And all these instances furnish conclusive
proof that decomposition can be controlled, and that its loathsome and
unwholesome transformations can be prevented, if only the simple
conditions are secured that have already so extensively effected this
result. That these conditions can be secured no one can doubt, for,
every-day, in almost every clime, by processes familiar and available to
man, the atmosphere has moisture added to it or taken from it; and the
extraction of the moisture from a portion of the atmosphere is all that
is required to introduce the process of Peruvian desiccation into the
sepulchres of Chicago or New York.
It will naturally be further asked: "Is this all that has been done to
demonstrate the efficiency and availability of desiccation for the
dead?" To this the answer would be sufficient that the evidence that has
been adduced is ample, and that, at once, in perfect confidence as to
the result, mausoleums might be erected, with provision for the
withdrawal of the moisture from the atmosphere, and for the passage of
the desiccated air through the sepulchres in which the dead should rest.
So little is involved, and so much has been accomplished without the
application of any human skill, that it seems inevitable that, as soon
as the resources of modern architecture and sanitary science are drawn
upon, the desired result will be at once attained.
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