Chapter I: The History of Cremation (2)

The first Caucasian who was cremated in the United States was Colonel Henry Laurens, who was the president of the first Congress, which convened at Philadelphia in 1774; he was also a member of the military family of General Washington. Laurens was of Huguenot descent, born in Charleston, S. C., in 1724, and eminent as a statesman before and during the Revolutionary War. He was educated in one of the best universities of Europe, and although following the vocation of a merchant during many years, he achieved great distinction as a writer on political topics; his pamphlets on the public questions of the time received much consideration. Appointed minister to Holland, he was taken captive on the voyage thither by a British man-of-war, and was imprisoned for some time in the Tower as a rebel. Among his visitors there was a friend of other years, Edmund Burke, by whose influence he was finally set free. One of Laurens’ daughters had, when a child, apparently died of small-pox, but, being placed near an open window, she revived. Since this occurrence, the colonel lived in constant fear of being buried alive, and therefore requested his daughters, by an injunction and detailed directions given in his will, to burn his body after death; his fervent wish was carried out in his garden at Charleston, S. C., in 1792.

The second to be burned was Mr. Henry Barry, who lived and was cinerated in the vicinity of Marion, S. C.

In the spring or winter of 1855, Count Pfeil, a German aristocrat, then proprietor of a farm in the neighborhood of Milwaukee, attempted to incinerate the corpse of his wife in accordance with her own request. He accordingly erected a funeral pile in his own yard, on the soil that he owned. When his intention to burn his wife became known among the farmers in the vicinity, there was a great uproar; they finally went so far as to march in a body to the residence of the count, and to declare that they would mob him if he would dare to execute the cremation. He then proposed, since the matter was creating a disturbance in the neighborhood, to transfer the incineration to the lake shore. But the prejudice of the farmers was so great that they would accept no compromise. They finally petitioned the governor, and were successful in obtaining a decree prohibiting the cremation. The count, disgusted at the lack of our boasted liberty, interred his wife, sold his estate, and departed for Europe.

The third reduced to ashes in the United States was the Baron de Palm, prince of the Holy Roman Empire, a native of Augsburg, Bavaria, who was incinerated in the Le Moyne crematory at Washington, Pa., on the 6th of December, 1876. The baron had died at the age of sixty-seven at New York, in May, 1875, and his body had been immediately embalmed and placed in the receiving vault of the Lutheran cemetery, where it was kept until the Le Moyne crematorium was finished.

On this day mentioned, many members of the secular press, and delegations from various scientific and sanitary societies, assembled at the crematory to witness the cineration of the defunct nobleman; many of the leading newspapers of this country, and also of France, Germany, and England, were represented. About 30 invitations had been issued, and many members of the prominent boards of health were present. The fires had been started at two o’clock in the morning. On opening the casket it was found that the weight of the body had been reduced from 175 to 92 pounds. At 27 minutes past eight o’clock, everything being pronounced ready, the body, lying in the iron cradle and covered with a shroud (which had previously been soaked in an alum solution, to prevent its too rapid ignition), and decorated with flowers and evergreen, was consigned to the retort, which was instantly shut. The actual temperature of the retort could not be ascertained, as no pyrometer was at hand; it was, no doubt, a little over 2000° Fahrenheit. Through a small opening in the cast-iron door, which closed the retort, an occasional glimpse of the interior was obtained, and the effect of the heat upon the body observed. In about 15 minutes the aqueous vapor had all been expelled, leaving the shroud completely charred, but still retaining its form sufficiently to completely conceal the outlines of the body. In an hour the outlines of the prominent bones were plainly visible, and an hour later the incineration was complete, but it was deemed advisable to continue the heat for four hours from the time the body had been first placed in the furnace. When last seen, much of the form of the body had remained, owing to the exclusion of the atmospheric air. During the burning, the ordinary draft of the furnace was increased by means of a fan-blower. The body was not removed from the furnace until some 24 hours had elapsed, to allow the retort to cool. During the entire process there was no offensive odor, either at the top of the chimney or elsewhere. The cremation was entirely satisfactory, and nothing of an unpleasant nature occurred. The residue left, after the incineration was completed, was three pints of ashes, which were carefully collected, and, after being sprinkled with perfume, were deposited in an antique vase, which was delivered to the officers of the Theosophical Society in attendance, of which the baron was a member.

