ye in the age gone by,

who ruled the world—a world how lovely then

and guided still the steps of happy men

in the light leading-strings of careless joy!

before the bed of death

no ghastly spectre stood—but from the porch

of life, the lip—one kiss inhaled the breath,

and the mute, graceful genius lowered a torch!

schiller: the gods of greece.

primeval man most likely disposed of his dead by carrying them into the woods or leaving them anywhere above ground, a prey to animals of all kinds. but soon the organs of sight and smell took offense at the mutilated and decayed corpses, and they were buried. with the increase of population it became necessary to render the dead innocuous to the living, and then, perhaps, cremation was originally resorted to as a means of protecting the living from the effects of corruption.

in the early stages of the world’s history, when there was plenty of available land, interment was of course a very cheap process, and therefore often resorted to by the poorer classes, but persons of intelligence and education always preferred incineration as the better method of disposing of dead bodies.

2

a roman columbarium.

in the gradual growth among scientists of the belief 3that cremation is preferable to the present system of inhumation, is seen another instance of modern civilization borrowing the ideas of the far-distant past.

the pendulum by which the world’s age is measured swings in an immense arc. now, after thousands of years, the views of the leaders of human thought are swinging back to that expressed by some of the earliest peoples.

incineration is a most ancient practice. it has always been a matter of difficulty to ascertain the origin of ancient customs. in the case of cremation the historians have not been able to discover the date when it was first practiced. the history of ancient cremation, however, can be traced to nearly 2000 years before christ. incineration is regarded by some authors as the outcome of the sun-worship of the ph?nicians. their solar god (helios)—the melikertes of the greeks—was represented by them as burning himself, whereby they wanted to indicate the ever-returning solar year. among the ancient nations, the sun was especially revered and worshipped by the persians, egyptians, and the sabian arabs. at heliopolis, ph?nicia, and palmyra, syria, there were celebrated temples consecrated to the sun. in some of the countries mentioned, horses which were, on account of their celerity, regarded as symbols of the sun were sacrificed to this celestial body.

some authors ascribe the origin of cremation to the self-immolation of hercules. dr. le moyne, the founder of the first crematorium erected in the united states, asserted that the first authenticated case of burning the dead was the proposed incineration of isaac, and that, although it was not consummated, it was fully authorized by the deity. in consequence he 4argues that cremationists stand in the shadow of the lord, and that any one who opposes them commits a sacrilege.

i do not believe that incineration, as some of its antagonists have imputed, had its origin in a heathen religion, but i am quite certain, from existing evidence, that it was originally resorted to upon sanitary grounds, and as a means to protect the living against corruption.

it may be possible that incineration owes its origin to the ancient nomadic tribes that burnt their dead and carried the ashes with them. among agricultural peoples, those who died in war, and while hunting, were sometimes consigned to the flames, either because the grave would not protect them from wild animals, or because it was desired to return the ashes to the relatives, who would keep them sacred.

the origin of incineration, as appears from what i have said, is surrounded with a great deal of obscurity. it is, however, an established fact that the orient was the birthplace of cremation.

the egyptians first buried their dead, then embalmed them, and, according to walker, at a period not stated, abolished embalming and substituted burning. they performed incineration by placing the corpse in an amianthus receptacle, which, remaining intact, kept the bones apart from the fuel.

the tombs of the assyrians, discovered on the banks of the tigris and euphrates, furnish us with unmistakable evidence of the fact that the burning of the dead was not unknown to them. the same applies to the babylonians. the tombs of both peoples when explored were found to contain urns holding human bones and ashes; these urns were often very large, being sometimes 5of sufficient size to admit the body of an adult. the persians either burned their dead or dissolved them in aqua fortis. yet they also practiced burial in deep sepulchres that had niches in which the bodies were deposited upon slabs.

the hebrews commonly interred their deceased, but incineration was likewise practiced. the mosaic code prescribed that those who transgressed the laws of wedlock and chastity should be put to death by fire. in i. moses xxxviii. 24, we find the first evidence of this. the third book of moses, xx. 14 and xxi. 9, also bears testimony to this fact. thus we see that cineration was looked upon by this people of antiquity in the early period of its history as a punishment for offenders against the married state and chastity. it is barely possible (deductions one may draw from certain passages in the books of moses) that the ancient jews first stoned these disobedients, then burned their bodies publicly, and finally erected a so-called mound of infamy over their remains.

but as we follow hebrew history, we soon find that cremation was transformed from a humiliating act of punition to the highest honor, to a distinction that was only accorded to royalty. the first king of israel was cremated after the battle with the philistines in mount gilboa, where he and his three sons fell. the holy bible relates how, when the inhabitants of jabesh-gilead heard of that which the philistines had done to saul (i. samuel xxxi. 12): “all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the bodies of saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of beth-shan, and came to jabesh and burnt them there.”

and verse 13 of the same chapter informs us: “and 6they took their bones (ossilegio) and buried them under a tree at jabesh and fasted seven days.”

asa, king of judah, was also consigned to the funeral pyre, as we glean from ii. chronicles xvi. 14: “and they buried him in his own sepulchres, which he had made for himself in the city of david, and laid him in the bed which was filled with sweet odors and divers kinds of spices prepared by the apothecaries’ art; and they made a very great burning of him.” of asa’s grandson, king jehoram, it is said that his people cremated him not like his fathers, because he had furthered idolatry.

