude these quotations.

A powerful reverberating-furnace will reduce a body of more
than average size and weight, leaving only a few white and
fragile portions of earthy material, in less than one hour. I
have myself personally superintended the burning of two entire
bodies, one small and emaciated, of 47 lbs. weight, and one of
144 lbs. weight, not emaciated, and possess the products--in the
former case weighing 1¾ lb.; in the latter, weighing about
4 lbs. The former was completed in twenty-five minutes, the
latter in fifty. No trace of odour was perceived--indeed, such a
thing is impossible--and not the slightest difficulty presented
itself. The remains already described were not withdrawn till
the process was complete; and nothing can be more pure, tested
by sight or smell, than they are; and nothing less suggestive
of decay or decomposition. It is a refined sublimate, and not a
portion of refuse, which I have before me. The experiment took
place in the presence of several persons. Among the witnesses of
the second experiment was Dr. George Buchanan, the well-known
medical officer of the Local Government Board, who can testify
to the completeness of the process.

In the proceeding above described, the gases which leave the
furnace-chimney during the first three or four minutes of
combustion are noxious; after that they cease to be so, and
no smoke would be seen. But these noxious gases are not to be
permitted to escape by any chimney, and will pass through a flue
into a second furnace, where they are entirely consumed; and the
chimney of the latter is smokeless--no organic products whatever
can issue by it. A complete combustion is thus attained. Not
even a tall chimney is necessary, which might be pointed at as
that which marked the site where cremation is performed. A small
jet of steam, quickening the draught of a low chimney, is all
that is requisite. If the process is required on a large scale,
the second furnace could be utilised for cremation also, and
its product passed through another, and so on without limit.

This plan, however, has been thrown into the shade by subsequent experiments:--

By means of one of the furnaces invented by Dr. Wm. Siemens, I
have obtained even a more rapid and more complete combustion
than before. The body employed was a severe test of its powers,
for it weighed no less than 227 lbs., and was not emaciated. It
was placed in a cylindrical vessel about 7 feet long, by 5 or 6
feet in diameter, the interior of which was already heated to
about 2,000° Fahr. The inner surface of the cylinder is smooth,
almost polished, and no solid matter but that of the body is
introduced into it. The product, therefore, can be nothing more
than the ashes of the body. No foreign dust can be introduced,
no coal or other solid combustible being near it: nothing but
heated hydrocarbon in a gaseous form, and heated air. Nothing
is visible in the cylinder before using it--a pure, almost
white, interior--the lining having acquired a temperature of
white heat. In this case the gases, given off from the body so
abundantly at first, passed through a highly-heated chamber,
among thousands of interstices made by intersecting firebricks,
laid throughout the entire chamber, lattice-fashion, in order
to minutely divide and delay the current, and expose it to an
immense area of heated surface. By this means they were rapidly
oxidised, and not a particle of smoke issued by the chimney;
no second furnace, therefore, is necessary by this method to
consume any noxious matters, since none escape. The process was
completed in fifty-five minutes; and the ashes, which weighed
about 5 lbs., were removed with ease.

After such brilliant results--results at once expeditious, cleanly, and economical--well might Sir Henry Thompson challenge Mr. Holland[187] 'to produce so fair a result from all the costly and carefully managed cemeteries in the kingdom,' and safely might he even offer him twenty years 'in order to elaborate the process.'

[187] Medical Inspector of Burials for England and Wales.

An ordinary Siemens' regenerative furnace for cremation makes use of only hot blast, it being considered that the organic substance to be consumed would supply sufficient hydrogen and carbon, and that only hot air is required to produce excellent results. But a perfect apparatus would be constructed upon the principle exhibited in Plate II., which represents the cremation apparatus devised by Dr. C. W. Siemens, F.R.S., of Westminster.

