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Intramural Cemeteries.

continent, the bodies of beasts and men by thousands, have been preserved from decomposition by desiccation. To take one instance out of many that might be cited: A cave was not long ago discovered high up among the Sierra Madre mountains within which were found, where they had rested undisturbed for many years, the lifeless figures of a little aboriginal household,

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dried and undecayed. Father, mother, son and daughter, one by one, as death had overtaken them, had been brought thither, bound so as to keep in death the attitude that had marked them when at their rest in life, and there they bore their silent but impressive witness to the beneficient action of the unmoist air that had stayed decay and kept them innocuous to the living that survived them. In Peru, instances of this simple, wholesome process abound on almost every side; upon the elevated plains and heights, as also

Intramural Cemeteries.

beside the sea, the dead of Inca lineage, with the lowliest of their subjects, are found in uncounted numbers, testifying that in their death they did not injure the living, because desiccation saved them from decomposition; and a recent traveler has vividly described the scene that a battlefield the late war presents, and that illustrates the same process, where, though years have passed since the last harsh sound of strife was heard, the fierce and bitter combatants still seem eager to rush to conflict or to sink reluctant into the embrace of death. And all these instances furnish conclusive proof that decomposition can be controlled, and that its loathsome and unwholesome transformations can be prevented, if only the simple conditions can be secured that have already so extensively effected this result. That these conditions can be secured no one can doubt; for, every day, in almost every clime, by processes familar and available to man, the atmosphere has moisture added to it or taken from it; and the extraction of the moisture from a portion of the atmosphere is all that is required to introduce the process of Peruvian desiccation into the sepulchres of Chicago or New York.

It will naturally be further asked, "Is this all that has been done to demonstrate the efficiency and availability of desiccation for the dead?" To this the answer would be sufficient that the evidence that has been adduced is ample; and that, at once, in perfect confidence as to the result, mausoleums might be erected, with provisions for the withdrawal of the moisture from the atmosphere and for the passage of the desiccated air through the sepulchres in which the dead should rest. So little is involved, and so much has been accomplished without the application of any human skill, that it seems inevitable that, as soon as the resources of modern architecture and sanitary science are drawn upon, the desired result will be at once attained. But to make assurance doubly sure, several carefully conducted experiments have been made, under the supervision of the directors of the new mausoleum movement, that prove that the conditions of desiccation can be controlled, and that decomposition can be prevented, that where it has begun it can be stayed, and that prolonged preservation, with a fair approximation to the appearance in life can be made sure, for the recognition of absent friends, for transportation, or for the furtherance of the ends of justice.

When, now, it is added, that desiccation has been ascertained to be an efficient agent in the destruction of disease germs, as proved by the experiments of Dr. Sternberg, of the Hoagland Laboratory, and by the investigations of other experts, enough seems to have been said to establish the truth of the assertion, that entombment can be made sanitary, and that, therefore, entombment offers the satisfactory solution of the problem how to dispose of the dead so as to do no violence to a reverent and tender sentiment, and at the same time not to imperil the public health.

The proposition then, soon to be submitted for public approval is this: to erect in the suburbs of our large towns and cities, perhaps even in their most thickly-populated parts, extensive and handsome edifices that will provide sanitary sepulchres for the dead. To be comparatively inexpensive, they will have to be comparatively plain; and it seems not too much to hope that our

Intramural Cemeteries.

cities will soon adopt this mode of disposing of the dead that depend upon the public care for burial, and that the horrors of a "Potter's Field," of which it can not be divested in a fair and sea girt isle, may be furthermore unknown of men.

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All these structures, however, will not need to be inexpensive and plain. Many of them, as the rich shall lavish their wealth upon them, will be spacious and splendid, as no tombs of earlier times have ever been. These will naturally differ in design and plan, and while one will incline to one order of architecture another will incline to another; one will incline to the light and graceful style of the Greeks; another to the substantial and enduring Roman type; another to the still more firmly built and time-defying type of the Egyptians; another to the rich and exquisitely decorative Byzantine style, and another to the Gothic type, with its suggestions of spiritual aspiration and heaven-sent consolation and heaven-born peace. It should certainly be the architect's study to avoid, as either of these styles is adopted, the appearance of edifices with familiar and established secular or sacred uses. These must, if possible, be so designed as to speak of repose and loving care and undying recollection, and should appear to be homes for the dead, and yet temporary habitations in which they only rest until the resurrection.