Forty bushels of coke were consumed in burning Baron Palm, the whole cost of the operation being $7.04.

In the afternoon a meeting was held at Washington, presided over by J. Lawson Judson, Esq., at which addresses were made by Colonel Olcott on the history of cremation; Rev. George P. Hayes (president of the Washington and Jefferson College) on the bearing of the Bible and Christianity upon the subject of cremation; Dr. James King on incineration from a sanitary point of view; Dr. Le Moyne on the general advantages of cremation; Boyd Crumine, Esq., who spoke of the popular prejudices against this method of disposing of the dead; and Mr. Nicholas K. Wade, who alluded to the mechanical necessities of a perfect cremation.

It is to be regretted that so many of the persons who attended this incineration had a preconceived notion of the practice, which rendered them totally unfit to judge of it. Being prejudiced from the beginning, it is not at all surprising that they should have given unsatisfactory, highly sensational, and misrepresenting accounts of the affair to the world; but as Mr. W. Eassie pertinently remarks, the same thing has occurred in every case of modern cremation up to the present time, and will, no doubt, continue until the reform is more commonly practiced.

The fourth body that was cremated in the United States was Mrs. Jane Pitman, from Cincinnati, who was destroyed in the Le Moyne crematorium, Feb. 6, 1877. The fifth disposed of by fire in America was Dr. Winslow, of California, who was burned at Salt Lake City on the 31st of July, 1877, in a primitive furnace temporarily erected through his request by the administrators of his estate. The sixth was a child of Mr. Julius Kircher, who cremated it in his oven at New York City, in the fall of 1877.

The Le Moyne crematory was closed to the general public Aug. 1, 1884. After that date no bodies were received by the trustees of the crematorium, outside of Washington County, for cremation. Bodies were admitted to the Le Moyne furnace for incineration from all parts of the country, only in order to carry out Dr. Le Moyne’s view of reform—keeping the subject before the public. Since the interest manifested by the people of the United States in the subject of cremation is speedily growing, other crematories are building where the public will be accommodated; and as the business increased to such an extent that it occupied more time than the trustees could possibly devote to it, they were compelled to limit the use of the crematory. Hereafter, therefore, no body will be cremated in this furnace, who has not lived within the county in which Dr. Le Moyne lived and died. And whereas not one of the persons consumed in this crematorium (except the owner himself) hailed from Washington County, we may presume that this pioneer furnace of cremation in America has been closed forever.

Of all the cremations which took place in the Le Moyne furnace, that of Professor S. D. Gross, M.D., LL.D., attracted the greatest attention. It was in accordance with his expressed wish that he was committed to the flames. He more than once declared he had no desire that some “curious impertinent” should, a hundred years hence, hand around his jawbone for inspection and comment, and to avoid such a contingency he gave positive directions for the burning of his body. Cremation as a mode of decently disposing of the dead could receive approval from no higher source, and in no more conspicuous manner, than in the disposition of his remains by that means. Dr. Gross stood without a peer among his fellows; he was venerated not only by the medical profession of America, but even by physicians of foreign lands. He was to the profession of medicine what Charles O’Connor was to the profession of law, and his deliberate choice of incineration in preference to burial attracted wide and respectful attention even in so conservative a class as doctors. Perhaps no man ever drew breath who was better qualified to express an opinion on this subject. Who is so well entitled to form a correct opinion as the man who for nearly three-quarters of a century had the closest possible relations with the dying and the dead? That his example gave a new impetus to incineration there is no room to doubt. He sought to be a teacher even after his death; he wanted to benefit his race even in his decease. Perhaps he believed that others might follow where he led, as they had done in life. Others will follow his example, and the work go on until the present custom shall give way to the better one. It may be long before that time comes, but come it will.

On its way to Washington, Pa., the body was accompanied by Mr. A. H. Gross and Dr. Horwitz. There were no ceremonies at the incineration, and the remains were reduced to ashes in two hours. The ashes weighed about seven pounds, were hermetically sealed in a tin box, and placed in the coffin in which the body was carried to Washington. On reaching Philadelphia the coffin was removed to the late residence of Dr. Gross, and subsequently the ashes were enclosed in a marble urn about three feet high, unornamented and without inscription, and placed beside the coffin of Dr. Gross’ late wife in the family vault at Woodlawn Cemetery, where the Rev. Dr. Charles Currie read the Episcopal burial service.

