CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTION.

PAGE

The probable sanitary origin of Cremation—Not necessarily opposed to Religion—General reasons—Wisdom of adopting it in cases of epidemics—Sundry objections treated—The decorousness of the practice—Cremation desirable in the battlefield—In cases of murrain—In the destruction of condemned food, &c.

1-23

CHAPTER II.
METHODS OF TREATING THE DEAD.

Exposure, or the absence of all burial—Consignment to the deep—Petrifaction—Envelopment in some solid material—Burial in the earth—Embalming preparations—Desiccation of the body—Cremation a widely-spread practice—Examples of quasi-cremation

24-40

CHAPTER III.
OUR BURIAL LAWS.

State of things thirty years ago—The new cemeteries—Space allowed for, and the depths of interments—Vault burial—A well-chosen cemetery—An improperly-chosen one—The closing and regulation of old burial-grounds, &c.—Materials for coffins

41-52

CHAPTER IV.
DANGERS OF OUR SYSTEM OF BURIAL.

Churchyards and the evils resulting from some of them—How the living are affected by them—Disorders caused by putrid emanations—Dangers of inhaling the atmosphere of some burial-grounds—Vaults—Poisoning of wells and water-courses—Laxity of many interments 53-67

CHAPTER V.
PRESENT STATE OF THE QUESTION.

Promoters of the practice of Cremation and prospects of its adoption in Italy—In Switzerland—In France—In Belgium—In Austria—In Germany—In America—In England—Sir Henry Thompson's work—The Cremation Society of London, its objects, &c. 68-88

CHAPTER VI.
CREMATION, ANCIENT AND MODERN.

Ancient modes of cremation as illustrated by recent burnings in Italy, India, Siam, and North America—Modern experiments in Italy, Germany, and England—The Siemens' apparatus, its construction, perfect working, and economy—Proposed procedure—Disposal of the ashes—Description of cinerary vessels, old and new—Conclusion—Bibliography of the subject 89-130