The body to be reduced to its elements is placed in the chamber A (fig. 1), which is iron-cased and lined inside with a substance able to resist the highest temperature. Figs. 1 and 2 represent the consuming arrangement, which may form a portion of the chapel itself. Figs. 3 and 4 show the gas-producer, where the gaseous fuel is produced, and this may be situated at some distance from the building where the cremation is performed. These gas-producers are not only separate from the cinerator, where the heat is required, but may be multiplied or extended, so as to supply any number of cinerators, and so separately reduce a plurality of bodies. At the back of the heating chamber A are placed four firebrick-celled regenerative chambers for gas and air, seen in section at fig. 2, and these work in pairs. The gas carried from the gas-producer is directed into the gas regenerator, and the entering air into the air regenerator, and in these regenerators both gas and air are heated, attaining a temperature equal to a white heat before they reach the chamber A in which the body is laid. The heated air, after passing upwards through the regenerator, enters the consuming chamber at B, and the heated gas enters it at C. They thus enter the chamber separately, and with a sufficient velocity to impinge against the door of the chamber; but when they meet at the point D in the chamber, the gas and air mingle and add to the carried heat that due to the mutual chemical action. The result is a devouring flame. One pair of regenerators are always employed in conducting the heated air and gas into the chamber A, whilst the other pair are employed in carrying away the combined gases or expended fuel to the chimney. This expended fuel is nevertheless an immensely hot flame, and on its way to the chimney it proceeds downwards through one pair of the regenerators, the upper portion of which it heats intensely. Nearly the whole of the heat of the expended fuel is left in the regenerators, and the smokeless gases which enter the chimney to be cast into the air rarely exceed 300° Fahr. By means of valves the regenerators and air-ways which were carrying off the expended fuel, can be instantly used for carrying air and gas into the reducing chamber, and the heat left in them consequently utilised. Not only is a saving of 50 per cent. in fuel thus effected, but the noxious gases from the body would be entirely consumed in their passage down through the regenerators.

The gas-producer itself (figs. 3 and 4) works in the following manner:--The coal is supplied to the charging-box E every three hours or so, and slides down an inclined plane, the upper portion of which is solid and covered with firebricks. Upon this sloping bed the fuel is heated, and its volatile constituents are liberated, just as in a gas retort, leaving about 60 per cent. of carbonaceous matter, the complete combustion of which is brought about by the air which enters through the open part of the grate at the foot of the sloping bed. More carbonic acid gas is now evolved, and this non-combustible gas passes through the red-hot fuel, taking up in its passage another equivalent of carbon, and so becoming an inflammable gas, or what is called carbonic oxide. Should it be considered advisable to make use of steam, each cubic foot of which yields as much inflammable gas as five cubic feet of air, a pipe of water is allowed to run at the foot of the grate, and is there converted into steam by the radiant heat. The combustible gases now pass into the main gas flue, and inasmuch as this gas flue must contain an excess of pressure above the exterior air, so as to prevent the inroad of atmospheric air into the gas flue, and consequent partial combustion, the gas is allowed to rise--which it will do by its initial heat--some score of feet above the producers, and is carried horizontally through the wrought iron tube F into and then down into the furnace. The flat-lying tube being exposed to the air causes the gas in its passage through it to lose about 200° Fahr. of temperature, which increases its density, adds weight to the descending column of gas, and presses it on to the furnace. One estimable feature in this system of gas-producing is that the production can be arrested for half a day without deranging the producer, the fuel and brickwork being sufficiently bulky to maintain a dull red heat for that period. Air cannot enter the grate unless the gases given off in the producer are withdrawn to the furnace; and when the gas valve of the furnace is reopened, the production of the gases is once more continued.[188]

[188] For a scientific description of the patent regenerative gas
furnace which took the prize medal at the London Exhibition of
1862 and the _grand prix_ at the Paris Exposition of 1867, see
the 'Journal of the Chemical Society' for July 1873; the lecture
delivered by the late Professor Faraday at the Royal Institution on
June 20, 1862; and the description published by Dr. Siemens, London,
1874.

The minimum cost of a _complete_ establishment for cremation upon
the foregoing model, i.e., for the furnace and gas-producer as given
in Plate II., but not including a mortuary building, would be as
under:--

+---------------------------------------+---------+--------------+
| | Furnace | Gas-producer |
| +---------+--------------+
| | £ | £ |
| Ordinary brickwork about | 40 | 30 |
| Fire brickwork " | 230 | 30 |
| Lime, sand, fireclay, &c. " | 35 | 10 |
| Cast iron " | 100 | 30 |
| Wrought iron " | 60 | 20 |
| Valves, regulators, levers, &c. " | 50 | 10 |
| Timber " | 5 | -- |
| Cooling tube, &c. " | -- | 50 |
| Chimney, &c. " | -- | 100 |
+---------------------------------------+---------+--------------+
| Total 800_l._; add freight and contingencies. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

It has been urged against cremation by sentimentalists, that if the burning could be observed in even an improved apparatus, the process would prove a harrowing one, recall in fact to mind the horrors described by the Comte de Beauvoir in his Indian reminiscences.[189] But no such thing would result, for whilst being consumed the body would remain of itself perfectly motionless and without visible contraction or convulsion. Several late human cremations which have taken place in the Siemens Works in Dresden, have been purposely witnessed by eminent scientific men and others, through the glass panel of the door which is always provided for the use of the manufacturing operator, and the utter absence of anything which could prove in the least distressing to the mind, the eye, or the imagination, is vouched for by all. The current of combined air and gas simply plays upon the body with a transparent flame, until the whole becomes incandescent. There is not even the least effluvium. In a late experiment, when nearly a quarter of a ton of animal matter underwent cinerary treatment at Dresden, the gases between the flue and the chimney proper were intercepted by an aspirator, and found perfectly inodorous.[190] Once incandescent, the body soon assumes a hue of translucent white, and then speedily crumbles into ashes.