Voltaire derided his contemporaries by declaring that they could not protect themselves from the fatal power of the dead. But when the great Revolution came along, overthrowing the then existing order of things, and performing a painful but necessary work, the same France that had listened to the voice of the great philosopher became aware of a means that shielded from the dangers of the burial-ground—cremation.

On the 28th of March, 1794 (28 Germinal, An II), the deceased republican Beauvais, physician at Montpellier and member of the National Assembly, was cremated in the Champ-de-Mars at Paris. The urn containing his ashes was deposited in the archives of the nation.

In the year V of the republic (1797), a motion by Daubermesnil, to introduce facultative incineration, providing that the act would take place outside of Paris, was rejected by the Council of the Five Hundred; but in 1799 (year VII of the republic), a law was passed by the Seine department in favor of cremation. Advantage was frequently taken of the permission granted. At this time the Institute of France offered a prize of 1500 francs for the best essay on the question whether interment or cineration is preferable. In consequence, 40 dissertations were sent in, and all of them demanded optional cremation. The prize was accorded to two essays: those of MM. Mulot and Amaury-Duval.

From 1856 to 1867, the French cremationists were led by M. Bonneau and Dr. Caffe; the latter has retained the leadership till the most recent times, and has done much, by his admirable expositions of the subject, to popularize cremation in France. One point was brought out by him that is deserving of mention here, namely, that one tempted to stray from the path of honor and virtue may be restrained by the presence of ancestral urns.

Dr. Prosper de Pietra-Santa is to-day the foremost incinerationist in France, a position to which he does honor and which he well merits. His essays, first published in _L’Union Medicale_, are the chief contributions to modern French cremation literature. In 1873, he issued a complete manual of the subject, in which he deplored the absence of popular sympathy with incineration in France. But the time will come when France will recognize the value of the labors of this ardent reformer, whose name is destined to occupy a most prominent place on the roll of honor of his native country.

The cremation society of France, the proper designation of which is “La Societé pour la propagation de la cremation,” was founded in 1880, and incorporated on the 23d of December of the same year. The late Edmond About and Leon Gambetta—_L’illustre citoyen que la France a perdu_—were members of this association. At present the society numbers 570 members. Its principal object now is to obtain a law permitting cremation; when this is secured, it will devote its funds to the erection of crematories and the purchase of inventions which tend to simplify the process.

According to Professor R. Beverly Cole, M.D., for many years past cremation is not infrequently practiced in Paris, the retorts of the gas factories being employed for the purpose.

The first and only incineration in Belgium took place in 1798 or 1799, when a certain M. Yoidel, a resident of Mons, cremated the body of his child in the yard of his house, and preserved the ashes in a golden urn.

The cremation society of Brussels was founded on the 28th of February, 1882, and numbers now over 600 members.

The cremation society of Holland, which boasts a very complete organization, extends over the entire kingdom by means of branch societies. It was founded on the 28th of December, 1874, and incorporated by the royal decree of Sept. 1, 1875. Over 1500 members belong to it. The branch societies are located at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Nijwegen, Delft, Leyden, Shiedam, Zutphen, Dortrecht, and Harlem. Since 1876 a small periodical is published quarterly by the society of Holland, containing occasional communications concerning cremation, and detailing the proceedings of the society. The funds of the association are in good condition, being mostly invested in government stock.

The first cinerary furnace built in the German Empire was erected at Dresden, Saxony, and put in use in 1874, when bodies were cremated on the 9th of October and 6th of November; the wife of Sir Charles Dilke was one of them. No incineration occurred in this apparatus since that time, owing to a refusal of the Saxon government to permit the same.

On the 6th and 7th of June, 1876, an international cremation congress, which was attended by representatives from almost all countries of the globe, was held at Dresden, and did much to promote the interests of incineration in Germany. Many important resolutions were adopted, among others that of forming an international committee to establish a journal for the propagation of cremation. On June 7, the delegates witnessed the cineration of several animals in a Siemens apparatus, which completely reduced the animals experimented upon in one hour and one-half.

INTERIOR OF WASHINGTON CREMATORY.