on the other hand, isaiah xxx. 33 refers to a large pyre that was kept alight to consume the bodies of the deceased: “for tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the lord like a stream of brimstone doth kindle it.”

jeremiah (xxxiv. 5) prophesied of zedekiah, another king of judah, that he would be burned with the same honors that attended the cremation of his predecessors. and in amos vi. 10, we find the following, which also points to incineration: “and a man’s uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house,” etc.

the last passage cited and the one mentioning the vale of tophet, are construed by some writers as meaning that the ancient jews had recourse to cremation in great plagues; id est, for hygienic reasons.

now, although these quotations plainly show that the israelites of old did execute incineration, we also learn from them that the practice was never general; at first confined to criminals, at last to kings.

it is impossible to determine when the custom of 7burning the dead originated among the hindoos. it was always connected with religious observances, and known to the people of india since the earliest times. it was restricted to certain classes or castes: mainly to brahmins and warriors. the merchants, mechanics, and the tillers of the soil were interred. children under two years of age were barred from cremation, and had to be buried in the earth. some religious sects, however, were an exception from this rule and executed cineration indiscriminately—for instance the believers in vishnu. when a hindoo died away from home, or when his body was lost and could not be found, his relatives instituted a symbolical ceremony. they gathered 360 leaves of a certain shrub and as many woolen threads. they were under the impression that the human body consisted of 360 parts. of the threads and leaves they formed a figure, somewhat resembling the human form, which was wound round with a strip of the hide of a black antelope, which had also been previously wrapped closely round with woolen thread. this figure was then besmeared with barley-meal and water and burnt as an effigy of the missing body.

from india cremation extended to europe, and was adopted by all indo-germanic peoples. this was proven by prof. jacob grimm in an oration on the burning of the dead, delivered before the royal academy of sciences at berlin, in 1849, in which the famous scholar highly commended the ancient custom.

in old tombs on the island of malta, urns of a kind of clay containing ashes, lachrymatories, several mortuary lamps (some of excellent workmanship), and the model of a mummy, formed of a green semi-transparent substance, were found. this discovery demonstrates 8that the orientals who inhabited this isle of the mediterranean in the earliest times were in the habit of cremating their deceased.

the thracians were the next to embrace burial by fire. of them herodotus relates that they exhibited the corpse publicly for three days, brought many offerings, and bewailed the deceased. at the termination of the period stated, they cremated the body and then buried the ashes and bones. after they had erected a mound over the remains, they played gymnic games.

from asia, by way of thrace, cremation reached greece. among the greeks burial was originally exceedingly primitive, as we learn from a law that compelled passers-by to place a handful of earth upon the breast of every unburied corpse. interment undoubtedly preceded cremation in greece. heraclitus advanced the theory that everything in existence was created from fire. therefore he argued that all corpses must be burned to free the soul from all material matter, and to return it to its primitive elements. according to eustachius hercules burned the body of argius, the son of likymnios, 1500 years before christ. he had promised the father to return the youth, but when the latter fell in mortal combat, nothing remained for him but to cremate argius and to bring home with him the ashes to the sorrowful parent. hercules was unquestionably the first to cremate himself. when he was tormented by the pangs of approaching death, he built a pyre and ordered his servant to ignite it. when the servant failed to set the wood afire, hercules descended from the pyre, kindled it himself and again mounted it to await his fate.

pliny was disposed to attribute the origin of incineration 9among the greeks to their custom of burning the dead on the field of battle, to render them secure from the revenge of the enemy.

be that as it may, certain it is that incineration never became the only mode by which the inhabitants of hellas disposed of their deceased; except in athens, where it was practiced exclusively for some time. suicides, those who had been struck by lightning, and unteethed children were not cremated, for it was the prevailing opinion that the pure flames would have been defiled by them.

greek funeral urn.

homer, that incomparable hellenic poet (there is, i know, a dispute whether the name homer stands for one person or for a number of bards. as far as i am concerned, i believe that homer was an individual, a poor mendicant perhaps, wandering all over greece, singing or reciting his heroic epics, and living on the grace of an admiring public. no collection of bards could have possibly written the odyssey and iliad, which are so uniform in character throughout.), has preserved for us, in immortal verse, the records of the trojan war, in which we find many instances of cremation chronicled. the recent explorations of dr. heinrich schliemann on the site of troy have demonstrated beyond a doubt that the poems of homer rest on a basis of actual fact.

during the war that was fought for helen the beautiful, it was customary among the greeks and trojans to reduce to ashes the bodies of those who had been 10slain in battle. line 69 of the first book of the iliad proves that the greeks burned their dead for sanitary reasons.

the bodies of cowards, criminals, and slaves were not incinerated, but left unburied, a prey for the beasts of the field and the birds of the air. agamemnon, the king, addressing his warriors warns them (vide pope’s translation of the iliad, b. ii, l. 466) that, during battle:—

“who dares, inglorious, in his ships to stay,

who dares to tremble on this signal day,

that wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,

the birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour.”

incineration was denied ajax, one of the greatest grecian heroes, because he had slain himself in a fit of indignation. hector’s defiance of the greek princes (iliad, b. vii, l. 85) shows that it was also the custom among the trojans to burn the dead. there is further evidence of this in the truce, between priam and agamemnon (vide iliad, b. vii, l. 898 and 450), for the purpose of burning the dead of both armies. homer’s narration of the burning of patroclus, achilles’ friend, gives such an accurate description of the method then in use, that i will be pardoned for quoting it here. the passage to which i refer occurs in the twenty-third book of the iliad, and is as follows:—

“they who had the dead in charge

remained, and heaped the wood and built a pyre

a hundred feet each way from side to side.

with sorrowful hearts they raised and laid the corpse

upon the summit. then they flayed and dressed

before it many fatlings of the flock,

and oxen with curved feet and crooked horns.

