Professor Weith, who made a journey to Italy to consult with the professors there as to the practicability of several methods of burning, also pronounced in favour of cremation. Professor Kinkel gave in a public adhesion to the system, and remarked that to him burial in the earth seemed a flagrant violation of the idea of eternal repose. He would rather destroy the body at once than bury it in cemeteries, and, after a lapse of time, dig up the skeleton and submit it to the flames. The meetings in Zurich have been carefully watched by the neighbouring nations and warmly approved of, particularly at Milan.[145] Cremation will soon be duly established in Switzerland. [145] Le 'Pungolo' de Milan. The question of cremation has been considerably agitated in France. A memoir written by Legrand d'Aussy,[146] in the year V. of the Republic, put very succinctly the necessity of substituting cremation for inhumation, and the project was shortly after laid before the Tribune, Article 5 of which manifesto left it optional for each family to choose between the two modes of sepulture.[147] [146] 'Sépultures Nationales.' [147] It is worthy of notice, that upwards of thirty years ago Honoré de Balzac, in his novel _Madame Jules_, represents the husband of the dead lady as applying to the Minister of the Interior for leave to burn her body, and upon obtaining it, he put the ashes in an urn, and placed the latter in his cabinet. He was evidently in favour of the scheme, and chose to record his approval of it in this way. The Institute of France later on offered a prize of 1,500 francs for a report upon the scientific side of the question, and of forty dissertations sent in, the only fear expressed was concerning the possibly excessive price of the fuel necessary to a complete combustion. Dr. Caffe, to whom I am indebted for several interesting communications, published in 1856, and again in 1867, _résumés_ upon the whole subject which are eminently worthy of conservation. He leans to the idea of the formation of _columbaria_, similar to the sepulchral chambers of the Romans, and in his letter to me he says, 'that the presence of ancestral urns is calculated to restrain many a one who is tempted to tread the path of crime and ruin.' M. Bonneau,[148] Drs. Lapeyrère,[149] Dechambre,[150] and Latour,[151] have also inserted several valuable articles in their various journals. Dr. Latour emphatically remarks also that if the human race had for the last 3,000 years practised, for instance, embalming, there would not have been to-day a portion of the earth's surface which was not occupied by a mummy. Dr. Lapeyrère upholds cremation, citing as a chief reason the dangers which may result to public health when there are many thousands of dead soldiers. [148] 'La Presse.' [149] 'France Médicale.' [150] 'Gazette Hebdomadaire.' [151] 'L'Union Médicale.'