The accompanying wood-cut represents that part of the crematory at
Washington, Pa., in which the incineration takes place. The numbers
refer respectively to (1) the incinerator, closed; (2) the fire-box,
open; (3) the ash-pit; and (4) coal-bin. The room, as will be seen,
is needlessly plain, and might with slightly increased expense in
building be made more attractive. An ornamental front concealing the
brick-work and the coal-bin would serve greatly to improve its
appearance. With a slightly different arrangement the fire-box and
ash-pit might be kept continually out of sight. If the incinerator
were turned end for end and made to open from the opposite side,
nothing would be seen by the friends of the deceased but its open
door and rosy light, which are most attractive to the eye.
]

Cremation is now most extensively practiced in Gotha, in the new crematory established by the municipal council of that city, which was opened to the public on the 17th of November, 1878.

The first cremation at Gotha came off on the afternoon of the 10th of December, 1878, when Mr. Stier, a civil engineer whose embalmed body had awaited the completion of the crematorium for some time, was consigned to the furnace. Since the establishment of the crematory, over 500 persons have been incinerated at Gotha, many of whom were from foreign lands,—Russia, England, France, America, etc.

Berlin is the center of the reform in Germany. The Berlin cremation society has an enormous membership, and counts among its members many persons of distinction. Altogether the society numbers 534 members, 45 of them being physicians.

Italy may be considered the pioneer of cremation in modern times; for there, for the first time, incineration was practiced in a systematic and improved manner, and in no land have the cremationists been so active and energetic in advocating the reform as in this.

From 1774 till 1874 cremation was advocated by Piattoli, Moleschott, Coletti, Morelli, Du Jardin, Bertain, Castiglione, Pini, and Polli.

Baron Albert Keller, who, though of German descent, was an Italian citizen and a resident of Milan, and above all an enthusiastic patron of cremation, deposited 10,000 lire for the cineration of his own body, and directed that after defraying the costs of his cremation, the remaining money should be used to form a fund for the erection of a building exclusively devoted to the burning of the dead. When this nobleman died in 1874, his last directions were carried out, and the cremation temple which bears his name became, in accordance with the testament of the deceased, the property of the city of Milan.

The Italian clergy opposed incineration but very little. In the capital of Lombardy a distinguished prelate even declared that the burning of the dead is in no wise contrary to the dogma of the church; and here one also can witness how priests accompany the body to be incinerated to the _Tempio Crematorio_, where they say a last prayer: indeed proof of tolerance and genuine Christianity.

The Fourth Medical Congress held at Milan on the 5th of September, 1877, endorsed cremation, stating that it is a veritable scientific progress which has the advantage over inhumation in corresponding to the exigencies of hygiene. It also expressed its conviction that incineration in no way offends against the affection of families for their defunct, the respect and veneration for human remains, and the religions principles of the surviving.

The Milan cremation society was organized chiefly through the efforts of Drs. Pini and Cristoforis, the latter being elected president. As the Polli-Clericetti apparatus in the crematorium had not given general satisfaction, the gasometer behind the temple was removed, in 1880, and suitable wings were built. Two furnaces were then erected, one being built on the Gorini system, in which the ordinary cremations are performed, and the other on the Venini system, where cremation of the remains of persons who died from contagious diseases, and of strangers, takes place. The building also has three columbaria, one on each side of the crematorium, and an ordinary one in the vaults below.

Owing to the success of the Milan crematory, crematoria were built at Padua, Cremona, Varese, Lodi, Brescia, and Rome. A cinerary furnace was also speedily erected in the hospital at Spezzia, by order of the Secretary of the Navy; this apparatus was principally used for the cremation of cholera victims.

The urns holding the ashes of the cremated cannot be removed from an Italian columbarium except by permission of the prefect of the province. The urns must be tightly closed, and must bear the name of the deceased and the date of his or her death. The ashes of only one body may be placed in an urn, the reverse being strictly forbidden. Every cremation is registered both by the board of trustees of the crematory and by the civil authorities.