11from these magnanimous achilles took

the fat, and covered with it carefully

the dead from head to foot. beside the bier

and leaning toward it, jars of honey and oil

he placed, and flung, with many a deep-drawn sigh,

twelve high-necked steeds upon the pile.

nine hounds there were, which from the tables of the prince

were daily fed; of these achilles struck

the heads from two, and laid them on the wood,

and after these, and last, twelve gallant sons

of the brave trojans, butchered by the sword;

for he was bent on evil. to the pile

he put the iron violence of fire,

and, wailing, called by name the friend he loved.

* * * * *

...they quenched with dark red wine

the pyre, where’er the flames had spread, and where

lay the deep ashes: then, with many tears,

gathered the white bones of their gentle friend,

and laid them in a golden vase, wrapped round

with caul, a double fold. within the tents

they placed them softly, wrapped in delicate lawn;

then drew a circle for the sepulchre,

and, laying its foundations to enclose

the pyre, they heaped the earth, and, having reared

a mound, withdrew.”

these lines are from william cullen bryant’s translation of the iliad, and give one a very good idea of the cineration of a warrior. in times of peace the favorite animals of the deceased were placed with him on the funeral pile, and he was covered with costly robes and rugs. not infrequently the pyre was decorated with an abundance of flowers, and rich folks had their trinkets and jewels thrown into the fire. the weapons of warriors were consumed with them. the extravagance at funerals finally became so great among 12the greeks that special laws had to be enacted to put a stop to it. solon ordained, for instance, that no more than three robes and one bull should be placed upon the cremation pyre. after the bones were placed in an urn, the greeks covered it with the fat of the animals that had been slaughtered at the funeral ceremonies, to protect it from the influence of the atmosphere. many of the celebrated men of greece were cremated: solon, alcibiades, timoleon, philopoemen, plutarch, pyrrhus, and many others.

according to pindar (ol. 6, 23, nem. 9, 54), during the combat of the seven against thebes, funeral pyres were burning at each of the seven gates of the city, to consume those slain in battle. the heathens, as they are called, were not to be charged with any lack of respect to their departed dead. on the contrary, the most tender sentiments conceivable were attached to the practice of cremation. there was a theban regulation that no one should build a house without a specific repository for the dead.

?neas and the other trojans, who escaped with him from the burning city of the hundred gates (as priam’s capital was sometimes called), introduced cremation (virgil’s ?neid, b. iv, 7) into carthage, if it did not exist there previous to their arrival. it is possible that the inhabitants of carthage, which was one of the ph?nician cities in africa, derived the practice from the mother-country. at all events, the tragedy of love, in which ?neas was involved, ended with the suicide of dido, who cremated herself.

the eleventh book of the ?neas gives a description of an incineration among the ancient inhabitants of latium.

13self-cremation seems to have been one of the favorite means of disposing of one’s self in ancient times, especially among the royalty and aristocracy. both tradition and history report of many women, friends, and servants who, of their own free will, mounted the funeral pyre with the departed head of the family. besides hercules and dido, already mentioned, sardanapalus, the last king of the assyrians, burned himself in the year 600 before christ, because the tigris had destroyed the fortifications of besieged nineveh, and the following also mounted the pyre for the same purpose: marpessa, polydora, and cleopatra (vide pausanias, 4, 2), three noble women of messenia, and euadne, the wife of capaneus, who threw herself into the flames which consumed her husband. the pyre of sardanapalus, we are told, was very large and contained many rooms, which were elegantly furnished, and in which the royal treasures were heaped up, before the king entered them with his women, while his servants set the pile on fire. it is well known that the widows of india, until very recently, perished of their own free will in the flames that consumed their husbands.

herodotus states that the women of the thracians, in eastern europe, who were probably of germanic origin, frequently disputed among themselves as to which of them should be allowed to ascend the pyre together with the deceased husband. ?none, the lawful wife of paris, whom he had forsaken to live with helen the beautiful, forgot all her grievances at the sight of his misfortune. when the man, whom she had formerly loved so ardently, wounded by the arrow of philoctetes, fled to her into the ida, she refused to cure him; but when the greedy flames, after death, 14devoured his form, she voluntarily ascended the pyre to intermix her ashes with his. thus are the ways of the world; the noble deed of the faithlessly deserted wife is hardly ever mentioned, but frivolous helena was made the subject of many works of art, and leads an immortal life in the songs and poems of man.

cremation in calcutta.

