CHAPTER II. THE EVILS OF BURIAL; THE SANITARY ASPECT OF INCINERATION.

The grave, hallowed by religion and the queen of arts, poetry, has become to us the emblem¹ of eternal rest—something that is beautiful; something in which we may sleep long and well. The weeping-willow droops² its slender branches over it, sweet, fragrant³ flowers thrive upon its soil, and the little birds perch⁴ there to sing their song.

The rays of the sun often play upon the small earth elevation⁵, and lend additional beauty to the green foliage⁶ of the trees, the bright color of the many flowers.

But verily, we are like the sunshine—superficial. It is the great fault of mankind to be satisfied with a film-like knowledge of things. To go deeper, to dive below the superstratum, would mean to meet, perhaps, with matters not at all pleasant; to become cognizant of facts never before dreamt of. Consequently, the majority of men is content to remain on the surface; content to know a little, but not all.

Thank God, there are happily individuals left who descend⁷ to the bottom of every question, scientific or social, and who daily enrich all departments of learning.

As regards the grave, let us first of all listen to him who has held generations of folk spellbound; let us bow reverently¹⁰ before the opinion of one of the masters among English novelists—Charles Dickens.
67

THE CREMATORIUM AT CREMONA.
(From Dr. Pini’s work.)

68It is he who tells us in measured words that the grave is naught¹¹ but—
“Brave lodgings¹² for one, brave lodgings for one,
A few feet of cold earth, when life is done;
A stone at the head, a stone at the feet,
A rich, juicy meal for the worms to eat;
Rank grass overhead, and damp clay around,
Brave lodgings for one, these, in holy ground!”

The late Prof. Samuel D. Gross, M.D., one of the greatest surgeons the world ever possessed¹³, called burial a horrible practice, and maintained that:—

“If people could see the human body after the process of decomposition¹⁴ sets in, which is as soon as the vital spark ceases to exist, they would not want to be buried; they would be in favor of cremation¹⁵. If they could go into a dissecting-room and see the horrid¹⁶ sights of the dissecting-table, they would not wish to be buried. Burying the human body, I think, is a horrible thing. If more was known about the human frame while undergoing decomposition, people would turn with horror from the custom of burying their dead. It takes a human body 50, 60, 80 years—yes, longer than that—to decay. Think of it! The remains¹⁸ of a friend lying under six feet of ground, or less, for that length of time, going through the slow stages of decay, and other bodies all this time being buried around these remains. Infants grow up, and pass into manhood or womanhood; grow old, and get near the door of death; and during all that time the body which was buried in their infancy¹⁹ lies a few feet under ground in this sickening state, undergoing the slow process of decay. Think of thousands of such bodies crowded into a few acres of ground, and then reflect that these 69graves, or many of them, in time fill with water, and that water percolates²⁰ through the ground and mixes with the springs and rivers from which we drink.

“People turn with dread²¹ from the subject of cremation. Why, if they knew what physicians know,—what they have learned in the dissecting-room,—they would look upon burning the human body as a beautiful art in comparison with burying it. There is something eminently²² repulsive²⁴ to me about the idea of lying a few feet under ground for a century, or perhaps two centuries, going through the process of decomposition. When I die, I want my body to be burned.

“Any unprejudiced mind needs but little time to reflect in forming a conclusion as to which is the better method of disposing of the body. Common sense and reason proclaim in favor of cremation. There is no reason for keeping up the burial custom, but many against it; some of the most practical of which are but too recently developed to need mention. There is nothing repulsive in the idea of cremation. People’s prejudice is the only opponent it has. If they could be awakened²⁵ to a sense of the horror of crowding thousands of bodies under the ground, to pollute in many instances the air we breathe and the water we drink, their prejudice would be overcome; cremation would be taken for what it truly is—a beautiful method of disposing of the body. The friends of the departed can do as they please with the remains. Take the ashes of a wife or daughter and put them in an urn¹⁷; place it on your mantelpiece, or in as private a place as you please. Strew²⁶ them on the ground if you like, and let them assist in bringing forth²⁷ a blade of grass. This 70would be an advantage over the burial method, where human bodies only cumber²⁸ the ground.”

This was said by a man who not only showed considerable ability as an operator, and writer on topics of medicine, but who also was honored by the famous universities of Cambridge and Oxford²⁹, receiving from them academical titles never conferred except upon the most distinguished³⁰.

We will take a spade (only metaphorically³¹, of course) and investigate the narrow pit which serves to hold all that is mortal of man after the spark of life has extinguished. Now we remove the plants, the clinging vines, the blooming flowrets. We throw the earth aside and finally lay bare a coffin³². A coffin? Something that must have been one in the remote past. A sickening odor greets us. We step back to draw a breath of pure air. At last we muster³³ up sufficient courage to return to the grave. A touch of the spade causes the top-board of the box to fall to pieces, and there is revealed to the sight a spectacle that is horrible. The ground around the body has been moist and non-porous³⁴; what has remained of the corpse³⁵ is only a mass of foul³⁶ flesh in a state of putrefaction³⁷. Is there anything more disgusting than such a sight?

Shakespeare says in “As You Like It”:—
“And so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe,
And then, from hour to hour, we rot and rot;
And thereby³⁸ hangs a tale.”

True! The tale that hangs thereby is illustrative of the carelessness and ignorance of man alike. The grave has been at all times a kind of box of Pandora, with this difference,—it did not require unclosing: unopened, the grave sent forth its children—pestilence³⁹ 71and death—to decimate the ranks of the population of the globe. But all calamities⁴⁰ caused by burial have been endured by people with perfect indifference⁴¹, and it was not until modern times that any reforms were attempted at all. But in spite of these so-called reforms, the murder of the living by the dead has continued. The reforms I mentioned generally resulted in the removal of cemeteries⁴² to the suburbs of cities. In this way the evil effects of interment were deferred⁴³ for some time, till the city enlarged, and the population closed in around the burial-grounds.

What is burial? For what purpose do we place the bodies of our dead in the earth? It is the beginning of a chemical process—a process which ends finally in the total dissolution of the corpse. The chemical constituents⁴⁴ of our body are returned to nature. Burial and cremation are in a sense the same; in either case the body oxydates. The great distinction between the two lies in the fact, that the burning in the grave requires years for its completion, and is fraught⁴⁵ with danger to the living, whilst in case of incineration the body is reduced to its primitive⁴⁶ elements in the brief space of a few hours, and is unaccompanied by anything that may do harm.

Dr. A. B. Prescott, Professor of Chemistry in the University of Michigan, has determined⁴⁷ what elements of the human body are destroyed or dissipated by cremation, and what remain in the ashes. In a letter to the Detroit Post he states:—

“Of the 70 chemical elements or ultimate simples, known to man, 15 are found in the human body. Of these, four—carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, and oxygen—are derived⁴⁸ from the air, and in combustion⁵⁰, as in 72decay, they return to the air again. These four in their various compounds make up by far the greater part of the animal tissues. Of the remaining 11 chemical elements, six are metals,—potassium, sodium⁵¹, calcium⁵², magnesium⁵³, iron, and manganese; and five are non-metals,—sulphur, phosphorus, chlorine, fluorine, and silicon⁵⁴. When combustion of the tissues is completed, the six metals, in combination with the five non-metals last named, are left behind in the ash. These were drawn⁵⁵ from the earth. There are about 19 chemical compounds in the ash so left, compounds such as phosphate of lime, carbonate of lime, sulphate of potash, chloride of sodium, etc. The greater number of the ultimate elements contained in the living body are left behind in the ash, but the proportional quantity made up by all these elements is, of course, very small. In the first place, about two-thirds of the tissues consist of water. The proportion of the ‘ash’ to the tissues varies from two per cent in muscle and seven-tenths per cent in blood, to 66 per cent in bone. The ‘ash’ left by combustion is very nearly the same, in kind and in quantity, as the ‘dust’ left after the final completion of decay.”

What is decomposition? How does it take place normally? Decomposition is the decay of an organic substance, which is completely destroyed through the influence of the atmospheric⁵⁶ oxygen. Decomposition is facilitated by moisture. The organic mass undergoing such change assumes a different color and consistency⁵⁷ and gives up carbonic acid, ammonia, and water; the same products originate in the rapid destruction of an organic substance by means of fire.

Only those parts of the body (the bones) that can 73best resist the influence of the air remain secure from decay a longer time; at last they also crumble⁵⁸ into dust and mingle⁵⁹ with the rest.

Wetness accelerates decay. When we hear the rain fall in the silent night, we are compelled to think, shuddering⁶¹, how the horrible process of destruction begins in the grave of some beloved one whom we have recently buried.

