Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Burial

BURIAL, the interment of a deceased person. The rites of burial have been, at all times, and in every civilized country, considered as a debt so sacred, that those who neglecfed to discharge it, were justly detested. It is, therefore, not a matter of surprize that the Greeks and Romans were extremely solicitous about the burial of their dead; as, in their opinion, the souls of their departed friends could not gain admittance into Elysium, till their bodies were committed to the earth. Hence, in ancient times, it was deemed a duty incumbent upon every traveller, who should happen to meet with a dead body in his way, to cast three handfuls of dust or mould upon it. The honour of burial was, however, denied to tyrants, traitors, and those who had committed particular crimes, and were punished with death.

Among the primitive Christians, interment in cities was not permitted for the first three centuries, nor in churches for many ages after, and hereditary burying places were forbidden till the 12th century. That the extravagant abuse of burying in churches is highly infectious, on account of the exhalations arising from the putrid bodies, must be evident to the meanest capacity. This absurd and pernicious custom is of early origin: for the honour was at first conferred to the sacred relics of martyrs; and in the ninth century it was allowed also to persons of distinction: the same privilege was granted to those who revered the shrines—the clergy and monks making the faithful believe, that to place them in the repository of the bodies of saints, was the greatest mark of dignity they could receive. Although this custom still prevails, yet nothing can be more detrimental to the health of the living, even though the vaults should remain closed; because there is a continual putrid exhalation of noxious vapours, particularly in the hot days of summer. Hence this may be considered as the real cause of many disorders, which are erroneously attributed to the various, and often sudden, changes of the atmosphere.

Premature Burial, a complaint which, in modern times, has excited the attention of many judicious inquirers, and become lately the subject of public investigation, in several States of Europe. It is a well attested truth, that many unfortunate persons are consigned to the grave, before they are actually dead; and that individuals, subject to epilepsy and apoplectic fits, have often been too hastily buried, or more properly smothered in their coffins. To prevent such fatal accidents, houses for the reception of dead bodies have, within these last ten years, been erected in various cities of Germany, where every inhabitant has a right to deposit the body of a deceased person, till putrefaction has actually commenced. We forbear to expatiate on the propriety and utility of a measure, which can be censured only by obstinate and superstitious Jews, who, from an old religious injunction, are enjoined to bury their departed friends on the same day, and before sun-set.

With respect to the method of ascertaining the probable causes, and most evident symptoms, of actual dissolution, we refer the reader to the article "Apparent Death;" and shall here only observe, that the first stage of putrescency may be distinguished by the oily nature of the humours exuding through the pores, and forming a perceptible clamminess on the surface of the body. The exhaling vapour is accompanied with a faintish or slightly cadaverous odour, which marks with precision the point of time for interment. In the second stage, the emanating vapour is sensibly alkalescent, with a strongly putrid and offensive smell, which may alone prove noxious to the attendants. On the contrary, in cases of cancer and mortification, the putrid effluvia proceeding from vital heat and motion, ceases after death, or as soon as the body becomes cold: hence the two cases are so distinct, that they cannot be easily mistaken.