the ancient etruscans practiced cremation, both before and after etruria became a roman province; they, no doubt, adopted it from the greeks, who were first their rulers and afterward their close neighbors. the 15tombs of etruria were rich in art; the urns in which the ashes of the dead were kept were either of alabaster or baked clay, the latter often being decorated with tasty paintings.

the ancient latins, in turn, borrowed the practice of incineration from the etruscans. according to mazois, some cinerary urns, found in the neighborhood of alba longa, prove that the custom of burning the dead was current among the original population of latium long before any recorded epoch of italian history, for the place in which those urns were detected was covered entirely over with dense layers of lava, which apparently came from the mountain albanus, a volcano, the eruptions of which have long been buried in oblivion. the urns mentioned are especially noteworthy, because many of them bear pictures of the habitations of the earliest residents of latium, which shows that cremation was known to them at that time. such a hut of the aborigines of latium was preserved for a long time in the capitol at rome and was regarded with great reverence. it is but natural that the latins, on becoming the founders of rome, should have introduced incineration into their new home. pliny asserts that the burning of the dead was not customary among the romans of old, but virgil describes it as a usage that existed long before the foundation of rome, and ovid affirms that the body of remus was committed to the flames.

cremation was not in general favor among the romans until towards the termination of the republic. pliny relates that sylla (78 b.c.) was the first of the patrician cornelians who wanted his body to be burned; most likely because he feared that his remains would be 16dealt with as those of marius had been treated, whose body was exhumed by the order of sylla, and thrown into a glutted general grave. during the decline of the republic and the period of the empire, till the accession of the christian emperors, incineration was very popular in rome; it was not only general in the capital, but also in the provinces. julius caesar, antonius, brutus, pompejus, octavius, augustus, tiberius, caligula, nero, and plinius were cremated. the ashes of tacitus, the model of historians, who was likewise consigned to the flames, were cast to the winds in the middle ages by pope pius the fifth, in order to punish the heretic. just think of it! a pontiff outraging a scholar’s remains to punish him! caligula and tiberius were only partially burnt, because they had been tyrants.

at nero’s obsequies it was but with difficulty that the train achieved complete cremation. the roman aristocracy looked upon partial cineration as a great disgrace, which adhered to the respective family a long time. yet this infamy was often meted out to the poor and unfortunate, as we shall see later on.

during plagues cremation was compulsory in the city of rome.

it is not my intention to describe in detail the funeral rites of the ancient romans, because a description of cremation as practiced by them may be met with in every encyclop?dia. moreover, a very good account of incineration, as customary among the romans of old, may be found in lord bulwer lytton’s “the last days of pompeii.”

it was the fashion at rome to pour fragrant oils and balsams over the corpse before the pyre was ignited, and to cover it with cyprus boughs. previous to cremation, 17the corpse was enveloped in asbestos, to keep the ashes of the body separate from those of the funeral pile. at times locks of hair were sacrificed to the deceased. at last one finger of the defunct was amputated, to make certain that death had taken place. everything being ready, the nearest relative present unclosed the eyes of the deceased, and then lit the pyre with averted face. while the flames rose to heaven, the favorite animals of him who was now being consumed—dogs, doves, and even horses—were flung into the fire. costly robes and arms of the dead were consigned to the same fate. during the early period of roman history, prisoners of war were also committed to the flames.

the amount of spices, oils, and balsams destroyed at incinerations was enormous. pliny reports that nero used up more myrrh, incense, and other aromatics at the cremation of popps?a than could be produced by entire arabia in one year.

while cremation was practiced in rome, at the time of the empire, the mourning garments were white; but when incineration was displaced by interment, the raiment of the bereaved assumed a black hue, sombre as death itself.

the deceased poor of rome (especially the women and slaves) were treated shamefully after death. martial avers that invariably one pile had to serve for a large number. in times of pestilence, thousands were so disposed of. a cremation-ground was provided for the indigent in a wretched suburb upon the esquiline hill, which was inhabited by the outcasts of society, the lowest prostitutes, executioners, necromancers, and so forth. these localities were called culin? by the people, 18the literal translation of which is “roast-places.” the attendants were police-slaves, whose hair had been shaved off, and who wore a brand on the bare pate. these, hurrying to and fro, placed the emaciated dead poor upon one of the many funeral piles; hardly singed by the fire, they were taken from it and thrown into a universal ditch. to every ten male corpses one female body was added, which facilitated the cineration by means of the great quantity of adipose tissue which it contained. the funerals of the poor were generally held at night.

the urns of the rich were of marble, bronze, and sometimes of gold or silver; those of the poor were of baked clay or glass. glass urns, enclosed in others of lead, were discovered at pompeii. the urns were generally deposited in a tomb at the roadside or placed in the pigeon-hole of a columbarium.

these columbaria, surrounded by beautiful gardens, were situated on the via appia, aurelia, flaminia, and lavicana. the appian way was a favorite resort of the fashionable roman world; here, daily, ever-changing life was seen; here the traveller took leave from the remains of his ancestors; here, too, lovers met and unfortunates took refuge.

these columbaria were subterranean chambers which served (as i have already explained) to hold the ashes of the deceased, the urns being deposited in arched recesses, hewn out in the rock for the purpose. these niches resembled pigeon-holes; hence the name, columbarium. the rare beauty of these columbaria, which may yet be seen in the eternal city, led nathaniel hawthorne, our great romancer, to exclaim that he 19would not object to being decently pigeon-holed in a roman tomb.

