394 



xNEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



their being planted was in high tilth. The se- 

 vere drought which succeeded the rains that 

 fell soon after the setting, baked the ground per- 

 fectly hard. The plants made little or no pro- 

 gress ; they were seen hy a friend of mine, on 

 Alonday, the 2t)lh of May, as I was cainmencing 

 the brv.<i;»«ng of the ground with the i)loiighs. 

 They *(ere worked for the whole week. On 

 Saturday they were seen again by the same 

 gentleman, and he could scarcely be persuaded 

 Ihey were the same plants. The week had 

 been very dry, with a hot sun, and strong north 

 east winds." Mr. Curwen attribntes the rapid 

 growth of his cabbages after the hoeing above 

 mentioned to the absorption of the evaporation 

 produced from tlie earth. According to him 

 the earth beneath the surface, which was stir- 

 red by the plough, furnished the water of evap- 

 oration, which the soil thus stirred imbibed like 

 a si)0Dge or (leece of wool, and retained for the 

 use of the plants. Dr. Steele, however, as well 

 as some other writers, is of opinion that fre- 

 ijuent ploughing, in a dry time, makes the soil 

 drier than it would be if left at rest. The only 

 way to reconcile these writers is to suppose 

 that they are treating of totally different soils. 

 A sandy soil, or a loam much inclined to sand, 

 can'Bcarcely be ploughed too seldom, provided 

 you can keep weeds subdued, and the seed is 

 jiroperly covered. A clayey soil, or a loam 

 much inclining to clay, can scarcely be plough- 

 ed too often, provided it is not too wet when 

 you plough if. The sandy soil is like a riddle, 

 and permits the water of evaporation as well as 

 that of rain or dew to pass off too rapidly. Kv 

 stirring it frequently you render it? texture still 

 luoser, and increase its tendency to transmit in- 

 stead of imbibing and retaining moisture which 

 it receives from the earth or the atmosphere. 

 A clayey soil, when well pulverized, is like a 

 sponge, which imbibes moisture freelv, and 

 does not easily part with it. But if it once be- 

 comes dry and baked in the sun, it will require 

 frequent and effectual ploughing to render it at 

 all lit for the purposes of vegetation. A clayey | 

 soil should be ploughed in autumn, that the iVost 

 of winter may assist in pulverizing it. A sandy ' 

 soil should be plouglied in the spring, as near' 

 the time of putting the seed into the ground as 

 possible. A sandy soil should not be ploughed' 

 or hoed in dry hot weather; but a cla^'ey soil! 

 cannot be stirred too frequently in such weather. I 



[by the kditor.] 

 .NEW AND INTERESTING PAMPHLET. 

 A pamphlet has recently been published in 

 this city, entitled, " Remarks on the dangers and 

 duties of Sepidlurc; or, security for the living, 

 'jDilic respect and repose for the dead. By a Fellow 

 of the Massachusetts Medical Society. jYon dcfunc- 

 torum causa, sed ri-vorum inventa est sepulturu. — 

 Seneca."* This production, in our opinion, 

 does the highest honor as well to the head as 

 the heart of its author, and ought not only to 

 be found in the library of every man of science, 

 but to be in possession of every house-keeper 

 and head of a family. It is an 8 vo. pamphlet, 

 containing more than 70 pages, and still has 

 nothing superfluous, nothing which can fail to 



* Burials were instituted, not for llie sake of the 

 dead, but for the benefit of the living. 



be read with interest by every man who claims 

 affinity to his species, and considers health or 

 even life itself as blessings worthy of his atten- 

 tion. 



We have long been deeply impressed with 

 the importance of the subject of this pamphlet, 

 and have heretofore exerted what little influ- 

 ence OHr limited talents, leisure and means of 

 information might possibly give us, in warning 

 against the danger of converting our cities into 

 cemeteries, and sulTering them to become re- 

 positories of animal and vegetable putrescence, 

 which not only offends the senses, but more 

 frequently than is generally imagined, poisons 

 enjoyment, ruins health and destroys life. But, 

 till we read the jiamphlet we now allude to, 

 we had no adequate idea of the very malignant 

 nature of the evils we deprecated, nor the pow- 

 er and universality of those sources of disease 

 and pestilence which are so ably developed in 

 this publication. 



We do not intend this article tor a rciuViu of 

 the work to which we would be happy to call 

 the attention of the public, but merely snch a 

 iioi'iVe as would be likely to induce our readers 

 to become the possessors of the information it 

 contains, and which will be best obtained from 

 the pamphlet itself It would not be in onr 

 po\ver to add any thing important to its con- 

 tents, and should we attempt to give condensed 

 views of the same subjects, we must of nec«s- 

 sity omit what it is important should be gener- 

 ally known. We shall therefore give no farthsr 

 specimens of the contents of the work, thjn 

 what we judge may create an inducement to 

 possess the original from which we have taken 

 our samples. 