The same stench that assails⁶² our nostrils⁶³ when we approach a corpse that has lain a long time above ground, meets us when we open a grave; the same poisonous gases are evolved under ground from a decaying corpus as upon the surface of the earth. It makes no difference whether the grave we explore be that of a prime minister, upon which a magnificent monument rears its costly⁶⁴ shaft⁶⁵ high into the air, or that of a common criminal who tried to enjoy existence by spending three-quarters of his lifetime in prison; the result remains the same: in each we find the disgusting and sickening evidence of slow destruction,—a formless, putrid⁶⁶ mass of flesh, and sometimes numberless revelling⁶⁷ worms.

The conditions under which decomposition can take place are a certain degree of moisture and a constant supply of air. When a corpse is embedded⁶⁸ in a soil that is very wet, a curious change takes place. There is no decay, but instead a fatty metamorphosis, giving the body a waxy⁶⁹ appearance and preserving its original form. The result of this transformation⁷⁰ is called adipocere. The process by which the body is changed into this stearine-like mass is entitled saponification, and is not very well understood as yet by the scientists. 74Such preserved bodies were found in the burial-grounds at Paris, Brussels, London, and many other cities.

THE CREMATORIUM AT VARESE.
(From Dr. Pini’s work.)

75In 1874, the cemetery⁷¹ board of the burial-ground at Zuerich, Switzerland, discovered that the bodies interred⁷² in the graveyard⁷³ since 1849 had not undergone decomposition, but had turned into adipocere. This horrible discovery materially assisted the progress of incineration in Switzerland.

Tripp relates that when eight bodies were taken up in a cemetery near Worcester, England, the soil of which was composed chiefly of gravel⁷⁴ and clay that was always very moist and at times so wet that the water had to be pumped out of the graves, the undecayed body of a nineteen-year-old girl was found which had been buried 51 years and had undergone saponification; the other corpses⁷⁵ were decomposed⁷⁷, also the coffins⁷⁸, while the casket which had contained the saponified body was preserved.

I have seen but one saponified corpse. It was at the museum of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons; I have forgotten whether it was a man or woman. But I still remember how I shuddered⁷⁹ at the sight and how I walked close up to the glass case to make sure that the waxy mass within was a human being.

It is superfluous⁸⁰ to point out here that cremation puts a stop to saponification. One need not be a chemist to know that a body cannot turn into adipocere after it has been reduced to ashes.

Whenever the earth of a graveyard yet contains enough oxygen for the corpses deposited there, the dangers are very few; but whenever this is not the case, the bodies of the dead undergo a horrible metamorphosis, 76known as putrefaction, and become dangerous to the living on account of the poisonous gases and other effluvia generated.

We observe the same phenomenon in our stoves. When but very little air is admitted into them, the combustion of even very inflammable material remains incomplete; and stifling⁸¹ gases (for instance, carbonic oxide⁸² gas) are produced.

It is evident that a porous soil facilitates decomposition, the products of which it absorbs and retains till they have entered into some harmless combination. There is, however, a limit to its efficiency. When it becomes overcharged with the products of decomposition, it can only hold a small quantity of them; the rest are delivered to the water, which permeates⁸³ it and the air which passes over it. On the other hand, it is clear that a very damp, non-porous soil into which the air cannot enter favors putrefaction.

A state of saturation⁸⁴ is produced in the course of time in the best of cemeteries by a continued system of overcrowding.

Although overcrowding of cemeteries is confined almost entirely⁸⁵ to the countries of Europe, yet there are many American burial-grounds in which this condition exists; and, what is worse, they are annually⁸⁶ multiplying. Some of these overcrowded graveyards⁸⁷ are situated⁸⁸ in large cities, in the centre of a dense⁸⁹ population. In these churchyards it is impossible to dig a single grave without the disinterring of the bones of one previously⁹⁰ buried there. Imagine the consequences of such a state! Isn’t it far better to remove the possibility of future disease and danger at once than to allow it to grow by degrees, till it assumes a terrible 77and fatal dimension? Isn’t it better to refrain from the use of cemeteries entirely, and resort instead to the clean, pure, and undangerous system of incineration? Consider! Does it agree with our ideas of right and wrong to endanger the lives of our great-grandchildren or their offspring by our methods of disposing of the dead? For, by the time they appear on the stage of this world, the burial-ground now sanitary⁹¹ will have become a breeding-place of disease from overuse.

When we remove burial-grounds to a distance, we only postpone⁹² the evil. We insure our own safety, it is true, by so doing; but we encumber⁹³ the ground with most virulent⁹⁴ seeds, and leave to future generations—to those who come after us—a terrible crop of pollution, disease germs, and death. Our own security from harm should not actuate us in this matter. We should be wise enough to prevent the evil while we have the power, so that our offspring will not justly reproach us for entailing⁹⁵ upon them such a terrible legacy⁹⁶.

Among American cities there is none that needs a change of method in the disposal of its dead as greatly as New Orleans, in Louisiana.

Those that are mowed⁹⁷ down by the grim rider of the white horse cannot be buried there, owing to the excessive moisture of the ground which surrounds the city and the proximity⁹⁸ of the water to the surface. It is impossible to dig two feet under ground without coming to water. At all times the dead have been disposed of in a very careless manner in New Orleans. It is related that during the yellow-fever epidemic⁹⁹ of 1853, when New Orleans had a population of 150,000 inhabitants, those that had died of the dread disease were thrown into trenches¹⁰⁰ not over 18 inches or two feet 78deep, and covered with very little earth; so little, indeed, that the first rain that came along washed it away. In a graveyard situated in the central part of the city, were buried in this manner 400 bodies, recent victims of yellow fever, and contaminating the air with poisonous exhalations. The mayor of the city was asked to remove the dangerous condition of the burial-ground. He replied, “That’s not my business!” And the commissioner¹⁰² of streets, who was next approached, answered in a like spirit. The state of affairs grew worse and worse; and at last, even the negroes refused to act as grave-diggers.

At present, they have a system of entombment in the Crescent City. These tombs are in the municipal cemeteries, 35 of which are within the city limits, giving them the appearance of a collection of bakers’ ovens. The tombs are almost universally made of brick, and whitewashed¹⁰⁵. They vary in size from 3 × 6 feet to 10 × 10 feet or 10 × 20 feet; there is a post in the centre, which is surrounded by shelves, on which the body—that is, the coffin—is deposited. There the dead rests for about a year, when it becomes necessary to use the tomb for another corpse; then the remains of the preceding occupant of the vault¹⁰⁶ are rudely taken from the casket and dashed head over heels into a pit, where they are left to breed disease.

What wonder, exclaims Kate Field, that yellow fever runs riot in New Orleans, when the air reeks¹⁰⁷ with the festering corruption¹⁰⁸ of 35 plague spots, exposed for six months of the year to a tropical sun! Think how the death-rate of New Orleans might be reduced by abolition¹⁰⁹ of earth-burials! What better field for missionary¹¹⁰ work than our own “Sunny South”?

79The unhealthfulness of these vaults¹¹¹ is apparent to all, but, owing to prejudice, no other disposition¹¹² of the dead has been adopted. But sooner or later the inhabitants of New Orleans must have recourse to cremation, and burn their dead, as they were forced to do once during a cholera¹¹³ epidemic, when 135 corpses were consigned¹¹⁴ to the devouring¹¹⁵ element.

For 300 years English churchyards have been so full that, like the one in Hamlet, Yorick’s bones have had to be dug out in order to put Ophelia’s in. From time to time the attention of the British authorities was directed to the shameful¹¹⁶ state of the cemeteries of the metropolis¹¹⁷ and other places. In that case the matter was brought before Parliament, the government ordered an investigation¹¹⁸, a committee was appointed to examine the grievances¹²⁰, the committee returned a report with the testimony¹²¹ of witnesses, and the report was ordered printed. The report commonly made a very large volume, which looked exceedingly pretty on the shelf on which it was placed, but became dusty in a comparatively short time from non-use. The excitement had quieted down, public opinion and the press were pacified¹²², Parliament was satisfied, and the condition of the burial-grounds remained the same as before.

The cemeteries of Paris, France, are in no better condition; the mould in the old Cimetière des Innocents is literally¹²³ saturated¹²⁴ with corpses; Montmartre and Mont Parnasse are overcrowded. As for Père la Chaise,—the burial-place that has been praised in poetry and prose (the resting-place of Racine and Molière), that has been adjudged the most beautiful cemetery in the world,—Père la Chaise is packed with decaying bodies. A cable dispatch dated Dec. 27, 1883, reported that the 80municipal council of the city of Paris had resolved upon leaving those that fell during the reign¹²⁶ of bloodthirsty La Commune at Père la Chaise for a period of 25 years. Ordinary cadavers¹²⁸ must be dug up after five years, to make room for their ghastly successors.

In Portugal the soil has become so packed with corpses that an effort was made to enact¹²⁹ a law that after five years all interred bodies should be dug up and subjected to cremation. This means that after the dead have saturated the ground with disease-producing emanations, and have exhaled¹³⁰ nearly all their virulent effluvia into the atmosphere, sacrificing the welfare of the living to superstition¹³¹ and prejudice, a later incineration shall take place to save space.