cremation in siam.

the late queen and her little daughter on the pyre.

campana discovered columbaria between the porta latina and the porta san sebastiana, which are memorials 20of the time of augustus. they contain not less than 400 inscriptions on marble, commemorative of the dead, and many urns of marble and terra cotta.

in the city of the caesars the ashes were placed in upright urns, while in greece the urns lay horizontally on the ground, and were covered with rugs. in greece the ashes were preserved in beautiful mortuary chambers in the houses, a custom that also obtained at rome to a certain extent.

the great contrast between the cremation of the opulent and the poor finally led to the re-introduction of earth-burial, which, however, strangely enough, was coincident with the decline and fall of the once mighty empire.

the last roman funeral piles expired in the fourth century, while the indo-germanic nations practiced cremation till late in medi?val times.

the germanic tribes and the celts (according to tacitus and diodorus of sicily) burned their dead without exception. the testimony of these historians is confirmed by ovid (met., lib. iii, v. 619–620), who adds that cremation was highly esteemed by these peoples.

tacitus (vide germania, lib. 37), writing one hundred years before christ, relates that the ancient germans preferred a plain funeral to funereal pomp. only the bodies of celebrated men were cinerated with some ostentation on pyres built of certain costly kinds of wood. they neither ornamented their funeral piles, nor did they use spices at cremations. the arms of every warrior, however, and sometimes the battle-horse, were burnt with him. an unadorned mound was raised over the ashes, and nothing was left to mark the 21spot where one of their kin had been laid to rest. criminals were not cremated, but put to death, in various ways; traitors and deserters were hanged to convenient trees, and cowards drowned in swamps.

the thuringians burned their dead as late as the seventh century; the anglo-saxons down to the end of the eighth century. the swabians, franks, lombards, ostrogoths, alemanni, and burgundians disposed of their deceased by fire till 740 a.d. winfrid, or boniface, the so-called apostle of the germans, in a letter refers to the custom of fire-burial among the saxons. charlemange, who brought about the conversion of the saxons by fire and sword, made a special enactment against incineration. the custom of cremation was so deep-rooted among the saxons, that the death-penalty had to be set upon its consummation in order to cause its abolishment.

the ancient lithuanians and the forefathers of the present prussians were wont to consign their dead to the flames. when the ancient prussians were defeated by the knights of the teutonic order in the year of our lord 1249, their vanquishers caused them to promise in writing that they would henceforth, after cremating their deceased with horse, armor, and weapons, collect the remains and bury them within the churchyard, according to christian usage. there is evidence to show that cineration of the dead was extant in western prussia until after 1300 a.d.

cinerary urns, containing ashes, were discovered near dantzig, prussia, and in silesia.

in the course of forming a vineyard in the neighborhood of wasserbillig, near trier, numerous graves were laid bare, in some of which urns were found with the 22remains of cremated bodies; in others, skeletons. in the former case the cinerary urns (vide sanitary record) were surrounded by chalkstone slabs; one of the skeletons was contained in a sarcophagus composed of fourteen roof-tiles. nine of them had the stamps of the manufacturer, the same names being given as those of the manufacturers who furnished material for the erection of the roman church which forms the basis of the cathedral of trier, and for the roman thermal baths at st. barbara. judging from these circumstances, it is assumed that the tombs date from the middle of the third century. in one of the graves a small urn with the representation of a face was found.

in trier itself, a large glass urn, with cover and handles, was recently unearthed. it is a relic of the romans. when opened it was found to contain bones. beside this urn five vases of baked clay and several ornamented lamps were found.

the ancient swiss were in the habit of cremating their defunct, till the year 56 before christ.

julius caesar reports that the gauls burned their dead with sumptuousness.

several ancient glass urns, containing calcined bones, were recently found between two round stones, in the vicinity of chatenet, france.

the slavonians observed incineration from the earliest times to the end of the fifteenth century. when one of their kings died, everything he might need on awakening in paradise was placed with him on the pyre. beside intoxicating drinks, weapons, horses, falcons, male and female servants, and his wives, his entire household—comprising the minister of state, secretary, 23mate at drinking, and physician—was cremated with him.

the slavonian woman was invariably burned with the corpse of her husband; but not vice versa, the husband with the remains of his wife. when a bachelor died, single women were substituted for spouses. the chronicles that have descended to us from the monks affirm that these women longed for such a death, because they hoped to secure eternal blessedness thereby.

large mounds, called kurgani, were erected over the ashes of the cremated. these mounds may be seen to-day in the boundless steppes of russia, where they afford a rest for the eyes from the monotonous scenery.

eckehardt relates that, when germany was invaded by the hungarians in 925 a.d., he witnessed the intruders cremate the bodies of the slain upon rack-wagons.

the bohemians practiced cremation as late as 1000 a.d.