Under the head ".Sf/)ii/;«rf," the author treats 

 "of the various modes of burial, which have 

 prevailed in the world," including the origin 

 of the custom of depositing the dead in cities, 

 under or near churches, &,c. The author then 

 inquires, " What proof is there that putrid flesh 

 ever did any harm ?" Under this head he gives 

 a number of statements, drawn from undoubted 

 authorities, of the very virident nature of the 

 efHuvia arising from animal putrefaction under 

 certain circumstances. The instances he quotes 

 are numerous, some of which will apply as well 

 to residents in the country, as to inhabitants of 

 cities. Among those of the latter description 

 are the following : 



" Lancisi writes that a putrid ox occasioned 

 the death of an unfortunate traveller in Pisaro. 



" Lucian speaks of a wide spreading disease, 

 which ravaged Pompey's army, near Durazzo, 

 which originated from the putrefaction ol horses 

 that had been killed and left uncovered. 



" M. Bernard relates the following fact. A 

 large fat man had been superficially buried m 

 the ground. The offensive gases, which soon 

 arose from the putrid body, obligeil the neigh- 

 boring inhabitants to remove it. Three grave 

 diggers undertook to remove it ; two of them 

 becoming sick at heart, and vomiting, gave up 



the enterprise ; the third— determined to finish 

 It— persevered, fell sick, and died ten days after. 



'• In West Linton, some years ago, a school 

 boy, getting into a new made grave, set aboutl" 

 to open the projecting corner of a cofhn, which, \ 

 so soon as he had penetrated, there issued ?, 

 strong nauseous smell, on which he exclaimeci 

 that he was suQbcated ; he revived on bein 

 taken out of the place, but fell immediately i 

 of a petechial fever, of which he died on'thef' 

 seventh day. j 



"M. Chambon reports, on the testimony ol i 

 several historians, and on the faith of Presideni , 

 De Thou, that the Peruvians, animated by a 

 just vengeance against the Spaniards, steepec 

 their arrows in the putrid blood of their slauo-h- 

 tered companions, to make the wounds they In- " ' 

 tlicted the more surely and promptlv mortal.— !fi 

 M. lluzard says that a number of "students ins 

 the French veterinary schools have suffered i ' 

 like manner, in consequence of being wounded 

 while dissecting horses and other animals. 



" The decomposition of a body in the bowel 

 of the earth can never be dangerons, provided 

 it be buried at a sufficient depth, in a propet 

 place, and the grave be not opened before its 

 entire decomposition. The depth of a ^rave 

 ought to be such that the external air CMuot 

 penetrate it; and that the exhalations which 

 are developed should not be capable of lorcin" 

 the earthy covering which detains them. " 



" Some years ago a man was killed by acci 

 dent in Orange, New Hampshire. In about ten 

 week? after the burial the body was taken up 

 to be deposited in a different place. Twenty 

 persons were present at the disinterment of the 

 corpse, which was in a putrid state. Thirteen 

 of these persons fell sick of lever not Ion" after 

 their exposure to the putrid gases {torn the 

 dead body, and several of them died. There 

 was no other assignable cause for this fever 

 than those noxious gases, the acnoon „na me 

 place being otherwise quite healthy." 



The author proceeds to cite a great number 

 of other instances of the deleterious and ofteo 

 deadly effects which have originated from tombs 

 and burial places improperly situated, and from 

 imprudent exposures to the effluvia arising from 

 vegetable and animal decompostion. He thea 

 quotes from the writings of the Rev. Dr. Dwight, 

 a description of the cemetery at New Haven, 

 which " may serve as a model to be improved 

 by any amendments which genius or experience 

 can suggest." Among other advantages arisin* 

 from this cemetery, as enumerated by Dr. D. 

 are the following : 



" .An exquisite taste for propriety is discov- 

 ered in every thing belonging to it ; exhibiting 

 a regard for the dead, reverential but not os- 

 tentatious, and happily fitted to influence the 

 views and feelings of succeeding generations. 

 At the same time, it precludes the use of vaults, 

 by taking away every inducement to build them. 



" These melancholy, and I think I may say 

 disgusting mansions, seem not to have been dic- 

 tated by nature ; and are certainly not approved 

 by good sense. Their salubrity is questionable ; 

 and the impression left by them on the mind 

 transcends the bounds of mourning and sorrow, 

 and borders at least on loathing." 



Hi' 



This pamphlet can admit of no answer — it is , 



