(8.) The great extent of land that is now wasted in public burial grounds and cemeteries.[244] There is no reason, even if cremation should take the place of burial, why the fees for clergymen and others should not remain as at present, and the unpleasant assistance of the British-ghoul, the undertaker, with his long face at the ceremony and still longer bill afterwards, could easily be dispensed with. The opponents of cremation urge that it would be more expensive than burial, and consequently out of the reach of the poorer classes, and also that it would cause so much difficulty in detecting cases of poisoning, that it would tend to encourage persons to poison others who happened to be in their way, or objectionable to them, and thus crime would go unchecked. If these are the only objections they are easily to be overcome. First, by constructing public crematories, where for a few shillings a day sufficient heat could be maintained to consume almost any number of bodies, whilst the present great expense of maintaining large cemeteries with their attendant guardians and other costs would be dispensed with; and Secondly, by instituting a scientific and independent enquiry as to the cause of every death which occurs. This is so much required at the present day for the sake of the public health, that even if cremation is never introduced it should be at once enforced, so that those who have charge of the public health could have exact and reliable knowledge of the causes of all the deaths throughout the United Kingdom, and thus obtain such valuable information as would greatly assist in the daily fight to subdue and overcome deaths from preventable causes. [230] _Vide_ ‘Fitzgerald’s Public Health Act,’ p. 130, 3rd edition. [231] _Vide_ ‘Fitzgerald’s Public Health Act,’ p. 131, 3rd edition. Foot note to clause x. Cemetery Clauses Act 1847. [232] Cemetery Clauses Act 1847, s. 20. [233] _Vide_ ‘Cremation of the Dead,’ by William Eassie, C.E. &c. &c., p. 50. [234] The roads and paths in a cemetery require to be carefully made, in order that they may be available during any weather. [235] 20 & 21 Vic. c. 81, s. 25.