Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented

by William Tebb; Edward Perry Vollum

BURIAL CUSTOMS IN IRELAND.

“There are no local laws in Dublin or in Ireland relative to the mode of disposal of the dead, but the Sanitary Acts, which refer to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, can be availed of when necessary to compel the burial of the dead within a reasonable period, on the ground that an unburied body is a nuisance dangerous to public health. There is, however, no fixed period. Among Roman Catholics it is customary to bury the dead on the third or fourth day after death, but there is no hard-and-fast rule.... The local burial authorities usually require a medical certificate of death before opening the grave, but there is no legal sanction for this, and it is merely the custom. The coroner’s order for burial where an inquest is held does away with the necessity of such certificates as those above referred to, but post-mortem examinations in these cases are the exception, not the rule. A good many, however, are held on those who die in local hospitals when the consent of the relatives or friends can be obtained. I have not heard of any case of cremation in Ireland, and earth-burial is the universal practice. Occasionally, when so ordered by the will of the deceased, a body is removed to England for cremation. I am myself rather in favour of cremation as a more scientific and safer method of disposing of the dead.

“There are no chambers (mortuaries) of the kind referred to in this question in Dublin, nor, so far as I know, in Ireland. I know of no law as to the signs of death which must be recognised to exist before burial is permitted, nor is there any officer on whom is thrown the duty of ascertaining or deciding whether such exist or not.

REFORMS URGENTLY NEEDED.

“If cremation be generally adopted, it ought not to be performed earlier than the third day after death, or perhaps not until some unmistakable sign of decomposition has set in. I think this rule of some such sign of decomposition setting in ought to apply to all methods of disposal of the dead. Whenever well-marked warmth of the body exists after apparent death, burial of any kind ought not to take place until after a full and exhaustive examination by a competent authority. In all doubtful cases I would suggest the application of either a hot iron to some sensitive part of the body, or that a small incision should be made over the course of some small artery, a person being left to watch the result for some time in the latter case, so as to take proper precautions against hæmorrhage, should the person be not really dead. It might perhaps with advantage be made the law that in every case of death or supposed death the body should be viewed by a medical man, who, having satisfied himself that death had taken place, would sign a certificate to that effect. If I understand rightly, such is the law in France. I would, however, be opposed to any law making an autopsy necessary in every case. The existence of such a public officer as a coroner is undoubtedly of advantage in reference to cases of sudden death or supposed death, as it is among such cases that mistakes are most likely to occur. I can see no objection to the establishment, at the public expense, of chambers for the reception of dead bodies under certain circumstances.”

In reply to a similar inquiry Sir Charles A. Cameron, Superintendent Medical Officer of Health, writes, August 10, 1896—“There is no public mortuary in Dublin, but we are taking steps for the establishment of one.”

It need hardly be said that the mortuaries described in these reports have little in common with certain Leichenhäuser of Germany or the Mortuaires d’ Attente urgently called for by various writers of France, and proposed to be erected. The English mortuaries may more appropriately be described as morgues or depositories for the homeless and neglected dead—useful for this purpose, but in no respect fulfilling the requirements of the present day. Without skilful attendants and scientific appliances for the restoration of suspended life, to which all are liable, the apparently dead, if deposited in such chilling establishments, would, through neglect, be more likely to lose what spark of life remained than to have it kindled into a flame and recover. The erection of mortuaries for the sake of death-counterfeits, and in order to give peace of mind to doubting friends, would no doubt be opposed chiefly on the ground of expense. The outlay must come from the pockets of the rate-payers, who have been accustomed to accept the cursory inspection of “the corpse” and the certificate of the doctor as a satisfactory solution of any misgivings as to the actuality of death. Under the circumstances it would not be surprising if the unreflecting majority preferred to take what they would consider to be an infinitesimal risk rather than to incur the expense of the necessary outlay. This volume has been written to remove such apathy, and, if possible, to arouse public attention to the subject; and if the facts are, as the author believes, absolutely true, and the danger real, other and abler contributions furnishing the results of wider and more extensive investigations may be expected to follow. It is believed that the expense of constructing tastefully designed mortuaries in all populous districts could be met by a rate of from a farthing to a penny in the pound, and in the smaller or thinly populated districts groups of parishes could unite in providing such useful institutions. At present, under existing customs, probably ten times the amount required is annually expended in funeral trappings, mourning habiliments, costly wreaths, and ornamental monuments (mainly for the purpose of ostentatious display) than would provide temporary resting-places for the real and apparently dead in every part of the United Kingdom. The erection of such establishments, where the fact of death in every case could be unequivocally demonstrated before burial or cremation, would remove an ever present and consuming load of anxiety from the hearts of thousands of sensitive souls.

CONTINENTAL MORTUARIES.

CONTINENTAL MORTUARIES.