Looking over the history of cremation in Italy, one needs must gain the firm conviction that Dr. Gaetano Pini of Milan is the most ardent cremationist in his native country. Whenever a cremation society was organized there, the indefatigable doctor was on hand, giving advice and delivering addresses, increasing the zeal of the advocates of the reform, and encouraging its timid friends. Really, the amount of labor performed by this gentleman is truly marvelous. Already the doctor is reaping the fruits of his philanthropic work. Incineration is steadily advancing in Italy, and is gaining popular favor rapidly, and Dr. Pini’s name will be handed down to succeeding generations as that of a benefactor of his land and people.

Cremation societies now exist at Ancona, Asti, Bologna, Brescia, Capri, Codogno, Como, Cremona, Demodossola, Florence, Genoa, Intra, Livorno, Lodi, Milan, Modena, Novara, Padua, Parma, Pavia, Perugia, Piacenza, Pisa, Pistoga, San Remo, Siena, Turin, Undine, Varese, Venice, and Verona.

In Spain, where the body of Merino, the man who attempted the assassination of Queen Isabella, was burned in 1852, cremation has made as yet but little progress, but even in this stronghold of Catholicism it can point to friends.

_El Anfiteatro Anatomico Español_ of March 15, 1874, contains an admirable article on incineration by Don Federico Gilman. Two pamphlets on the subject also appeared, one by Enrico Salcedo at Valencia in 1876, the other by L. Gallardo at Madrid in 1878.

The Board of Public Health at Madrid resolved in 1884 to request the government to make cremation obligatory during epidemics, and to permit incineration in all cases where the family of a deceased wish to dispose of him so.

Dr. Cervera, member of the municipal chamber of Madrid, proposed the erection of a crematory temple in the new cemetery of that city.

At Lisbon, Portugal, cremation is not only optional, but the authorities of the city have even issued a decree making cremation compulsory in time of epidemics.

The cremation movement in Switzerland began in the spring of 1874. On the 20th of December, 1878, the municipal council of Zuerich granted leave to erect a crematorium on a ceded piece of ground in the new cemetery of that town. I am sorry to say that a crematory has as yet not been erected, owing to a lack of funds. This deplorable condition is due to a great extent to the ridiculously small membership-fee and annual dues of but two francs; yet, in spite of all this, success is sure to come in the end, for even this lagging fund grows yearly. The society at Zuerich now numbers nearly 400 members, and is (the fund dilemma excepted) in a prosperous condition. Wegmann-Ercolani is its recognized leader, and must be looked upon as the foremost champion of incineration in Switzerland.

In Austria the outlook for cremation is not favorable, but one need not be surprised at that, for Austria is known to be one of the most conservative countries in the world.

In 1658, when several collections of cinerary urns were discovered in Old Walsingham, Norfolk, England, Sir Thomas Browne, a learned physician, came forward with a brilliant dissertation on cremation, which still holds its rank among standard English literature. This essay, conspicuous for the erudition displayed, was a singularly powerful and idiomatic plea for incineration. The next to take up the righteous cause of cremation in Great Britain was no less a person than Sir James Y. Simpson, the eminent surgeon of Edinburgh, Scotland. He demonstrated how easy it would be for his fellow-townsmen to maintain a fire constantly on the hill of the Hunter’s Bog, near Edinburgh. But he, too, only had in view the ancient pyre; therefore it is not astonishing that his efforts were not crowned with success.

It appears that about the year 1844, the sanction of the authorities of the city of London was obtained for the cremation, within the City of London Gas Works, of the dead of Bridewell Hospital; an arrangement was also concluded with the city authorities for the incineration of bodies of dead prisoners, and of the condemned meat and offal of the markets. The project, however, met with so much opposition from certain churchmen that it fell into abeyance.

In modern times the gong of cineration was first struck by Sir Henry Thompson, who had become enamored with incineration at the Vienna Exposition, and who earnestly treated of cremation in a brilliant paper, “The Treatment of the Body after Death,” in _The Contemporary Review_ for January, 1874. This article, as might be expected, elicited great popular interest, much approval from all classes of the public, and some vigorous opposition. It was replied to, in the February issue of the same periodical, by Mr. Philip H. Holland, the Medical Inspector of Burials for England and Wales, whose statements and arguments, adroit though some of them were, were properly refuted in the succeeding number of the _Review_. Sir Henry fortified his arguments by citing some experiments with the bodies of lower animals, which he had burned, with little cost and no inconvenience, in a Siemens furnace.

For many years prior to 1874, Dr. Lord, health officer for Hampstead, continued to urge the practical necessity for the introduction of incremation.

