Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 05.djvu/652

* CBEMATION OF THE DEAD. 560 CREMATION OF THE DEAD. ble diseases as smallpox, diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis. In cases of epidemics and after battles, when there are large numbers of bodies to be disposed of at once, cremation seems especially advisable. In eities like Xew Orleans, where the soil is so full of water that burial is impossible, cremation seems a more natural alternative than sealing up bodies in artificial tombs, constructed above the surface of the ground. An objection to cremation, in the minds of some, is that trace of the dead is obliterated from the sight of the living. But the condition and ultimate fate of graveyards, especially in the heart of great cities, is a proof that in many •cases such memorials are but transitory. In Continental Europe an average of twenty-five years is allowed for the occupancy of a grave, after which, in most cases, the ownership reverts to the municipality and the grave may be opened again. (See Cemetery.) In England the law permits the opening of graves after fourteen years. In London some of the abandoned ceme- teries have been utilized as public parks. It is stated that about 100 graveyards have been de- stroyed or partially aliandoned in New York since it became a city. During the construction of the Boston subway, King's Chapel burial-ground was excavated and its occupants removed. In considering the comparative merits of inhuma- tion and incineration, it should be borne in mind that the ultimate fate of every human body is resolution into its elements. The Boston Cemetery Board has reconmiend- ed the erection of a numicipal crematory for the incineration of paupers and criminals, thus do- ing away with the Potter's Field. It is asserted that bodies can be burned for $1 each, while it costs about $3 to bury them. The public burials in Boston amount to about 500 annually, and the Potter's Field is full. A public crematory is doubtless an improvement in all respects over the loathsome Potter's Field. Aside from the sentimental objection to cre- mation already mentioned, the chief argument against cremation is the medico-legal one that with the burning of the body possible traces of crime are obliterated. Frederick L. Hoffman, in a paper on '"Cremation as a Life Insurance Prob- lem" {i^niiitarian for January, 1901), calls at- tention to this phase of the subject and points out that 64 of the .528 persons cremated at Saint Louis, 5Io., in 1895-99 died from accidents, vio- lence, or suicide. In view^ of the number of mur- ders, by poison or otherwise, that are committed to obtain insurance money, it is recommended that very special precautions be taken to ascer- tain the exact cause of death before issuing a permit for cremation. To meet this difficulty, the Cremation Society of England investigates the conditions of death in the case of every body for whose incineration application is made. It has also secured the services of a distinguished pathologist to make autopsies when necessary. Methods op Cremation. Among the practical methods of cremation which have been attempted may be mentioned, in the first place, the experi- ments of Dr. Polli at the Milan gas-works, and those of Professor Brunetti, who exhibited an apparatus at the Vienna exhibition of 1873, and described his results in La crcmaxione del cadn- veri (Padua. 1873). Polli obtained complete in- cineration or calcination of the bodies of dogs bv the use of coal-gas mixed with atmospheric air, applied to a cylindrical retort of refractory clay, so as to consume the gaseous products of combus- tion. The process was complete in two hour.s, and the ashes weighed about 5 per cent, of the weight before cremation. Brunetti used an ob- long furnace of refractory brick with side-doors to regulate the draught, and a cast-iron dome above with movable shutters. The body was placed on a metallic plate suspended on wire. The gas generated escaped by the shutters, and in two hours carbonization was complete. The heat was then raised and concentrated, and at the end of four hours the operation was over; 180 pounds of wood, costing about 60 cents, was burned. In the reverberating furnace used by Sir Henry Thompson, a body, weighing 144 pounds, was reduced in 50 minutes to about 4 pounds of lime-dust. The noxious gases which were undoubtedly produced during the first five minutes of combustion passed through a flue into a second furnace, and were entirely con- sumed. In the ordinary Siemens regenerative furnace (adapted by Recalm in Germany for cremation, and also by Sir Henry Thompson) onh' the hot blast is used, the body supplying hydrogen and carbon, or a stream of heated liydrocarbon mi.xed with heated air is sent from a gasometer supplied with coal, charcoal, peat, or wood, the brick or iron-cased chamber being thus heated to a high degree before cremation begins. In one arrangement both gas and air are at a white heat before they meet and burst into flame in the furnace. The advantage of the Siemens furnace and gas-producer are that the heat of the expended fuel is nearly all retained bv the regenerators, andthat the gas retort ad- mits of the production being stopped without nuich loss. Some difficulty has been felt about keeping the aslies free from foreign material. The Greeks used a shroud of asbestos, the Egyp- tians one of amianth. !Mr. Eassie has suggested a zinc coffin — that metal being volatile. At the Fresh Pond Crematory in New York City the body is removed from the. coffin, which is burned separately. The body is then wrapped in an alum-soaked sheet to prevent premature ignition of the clothing and placed in a clay retort which is subjected to extreme heat. The retort is perforated to allow the gases which are generated during the early part of the proc- ess to escape into a combustion chamber, where they are burned and purified before passing off in the flues. The process of incineration requires from one to three hours, according to the size and condition of the body. The ashes weigh from one-half pound to five pounds. They are gathered from the bottom of the retort, the ashes from the clothing are fanned out, iron removed with a magnet, and the clean bone-ash sealed in a black tin canister. A columbariiim or urn hall is provided, lined with niches where the ashes may be placed in siiitable urns if desired. In this hall the funeral service may be held. At the crematory in Mount Aiiburn Cemetery, near Boston, Mass.. the retorts and incinerating ap- paratus were desigTied and executed by the Engle Sanitary and Cremation Company of Dcs Moines, Iowa. The first miniicipally owned crematorium in Great Britain was built at Hull, England, and opened for use in January. 1901. The cremating furnace is of the regenerative type and was de-