The cremation of the dead: considered from an aesthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical standpointErichsen, Hugo
Religion
The cremation of the dead: considered from an aesthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical standpoint
Erichsen, Hugo
Cremation
On the 8th and 9th of October, 1882, the wife of Captain Hanham, and his
mother, Lady Hanham, wife of the late Sir James Hanham, Bart., of Dean’s
Court, Dorset, were cremated in a cheap temporary crematory, devised by
Mr. Richards of Wincanton. The furnace had been built under the
supervision of Captain Hanham himself. The coffins were placed on iron
plates, and fire bricks above the furnace, a chimney 22 feet high
furnishing the draught. The process lasted two hours, and was successful
in every respect.
A year later, on the 7th of December, 1883, the captain, Thomas C.
Hanham, was reduced to ashes in the same apparatus at his residence in
Manstone, Dorsetshire. The incineration was public, and in conformity
with the last testamentary dispositions of the deceased. The cremation
was accomplished in 9 hours and 40 minutes. The ashes were deposited in
the family mausoleum.
The Danish Cremation Society at Copenhagen was founded in 1881, and is
in a flourishing condition. It has several branch societies in the
provinces. Soon after its organization it numbered 1500 members; it now
counts 1800 members, among them 120 physicians. Several attempts were
made in Denmark to legalize incineration, but in vain: as there is,
however, no law prohibiting the act, the society is determined to
imitate the example of England, to execute incineration at their own
risk, and await further legislation.
Mr. Per Lindell, a civil engineer, did much to popularize cremation in
Sweden. For many years he treated of the subject in the columns of the
_Norden_, a journal edited by him. It was through his influence that the
Swedish Cremation Society was established on the 31st of May, 1882, at
Stockholm, under the presidency of Colonel E. Klingenstierna. At present
the society numbers from 700 to 800 members. There is no law forbidding
incineration; the prospects are therefore very good. As soon as
sufficient money is on hand a crematory will be erected and put in use.
A society, affiliated with the central one, was recently organized at
Gothenburg.
In the neighborhood of the new cemetery, St. Francisco Xavier, at Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, a large space of ground has been assigned for the
erection of a crematory temple. Incineration will be practiced there in
order to lessen, if possible, the alarming rate of mortality in that
unhealthy place. Dr. A. Vinelli deserves great credit for his admirable
articles in support of cremation in the _Revista Medica de Rio de
Janeiro_ of 1878.
In the Argentine Republic, Mexico, and Uruguay, a steady movement is on
foot in favor of the reform. The authorities in Mexico have already
granted permission for the construction of a crematorium on the Gorini
pattern.
It is said that the government of Venezuela has also decided to erect a
crematory, wherein to reduce to innocuous ashes the bodies of persons
deceased of yellow fever.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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