The Cremation Society of England was founded on the 13th of January, 1874, and no sooner was it established than letters of encouragement poured in from all parts of Great Britain, and there was a great influx of new members and subscribers to its declaration. Every cremationist must feel proud to know that among those who, under Sir Henry Thompson’s able presidency, founded the society, were such men of distinction as the late Shirley Brooks and Anthony Trollope, the well-known novelist. The English Cremation Society was founded for the propagation of the tenets of incineration, not for trading purposes, as may have been supposed by some incredulous, ill-disposed, or ignorant minds.

In 1878, the society purchased an acre of ground in a secluded part of St. John, Woking, in Surrey, especially adapted by position for the purpose, and erected thereon a building, with an apparatus of the most approved kind, for effecting cremation of the dead. After some deliberation, the system of Professor Gorini, of Lodi, in Italy, was adopted, since it was considered the best for the site, inasmuch as no supply of gas is required to insure combustion, but only coal or wood. It is to be regretted, that owing to a lack of funds, only the furnace could be built, which standing alone in spacious fields, must present rather a dreary aspect; must, I take it, appear far too realistic. It is to be hoped that the society will, by means of large bequests or sufficient contributions from the public, be placed in a position to roof over the furnace, and to erect a chapel or a hall in front of it, so as to accommodate the friends and mourners. The apparatus was next tested by an experiment, which consisted of the burning of a portion of the carcass of a horse weighing 140 pounds, that was consumed in two hours, at a cost of a very small quantity of fuel. The ashes resulting from the combustion were perfectly white, and weighed a little under six pounds; not the slightest odor could be detected in the closest neighborhood of the furnace, or even with the doors of the crematory chamber open; and there was, moreover, no escape of smoke from the chimney. The success of the system was established, and the possibility of cremation without offence completely demonstrated.

Since that time the place has been maintained in perfect order, but has not been used, owing to a doubt raised soon after the date referred to, as to the legality of adopting the process in England. A deputation of the cremation society waited upon the Home Secretary on the 20th of March, 1879, with a view of representing to the government their own wishes in respect to the crematory at Woking. The Home Secretary admitted that the proposed practice was unaffected by existing law, but he had been advised that inasmuch as the registration of deaths in her Majesty’s country had always been associated with burial, he was constrained to conclude that cremation must first be approved by Parliament, and that if persisted in, he saw no other course open than to legislate against it. He further advised the council to introduce a short bill into the House of Lords, and not to rely upon the opinions of Queen’s counsel which had been obtained by them affirming that it might be practiced. Thus the so-called Cameron bill originated. It is strange that England, so far advanced in political freedom, should yet be so deficient in intellectual liberty. Among the English there are doubtless as many unbiased investigators as among any other nation, but both the representatives of the people and the government present the deplorable picture of solicitous embarrassment, and maintain an obstinate conservatism when any question involving religion or ecclesiastical rites comes up before them; any act that is not seconded by the Church of England is rejected through non-support; any abuse which the Established Church desires to retain cannot be removed. That this holds true is evinced by the repeated failure of the bill permitting a widower to marry his sister-in-law, notwithstanding that even the royal family desire to contract such a marriage. Finally the bill was accepted by the House of Commons, but has been since stubbornly rejected by the House of Lords.

Dr. Cameron’s cremation bill—providing legal sanction for the adoption of cremation in Great Britain—was submitted to the House of Commons some time in 1884—I do not remember the exact date. This bill, which asked but for permissive incineration, a privilege that is readily granted in all civilized countries of the globe, was rejected on the second reading by a vote of 149 to 79. It is a solace to know that the minority included the scientific men, men of such world-wide fame as Sir Lyon Playfair, Sir John Lubbock, and many others. Mr. Gladstone, zealous in his endeavors to serve the Church, brought the influence of the Government to bear against the bill, pleading in excuse that it was contrary to public opinion. Every well-balanced mind must conceive instantly that the Premier might have reserved the expression of the public will and opinion for Parliament, but that he wished to oblige the Church of England. That Englishmen regard cremation from the same standpoint as other people is proven by the 79 favorable votes that were cast.

