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The cremation of the dead / considered from an aesthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical standpoint cover

The cremation of the dead / considered from an aesthetic, sanitary, religious, historical, medico-legal, and economical standpoint

Chapter 1: THE CREMATION OF THE DEAD CONSIDERED FROM AN ÆSTHETIC, SANITARY, RELIGIOUS, HISTORICAL, MEDICO-LEGAL, AND ECONOMICAL STANDPOINT
By Hugo Erichsen
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The author advocates replacing burial with cremation and surveys its history, sanitary advantages, religious and aesthetic considerations, and economic and medico-legal implications. Chapters trace ancient and modern practices, analyze the health risks and indignities associated with interment, describe contemporary cremation methods and wartime uses, and address objections including legal and moral concerns and the fear of premature burial. The argument combines historical narrative, practical descriptions of processes, and discussion of public-health and financial benefits to present a reformist, evidence-oriented case for wider adoption of cremation.

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Title: The cremation of the dead

Author: Hugo Erichsen

Author of introduction, etc.: Spencer Wells

Release date: February 17, 2017 [eBook #54176]
Most recently updated: October 23, 2024

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CREMATION OF THE DEAD ***

Transcriber's Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

A MODERN CINERARY URN.
(Frontispiece.)

THE
CREMATION OF THE DEAD
CONSIDERED
FROM AN ÆSTHETIC, SANITARY, RELIGIOUS, HISTORICAL, MEDICO-LEGAL, AND ECONOMICAL STANDPOINT

BY
HUGO ERICHSEN, M.D.
Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Kingston, Canada; Member of the Committee of Organization of the First International Cremation Congress; Corresponding Member of the Cremation Societies of New York and Berlin; Foreign Associate Member of the Hygienic Society of France; Honorary Member of the Cremation Society of Milan, Italy; etc.
With an Introductory Note
BY
Sir T. SPENCER WELLS, Bart., F.R.S.
Late President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England; Surgeon to the Queen’s Household; etc.
ILLUSTRATED
Delenda est inhumatio!
DETROIT
D. O. HAYNES & COMPANY
1887

“Why should we seek to clothe death with unnecessary terror, and spread horror round the tomb of those we love? The grave should be surrounded with everything that might ensure tenderness and veneration.”

—Washington Irving.

“Die Leichenverbrennung verdient die Achtung, welche ihr um ihres hohen Werthes willen im klassischen Alterthum gezollt wurde, auch heute noch, da sie die einzige Art der Todtenbestattung ist, die vor den schrecklichen Folgen der Verwesungsduenste sichert und das bei der Leichenbeerdigung so oft vorgekommene Wiedererwachen im Grabe verhuetet.”

—J. P. Trusen.
“Si nous sommes une statue
Sculptée à l’image de Dieu;
Quand cette image est abattue,
Jetons-en les débris au feu!
Toi, forme immortelle, remonte
Dans la flamme, aux sources du Beau,
Sans que ton argile ait la honte
Et les miséres du tombeau!”
—Théophile Gautier.
Copyright, 1887,
By Hugo Erichsen.
J. S. Cushing & Co., Printers, Boston.
TO
WILLIAM EASSIE, C.E., F.L.S.,
Honorary Secretary of the Cremation Society of England,
and
DR. PROSPER DE PIETRA-SANTA,
of Paris,
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED
as a mark of high esteem, and in recognition of their untiring labor in behalf of that greatest of all sanitary reforms, cremation, by their sincere admirer,
THE AUTHOR.