the arab ibn forszlan, who was ambassador from his native land to the russians in the year of our lord 922, states that he attended the cineration of a man of rank, on the banks of the volga river. previous to the cremation the deceased was interred, till the robes of state requisite for the ceremony were finished. then the ship of the dead was drawn ashore, the defunct owner placed upon a bench, which had been covered with gorgeous rugs, and supplied with food, intoxicating beverages, and a number of slaughtered animals. thereupon a young girl, who had voluntarily offered herself for incremation (probably to be the companion of the deceased in the other world), was led aboard and—after singing a long chant to the people and drinking 24a goblet of mead—strangled and stabbed at the same time. then the ship was deserted, and set afire by the nearest relative, who performed this sad office with averted face. thereupon every one present threw a burning piece of wood upon the vessel, which was soon consumed. a mound was erected on the site on which the ship had stood, in the centre of which a plank was placed, bearing the name of the departed.

old german chroniclers mention the cremation of attila, the king of the tartar huns, who was burned while sitting—fully armed—upon his war-horse. it is still an undecided question whether incineration was general among the huns, or only a royal honor.

the scythians and sarmatians of old reduced their dead to ashes, as also did the kurds, till 1205 a.d.; and the esthonians till 1225.

cremation was likewise practiced by the ancient scandinavians,—more especially by the norwegians and swedes than by the danes. the national scandinavian epic, the edda, mentions the funeral piles of sigurdh and brynhilde.

the ancient britons disposed of their dead by fire. some workmen engaged in excavations in the bail within the boundaries of the old roman city at lincoln lately came across a crematorium and a sarcophagus. in the latter ten urns were found, which contained ashes and calcined bones. the urns were of different sizes and shapes, and were all provided with saucer-shaped covers. only one of them, however, was extracted perfect. the interior of the sarcophagus was lined with long, thin bricks, that perished on being exposed to the air.

25the mexicans of antiquity also cinerated their deceased.

incineration was practiced in india since the most remote ages, and is now as much in vogue in this country as it was in the earliest times. at calcutta, bombay, madras,—in fact, all over india,—cremation is executed daily.

the vishnavites burn their dead; the worshippers of siva bury them, deliver them up to beasts of prey, or throw them into the holy river ganges. folks who are too poor to dispose of their deceased by burning, also consign them to the waves of the holy stream. this is done at night, since it is against the law. it is not unusual to see a whole procession of corpses float down the ganges, while crows feed on the remains.

at calcutta, cremation is performed within the “burning ghat,” outside the city, in a walled enclosure which is frequented by numberless vultures and other birds of prey, near the hoogly, as the ganges is thereabouts called. this place is seldom visited by the british inhabitants of calcutta; for they regard this rude cineration (properly so) far too horrible to witness.

by order of the government, a cinerator was built on the banks of the hoogly, which is used only by a part of the hindoo population. the hindoos are hard to wean from their old-fashioned method of cineration (which is substantially the same as that practiced by the ancient romans and greeks), and, therefore, seldom make use of a cinerator, as mr. william eassie was informed by the sanitary commissioner of madras, where a cinerary apparatus had also been erected. the commissioner, however, was of the opinion that if the 26siemens principle of a furnace were exhibited before the educated hindoos, they would very probably adopt it.

cremation among the tolkotins of oregon.

27thanks to the efforts of the british authorities in india, imperfect cremation is a thing of the past there.

cicero already relates that the widows of the hindoos allow themselves to be cinerated with the remains of their husbands. self-cremation of indian widows does not occur nowadays; the barbaric custom has been put down by the english.

it was not before 1831 that the english government in hindostan attempted to abolish the practice of burning widows; and up to that time, as max mueller observes, “women were burned wholesale, even in the immediate neighborhood of calcutta.” but the custom was probably not exterminated before late in the sixties—1868 or 69.

cremation was practiced on the isle of ceylon as late as 1841.

the people of burmah cremate their rich dead, and inhume the poor or consign them to a stream. persons of rank are embalmed before incineration, and placed on exhibition in a convent or temple for six weeks. at the funeral, the body is borne in a coffin on the shoulders of men, who are preceded by female mourners chanting an epicede. the corpse is followed by the relatives. when the slowly moving train arrives at the pyre, which is commonly six or eight feet high, the remains are placed upon it; the wood of the funeral pile is generally laid crosswise, to bring about a stronger draught of air. the pyre is set on fire by the attending priests, who pray before it until the body is destroyed; then the bones are collected and interred. 28according to mr. w. eassie, when a buddhist priest of rank dies in burmah, the body is embalmed in honey, laid in state for a time, and then sometimes blown up with gunpowder, together with its hearse.

miss feudge asserts that the inhabitants of pegu and laos also cremate their dead.

in siam, cremation has undoubtedly existed since primeval times. it is a universal custom, practiced both by the common people and the aristocracy; even the kings are incinerated. crawfurd states that in siam the ashes are sometimes interred in the grounds surrounding the temples, and a small pyramidal mound erected over them.

when one of the dayakkese inhabitants of borneo dies, the body is deposited in a coffin, and remains in the house till the son, the father, or the nearest of kin can procure or purchase a slave, who is beheaded at the time that the corpse is burned, in order that he may become the servant of the deceased in the next world. the ashes of the departed are then placed in an earthen urn, which is adorned with various figures; and the head of the slave is desiccated, and prepared in a peculiar manner with camphor and drugs, and placed near it. it is said that this practice induces the dayakkese to buy a slave guilty of some capital crime, at fivefold his value, in order that they may be able to put him to death on such occasions.