Of American cemeteries, I only need mention Pottersfield of New York, the name of which is not spoken or heard by an American without an involuntary shudder⁶⁰. Our graveyards are, of course, not like the cemeteries of the Old World, where the exhumation¹³² of bones takes place daily to make room for the recently deceased, but they will become so unless the damaging prejudices are laid aside and something is done to prevent such a poisonous and dangerous situation. In some of the old cemeteries in our cities it has become impossible to dig another grave.

Rev⁹. John D. Beugless, D.D., thus describes the burial-grounds of New York City: “Of the great cemeteries about New York, there is not one, not even Woodland or Greenwood, in the public lots of which three or more bodies are not put in one grave,—that of John Doe, who died from ‘a bare bodkin,’ being sandwiched between those of Richard Roe¹⁰³ and James Low, who were victims respectively of small-pox and yellow-fever. 81In the public or poor quarter of Calvary Cemetery a far worse state of things obtains—more appalling¹³³ than even the fosse commune of Paris, for it is the fosse commune sans chaux. A trench¹⁰¹ is dug, seven feet wide, ten to twelve feet deep, and of indefinite length, in which the coffins are stowed, tier upon tier, making a flight of steps, five or more deep, and with not enough earth to hide one from the next. And this is our vaunted ‘Christian¹³⁴ burial’ in this new country, with its myriads¹³⁵ of broad acres! What shall our children say of us, when they come, perforce, from stress of space, to build their dwellings¹³⁶ upon these beds of pestilence?”

THE CREMATORIUM AT BRESCIA.
(From Dr. Pini’s work.)

That is the way we, “the Christian nation par⁸ excellence,” treat friendless paupers¹³⁷ and criminals. Shame! shame! A dog is more decently interred.

The cemeteries of the city of Brooklyn occupy nearly 2000 acres of land. A thoughtful eminent²³ physician gives it as his opinion that the prevailing¹³⁹ southwest wind, blowing over these corruption festering plague spots, carries to Flatbush the germs of typhoid fever and diphtheria, and swells¹⁴⁰ the death-rate of that city to its present alarming magnitude.

82The more one considers cremation, the more one finds himself wondering how it has come to pass that we practice interment, with its many faults and dangers, and do not burn our dead.

It is clear that overcrowding of burial-grounds must lead to evil consequences. A ground that is saturated with putrefying material can emit naught but poisonous odors, cannot fail to contaminate the purest and clearest water, must vitiate any atmosphere.

Incineration deserves the respect to-day which the ancients paid to it, and is the only way of disposing of the dead so as to avoid the terrible consequences of the mephitic graveyard gases, of the dangers with which the ordinary mode of burial threatens us.

The truth was taught us by the Tuscans some three hundred years ago. At that time a whale was cast upon the shore of Tuscany. The inhabitants of the surrounding country hastened to the spot, and removed the ribs¹⁴¹ of the large fish, to hang them in the churches as a memento¹⁴² of the rare occurrence. The flesh was left to rot in the scorching¹⁴³ southern sun. An epidemic of typhoid fever was the result; and when, ten years later, another whale happened to strand¹⁴⁴ in the same locality, the people, having become wise by its previous experience, destroyed the monster by chopping it to pieces, and burning these, one after another.

There are many lurking¹⁴⁵ dangers, ready to destroy the living, in the burial-grounds of the present day. The mephitic vapors¹⁴⁶ increase in quantity as decomposition advances, and become far more poisonous than either arsenic¹⁴⁸ or prussic acid, if these were uncombined in their natural state.

These dangerous graveyard gases can spread to quite 83a distance, and therefore can communicate the most malignant¹⁴⁹ maladies at all times. Dr. Ayr claims that they extend to a distance of a hundred meters; some authorities assert that they reach sometimes twice the distance. This occurs generally when the grave is air-tight above, and the surface layer of the cemetery soil is imporous. Then the gas escapes where it finds the least resistance,—at the sides,—and burrows¹⁵⁰ along under the earth until it strikes a cavity, and bursts into it, or diffuses¹⁵¹ into the air. When the grave offers no resistance above, the gas enters the atmosphere directly. Burial-grounds best fitted for cemetery purposes should be feared most, for it is evident that dryness and porousness¹⁵² are qualities which, although conducive¹⁵³ to the rapid decay of a body, very much facilitate the escape of gases.

The danger is not obviated¹⁵⁴ by deep burials. In that case the morbific matter is diffused¹⁵⁵ through the subsoil. If the inhumations are so deep as to impede¹⁵⁶ escapes at the surface, there is only the greater danger of escape by deep drainage, and the pollution of springs and wells. Dr. Reid detected the escape of deleterious miasma¹⁵⁷ from graves more than twenty feet deep.

The danger from inhaling¹⁵⁸ graveyard gases is great.

Ramazzini relates how an avaricious¹⁵⁹ grave-digger, by the name of Pisto, met with instantaneous death on descending¹⁶⁰ into a vault to steal the shoes of a corpse; he was found dead upon the body.

Lancisius (De noxiis palud. effluv. II, Ep. 1, c. 2, p. 152) states that several grave-diggers died in a like manner after entering a newly opened vault, which had been set under water by an inundation¹⁶¹ of the Tiber, 84and in which the stagnant¹⁶³ water had regenerated¹⁶⁴ the virulent gases.

Unger gives an account of a case similar to that of Haguenot, reported further on. A vault was reopened in a convent at Madrid, for the purpose of depositing therein a fresh corpse. When the grave-digger was about to descend into it, he fell down dead. Two other persons, who tried to save him, shared his fate.

Fortunatus Licetus (De annull, antiquitt. c. 23) relates that three men, who went into a vault that was full of semi-decomposed bodies with the intention of robbing, lost their lives. When the bodies were extracted, they were found to be swollen¹⁶⁶ and black.

Th. Bartholini (Historiar. anat. rarior. C. IV, obs. 32, p. 296) made experiments in Denmark which confirm these reports concerning the lethal¹⁶⁷ action of graveyard gases, and prove the especial danger from the gases of the dead long pent up in vaults. He affirms that these noxious¹⁶⁸ gases often prove fatal, death being preceded by dizziness and fainting.

The gases of Francis I operated with fatal effect upon the vandals who broke open his coffin, in the time of the French Revolution, to rob it of its treasures.

Books on hygiene¹⁶⁹ teem¹⁷⁰ with examples of the lethal properties of an atmosphere containing carbonic acid in excess. A familiar instance is that of the passengers of the ship Londonderry, in 1848, 150 of whom were shut up by the captain during a storm, in the steerage 18 × 11 × 7 feet. Seventy of them died in an incredibly short space of time, with convulsions and bleeding at the eyes and ears.

Haguenot reports that, in 1744, the corpse of a monk¹⁷¹ of the Penitent¹⁷² Order, who had been buried in a vault 85under the church, was exhumed¹⁷³ in the church of Notre Dame¹⁷⁴, at Montpellier, France. A man descended¹⁷⁵ into the vault to remove the cadaver¹²⁷, but, before he got quite down, he was taken with convulsions, and fell unconscious into the vault, where he died of suffocation¹⁷⁶. A monk went down to rescue him, but he too was taken sick, and, on having been pulled out immediately, succumbed¹⁷⁸ quickly. A third, who had the courage to follow his example, fell dead without being able to retire. The same fate was reserved for a fourth victim,—a brother of the first. The bodies were pulled out with hooks; the stench of their clothing was unbearable¹⁸⁰. Lights held near the opening of the vault extinguished; dogs, cats, and birds, on being brought in contact with the poisonous gases, died, with all symptoms of a severe convulsion, in a few minutes. Some of the mephitic gas was bottled; but when experimented with after two and one-half months, it still had all of its dangerous qualities.

In 1749, when new vaults and graves were made in the St. Eustachius Church at Paris, France, cadavers were dug up and placed temporarily in an old vault of the church, which had remained locked a long time. Children coming to church to prepare for confirmation¹⁸¹, and even adults, fainted on entering the sacred edifice¹⁸², and some had serious attacks of illness. The same took place in St. Sebastian Church at Madrid, Spain, in 1786; three times a grave burst open, in which, but a short time before, a very corpulent lady had been buried. The horrible smell that arose from this grave prevented the reading of the holy mass at the high altar during a period of eight days. At one time the Parish Church of Metz was so infected by the gases of 86a female corpse that it had to be abandoned, and the divine service removed to another church.

In 1841 two men who had some work to do in a grave in St. Botolph’s Churchyard, Aldgate, England, died almost instantly on entering it.

