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54
cemetery brings to my mind the discussions which have
taken place upon the question of the disposal of human
remains. There are only two methods at present advocated,
1st, burial in cemeteries (the "Sleeping place" of the
Greeks, the " House of the living'' of the Jews, the " God's
field " of the Germans) ; 2nd, cremation or burning. My
opinion of these modes of disposition of human remains is
solely from a sanitary point of view.
With regard to the first mode, Mr. Seymour Had en
says, " If we must have coffins, let them be of such construction
as will not prevent their resolution. No coffin at
all would be best, or a coffin of the thinnest substance
Avhich would not long resist the action of the earth, or a
coffin such as wicker or lattice work, open at the top, and
filled in with any fragrant herbaceous matters that happened
to be most readily obtainable. A layer of ferns or mosses
for a bed, a bundle of sweet herbs for a pillow, and as much
as it would still contain after the body had been laid in it,
of any aromatic or flowering plant for a coverlet." The
object of such a coffin and coverlet as the above, is that the
earth may be as near as possible to the body, and so assist
in its " resolution''; for there cannot be a doubt, that stout airtight
coffins do prevent for years the decomposition of the
body within them. I paid a visit to Brompton cemetery
with the special object of noticing the condition of coffins
which had been interred the 14 years required by the Act
of Parliament, before the grave is re-opened. By the
courtesy of the Superintendent, I was shown the coffins,
and they appeared as sound as when they were first placed
there. This was in the common ground, so that the Act
which has provided for the re-opening of graves after a
certain number of years, where the contents are expected
to be a few dry bones, so as to allow the ground to be used
in perpetuity is clearly a mistake. But whether decomposition
is rapid or slow, its products must find their way
into the earth, the water, and the atmosphere, so that there
is not much advantage iu adopting one kind of enclosing