Report on the sanitary condition of the labouring population of Great-Bretain; A supplementary report on the results of a special inquiry into the practice of interment in towns...

by Edwin Chadwick

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1843 Excerpt: ... of interments. On this subject there have been some, though not complete observations. of a healthy and an unhealthy Population. 131 There is a church-yard at Stuttgart, in which 500 bodies are interred yearly, at depths varying with the age, according to the scale of regulations stated, with no more than one corpse in each grave, yet a north-west wind renders the emanations from the ground perceptible in houses distant from 250 to 300 paces. The stench of the carrion pits at Montfaucon is almost insupportable to a person not used to it, at a distance of 6500 feet, and with certain winds at double that distance, and under some circumstances even to the distance of five miles. Besides the surface emanations, the pollution of the subsoil drainage and springs have to be regarded. Captain Vetch states, that on some plains in Mexico, where animals have been slaughtered and buried in pits in permeable ground, the effects on vegetation were to be seen along the edges of a brook for a distance of three-quarters of a mile. In some parts they actually slaughtered and buried animals for the purpose of influencing the surrounding vegetation. By the best regulations in Germany, as already stated, wells are forbidden to be sunk near grave-yards, except at certain distances, such as 300 feet. Ante, 13, 14. 148. On such data as have been obtained, the distance of a cemetery ought to vary according to its size, or the number of the population for whom burial is required. The cemetery for a small population of from 500 to 1000 inhabitants, should, Dr. Reicke considers, be not less than 150 paces; for 1000 to 5000 inhabitants, not less than 300 paces; for above 5000, not less than 500 paces. In Prussia, the distance from houses at which cemeteries may be ...

Genres: History

148 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1843

About the author

1800-1890

Reviews

[Marjolein · Rating 4 out of 5]

As this work is a report directed to the House of Commons it would indeed be unfair to hold it up to any literary standards that one would a novel. As most reports will be, the work is quite dry, but exceedingly informative for those who wish to gain insight in burial practices (including wakes), especially amongst the working-classes, during the mid-Victorian era.