98 Principles of Landsca'pe- Gardening 



With regard to the destruction of human hones, we assume that to be 

 impracticable, otherwise than by means which are altogether out of the 

 question. The most favourable soil for their decomposition is a coarse 

 gravel, subject to be alternately moist and dry ; but, though such a soil, so 

 circumstanced in regard to water, might be found naturally, or might be com- 

 posed by art, yet these cases may be considered as equally impracticable.* 

 Instead, therefore, of endeavouring to destroy the human skeleton, let us 

 limit our endeavours to preventing it from being desecrated by disinterment 

 and exposure. This may be effected in various ways ; but by far the most 

 simple, effectual, and economical, as it appears to us, would be to place over 

 the coffin, after it was deposited in the grave, a stone or slate of the same 

 dimensions as the coffin, or even as many flat 12-inch tiles, say six, as would 

 extend from head to foot. As the coffin and the muscular part of its contents 

 decayed and sunk down, the stone, slate, or tiles, would follow it and press 

 close on the bones. In consequence of this arrangement, when the ground 

 was at any future period opened to the depth of the stone, slate, or tile, guard, 

 it would be known that a skeleton was beneath, and the operator would cease 

 to go farther; or, at all events, it should be rendered illegal for him to do so. 

 If a name and date were graven in the stone, being protected from atmo- 

 spheric changes, it would remain uninjured for ages, and, like the foot-marks 

 which geologists have found in the red sandstone, might, in some far distant 

 age, become part of the geological history of our globe. We prefer stone or 

 tile guards, to guards of metal, because iron would soon rust, and cease to 

 be a guard, and lead or any equally durable metal would offer a temptation to 

 stealing. A layer two or three inches thick of stucco, Roman cement, or 

 a plate of asphalte or oropholithe, might be used as a substitute ; but stone, 

 slate, and tiles are decidedly preferable. The slate might even be introduced 

 within the coffin, without rendering it heavier to carry than if a lead coffin were 

 used. Burying in a coffin made entirely of stone or slate we do not consider 

 so likely to prevent desecration as a stone or slate guard ; because there is a 

 temptation to dig up the lower part of the stone coffin, and use it as a drink- 

 ing-trough for cattle, or a cistern for a flower-garden, which is done in various 

 places in the vicinity of old abbeys. A stone hollowed out on the under 

 side might be better than a flat stone ; because the depending edges would 



the vaults of which there were coffins, or in the floors of which interments 

 had taken place. They would absent themselves from all such places, even 

 if there were no immediate danger, in order, by such means as were in their 

 power, to contribute to the discountenance of a practice by all parties allowed 

 to be attended with disgusting and injurious results. 



4. Nor would they live in houses in which the privies were not either ren- 

 dered water-closets, or placed detached from the house. 



5. Nor in a house adjoining an open sewer. 



6. Nor would they keep a dead body in the house more than five days, or 

 at the most a week. 



* If the bones were to be destroyed in the case of a single grave, a hint 

 mio-ht be taken from the following passage in Fellowes's Asia Minor. " The 

 outward marks of respect are scarcely visible in their burial-grounds, little 

 more being left to mark the place of interment than a row of stones indicat- 

 ing the oblong form of the grave ; but a pipe or chimney, generally formed of 

 wood or earthenware, rises a few inches above the ground, and communicates 

 with the corpse beneath ; and down this- tube libations are poured by the 

 friends of the deceased to the attendant spirit of the dead." (Vol. xi. p. 16.) 

 Were the libations withheld for five or six years, till the muscular part of the 

 body was completely destroyed, and then diluted muriatic acid employed 

 as a libation, the result would probably be obtained in the course of a year 

 or two. 