In the churchyard at Cobham, in Surrey, England, on account of some changes in the church, some bodies had to be raised. The work of the navvies was horrible beyond description, and dangerous beside. It was performed very early in the morning, and was beset¹⁸³ with difficulties. Repeated doses of gin had to be given to the men to keep them at a kind of work which they could only do under the influence of alcohol. Three men perished in 1852, at Paris, from inhaling the gas that escaped from coffins.

Fourcroy affirms that grave-digging is an unhealthy and dangerous occupation, and that all grave-diggers he examined showed symptoms of slow poisoning.

George A. Walker declared that no grave-digger ever wholly escaped the influence of graveyard gases. Some of the men employed in this way have noticed the peculiar¹⁸⁴ smell of the gases on beginning to dig.

Monsieur Patissier reports several deaths due to grave-digging; and Mr. Chadwick asserts that the vocation¹⁸⁵ of a sexton shortens life one-third. Usually grave-diggers are heavy drinkers; they take to drinking to resist the malignant influence of the vapors which arise slowly but surely out of the cemetery soil, and to do away with any “maudlin sentimentality” that may still linger in their hearts, and that might interfere¹⁸⁶ with their horrible work.

On March 1, 1886, Marke Thornton, of Washington, Ga., met with a singular death. His decease resulted 87from inhaling poisonous gas which seeped¹⁸⁷ through into a grave he was digging by the side of another. The other men at work with him left the grave as soon as they detected the gas, but Thornton, thinking there was no danger in it, remained and died.

The action of cemetery gases on the human body manifests itself in a variety of ways. Sir T. Spencer Wells states that decomposing¹⁸⁸ human remains so pollute earth, air, and water as to diminish the general health and average duration of life.

Dr. Lyon Playfair affirms that the inspiration of graveyard gases does not always cause one form of decay or putrefaction, but that it depends entirely upon the organs attacked. Entering the blood, it produces fever; communicated to the viscera, it gives origin to diarrh?a, and may, Dr. Playfair thinks, even be the source of consumption. When the irrespirable gas enters the respiratory tract¹⁶⁵, Dr. Southwood Smith claims that it is conveyed into the system through the thin and delicate walls of the air-vesicles of the lungs in the act of respiration¹⁸⁹. He states that turpentine, for instance, if only inhaled¹⁹⁰ when passing through a room that was recently painted, will exhibit its effects in some of the fluid excretions of the body even more rapidly than if it had been taken into the stomach. Dr. Riecke thinks that putrid emanations operate also through the olfactory¹⁹¹ nerves by powerful, penetrating¹⁹², and offensive smells.

Cemeteries are breeding grounds as well as foci of disease and death.
88

THE CREMATORIUM AT WOKING, ENGLAND.

Mr. Chadwick, in his “Report on the Practice of Interment in Towns” (London, 1843), writes:—

“The injurious effects of exhalations from the decomposition in question on the health and life of man is proved by a sufficient number of trustworthy facts. The injurious influence is manifest in proportion to the concentration of the emanations. Sometimes it produces asphyxia and sudden death. In a less concentrated state the emanations produce fainting, nausea¹⁹⁴, headache, languor¹⁹⁵. If, however, they are often repeated, they produce nervous and other fevers, or impart to fevers arising from other causes a typhoid type.... As there appear to be no cases in which the emanations from decomposing human remains are not of a deleterious nature, so there is no case in which the liability to danger should be incurred¹⁹⁶ by interment amidst the dwellings of the living, it being established as a general conclusion that all interments in towns 89where bodies decompose⁷⁶, contribute to the mass of atmospheric impurity¹⁹⁷ which is injurious to public health.”

The Italian physician Felix Dell’Acqua gives it as his opinion (in his study on cremation), that graveyards infect the earth, the air, and the water, and constantly endanger public health during an epidemic. Dr. Polli proved that graves deteriorate¹⁹⁸ the air we breathe and contaminate the water we drink, by loading them with organic matter.

Prof. Antonio Selmi, of Mantua, claims to have discovered organic germs in the air above graves, which he called septopneuma, and which, when injected under the skin of a pigeon, caused a typhus-like disease that ended in death within three days.

Specific germs may enter the atmosphere from the graves, which convey the deadliest of maladies, being carried very far by the wind. But the agent that makes cemetery gases so dangerous is carbonic acid.

Dr. Parkes (Practical Hygiene), the eminent English scientist, says:—

“The decomposition of bodies gives rise to a very large amount of carbonic acid. Ammonia and an offensive putrid vapor¹⁴⁷ are also given off. The air of most cemeteries is richer in carbonic acid, and the organic matter is perceptibly large, when tested by potassium permanganate.”

It is a well-known fact that carbonic acid, when inhaled in an undiluted state, causes death; it is fatal to all forms of life. When inhaled diluted¹⁹⁹ with air it interferes²⁰⁰ with the introduction of oxygen into the body, and causes the carbonic acid, which should be eliminated, to be retained. This, no doubt, prevents 90the proper tissue changes, and must in time undermine the healthiest body by seriously affecting its nutrition.

Dr. E. J. Bermingham (Disposal of the Dead) says:—

“The effect of constantly breathing an atmosphere containing an excess of carbonic acid is not perfectly²⁰¹ known. Dr. Angus Smith has attempted to determine the effect of carbonic acid per se—the influence of organic matter of respiration being eliminated. He found that three volumes per thousand caused great feebleness of the circulation, with diminished rapidity of the heart’s action; the respirations were, on the contrary, quickened, and were sometimes gasping²⁰². These effects were lessened²⁰³ when the amount of carbonic acid was smaller; but were perceptible when the amount was as low as one volume per thousand.”

According to Haberman, sensitive and nervous persons have been taken ill when walking by a cemetery.

P. Frazer, Jr., says: “A sexton and the son of a lady who died seven days before went down into the vault. Both were affected²⁰⁴ with sickness and nausea; one was affected for some years; the son had ulceration of the throat for two years.”

Mr. William Eassie affirms that, “according to a report of the French Academy of Medicine, the putrid emanations of Père la Chaise, Montmartre, and Montparnasse have caused frightful²⁰⁵ diseases of the throat and lungs, to which numbers of both sexes fall victims every year. Thus a dreadful throat disease which baffles the skill of our most experienced medical men, and which carries off its victims in a few hours, is traced to the absorption of vitiated air into the windpipe, and has been observed to rage with the greatest violence in those quarters situated nearest to cemeteries.”

91The most common diseases produced by graveyard gases are diphtheria, throat and pulmonary affections, severe diarrh?a, and dysentery. The number of cases reported is enormous. Many cases have been made public by Drs. Parkes and Tardieu.

Ramazzini (Maladies des Artisans, p. 71) asserts that sextons, whose business often compels them to enter places where there are putrefying bodies, are subject to malignant fevers, asphyxia, and suffocating²⁰⁶ catarrhs.

Fourcroy affirms that there are innumerable examples of the pernicious effects of cadaveric²⁰⁷ exhalations.

It has been stated that the carbonic acid generated by the decaying bodies is taken up by the plants, shrubbery, and trees abounding²⁰⁸ in cemeteries and their neighborhood. That excellent and well-edited newspaper Iron declares: “The consumption of vegetables whose roots had been nourished by the defunct²⁰⁹ members of a family would hardly be enjoyed by the survivors²¹⁰, unless, indeed, they possessed the philosophic²¹¹ mind and robust²¹² appetite of the French gentleman who declared that, with a certain sauce, ‘on mangerait bien son père.’”

I do not believe that very much carbonic acid is absorbed by the botanical burial-ground decorations; certainly not enough to prevent its toxic²¹⁴ action and the vitiation of the air.

Many a time was premature²¹⁵ exhumation followed by fatal consequences.

In the church of a village near Nantes, France, the remains of an aristocrat²¹⁶ were buried in 1774. By accident some of the other graves were opened, among them one which contained the corpse of a man who had been 92buried three months before. An unbearable odor immediately filled the church. Many persons who had attended at this burial were taken sick; fifteen died in a short time, the first to depart being the grave-digger who had opened the graves.

Vicq d’Azyr states that an epidemic was produced in Auvergne, by the opening of an old graveyard.

Norman Chevers (European Soldiers in India, p. 404) refers to the unhealthiness of the continent at Sukkur, India. Fevers of the most malignant type were abounding, owing to an ancient Mussulman burial-ground on which the station was placed.

Tardieu, the eminent French physician and scientist, relates (Dict. d’Hygiene, p. 517) that the excavation²¹⁷ of an old cemetery of a convent in Paris caused illness in the occupants of the adjacent dwellings. Tardieu (Ibid., p. 463) compiled a very considerable number of cases, not only of asphyxia, but of several febrile affections produced by exhumation and disturbance²¹⁸ of bodies.

Bascom relates that when the parish church in Minchinhampton, England, was rebuilding in 1843, the black earth of the cemetery surrounding it, or what was superfluous, was disposed of for manure²¹⁹, being spread upon adjoining fields. The earth was removed to change the grade of the churchyard. The result was that an epidemic broke out in the neighborhood. Children on their way to school took it. Seventeen deaths occurred, and more than 200 children had measles²²⁰, scarlet²²¹ fever, and various eruptions²²².

