+----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+ | Place of | Subject | Weight of | Weight of | Time | Authority | |cremation | | corpse | ashes | occupied | | +----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+ | | | lbs. | lbs. | min. | | |Milan | dog | 22·50 | 1·85 | -- | Dr. Polli | | " | " | 42·75 | 2·12 | 120 | " | | " | two dogs | 53 | 2 | 360 | Dr. Teruzzi | |London | pig | 47 | 1·75 | 25 |Sir H. Thompson| | " | " | 144 | 4 | 50 | " | |Birmingham| " | 227 | 5 | 55 | " | |Dresden | horse | 202 | 16 | -- | Dr. Reclam | | " | " | 460 | 23 | 240 | " | +----------+----------+-----------+-----------+----------+---------------+ The cost for fuel, in even this last huge experiment, did not exceed 4_s._ +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The body to be burnt would, in the first instance, soon after death[197] be placed, perhaps, in a coffin of some light material, and taken in due time to the mortuary,[198] ready for conveyance to the 'cinerator.' And, as it is very desirable that the ashes of the body should be kept separate from those of any coffin, a shroud of some imperishable material will be carefully sought after by inventors. The ancient Greeks made use of sheets of asbestos, which is a fibrous form of hornblende;[199] and those of the Egyptians who performed cremation enclosed the body in a receptacle of amianth, which is a similar incombustible mineral substance.[200] Whether these materials will resist the intense heat of the Siemens apparatus remains to be seen; for I have had no opportunities of making experiments. Wood, at all events, is likely to be rejected, on account of the residue of carbon, &c. (charcoal), which might not be easily separated from the more precious relics. Lead would be equally objectionable, for, although easily fusible, it possesses certain disadvantages easily to be imagined. In all probability the most suitable material for the inner coffin, which alone is to be submitted to the impingement of the hot blast, will be zinc. This metal would entirely disappear in the fierce heat, the reason being that it is volatile, and would distil off--its boiling-point being 800° Cent.,[201] or 500° Fahr. below the minimum temperature which will reign in the chamber of the apparatus.