(3.) Mortuaries in connection with general hospitals.
(4.) Mortuaries at cemeteries or licensed burial grounds.
(5.) Dead-houses provided by the sanitary authority.
In arranging for the erection of a dead-house or mortuary in any town, the surveyor may find the following particulars and suggestions of some use to him:
A mortuary must be provided in the grounds or near all cemeteries that are in active operation, but in addition to these, others ought to be erected in central positions of the town, so that bodies can be easily conveyed there, not only with a view to meet the objections mentioned in the opening of this chapter, but also to avoid the unseemly practice at present so largely in vogue of taking any cases of sudden death, suicide, accidental drowning, violence or accident, &c., that may occur, to the nearest public house, there to await identification and the coroner’s inquest.[246]
It has been computed that for every 50,000 of the population of any town, a mortuary should be provided.
In Frankfort mortuaries have been for some years in existence; they are simple buildings, with a separate room for each corpse, intended not only to prevent bodies from being kept in private houses, but also to lessen the chance of any person being buried alive. The following is a plan of one of these institutions:
PLAN OF A GERMAN LEICHENHAUS OR DEAD-HOUSE.
To prevent the chance of burying any person alive, each corpse as it is placed in its little dead-house has a ring placed upon its finger; this ring is attached to a string which is in communication with a bell which hangs in the attendant’s room, who is there night and day, a window communicates with each dead-house, so that on the alarm being given he is at once ready to render assistance.