It seems, however, as though the above figures are not quite correct, for Mr. Eassie, who has lately made personal inquiries²²³ upon the spot, insists that the mischief²²⁴ 93which resulted has been even understated, and that the population was nearly decimated.

Dr. Adalbert Kuettlinger brings forward the sequent case to prove the deleterious action of cemetery gases. A very obese²²⁵ lady died during the month of July, 1854. Previous to death she had requested, as a special favor, that her remains be buried in the church to which she belonged. This was granted and promised her. After her demise²²⁶ she was interred in a vault of the church, and the next day the minister delivered the funeral oration²¹³. It was very warm that day; several months before the lady’s departure there had been aridity²²⁷, and not a drop of rain had fallen in a long time. The funeral sermon had been delivered on a Saturday; on the following Sunday the Protestant clergyman preached to an assemblage of nearly 900, who had come to attend the Lord’s Supper. The warm weather still continued; many had to leave church during the service to keep from fainting; many swooned away before they could withdraw. In Germany people fast before they communicate. The sermon lasted nearly one hour and one quarter, after which the bread was consecrated²²⁸ and stood uncovered—according to custom—during the ceremony. There were 180 communicants. One quarter of an hour after the solemnity, before they had time to leave the church, more than 60 became ill; some died in severe convulsions; others, who had placed themselves immediately under medical treatment, recovered. The consternation²²⁹ among the whole congregation and citizens was great. There was a general belief that the wine used at the communion had been poisoned. The sexton and some other individuals who assisted at divine service were imprisoned²³⁰. The next 94Sunday the minister delivered a severe sermon, and pointed¹¹⁹ out several of his parishioners as participants in the conspiracy²³¹. This enthusiastic sermon was printed and widely circulated. The prisoners had to endure cruel treatment. They remained incarcerated²³² a whole week, and some, it is said, were tortured; yet they always insisted upon their innocence²³³. The second Sunday from the time of the fatal occurrence, the city authorities ordered that a chalice²³⁴ should stand uncovered on the altar one hour. The time had hardly passed when it was noticed that the wine was covered with thousands of little insects, which, by means of the sunbeams, were traced to the grave of the corpulent lady who had been buried fourteen days before. Four men were commissioned to open the vault and remove the coffin. When they attempted this, two of them died at once, and the others were only saved by the great efforts of the physician in attendance. The accused were liberated²³⁵, and the city council and clergyman begged their pardon.

Rev. Dr. Render, in “A Tour through Germany,” says:—

“Two of the crew of an American merchant ship went ashore²³⁶ near Canton, to dig a grave to bury a dead shipmate. The spade struck and penetrated²³⁸ a coffin of a man buried a few months before, and the discharge of gas struck down both the sailors, who, though taken back to the ship, died within five days.”

I doubt that there is any one who will assert that it is delightful²³⁹ to drink an aqueous solution of one’s own grandfather or great-grandmother, yet there are many who do so. The emanations from our ancestors may and do filter through the earth, and get into the water we drink. Think of that!

95Wells, springs, and rivers are polluted by the infiltration²⁴⁰ of water highly charged with organic matter. Often such water has been the cause of fatal disease, yet nothing was done to guard against it.

THE DORCHESTER-SHIRE CREMATION FURNACE.

Prof. Victor C. Vaughan, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Michigan, in a paper on “Water Supply,” read at a sanitary convention at Ypsilanti, Mich., July 1, 1885, states:—

“To show you the stupidity and recklessness of people, even in this enlightened century, which is manifested concerning the contamination of water, I must mention one other case. There is in the county of Kalamazoo, in this state, a nice little village by the name of Richland. It is situated in a most beautiful farming country. The farmers of that region have grown rich on account of the fertility of the soil and other special advantages. A few years ago the village 96board desired to select a new site for a cemetery, and chose one within the village limits, and within 30 rods of a well owned by an old physician, Dr. Patchin. I always tell names in such cases, because they tell the truth, and any one can investigate them. The old doctor objected to the location of the cemetery so near his house and well, and as the result of his objection there was a lawsuit²⁴¹; and if you will pardon me, I will mention something of the condition of the land and some experiments that were made. There were some 18 inches of rich prairie land, then below this some two or three feet of hard-pan, below this there were 18 or 20 feet of gravel, such as we have all through the southern part of Michigan. In digging the graves the bodies would be put into this gravel. The gravel was so loose and so moist that in digging graves it was necessary to put in boxing to prevent the gravel from pouring in while the grave was being dug. Below the gravel, and about 30 feet below the surface, was an impervious²⁴² bed of clay, with a slope from the cemetery towards the well. It became a question now as to whether there was a possibility of the contamination of this well from burying bodies in the proposed new cemetery. I was called, and after studying the geological formation, concluded that there was a possibility of such contamination. The well was pumped dry twice a day, and on an average fifteen barrels taken from it each pumping. To show how ridiculous some theories are that have been advanced upon that subject, I will state that I was met in court with this statement: that it would be impossible for any of the water or rain falling upon this cemetery, 30 rods distant, to reach the well, because, as was found in some old book, all the water that goes into 97a well is that which falls upon a surface which will be enclosed in a circle whose center was the mouth of the well, and whose radius²⁴³ was the depth of the well. This statement was made independent of any lay of the land or the geological formation, and without any consideration whatever of the surrounding country. Fortunately this can be met very easily. Thirty barrels of water were pumped from the well each day. We know the amount of rainfall in Michigan per year, and we can calculate very easily the number of barrels that would fall upon this surface enclosed in a circle whose center was the mouth of the well, and whose radius was the depth of the well; and as the result of such a calculation we find that the amount of rain falling upon this surface during the year would not supply the well more than two or three days. Returning home and detailing the trip to Dr. Langley, he suggested that a direct experiment might be made to see whether matter would pass from the proposed cemetery to the well or not. He tested the water of the well for lithium, a substance easily detected, found it was absent, then had a salt of lithium sown over the proposed cemetery, and then examined the water of the well each day thereafter; and on the eighteenth day after the lithium was sown over the cemetery it was found in the water of the well, showing that the water did unquestionably penetrate²³⁷ the soil, pass down to the impervious bed of clay which was the watershed²⁴⁴ upon which the water in the well collected, and thence into the well. Notwithstanding proofs so positive as this, a learned judge in Michigan dismissed the case, and allowed the cemetery to be located there, with a possibility of poisoning a number of families. As a result, the families of the 98neighborhood had to discontinue the use of their well-water.”

Professor Vaughan holds that the popular belief that if water filters for any distance through the soil it is purified, is an erroneous belief, and cites a number of experiments made by himself, and numerous cases, in support of the assertion.

According to Dr. H. B. Baker¹⁰⁴, secretary of the Michigan State Board of Health (vide Report for 1874, p. 136), a terrible epidemic of cerebro-spinal meningitis, that wasted the village of Petersburg in the early part of 1874, was attributable to a spring five paces from a house and 15 paces from a cemetery, which is on ground from 12 to 15 feet higher than the level of the spring. About 18 paces from the spring was a recent grave.

Prof. R. C. Kedzie, of the Michigan State Agricultural College, to whom some of the water was sent for analysis, concluded his report as follows:—

“The presence in these waters of unusual quantities of chlorides, of ammonia, of albuminoid ammonia, of nitrates and nitrites, and finally of phosphates, shows these waters to be very unusual in their composition. We might account for the presence of all these substances if matters very rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, e.g., flesh, were undergoing decomposition in their vicinity, and the results of this decomposition passed directly into this water. The fact that the spring is near and lies below the level of the graveyard, that the well is in the midst of an old Indian graveyard, gives much plausibility²⁴⁵ to this explanation. The fact that the first person attacked with cerebro-spinal meningitis in Petersburg used the water of this well, and that 99others who used the spring water were attacked with the same disease, would very naturally attract very significant attention to the composition of these waters as having some possible connection with the epidemic.”

For several years many residents of Nyack, N.Y., have protested against the encroachment²⁴⁶ of the Oak Hill Cemetery property upon the thickly populated portions of the village, objections being principally made on sanitary grounds. Examination of the ponds and wells of the village has demonstrated that they are being constantly polluted by the emanations from the cemetery.

Not long ago the Detroit Evening News declared that the wells in the neighborhood of Woodmere Cemetery do not catch the rainwater until after it has been filtered through the thousands of graves in the cemetery, filled with decaying bodies, and that no water is obtained in the vicinity which is not discolored and has a brackish²⁴⁸ taste. After a heavy rain the impurities²⁴⁹ are most pronounced. The residents of Woodmere have long ago given over the use of water as a beverage²⁵⁰. I do not blame them. I would not like to drink fluid extract of dead man myself.

