i!U7 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
Cremation Notes. 
BRONZE CINERARY URN. 
The bronze cin- 
erary urn illus- 
trated on this page 
was placed as a 
memorial to Dr. 
and Mrs. Edward 
Murphy, of New 
Harmony, Ind., in 
Library Hall in 
that town as a gift 
of the Working 
Men’s Institute, a 
library association 
largely endowed by 
Dr. Murphy. The 
urn is a tasteful, 
classic design, in- 
cisively molded 
and well executed. 
It is 31 inches high 
and cost about 
$600. 
^ 
Third Assistant 
Postmaster General Madden in response to an 
inquiry, has given the opinion, that sealed in 
an airtight receptacle and in no way violating the 
rules of the service as to sanitary conditions, the cre- 
mated human body may be sent through the United 
States mails as merchandise. The rate is one cent 
for each four ounces to any point where the mails are 
carried within the United States and the dependencies. 
The remains of cremated persons have on several oc- 
casions been sent through the mails as first-class mat- 
ter. This is the first time a ruling has been made on 
the subject. 
* * % 
The 77th annual report of Mount Auburn Cemetery, 
Cambridge, Mass., says that much of the increase of 
$20,682.19 in the general fund during the past year is 
due to the receipts from cremation, which are gradual- 
ly returning to the general fund the cost of the crema- 
tory apparatus and buildings. The record of crema- 
tions since the opening of the crematory in 1900 shows 
a small but steady increase. The figures for each year 
are as follows: April 19 to December 31, 1900, 50 
cremations; 1901, 119; 1902, 134; 1903, 153; total, 
456 . 
[Garden Plants Their Geography — XCVIII Narcissales. 
Bclamcanda is the fairly well known “blackberry 
lily.” It is found from the Himalaya region to Japan. 
Sisyrinchium ,“ star grass,” has fifty species in North, 
and South America. 
Gladiolus has ninety species and endless crossed vari- 
eties derived from the south of Europe, western Asia, 
North Africa and particularly South Africa. The gar- 
den forms are well known and constantly added to by 
specialists who have made them among the most popu- 
lar summer flowering plants. Of course everyone 
knows the corms must be taken up and stored away 
dry and free from frost during winter at the north, 
while at the South they mostly endure in the ground. 
G. communis in purple, pink and white forms is hardy 
to New Jersey. The somewhat better G. Byzantinus, 
too, is fairly hardy. Half a dozen others found from 
the Mediterranean east to Afghanistan are worth the 
attention of hybridists looking to the production of a 
hardier strain. Tritonias are South African and have 
about the same range of hardihood as the finer gladioli. 
Narcissus is in 150 species, with a great number of 
natural and garden varieties. They are natives of the 
warm temperate regions of Europe and Asia for the 
most part, especially the Mediterranean countries. Sev- 
eral flourish exceedingly southward. The common 
“daffodil” is often seen in a semi-wild state in the 
middle Atlantic states. 
Galanthus, “the snowdrops,” have nine or ten spe- 
cies and several varieties, found in Eastern Mediter- 
ranean regions north to the Caucasus. They are by no 
means as common in American gardens as in some 
parts of Europe. They are usually very earlv to flower. 
GLADIOLUS, -f VAR. 
