My native country was always eager to embrace deserving reforms; there is no reason why it should not adopt the superior system of incineration. Nay, I think it will become the standard-bearer of this sanitary reformation, and march in the avant-guard of this signal progress. The subject of incineration is already awakening much interest among us, as is evinced by a recent sermon of that eminent New York divine, Rev. Heber Newton, who spoke strongly in favor of the substitution of cremation for sepulture. He said the mode of disposing of the dead human body was only a form, and that mode was best which was best for the living. In England, only a few years ago, a dignitary of the national church dared to assert that cremation endangered the belief in the life to come. He knew, or ought to have known, that the same process of combustion is surely carried on, whether in the ground or in the crematory, and that if dissolution of the body imperiled the true doctrine of resurrection, then that doctrine was long ago hopelessly lost. These words from the lips of a famous American preacher are certainly proof that the antagonism of the clergy to cremation is waning. There are other signs of approaching day. I refer to the constant discussion of incineration in the columns of the daily press, and to the fact that cremation was lately brought to the attention of the American Medical Association, while it met at St. Louis, Mo., on the 6th of May. The report of a special committee, appointed the year before, was read by its chairman, Dr. J. M. Keller, of Arkansas. The committee moved to amend the original resolution so as to read:— _Resolved_, That cremation or incineration of the dead has become a sanitary necessity in populous cities, and that the Association advises its adoption. The Association adopted the amendment by a vote of 159 to 106. Cremation was also endorsed by the American Public Health Association at its last meeting. I rejoice at the thought that most writers on the momentous subject of incineration were medical men. Who, indeed, would be better qualified for such a task than the man who may daily witness the pernicious effect which the dead exercise over the living.