The New York Staats Zeitung, a reliable German publication, of May 27, 1886, relates that a lawsuit of North Bergen Township, N.J., against the Weehawken Cemetery Company, was tried the preceding day before Vice-Chancellor Van Fleet, at Newark, N.J. The township demands that for sanitary reasons the cemetery shall be closed at once and no further burials permitted in the same. Several physicians testified to the fact that diphtheria and other infectious diseases are endemic in the township, and that they are due mainly to 100the unhygienic state of the cemetery, which lies in the most populated part of the township. One physician gave it as his opinion that numerous cases of diphtheria that appeared among the little pupils of a school was caused by drinking water from a well in the proximity of the cemetery.

In an address on “Public Health, or Sanitary Science,” read before the medical society of the state of West Virginia, May 24, 1882, Dr. T. S. Camden says:—

“The Board of Health report for 1879 gives the investigation of an outbreak of diphtheria in Northern Vermont, which occurred in May, 1879. In a school of 22 persons, 16 were prostrated²⁵¹ in two days, one-half of whom died. Upon investigation the cause of the outbreak was found to be from the public drinking water from a brook¹³⁸ into which had been thrown the carcasses of dead animals. Another outbreak of the disease of great virulence²⁵² was caused by persons using water that was poisoned by the dead carcass of an animal that had been buried 75 feet distant from a spring. The grass in this instance showed by its luxuriance the trace to the spring. After the germs were once developed in many of these cases by drinking the polluted water, the disease was communicated to other persons far removed from the cause of the primary outbreak. One convalescent patient communicated the disease to six persons. Numerous illustrations of the importance of sanitary regulations are given in these epidemics²⁵³.”

Thus we have illustrations of the origin of diphtheria from putrid animal matter; and, after the germs were implanted in persons, fatal epidemics spread, and many lives were lost that could have been saved by proper hygienic measures.

101Dr. Prosper²⁵⁴ de Pietra Santa, the most enthusiastic French cremationist, and a man who has investigated everything pertaining²⁵⁵ to incineration thoroughly²⁵⁶, calls attention to the example of the villages of Rotondella and Bollita. The burial-grounds of these ill-starred villages were situated on the summit of hills that were beset with woods. They were at the lawful²⁵⁷ distance, and to all appearances in a most favorable location. Unfortunately, the springs from which the inhabitants were accustomed to derive⁴⁹ their water supply emerged from the base of the hills which were surmounted²⁵⁸ by the woods. These springs were the result of collections of rainwater, which, percolating²⁵⁹ through the earth of the hills, became impregnated with the organic matter which the ground contained. In the course of time, the drinking-water of these two villages became so contaminated that it caused a frightful epidemic.

Prof. Dr. E. Reichardt, of Jena (Gesundheit I, No. 1), published a large number of cases in which drinking-water was polluted by cemetery emanations.

Many cases are on record where water contaminated by graveyard emanations, by poisonous fluids oozing²⁶⁰ through the soil, has proven harmful to health. Numerous cases of typhoid fever sprung from this source. Contagious²⁶¹ diseases can also be communicated in this way. Riecke and Galtie have compiled statistics of cases of typhoid fever and other contagious maladies due to this cause that withstand the severest criticism.
“The rivers die into offensive pools,
And, charged with putrefaction, breathe a gross
And mortal nuisance into all the air.”
102

CREMATION IN THE CASEMENTS²⁶² OF PARIS DURING THE REIGN OF THE COMMUNE.

Kate Field, the well-known author and lecturer, says:

“These are times that are trying men’s and women’s bodies quite as much as their souls. The zymotic diseases breaking out in what were formerly²⁶³ healthy villages may set even the blindest to seek for causes; and perhaps the most prejudiced may finally be forced to admit that one great source of water contamination is the existence of multitudinous graveyards contiguous to habitations. In my daily excursions on horseback, which cover about 15 miles, I count seven graveyards 103perched on hills, the occupants of the adjacent towns preparing for speedy exit from this world by living below the dead and using well-water. Suggest to them that the prevailing ‘malaria’ may be due to drinking up the remains of their deceased ancestors, and a howl of ‘sacrilege’ rends²⁶⁴ the air.”

And in an admirable essay on cremation in the St. Louis Daily Globe-Democrat of July 12, 1885, this graceful²⁶⁵ writer, deservedly noted²⁶⁶, states:—

“New England villages, once so free from ills, are taking on the airs of invalids²⁶⁷; and it is often a question whether families that remain in big towns during the summer are not better off than their wealthier neighbors, who hie to overcrowded so-called watering places, not unfrequently returning with germs of typhoid fever in their systems, that later breaks forth to their amazement²⁶⁸, and for which they are at a loss to account. They forget how they drank well-water, the springs of which percolated²⁶⁹ through peaceful village graveyards. Man’s worst enemies are his own superstition and ignorance.

“I learned by terrible experience when very young the horrors of earth burial. I now know its crime against the living.”

Miss Field is not only converted to but convinced of incineration, convinced that it is preferable to any other method; the moment a cremation society was incorporated in New York, she became a member.

Col. R. E. Whitman, U. S. A., remarks: “People who wonder at the change that has come over our New England villages, the homes of a vigorous ancestry²⁷⁰, and deplore²⁷¹ the advent²⁷² of this mysterious ‘malaria,’ the unseen vampire²⁷³ that sucks the red blood of the present 104generation, would do well to look about them and see how the graveyards, old and new, have grown in two centuries, how the town has surrounded them; how the water supply is from the same old wells; how the town, never having arrived at a magnitude seeming to demand a sewerage system, allows the refuse of generations to mingle with the surface soil. It would be a theme worthy¹⁹³ of the magic pen of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Imagine his description of water percolating through the grave of some despised Lazarus, feeding the well of his life enemy, Dives, and compelling him daily to quaff²⁷⁵ the poison his own cruel ignorance had distilled²⁷⁶.”

Undoubtedly²⁷⁷ many country towns whose cemeteries are in their midst are drinking daily, despite the acknowledged impurity of the water, disease and death. An English writer very pertinently²⁷⁸ remarks that “if the formation of a deep sewer²⁷⁴ will suffice to drain dry the wells near its line of march, then the sinking of a well near a burying-ground must help to drain the latter.”

Much complaint was at one time made in England, concerning the pollution of wells by cemeteries. In Versailles, France, the water of the wells which lie below the churchyard of St. Louis, could not be used on account of its pollution.

Deep wells have been found to be infected more than 600 feet from the cemeteries. In France and in some parts of Germany, the opening of wells within 300 feet of a cemetery has been prohibited. The reports of the boards of health of Massachusetts and New Jersey²⁷⁹ give abundant evidence that country graveyards often contaminate the water supply when the wells are on a 105lower level. The Michigan reports also contain a description of a case that occurred at Grand Rapids.

A hygienic council held some time ago at Brussels decided²⁸⁰ that wells could not be safely dug nearer than 400 yards to any graveyard, and that even at that distance absolute protection was not certain.

The constant prevalence of dysentery at Secunderabad, in the Deccan (India), seems to have been partly due to the water which filtered through an extensive burial-ground. One of the sources of water contained, by analysis, according to Dr. Parkes, 119 grains of solids per gallon; and in some instances there were 8, 11, and even 30 grains per gallon, of organic matter.

Sir J. McGrigor partly attributed the fatality²⁸¹ of dysentery in the Peninsula, at Ciudad Roderigo, to the use of water percolating through a graveyard in which nearly 20,000 bodies had been hastily inhumed.

Medical Councilor, Dr. Kuechenmeister, who examined the wells of Dresden, Germany, discovered the water to be very impure²⁸², especially in the new parts of the city, and in the vicinity of the so-called “French” graves. The same results were arrived at in Zuerich, where it was demonstrated that the typhoid fever epidemic of Auszerbuehl was due to water rendered impure by cadaveric effluvia.

In Philadelphia, three cemeteries, containing 80,000 graves, are so situated as to be liable to drain into the Schuylkill, the drinking-water of 1,000,000 of people. The diarrh?a prevalent during the Centennial Exhibition in the Quaker City is said (by many eminent sanitarians) to have been caused by burial-ground water drunk by strangers unaccustomed to it.

The monumental cemetery at Milan, which is situated 106upon a hill some 180 yards to the north of the city, was proved to have been the cause of serious illness in its neighborhood, produced by the contamination of the wells in the vicinity. The water of the well of the Place Garibaldi was analyzed²⁸³ by Professors Parvesi and Rotundi, who found it tainted²⁸⁴ by organic matter.

The Atlanta Medical Journal states that two young ladies who drank water from a spring situated on a hillside, near an old graveyard, became severely²⁸⁵ ill. One was seized with py?mia and diarrh?a, the other with typhoid fever; both died. Cattle that drank of the water were also made sick.