Mr. W. Eassie delivered excellent addresses on cremation before the first congress of the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, held in 1877, at Leamington, and before the congress at Manchester, in 1879, when he exhibited the model of the Polli-Clericetti apparatus. In March, 1879, the question of cremation was also presented to the House of Lords, but without practical results.

In August, 1880, Sir T. Spencer Wells, late president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, and Surgeon to the Queen’s Household, read a masterly paper on incineration, entitled “Cremation or Burial,” at the meeting of the British Medical Association, at Cambridge. At its conclusion a memorial was drawn up, addressed to the Home Secretary, and praying that permission be granted for the practice of cremation. The address was as follows:—

“We, the undersigned members of the British Medical Association, assembled at Cambridge, disapprove the present custom of burying the dead, and desire to substitute some mode which shall rapidly resolve the body into its component elements by a process which cannot offend the living, and may render the remains absolutely innocuous. Until some better mode is devised we desire to promote that usually known as cremation. As the process can now be carried out without anything approaching to nuisance, and as it is not illegal, we trust the government will not oppose the practice, when convinced that proper regulations are observed and ampler guarantees of death having occurred from natural causes are obtained than are now required for burial.”

This memorial was signed by Sir T. Spencer Wells and many other prominent physicians and surgeons, altogether by over one hundred members of the association.

On Jan. 13, 1884, an incident occurred that speedily wrought a metamorphosis of the whole question regarding the legality of cineration in the United Kingdoms. There is an eccentric physician of South Wales, who is known as Dr. Price. He claims to be the nineteenth century representative of the ancient Druids. His costume is green trousers, white smock coat, and fox-skin head-covering. He is an educated physician and a member of the British Medical Association. The Druids of old burned their dead, and the child of Dr. Price having died, he determined to dispose of her remains by cremation. He retired at nightfall to a hill-top, where, placing the corpse in a cask of petroleum, he applied the torch. The burning aroused the populace, who, on nearing the spot, discovered its purpose. Amid much excitement the charred remains were rescued, and the Druid doctor placed under arrest. He was tried at the Glamorganshire Assizes, Cardiff, and acquitted. Sir James Stephen, the learned judge, when charging the grand jury at the trial, stated that Lord Justice Fry agreed in the views about to be expressed by him. He reviewed elaborately all the authorities bearing on the case, and, after discussing the methods of disposing of the dead in ancient Europe, failed to discover any law, ancient or modern, which forbids cremation, providing it be done in such a manner as to cause no nuisance.

This decision, of course, rendered the society free to act as it pleased. Advertisements were immediately put in the newspapers, to say that anybody could be cremated who would adhere to the rules formulated by the society. Under these circumstances the cremation society felt it a duty to indicate, without delay, those safeguards which they deemed it essential to associate with the proceeding in order to prevent the destruction of a body which might have met death by unfair means. They were aware that the chief practical objection which can be urged against the employment of cremation consists in the opportunity which it offers, apart from such precautions, for removing the traces of poison or other injury which are retained by an undestroyed body, and therefore framed the sequent rules, which still hold good:—

“1. An application in writing must be made by the friends or executors of the deceased,—unless it has been made by the deceased person himself during life,—stating that it was the wish of the deceased to be cremated after death. 2. A certificate must be sent in by one qualified medical man at least, who attended the deceased until the time of death, unhesitatingly stating that the cause of death was natural, and what the cause was. 3. If no medical man attended during the illness, autopsy must be made by a medical officer appointed by the society, or no cremation can take place. These conditions being complied with, the council of the society reserve the right in all cases of refusing permission for the performance of the cremation, and, in the event of permitting it, will offer every facility for its accomplishment in the best manner.”

The Cremation Society of England owes much to its indefatigable honorary secretary, Mr. William Eassie, C.E., whose propaganda for incineration is not confined to the British Isles, but extends all over the world. I am sure that his name will always head the list of those who have promoted cremation in the country of Shakespeare, and in this respect even place him over and above that illustrious surgeon and physicist, Sir Henry Thompson. I would not, I am certain, experience the least astonishment should I hear that Mr. Eassie sent some of his valuable essays on cineration to some savage in Africa, for instance the king of Dahomey, and that the royal negro, pleased with the idea, instantly had several hundred of his subjects cremated before him, which, being a complete success in every respect, led his dusky majesty to swear by all the holy idols with which he is familiar that he too should be reduced to ashes after death.