[189] 'Voyage autour du Monde.'

[190] For full details of the carbonisation, see the 'Morning
Advertiser,' Oct. 20 and Nov. 15, 1874, and the 'Morning Post,' Nov.
13, 1874, which contain translations from the German press.

The quantity of ashes left from a body of average weight has been foretold by Sir Henry Thompson almost to the fraction of a pound. There is no doubt whatever also that the time named by him as sufficient for entire reduction will be borne out in practice. As regards the cost of cremation, Sir Henry is most assuredly correct in lauding its economy over interment. The cost of the fuel expended during the last three cremations in Germany did not exceed 3_s._, plus of course the percentage to be charged for attendance, and for the use of the apparatus, which latter would be trifling were it in constant use. When the clerical fees and all the costs of conveyance, &c., are added thereto, the whole sum would not necessarily exceed that of a seventh-class funeral in London.[191]

[191] About 6_l._

+------------+-------+---+----+------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+
| Place | | | |Weight| Weight of| Cost |Time | |
| of | Date |Sex|Age | of | ashes of | of | of | Authority |
| cremation | | | | body,| body | fuel |crem-| |
| | | | | about| | |ation| |
+------------+-------+---+----+------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+
| | | | | lbs. | lbs. |_s_ _d_|min. | |
|Padua |Mar.10,| F | 35 | 116 | 6 | -- | -- |Brunetti |
| | 1869 | | | | | | | |
| " |Jan.20,| M | 45 | 99 | 3·06 | -- | -- | " |
| | 1870 | | | | | | | |
| "[192] |May15, | " | 50 | 90 | 4·06 | 2 4 | 85 | " |
| | 1870 | | | | | | | |
|Breslau[193]|Sep.22,| F |aged| 70 | 3·00 | 3 0 | 70 |'Tageblatt'|
| | 1874 | | | | | | | |
|Dresden[194]|Oct.9, | " | 26 | -- | 3·75 | -- | 75 |F. Siemens |
| | 1874 | | | | | | | |
|Same |Nov.6, | " | 23 | -- |6 lbs. | -- | 78 | " |
|apparatus[195]| 1874| | | |(with wood| | | |
| | | | | | coffin) | | | |
+------------+-------+---+----+------+----------+-------+-----+-----------+

The above Table represents the details of six recent human cremations.[196]

[192] Three other experiments were made upon human remains by Dr.
Brunetti, with nearly similar results.

[193] An emaciated corpse from the town hospital.

[194] Wife of an English baronet.

[195] Wife of a South German physician.

[196] In case any reader would like to compare the above results
with those derived from the cremation of the lower animals, I append
the following recent instances variously treated.

+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+
| Place of | Subject | Weight of | Weight of | Time | Authority |
|cremation | | corpse | ashes | occupied | |
+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+
| | | lbs. | lbs. | min. | |
|Milan | dog | 22·50 | 1·85 | -- | Dr. Polli |
| " | " | 42·75 | 2·12 | 120 | " |
| " | two dogs | 53 | 2 | 360 | Dr. Teruzzi |
|London | pig | 47 | 1·75 | 25 |Sir H. Thompson|
| " | " | 144 | 4 | 50 | " |
|Birmingham| " | 227 | 5 | 55 | " |
|Dresden | horse | 202 | 16 | -- | Dr. Reclam |
| " | " | 460 | 23 | 240 | " |
+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+
The cost for fuel, in even this last huge experiment, did not exceed 4_s._
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The body to be burnt would, in the first instance, soon after death[197] be placed, perhaps, in a coffin of some light material, and taken in due time to the mortuary,[198] ready for conveyance to the 'cinerator.' And, as it is very desirable that the ashes of the body should be kept separate from those of any coffin, a shroud of some imperishable material will be carefully sought after by inventors. The ancient Greeks made use of sheets of asbestos, which is a fibrous form of hornblende;[199] and those of the Egyptians who performed cremation enclosed the body in a receptacle of amianth, which is a similar incombustible mineral substance.[200] Whether these materials will resist the intense heat of the Siemens apparatus remains to be seen; for I have had no opportunities of making experiments. Wood, at all events, is likely to be rejected, on account of the residue of carbon, &c. (charcoal), which might not be easily separated from the more precious relics. Lead would be equally objectionable, for, although easily fusible, it possesses certain disadvantages easily to be imagined. In all probability the most suitable material for the inner coffin, which alone is to be submitted to the impingement of the hot blast, will be zinc. This metal would entirely disappear in the fierce heat, the reason being that it is volatile, and would distil off--its boiling-point being 800° Cent.,[201] or 500° Fahr. below the minimum temperature which will reign in the chamber of the apparatus.