Professor Pumpilly has made certain by recent experiments that sandy soil does not prevent bacterial²⁸⁶ infection from entering a well situated at a considerable distance from cesspools and cemeteries. Indeed, he claims further that “dry gravel and coarse sand do not prevent the entrance into houses built upon them of those microorganisms which swarm²⁸⁷ in the ground-air, around leaky cesspools, near graveyards, and in the filthy²⁸⁸ made land of cities.”

Anent the idea that the gases and organic matters which arise from the graves rapidly undergo changes by entering into new combinations when brought into contact with the earth, Dr. John O. Marble, of Worcester, Mass., says:—

“The monstrous²⁸⁹ delusion²⁹⁰ that the mere²⁴⁷ contact of the corpse with fresh earth renders it innocuous, and suffices for safe disinfection, is dissipated by overwhelming evidence. I distinctly remember my boyish scruples²⁹¹ concerning the water of a well situated not fifty yards from graves in the churchyard adjoining my father’s garden. This old ‘God’s acre’ I have a hundred times 107passed, in my timid boyhood, in the shades of night, with palpitating heart, and a pace rivalled only by that of Tam O’ Shanter’s steed from witch-haunted Kirk Alloway to the ‘Keystone’ of the ‘Brig o’ Doon.’ My father overcame my scruples concerning the water by stating the belief then held, that the earth was a purifier and a safe depurator, and that no harm could come to that well, 30 feet deep, the pride and unfailing source of supply of the neighborhood. Yet I, that same autumn, suffered a severe and nearly fatal attack of typhoid fever, and another member of the family was similarly affected a year later. The fever occurred when the well was low, and I have no doubt, in the light of present knowledge of such dangers, that, repulsive as is the thought, I drank water filtered through the bones of my revered²⁹² ancestors buried there, and that the polluted water caused that illness. To those who criticise²⁹³ the advocates of cremation for quoting ancient examples only, of harm from graves, this instance will appear sufficiently²⁹⁴ recent and intimate.”

Opponents of incineration, who lay great stress upon the disinfecting powers of the earth, forget that the soil is easily saturated by the emanations from the dead. Professor Presscott, of the University of Michigan, says in regard to this matter:—

“The purifying power of ground, like that of the air above it, is limited and easily overcharged. If ground-air be loaded with more putrescent vapor than it can oxidize, then poison is carried through the porous earth.”

Dr. William Porter, of St. Louis, Mo., has recorded the following case:—

“A young man died suddenly from diphtheria, and was buried in the village churchyard. At some little 108distance was a well, from which the good church-goers drank freely each Sunday. Finally the water of the well became f?tid, for the supply was infiltrated²⁹⁵ by the horrible decomposition from this, the nearest grave. Was it not suggestive that 20 from that congregation died from diphtheria while this impure well was in use? These people lived in mountain homes, in a pure atmosphere, and though many of these cases were isolated²⁹⁶,—far removed from others,—yet in all the disease was alike virulent and deadly.”

Churchyard emanations can penetrate almost anything; they have a remarkable²⁹⁷ force. The chairman and superintendent²⁹⁸ of sewers²⁹⁹ of Holborn and Finsbury division, London, claimed that putrid matter from cemeteries over 30 feet distant had penetrated the cement and brick of his drain.

Several years ago, when Mr. Holland, the English government inspector³⁰⁰ of burial-grounds, investigated the state of Tooting Cemetery, it transpired³⁰¹ that the drainage provided for the burial-ground was insufficient³⁰²; there was merely a system of surface drainage. In one case (admitted by the cemetery board) a coffin was placed in a grave that contained enough water to cover the head of it. The entire drainage of the burial-ground was conducted into a ditch near by, which ended in the river Wandle, from which the inhabitants obtained their drinking-water.

Lefort (in a monograph³⁰³ to the Paris Academy of Sciences) points to the possibility of well-contamination by neighboring cemeteries. In one instance he detected, by chemical analysis, that a well was polluted by a burial-ground 50 metres distant.
109

Retort

Lancaster Crematorium

The Parisian scientist M. Duchamp detected a spring 110that percolated entirely through graveyards, picking up organic matter on the way, and that tasted very strongly.

Not a few analyses of water tainted by graveyard emanations testify to the fact that it is harmful, nay³⁰⁴, that it is extremely dangerous, to those who consume it. Nor is the danger always apparent. In 1874 the Broad Street pump at London, England, carried cholera to those who drank its water; yet the latter looked clean, had no perceptible taste, and was odorless.
“The very witching time of night
When graveyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out
Contagion³⁰⁵ on this world.”
—Shakespeare.

To the question, “Can an epidemic of any kind be caused by graveyard emanations?” there is but one reply; the facts on record compel us to answer in the affirmative.

Dr. Buck³⁰⁶, in his excellent work on Hygiene, writes: “It is impossible for any one to say how long the materies morbi may continue to live underground. If organic matter can be boiled and frozen without losing its vitality³⁰⁷, and seeds 3000 years old will sprout³⁰⁸ when planted, it would be hardihood to assert that the poison of cholera, or small-pox, or typhus may not for years lie dormant³⁰⁹, but not dead, in the moist temperature of the grave.”

Dr. Wheelhouse, of Leeds, England, says: “Do we not shun³¹⁰, and that most wisely, the presence of those afflicted³¹¹ with infectious diseases as long as they remain amongst us; and yet, no sooner are they removed by death than we are content, with tender sympathy indeed, and most loving care, it is true (but with how much wisdom?) to lay them in the ground, that they 111may slowly dissipate their terribly infectious gases through the soil, and saturating³¹² that, may thereby recharge the rains of heaven as they filter through it, with all their virulence and terrible power of reproduction in the systems of the living. I am not the thorough and entire believer in the disinfecting and depurating power of the soil that I once was, for terrible examples of its failure have, in my judgment³¹³, come under my notice.”

Often the site of an old grave is used to make a new one, and in consequence earth is brought to light that is saturated with the effluvia of corpses of those who, perhaps, have died of some contagious or infectious disease. The crime that is committed by individuals when they bury persons deceased of such maladies is pithily³¹⁴ expressed by that champion of modern cremation, Sir Henry Thompson, who says: “Is it not indeed a social sin of no small magnitude to sow the seeds of disease and death broadcast, caring only to be certain that they cannot do much harm to our own generation?” But such is selfish human nature!

The first to show the connection between epidemics and the process of decomposition was Professor Pettenkofer, of Munich, Bavaria. He demonstrated that the presence of putrefying organic bodies, air, moisture, and warmth, in a porous soil, are the potent³¹⁵ factors which originate and develop pestilential germs.

The great mortality, the severity, that attended in former times the appearance of epidemics in cities where graveyards were situated in the center of a large population, illustrates³¹⁶ the deadly influence which these “God’s acres” have.

112Saint Augustine pointed to the fact that epidemics are caused by decomposing organic bodies.

Forestus reported many cases of malignant fever caused by the emanations of cadavers.

Ambrose Paré, the renowned³¹⁷ French surgeon, in 1562 demonstrated that a malignant (pestilential) fever, then raging in L’Agenois, was due to the putrid vapors arising from a neighboring well into which many dead bodies, soldiers fallen in battle, had been thrown.

Raulin (Observ. de Med.) relates how the section of a corpse at Leicturm, in the plain of Armagnac, caused a frightful epidemic.

A terrible pestilence, which decimated especially the lower classes, was originated in Riorno (Auvergne) by the digging up of the ground of an old cemetery, done to beautify the city.

Jean Wolf, who reported upon an epidemic of malignant fever in 1731, attributed it to putrefying animal remains.

In 1752 a man who had died of small-pox 30 years ago was dug up in Chelwood, a village near London, England. He had been buried in an oaken coffin which, when taken up, was yet entire and could have been so removed from the grave. But because the grave-digger could not handle it properly he got impatient and beat in the cover of the casket with his spade, whereupon immediately a mephitic smell arose that filled the air to some distance. The corpse, which was to be deposited in a vault, had been a person of consequence, and therefore not only the inhabitants of his native village attended the exhumation, but a good many people from neighboring places. But a few days after 14 113persons contracted small-pox, and within a short time the entire village was infected, only two individuals enjoying immunity³¹⁸ because they had had the disease. Although the epidemic was of a light character, two persons died of it. All those in the surrounding villages who had been at the exhumation were also attacked by small-pox.

Riecke adduces analogous³¹⁹ cases, and relates that the opening of a vault which contained a victim of small-pox was followed by the death of a workman and the infection of another person.

