Dr. Prosper de Pietra-Santa is to-day the foremost incinerationist in France, a position to which he does honor and which he well merits. His essays, first published in _L’Union Medicale_, are the chief contributions to modern French cremation literature. In 1873, he issued a complete manual of the subject, in which he deplored the absence of popular sympathy with incineration in France. But the time will come when France will recognize the value of the labors of this ardent reformer, whose name is destined to occupy a most prominent place on the roll of honor of his native country. The cremation society of France, the proper designation of which is “La Societé pour la propagation de la cremation,” was founded in 1880, and incorporated on the 23d of December of the same year. The late Edmond About and Leon Gambetta—_L’illustre citoyen que la France a perdu_—were members of this association. At present the society numbers 570 members. Its principal object now is to obtain a law permitting cremation; when this is secured, it will devote its funds to the erection of crematories and the purchase of inventions which tend to simplify the process. According to Professor R. Beverly Cole, M.D., for many years past cremation is not infrequently practiced in Paris, the retorts of the gas factories being employed for the purpose. The first and only incineration in Belgium took place in 1798 or 1799, when a certain M. Yoidel, a resident of Mons, cremated the body of his child in the yard of his house, and preserved the ashes in a golden urn. The cremation society of Brussels was founded on the 28th of February, 1882, and numbers now over 600 members. The cremation society of Holland, which boasts a very complete organization, extends over the entire kingdom by means of branch societies. It was founded on the 28th of December, 1874, and incorporated by the royal decree of Sept. 1, 1875. Over 1500 members belong to it. The branch societies are located at Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Nijwegen, Delft, Leyden, Shiedam, Zutphen, Dortrecht, and Harlem. Since 1876 a small periodical is published quarterly by the society of Holland, containing occasional communications concerning cremation, and detailing the proceedings of the society. The funds of the association are in good condition, being mostly invested in government stock. The first cinerary furnace built in the German Empire was erected at Dresden, Saxony, and put in use in 1874, when bodies were cremated on the 9th of October and 6th of November; the wife of Sir Charles Dilke was one of them. No incineration occurred in this apparatus since that time, owing to a refusal of the Saxon government to permit the same.