cremation is an established and time-honored usage in japan, now the oldest empire in the world. here all incineration establishments are under government control, and are to be found not only in all the chief cities, but also in the provinces. the japanese government, with shrewd appreciation of the advantages of 29sanitary laws, has of late years carefully fostered the practice. since the earliest times, cremation is universal among the japanese.

before the introduction of buddhism, the shinto doctrine was the prevalent system of faith and worship in japan. this religion held sacred, beside a small number of domestic gods, a long series of celebrated historical personages, who were worshipped after their decease. it taught that the mikado (emperor) descended from the gods, and he was its clerical superior. this doctrine, of course, was not favorable to cremation; and that accounts for the absence of the latter prior to the introduction of buddhism. beginning with the year of our lord 552, attempts were made, with varying success, to establish buddhism in japan. in 624, buddhism was officially recognized; the court bestowing the title of high-priest upon two priests who had come from hakusai. the new doctrine spread through the medium of the chinese literature that circulated in the country; and soon temples had to be built to accommodate the converts.

in 700 a.d., d?sho, a high-priest of a temple at nara, in the province yamato, ordered his pupils to burn his body after death, and it was done. this was the first cremation in japan.

three years later, the corpse of the empress jito was incinerated; her example was followed by 41 emperors and empresses, who occupied the throne from that period till the beginning of the seventeenth century. the last mikado whose body was burned, was goyozei, who reigned from 1587 till 1610 a.d. at this time much attention was paid to the doctrines of confucius, 30which are as unfavorable to cineration as the shinto doctrine.

in the ninth century buddhism made considerable headway through the efforts of kobo, a priest. up to the fourteenth century, however, buddhism remained the religion of the military and the aristocracy; the common people knew nothing of it. it owes its adoption among all classes of japan, to the arduous labors of two missionaries, shinran and nichiren, who became the founders of great sects, and who had their corpses burned as an example for their pupils.

cremation is fast becoming general in japan, burial more and more obsolete. at the present time the number of bodies disposed of by incineration is very great.

the greatest number of believers in cremation are found among the shin and yoto sects, likewise among the zen, tendai, and nichiren sects; the fewest, among the shingon sect. incineration is, however, not compulsory among these religious denominations. in 1868, when the shogun (commander-in-chief) was deposed by the revolutionists, when the mikado re-obtained his former authority and the power of the almost independent princes of the provinces was destroyed, the government attempted to re-establish the shinto religion. among other measures they prohibited incineration (july 23, 1873), claiming that it was contrary to the shinto doctrine.

they soon discovered that it was impossible to carry out the interdiction, and, therefore, revoked it (may 23, 1875), granting thereby, as it were, religious freedom to japan.

the young generation of the japanese physicians and naturalists regard cineration from a sanitary standpoint, 31and constantly urge the government to promote its interests on hygienic grounds.

cremation among the thlinkets in alaska.

it must be conceded that the japanese mode of cremation is by far superior to the method of the hindoos, 32who still adhere to the ancient funeral-pile. the cost of incineration is small. the body is reduced to ashes completely though slowly, and the process takes place in clean, well-kept, closed buildings, in a manner which, as far as the simple arrangements permit, offends neither the eye nor the olfactories.

at osaka cremation is carried on in stone furnaces, which are closed by iron sliding-doors. there are three large crematories, situated at the outskirts of the city; they are enclosed by high walls, and when seen from a distance, if it were not for the chimneys 60 feet high, one would take them to be temples. the principal crematory contains twenty large furnaces, each of which is capable of reducing three bodies; thus it is evident 60 bodies can be incinerated at the same time. the corpse is placed upon an iron grate, the fire being underneath, and covered with a straw mat, that has been previously saturated with salt water. incineration under these circumstances is said to be entirely satisfactory. the cremations begin at 11 p.m., and are finished at 3 a.m.

at tokio, and most of the other cities, a black earthenware urn is fashionable; but in the province totomi the ashes are placed in an urn of red color.

when the asiatic cholera raged in japan in 1877, the people were compelled by the authorities to cremate its victims. but the sanitary measure met with no resistance, its wisdom being recognized even by the lower classes of the people. by the decree, making cremation obligatory in times of cholera, the japanese government has given an example of sanitary legislation which should be imitated.

most of the books on cremation inform us that incineration 33was and is not practiced in china. this is an error. marco polo repeatedly asserts (travels. new york: harper & bros., 1845. pp. 153, 155, 158, 159, 160) that the chinese wherever he travelled were in the habit of burning their dead.

on the other hand, chinese historical works make no mention of the practice, and burial is the almost universal custom at present. the books in which the subject of cremation is treated only speak of it as being practiced upon the bodies of buddhist priests and lepers.

in the last issue of the chinese imperial maritime customs medical reports, dr. a. henry contributes some remarks upon cremation in that country. in only one of the many buddhist temples at the town where dr. henry is stationed, are the bodies of the inmates burned after death. the method of incineration is commendable as efficient, ?sthetic, and inexpensive; but it is too slow except for buddhist priests in china. in the grounds of the temple is a small dome-like edifice, the interior of which communicates with the open air by a small door only—a charcoal kiln, in fact. the dead priest is placed in a sitting posture inside the dome, and charcoal and firewood are piled around him; fire is applied, and the door is shut until combustion is complete. children are sometimes burned, but for superstitious reasons only. when several young children of a family have died in succession, the body of one of them is burned, under the belief that the ceremony will insure the survival of the next child born to the family. in these cases the body is simply brought to an open field in a box, and placed upon firewood, which is ignited.