Perhaps the most favored style will be that of "Campo Santo," like that at Pisa, where the Holy Field lies light upon the dead, and where the softened sunshine and the tempered wind and the hushed notes of happy birds and the sweet seclusion of the spacious and graceful Gothic cloister, with its memorials of many who have been loved and lamented, and its rare pictorial teaching of the life to come, all speak soothingly of hope and peace and comfort. Such a "Campo Santo," modified to meet the demands of modern life and art, might well be one of the crowning monuments even of this wondrously achieving age. To what a grand and noble consummation would it

Intramural Cemeteries.

seem to lead the race in their efforts for a fitting disposition of their dead! And what honor would it reflect upon the men who should erect it and place it at the command of their fellows in due regard for what both health and heart require.

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Within, there would be, as the unit of construction each sepulchre, so constructed, that anhydrous air could enter, or could be made to enter, and

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provide a place of repose, and would have electrical appliances attached to it for the instant indication of the return of consciousness to any who had been prematurely entombed; and would promise and provide the most perfect and permanent protection against intrusion or theft that can be found on earth. In arrangement these sepulchres would have to conform to the price paid and the taste of the purchaser. Many would be like the single graves that thickly ridge portions of our cemeteries; many more would be grouped together after the semblance of a family tomb, as in the illustration; but in the general impression, in the surroundings and suggestions, the resemblance to the provisions of a cemetery would go no farther. For here, there could be no burning sun, no chilling cold, no inclement storm; for the living, as they should pay the last sad honor to the dead, or in any subsequent tribute or affection, there could be no exposure, and for the dead, there would be only the semblence of the comfort and the quiet of the best ordered and most tranquil house. Thus in providing the utmost that exacting affection and sanitary science can require, and in taxing to the utmost resources of art, in architecture, in sculpture, and in the use of subdued and according hues and forms for appropriate decoration, these "Campo Santos," or

Save the Babies.

"Mausoleums," or "Mansions of the Dead," will seem to have realized the ideal disposition of the mortal remains of those who depart this life.

In conclusion, it is evident that the present modes of disposing of the dead are unscientific, unwholesome, repulsive, and, in a word, unworthy of this enlightened age.

On the other hand, it is apparent that the new Mausoleum method of disposing of the dead affords relief from all these obnoxious features, inasmuch as it provides for the perpetual care of the dead; protects from premature interment: protect the dead from theft; protects the living from exposure, while paying the last duty to the dead; meets the demand of the most reverent and tender sentiment; meets the urgent sanitary demand that the dead shall not endanger the living; meets the medico-legal demand that the evidence of crime shall not be destroyed; and costs less, in view of its manifold advantages.

SAVE THE BABIES.

Tupper said, "A child in a house is a well-spring of pleasure.' The sentiment finds an echo in every human heart. There is scarcely an intelligent human being, whether old or young, who is not interested in the prattle and innocence, the sunshine and frankness of the child. How changed, not only the child, but the whole household, as well, when the babe is sick, and droops and dies. There is no greater anguish that comes to a parent's heart than the loss of the innocent babe. And yet it may not be, surely is not an overestimate to state, that of all the children born in the world, fully one-fourth die within the first year. These slaughtered innocents-for surely one-half this number, if not more, die from preventable causes-mutely and vainly appeal for protection and for life. One of the most interesting and admirable, as well as touching incidents in the life of the Shepherd King of Israel, was when he exclaimed during the fatal illness of his child: "Who can tell whether God will be gracious to the child, that it may live?"

The causes of most of this terrible fatality are few and easily ascertained, and most are of such a nature that they could and should be removed. Dismissing those cases that are a result of hereditary disease because of vicious lives upon the part of the parents,

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