FARMERS' REGISTER 



367 



chapel (here are piles of bodies placed in lead ; the 

 up|)er ones are within a lew inches of the wooden 

 floor," 184, 



We will not attempt to offer any comments on 

 the facts which have here been detailed ; they 

 speak for themselves. 



The remainder of the work is principally occu- 

 pied by the consideration of the ill effects produced 

 on the human constitution by these putrid exha- 

 lations ; out of the immense number of cases 

 brought forward by our author to prove their dan- 

 gerous tendencies, we will select two only as 

 illustrations of the results produced during the two 

 most dangerous stages of animal decomposition, 

 which he considers to be, — 1st, that which takes 

 place almost immediately after death, and the 2nd, 

 during the extreme degree of putrefaction. As an 

 instance of the evil consequences produced by the 

 exhalation of the gases generated during the 

 first staae, we may quote thelbllowing case. 



"In the month of June, in the year 1825, a 

 women died of typhus fever, in the upper part of 

 the house, No, 17, White House lard, Drury 

 Lane; the body, which toas buried on ihe fourth 

 day, was brougiu down a narrow staircase ; Lewis 

 Swalthey, shoemaker, then living with his family 

 on the second floor of this house, and now residing 

 at No. 5, Prince's Street, Drury Lane, during the 

 time the coffin was placed for a few minutes, in a 

 transverse position, in the door-way of his room, 

 in order that it might pass the more easily into the 

 street, was sensible of a most disgusting odor, 

 which escaped from the coffin. He complained 

 almost immediately aWevwards of a peculiar cop- 

 pery taste, which he described as being situ;<ted 

 at the base of the tongue and posterior part olr the 

 throat; in a few hours aliervvards, he had at irre- 

 gular intervals slight sensations ofchilhness, which 

 before the next sunset had merged into repealed 

 shiverings of considerable intensity ; that evening 

 he was confined to his bed, — he passed through a 

 most severe form of typhus fever ; at the expiration 

 of thu third week he was removed to the lever 

 hospital — he recovered ; he had been in excellent 

 health up to the instant when he was exposed to 

 this malaria.^^ 132. 



The effects of the gases produced during the 

 extreme stale of putrelaction are illusiratcd by the 

 following case. 



"My pupil, Mr. J. H. Sutton, accompanied 

 by an individual, lor many years occasionally em- 

 plojed in the office of burying the dead, entered 



the vaults of St. church; acutfin, 'cruelly 



bloated,^ as one of the grave-diggers expressed it, 

 was chosen for the purpose of obtaining a portion 

 of its gaseous content^. The body, placed upon 

 the top of an immense number of others, had, by 

 the date of the inscription on the plate, been buried 

 upwards of eight years ; the instant the small in- 

 strument employed had eniered the coffin, a most 

 horribly offensive gas issued forth in large (]uan- 

 tities, Mr. S. who unlbrlunately respired a portion 

 of this vapour, would have I'allen but for the sup- 

 port afforded by a pillar in the vault ; he was in- 

 stantly seized with a sutlbcaling diHiculty of 

 breathing (as though he had respired an aimo- 

 ephere impregnated with sulphur) ; lie had giddi- 

 ness, extreme trembling, and postraiion ofstrengtf,; 

 in attempting to leave the vault, he fell from de- 

 bility ; upon reaching the externtd air, lie had 

 nausea, subsequently vomiting, accompanied with 



freqtient flatulent eructations, highly fetid, and 

 having the same character as the gas inspired. 

 He reached home with difficulty, and was confined 

 to his bed during seven days. The pulse which 

 was scarcely to be recognised at the wrist, — al- 

 though the heart beat so tumultuously, that its 

 palpitations might be observed beneath the cover- 

 ing of the bed cloths, — ranged between one hun- 

 dred and ten and one hundred and twenty-five per 

 minute, during the first three days ; for many days 

 after this exposure; his gait was very vascillat- 

 ing." 133. 



The remainder of the book is devoted to a ge- 

 neral resume of the principal facts and obaervaliona 

 contained in the preceding pages. 



Having now completed our review of this work, 

 it only remains lor us to say that it will be found 

 well worth the perusal of every person at all inter- 

 ested in the preservation of the health, decency, 

 and cleanliness of the metropolis, and may, per- 

 haps, prove not unacceptable to the general reader, 

 as presenting a complete and curious history of the 

 diflerent modes of interment which have been 

 resorted to among diflerent nations, as well as for 

 its novel description of the burial-places of l^ondon 

 vvhichv/e believe, have never, until now, formed 

 the subject of any work. 



In taking our final leave, we must, in justice to 

 Mr. Walker, state, that the book is clearly and 

 vividly written, and the author deserves great 

 credit for the industry and zeal which he has dis- 

 played in his by no means agreeable researches 

 among the graveyards; we hope, however, that 

 he may reap a full reward lor his labors, by seeing 

 the disgusting nuisance against which he has de- 

 clared war, at least mitigated, even if not alto- 

 gether put a stop to. 



EDGINGS FOR A FLOWER GARDEIS. 



From llie Horticultural Journal. 



For an edging, box is chiefly recommended. 

 Box! — not always kept in order, and in such a 

 case a harbor for vermin ! — the most irreedy and 

 rapacious blook-sucker of every ttiing within its 

 reach, the exhausier of the virtues ol' the richest 

 compost. Next come thrilt, bachelor's buttons, 

 pninroses, and even London pride, all tending to 

 weeds, and all growing out of line: to avoid this, 

 flower beds are often edged with board, which 

 soon falls to decay. The best and most perma- 

 nent edging I have ever met with is slate, set 

 lengthways, three inches under, and three inches 

 over the level of the alley or walk, the edges of 

 the beds filled in the interior to the full heinht of 

 the slate. 1 know an edging of this description 

 made sixteen years ago, which is still in tlie high- 

 est perfection ; at first, the outside ol'lhe slate was 

 p;iintetl green, which gave a great neatness to the 

 irarilen ; soon after, an cdiring of genlianella was 

 planted at the inside of the slate and close to it, 

 which came into great heaut}^, and hung over the 

 outside, forming an edging at top of three or four 

 inches wide, requiring very little attention, and 

 decorating the edges of the beds wiih a profusion 

 of its lariie, rich, and graceliil blue flowers, wliich, 

 when lined by a single row of yellow crocus, 

 ushers in the spring in ihe most vivid colors. A 

 chief perfection of this edging is, tliat it is poruia- 

 nent. 



