Premature Burial and How It May Be PreventedTebb, William
Science
Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented
Tebb, William
Burial, Premature
“This city possesses two mortuaries to which bodies are conveyed from
confined houses. One of these, within the town, only receives the
bodies of persons not having died of an infectious disease; all others
are conveyed to the mortuary at the Evère Cemetery....
“In times of epidemic the removal of corpses to the mortuary is
compulsory, and so also in other cases where the medical health
officer decides that it is necessary. No corpse, without special
permission, can be kept in the mortuary more than forty-eight hours
after death, but this interval can be shortened or lengthened by
special order.”
PARIS.
“By a decision of July 21, 1890, the Municipal Council of Paris has
decided to establish a mortuary in each of the cemeteries of the east
(Père La Chaise) and the north (Montmartre).... The mortuaries are
not available for the bodies of persons having died from infectious
disease.
“Bodies are only admitted to the mortuary--(1) On the written
application of the head of the family or some other persons competent
to undertake the funeral. (2) On the production of a certificate of
death from the doctor who attended the patient, stating that the death
was not caused by infectious disease.
“Up to the present time (1893) these mortuaries do not appear to have
been of great service, owing to the unwillingness of families to part
with their dead before the time of interment.
“‘La Morgue.’--This establishment only receives bodies on which a
_post-mortem_ examination is required, and the bodies of unknown
persons, placed there for recognition. In the hall where the bodies
are exposed, the temperature is kept several degrees below zero by a
system of refrigeration, thus retarding putrefaction. This system
would, in consequence of the low temperature, greatly retard or
prevent the revival of persons who may only be in a state of torpidity
from submergence, or of trance or catalepsy, who could be resuscitated
if warmth and other proper means were promptly applied to them.”
BERLIN.
“In some of the cemeteries mortuaries have been built, which are
placed at the disposal of the public by the authorities, with the
understanding that the corpses shall be taken from them as soon as
possible.
“The bodies of the poor are first placed in the depository of the old
cemeteries, within the city enclosure, whence they are removed by
night in carriages kept for the purpose to the mortuary in the large
cemetery outside the city, to be buried the next day. The Jews have
built a mortuary chapel in their new cemetery at Weissensee, which
fulfils all the conditions required by modern hygiene, and contains
everything necessary for washing, isolating, and enveloping the bodies.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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