although incineration is known in corea, the most 34usual way of disposing of the dead is by inhumation. mr. carles, in an official report of a journey into the central provinces of corea, says:—

“at one village the remains of the body of an old woman who had been eaten by a tiger, were being burnt in a fire of brushwood lighted on the spot.”

cremation in america is not a novelty. when i began to investigate the subject of cremation among north american indians, i was at first quite disappointed; and well i might have been, for schoolcraft (history of the indian tribes of the united states. vol. i, p. 38) asserts:—

“the incineration of the bodies of the dead was not practiced on this continent, even in the tropics; and is a rite unknown to the tribes of the united states.”

although slightly disheartened, i continued my search for information, and was in consequence speedily rewarded. john mcintosh (the origin of the north american indians. new york, 1853. p. 164) states:—

“the bodies of those who die in war are burned, and their ashes brought back to be laid in the burying-place of their fathers.”

my studies in this direction, however, received the greatest impetus through dr. h. c. yarrow’s excellent “introduction to the study of mortuary customs among the north american indians” (washington government printing office, 1880, pp. 49 to 59), which was kindly sent to me by the author, and from which i obtained much valuable information.

dr. h. c. yarrow affirms that cremation was performed to a considerable extent among north american indians, especially those living on the northern slope of 35the rocky mountains; but also (as indisputable evidence proves) among the more eastern ones.

the nishinams of california, the tolkotins of oregon, the se-nél of california, and the cocopa tribe on the colorado river, practice cremation.

the unotello indians of oregon also incinerate their dead. on oct. 9, 1884, several of them got drunk at lastine, ore., and engaged in a bloody fight. one was cut to death, and two others badly slashed. the indians burned the body of their dead comrade, and held a war-dance while the body was slowly consumed.

mr. george gibbs avers that the indians of clear lake, cal., burn their dead upon scaffolds built over a hole, into which the ashes are thrown and covered.

the digger indians have a queer custom; they mix the ashes of the dead with gum, and smear them on the heads of the mourners.

the comanches also burn their dead.

the indian method of cremation is like that of the ancients; the corpse is burnt on a pyre six feet high, amidst exclamations of grief and sorrow, funeral songs and dances.

incineration is current among some of the native tribes of alaska, principally among the thlinkets.

in the summer of 1884, i received a letter from a former fellow-student of mine,—dr. hugh s. wyman,—who was then assistant surgeon in the united states marine hospital service, and stationed at sitka, alaska. this missive contained the following:—

“the thlinket indians cremate their dead in every instance except one—that of the indian doctor, whose body is never burned, but placed in a sort of ‘cache,’ constructed of timber, above ground. carvings of 36images, etc., representing the family history, are made on the grave, or a tall pole is erected by the side, with a red flag. with the body of the doctor are placed all his personal effects. these are supposed to remain undisturbed; but the empty appearance of the caches and the skulless skeletons of the few graves i have visited, with a curiosity to look inside, have led me to believe that the effects and body do not always lie unmolested.

indian cinerary urn.

found in kentucky.

indian cinerary urn.

found in indiana.

indian cinerary urn.

found in georgia.

indian cinerary urn.

found at lake nicaragua.

“the cremation of a thlinket takes place in open air. the body, after lying in state for a few days, is 37taken out of the house through some opening made for the purpose, never through the regular entrance. it is placed on a pile of logs, which are ignited, and the corpse rolled about with long poles until thoroughly consumed.

“the ceremonies attending cremation vary very much, according to the standing of the deceased, age, sex, and so on.

“the only reason i have ever heard given by the indians why they cremate was that if not burned, the body would always remain cold in the happy hunting-grounds.

“i was unable to find out why they do not burn doctors.

“i believe cremation among the civilized will necessarily become generally practiced in the future, and without ideas of horror, when people are more fully enlightened, especially in hygienic principles.”

in recent times, the missionaries are trying to put a stop to cremation in alaska. this is a great mistake; and they will find it out before long. the missionaries should endeavor to do what the english in india have done and are doing still—attempt to substitute scientific incineration for the crude ancient method of burning the dead on pyres. and in this undertaking, i am sure, they would have the support of the most intelligent among the indians. the natives of alaska, no doubt, learned by some terrible, never-to-be-forgotten experience the dangers and evils of burial in the ground; and, although their method of obviating these dangers and evils is rude and barbaric, the principle which impelled them to adopt cremation is right.

38the 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, 39on 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 40had 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 41completed, 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.

crematory at washington, pa.

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 42washington 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 43washington 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 44even 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.

45voltaire 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 46out 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 47of 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 48the 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 49of 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 50little. 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 51the 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 52in 1852, cremation has made as yet but little progress, but even in this stronghold of catholicism it can point to friends.

el anfiteatro anatomico espa?ol 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 53as 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 54enamored 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.

55

the crematorium at gotha.

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 56carcass 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 57as 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 58cremation 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.”

59this 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 60cremated 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. 61i 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.

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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, 63dorset, 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 64forbidding 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 65organize 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 se?or 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.