Public sentiment reflected in the press of the United Kingdoms has been almost unanimously in favor of cremation. Journals of all classes, religious, fashionable, popular, Whig, Radical, or Tory, from the _Court Circular_ to the _Rock_, from the _Times_ to _Lloyd’s Weekly Newspaper_, have by a vast majority pronounced in its favor.

The Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers have appointed a committee with the view of considering the propriety of erecting a crematorium at Ilford.

The oldest case of cremation on record in Great Britain was that of a widow, Mrs. Pratt, of George Street, Hanover Square, London. The lady was burned, in obedience to directions given in her testament, in the new graveyard adjoining Tyburn turnpike, on the 26th of September, 1769.

THE CREMATORIUM AT MILAN.
(From Dr. Pini’s work.)
]

On the 8th and 9th of October, 1882, the wife of Captain Hanham, and his mother, Lady Hanham, wife of the late Sir James Hanham, Bart., of Dean’s Court, Dorset, were cremated in a cheap temporary crematory, devised by Mr. Richards of Wincanton. The furnace had been built under the supervision of Captain Hanham himself. The coffins were placed on iron plates, and fire bricks above the furnace, a chimney 22 feet high furnishing the draught. The process lasted two hours, and was successful in every respect.

A year later, on the 7th of December, 1883, the captain, Thomas C. Hanham, was reduced to ashes in the same apparatus at his residence in Manstone, Dorsetshire. The incineration was public, and in conformity with the last testamentary dispositions of the deceased. The cremation was accomplished in 9 hours and 40 minutes. The ashes were deposited in the family mausoleum.

The Danish Cremation Society at Copenhagen was founded in 1881, and is in a flourishing condition. It has several branch societies in the provinces. Soon after its organization it numbered 1500 members; it now counts 1800 members, among them 120 physicians. Several attempts were made in Denmark to legalize incineration, but in vain: as there is, however, no law prohibiting the act, the society is determined to imitate the example of England, to execute incineration at their own risk, and await further legislation.

Mr. Per Lindell, a civil engineer, did much to popularize cremation in Sweden. For many years he treated of the subject in the columns of the _Norden_, a journal edited by him. It was through his influence that the Swedish Cremation Society was established on the 31st of May, 1882, at Stockholm, under the presidency of Colonel E. Klingenstierna. At present the society numbers from 700 to 800 members. There is no law forbidding incineration; the prospects are therefore very good. As soon as sufficient money is on hand a crematory will be erected and put in use. A society, affiliated with the central one, was recently organized at Gothenburg.

In the neighborhood of the new cemetery, St. Francisco Xavier, at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a large space of ground has been assigned for the erection of a crematory temple. Incineration will be practiced there in order to lessen, if possible, the alarming rate of mortality in that unhealthy place. Dr. A. Vinelli deserves great credit for his admirable articles in support of cremation in the _Revista Medica de Rio de Janeiro_ of 1878.

In the Argentine Republic, Mexico, and Uruguay, a steady movement is on foot in favor of the reform. The authorities in Mexico have already granted permission for the construction of a crematorium on the Gorini pattern.

It is said that the government of Venezuela has also decided to erect a crematory, wherein to reduce to innocuous ashes the bodies of persons deceased of yellow fever.

The idea to propagate cremation at Valparaiso, Chili, originated with the Lessing Lodge of Free Masons, which, on the 6th of August, 1881, directed a circular to the other Masonic lodges of the city, requesting them to send representatives to a preliminary meeting. This meeting came off on the 3d of December of the same year. Cremation was freely discussed from every standpoint, but on the whole the meeting was not followed by any practical result.

On the last of December, 1881, a proclamation to organize a cremation society was published in the journal _Il Mercurio_ by the committee having the matter in charge. On the 20th of May, 1882, the Cremation Society of Chili was formed under the presidency of Señor O. Malvini. This society is in a flourishing condition, and now numbers over 200 members.

Towards the end of 1883 a committee to organize a cremation society at Alexandria, Egypt, was formed by M. Lumel, who, unfortunately, died in the same year. The committee, however, is still in existence, and is at present occupied in realizing the ideas of M. Lumel. At Cairo Messrs. Titus Figari and Cesare Praga labor to found a cremation society.