As a rule, bodies are kept seventy-two hours before burial. The signs that are considered sufficient to establish death are the glazed appearance of the eyes, livid spots on the skin, and muscular rigidity. In doubtful cases, the time before burial can be extended by authority of the Board of Health, of which the Police Director is a member.
SPAIN.
Burials usually do not take place until twenty-four hours after death. For example, if a death takes place about four p.m., the burial is made late in the following afternoon. In time of epidemic, bodies are hurried to the cemeteries, where depositories are provided, which are under the care of watchers until the expiration of twenty-four hours after death. The certificate of a reputable physician as to death is sufficient to authorise burial. Relatives or friends usually remain with the body until burial, excepting in cases when judicial proceedings are held over it to determine the circumstances of the death.
IRELAND.
There are no laws in Ireland regarding the disposal of the dead, but the Sanitary Acts of the United Kingdom can be applied in any case within a reasonable period, on the ground of public health. There is no fixed period for keeping a body before burial. The Roman Catholics usually bury on the third or fourth day after death; but in some districts custom sanctions burial within twenty-four or thirty-six hours. Local burial authorities sometimes require a medical certificate before burial, but, there being no legal obligation for it, this is often omitted. In cases of suicide, sudden death, or death by violence, the Coroner holds an inquest, and gives a certificate accordingly.
There are no dead-houses in Ireland, where bodies may be observed for a period of time before burial.
Concerning burials in England, see Glen’s “Burial Acts” for the general burial practice; also “Regulations for Wilton Cemetery.”
THE UNITED STATES.
In the United States of America, as a rule, everything relative to the disposal of the dead is regulated by local Boards of Health, as authorised by State laws. A burial cannot take place without a certificate from a legally licensed physician, which must state the cause of death; the place and time when it occurred; the full name; age; sex; colour; occupation; birth-place; names and birth-places of both parents. There are no laws or regulations that require the inspection of the body to verify the fact of death (the certificate, as in England, as to the cause is considered sufficient for this purpose), and no time is fixed when a body must, or must not, be buried. This is regulated by, and left to, the convenience of the family of the deceased, by the season of the year, by the opinion of the attending physician, etc. But the Health Officers can order the burial whenever, in their opinion, the public health requires it. As a rule, burials after supposed death are made sooner in the South, and among the poor, than in the North, and among the well-to-do classes. In remote unsettled regions burials not seldom take place without these formalities, and they are often carried out in a hasty manner; but usually they do not take place till three days after supposed death, and sometimes, particularly in cold weather, a longer time is allowed. All large cemeteries have chambers for the temporary deposit of bodies, but they are not under observation, as it is taken for granted that they are dead.