[197] When the body has to be conveyed for a very long distance
to the place of cremation, it might be necessary to practise some
simple method of embalming, and this any surgeon is capable of
performing. In the case of the English lady who was recently taken
to Dresden, Mr. Garstin of London was resorted to.

[198] There is no doubt that public mortuaries will soon be
established throughout the country, as in some parts of the
Continent and in some large English towns now. Sanitary science
calls aloud for their establishment generally, and the practice of
permitting the dead to remain in the habitable rooms of the poor has
proved very repugnant to decency and inimical to public health.

[199] The princes of Tartary use this mountain silk, as it is
called, even now.

[200] Frazer.

[201] Wanklyn.

The English and the German machinery for the reduction of the body to ashes vary in a few particulars, but the general construction is the same, as will have been perceived. In one Dresden arrangement the body is lowered into a receiver below, and the idea of interment is thus in a manner preserved.[202] In the English arrangement this is otherwise, and the coffin is made to gradually slide into the receiver, like a ship launched into water. The anguish induced by the moment of departure is in this way somewhat ameliorated, as there is no noise of lowering-machinery to grate upon the ear. At certain appointed words in our beautiful funeral service--for instance, 'ashes to ashes'--a curtain might be partially withdrawn, and the body, encased in a suitable shell, would gravitate slowly into the chamber of the apparatus, which would then immediately close noiselessly; to be opened only after the due reduction of the body. The utmost privacy would be insured, and no strange eyes could gaze upon it[203] during the period of incineration. The funeral service could also be made to occupy the whole of the time necessary for sublimation if it were so desired, or a eulogy or other reference to the departed might form the subject of a discourse. The ashes could afterwards be collected, and reverentially placed in an urn,[204] or other suitable receptacle, and conveyed to their last resting-place. Plate III. represents a view of a mortuary chapel, such as would probably be required in a Christian cemetery; and the scene there represented will serve to show how completely decorous the procedure would be.[205] And one may here remark that the great advances made by science can nowhere better be evidenced than by a comparison between the modern and ancient systems of cremation. However well disguised in beautiful language--as, for instance, by Bulwer in the 'Last Days of Pompeii'--the barbarity of the method practised in classical times will be sensibly felt in the background.

[202] See Plate I.

[203] At the cremation of the body of an English lady at Dresden in
October last, arrangements were made for observing the progress of
combustion, and this was permitted under the peculiar circumstances.
It is not however intended anywhere to practise even a partial
exposure, nor would the English pattern of cinerator permit it. When
the time needful for reduction has been accurately calculated, such
exposure will be unnecessary. With the improved apparatus half an
hour will probably be sufficient.

[204] A cubic space of six inches would accommodate the ashes of the
strongest man.

[205] This drawing was kindly made for me by my friend Mr. E. F. C.
Clarke, architect, of London, whose pencil has also furnished me
with the sketch of the family columbarium in Plate V.

It is likely enough that whenever cremation is again practised, urns will form the chosen receptacles of the ashes. Vases or urns have always been associated with sepulture in classical times. The finest vases which have come down to us from antiquity were not originally intended for sepultural purposes, but for the adornment of the mansion. Frequently, however, these were deposited in the tombs along with the unburnt body,[206] as being the objects most valued by the deceased when living. The survivors doubtless held it as sacrilegious to make use of these favourite objects, for they are found unmolested even now.

[206] The tombs in Magna Græcia and Etruria were subterranean ones,
the body being laid upon the ground, and around it were placed the
painted vases. The tombs were made to bear as much resemblance as
possible to the abodes of the living, and the walls were frequently
painted with scenes from the upper world.

It is worthy of remark that amongst the Ojibois Indians of the present day the canoe, gun, and blanket, which are laid upon the grave of each one of the tribe, although newly purchased, are never made use of again, nor ever stolen.[207] Many other Indian tribes observe the same custom;[208] and the Moldavians and the Caubees as well.[209]

[207] A. P. Reid.

[208] Nicolo di Coti.

[209] J. E. Price.