Maret is authority for the following statement: A fever, complicated by gastric³²⁰ and catarrhal disorders³²¹, was prevalent in 1773 at Saulieu, Burgundy; but few of those it attacked died. This was in the latter part of February. On the 3d of March, a corpulent body, a victim of the disease, was buried in the cathedral, and on the 20th of April following, very near to the first, that of a woman who, in child-bed, had succumbed to the fever. Maret reports that when the coffin was lowered into the vault, the ropes slipped from the grasp of the men who held them; the coffin fell to the ground and broke; a putrid fluid, that filled the church with a most nauseating³²² odor, oozed³²³ from it. Of 170 persons who remained in the church from the time that the grave was opened until the conclusion of the ceremony, 149 were attacked by a malignant putrid fever, which, bearing many of the characteristics of the prevalent fever, was undoubtedly the result of the vitiation of the church.

The city of Tacna, Peru, was yearly visited at certain times by a pernicious fever, which caused many deaths. The cemetery was in the center of the city. Finally, 114the dead were buried outside of the city limits, and the fever disappeared.

During the month of March, 1781, and the half-year preceding it, an epidemic raged at Pasajes, Spain, which befell 127 persons, of which number 83 died. This epidemic was attributed to the poisonous vapors arising from the overcrowded vaults of the parish church.

Trousseau mentions the case of a grave-digger who was attacked by small-pox soon after opening the grave of an individual who had died of that malady³²⁵ many years ago.

Mr. Cooper charged an outbreak of small-pox in Eyam, Derbyshire, Eng., to the excavation of an old cemetery.

A dispatch from Montreal, dated Oct. 26, 1885, states that a grave-digger of St. Sulpice, named Robitaille, made a grave next to where a man who died from small-pox a month ago was buried. At the time there was no small-pox in the village; but Robitaille, some days after digging the grave, sickened and finally died of small-pox, making it evident that he contracted the disease from the body of a man who had been buried for a month.

Recent scientific discoveries confirm the opinion long held by persons endowed with common sense that the germs of many infectious and contagious diseases retain their vitality and the power to spread the respective malady in the grave and the layers of earth surrounding it. By means of these germs, yellow fever, cholera, small-pox, splenic fever, scarlet fever, diphtheria, and other diseases belonging to the same category, can be communicated from the dead to the living, even years after burial. Concerning splenic fever, which can be 115transmitted from animal to man, the great French investigator³²⁶ and pathologist, Louis Pasteur, says:—

“Recently, we discovered the characteristic germs in pits in which animals dead of splenic fever (charbon) had been buried for 12 years; and their culture was as virulent as that from the blood of an animal recently dead. Anthracoid germs in the earth of pits in which animals have been buried are brought to the surface by earthworms; and in this fact we may find the whole etiology of the disease, inasmuch as the animals swallow these germs with their food.”

The British Medical Journal in 1880 commented on Pasteur’s great discovery as follows:—

“Pasteur’s recent researches on the etiology of ‘charbon’ shows that this earth-mould positively³²⁷ contains the specific germs which propagate the disease, and that the same specific germs are found within the intestines³²⁸ of the worms. The parasitic³²⁹ organism, or bacteridium, which, inoculated³³⁰ from a diseased to a healthy animal, propagates the specific disease, may be destroyed by putrefaction after burial. But before this process has been completed, germs or spores³³¹ may have been formed which will resist the putrefactive process for many years, and lie in a condition of latent life, like a grain of corn, or any flower-seed, ready to germinate³³² and communicate the specific disease. In a field in the Jura, where a diseased cow had been buried two years before at a depth of nearly seven feet, the surface earth not having been disturbed in the interval³³³, Pasteur found that the mould contained germs which, introduced by inoculation³³⁴ into a guinea-pig, produced charbon and death. Further, if a worm be taken from an infected spot, the earth in the alimentary³³⁵ canal of the 116worm contains these spores or germs of charbon, which, inoculated, propagate the disease; and the mould deposited on the surface by the worm, when dried into dust, is blown over the grass and plants on which the cattle feed, and may thus spread the disease. After various farming operations of tilling and harvest, Pasteur has found the germs just over the graves of the diseased cattle, but not to any great distance. After rains or morning dews the germs of charbon, with a quantity of other germs, were found about the neighboring plants; and Pasteur says that in cemeteries it is very possible that germs capable of propagating specific diseases of different kinds quite harmless to the earthworm may be carried to the surface of the soil, ready to cause disease in the proper animals. The practical inferences in favor of cremation are so strong that, in Pasteur’s words, they ‘need not be enforced.’”

FURNACE OF THE BUFFALO³³⁶ CREMATORIUM.
(Venini system.)

Sir T. Spencer Wells pointed out, in his paper read 117before the British Medical Association, in August, 1880, that the observations of Darwin, “on the formation of mould,” made more than 40 years ago, when he was a young man, are curiously³³⁷ confirmatory of the conclusions of Pasteur. In Darwin’s paper, read at the Geological Society of London, in 1837, he proved that, in old pasture-land, every particle of the superficial layer of earth, overlying different kinds of subsoil, has passed through the intestines of earthworms. The worms swallowed earthy matter, and, after separating the digestible or serviceable portion, they eject the remainder in little coils or heaps at the mouths of their burrows. In dry weather the worm descends³³⁸ to a considerable depth, and brings up to the surface the particles which it ejects. This agency of earthworms is not so trivial as it might appear. By observation in different fields, Mr. Darwin proved, in one case, that a depth of more than three inches of this worm-mould had been accumulated in 15 years; and, in another, that the earthworms had covered a bed of marl with their mould, in 18 years, to an average depth of 13 inches.

Professor Klebs, of Prague, Bohemia, discovered the bacteria of malarial³³⁹ fever. They were called by him bacilli malari?. His discovery was verified by Prof. Tomassi Crudelli, of Rome, Italy.

Dr. Robert Koch, of the Imperial Sanitary Bureau at Berlin, Germany, detected the bacillus tuberculosis³⁴⁰; there is no doubt, to my mind, but that consumption can possibly be spread by the upturning of the soil of a grave containing the victim of tuberculosis.

The same gentleman, now professor in Berlin University, discovered the comma bacillus of cholera. He 118expressed his belief in its propagation in the grave, especially when the latter is moist.

Houlier and Feruel are responsible for the statement that, during the prevalence of the plague in Paris in the beginning of the 18th century, the disease lingered longest and was the most severe in the vicinity of the “cimetière de la Trinité.”

The Detroit Evening News, of Sept. 23, 1886, reports the following case in which diphtheria was contracted from a corpse:—

“Blanche Hunt, a 12-year old girl, died at Albion of malignant diphtheria last week. Sophie Calkins, aged³²⁴ 13, died at Fair Haven³⁴¹, Vt., of the same disease, contracted the week before at Albion. There are no other cases in town, and these two girls are supposed to have taken the disease at the cemetery, where they went into the vault containing the remains of a woman sent there from abroad, who had died from what the physicians called black jaundice. It is believed her disease was really diphtheria.”

As early as 1878, the Massachusetts State Board of Health—one of the best in the world—showed that diphtheria is originated and diffused by the emanations of victims of that disease.

In 1875 the same high authority had reached similar conclusions regarding typhoid fever.

There is much evidence to show that cholera was repeatedly caused by the excavation of the graves of those who had died of the disease, and that it raged with special violence in the vicinity of cemeteries.

Dr. Sutherland attested³⁴² the fact that cholera was unusually prevalent in the immediate¹⁷⁷ neighborhood of London graveyards. This, however, need not astonish 119us, when we consider that the soil of churchyards in some of the poorer districts in London was raised two, three, or even four feet in a few years. The great prevalence of epidemic diseases in some parts of the city finally led to the formation of the Epidemiological Society of London, under the presidency³⁴³ of Dr. Babington.

When the cholera visited London in 1854, Mr. Simon asserted that if the soil of the cemeteries in which the plague-stricken of 1665 were buried would be upturned, it would make the prevailing scourge³⁴⁴ more virulent. It was done in spite of his warning, and his prediction was verified.

In 1826, when cholera made its appearance in Egypt, the French government sent out medical officers to discover, if possible, its origin. It was traced to an old and disused cemetery at Kelioub, a village near Cairo.

The outbreak of cholera at Modena, Italy, in 1828, was shown by Professor Bianchi to be due to the upturning of the ground of burial-yards in which victims of the plague had been inhumed 300 years before.

Nov. 12, 1836, Miaulis, the adjutant of Otto the First, of Greece, was attacked by cholera, of which he finally died. The body was given in charge of three men, who also assisted at the post-mortem examination. On the third day after the funeral of the adjutant, one of the men, Jacob Kuehnlein, 72 years of age, was taken ill, and died the following day. The autopsy³⁴⁵ proved the disease to be Asiatic cholera. Three days after Kuehnlein’s burial, the second of the men who had guarded Miaulis’ remains, J. Stroehlein by name, aged 48, was stricken down by the cholera, to which he succumbed within two days.

120Schauenburg (Cholera, etc., Wuerzburg, 1874, p. 8) gives it as his opinion that decomposition is favorable to the development of cholera germs, which means the propagation of the comma bacillus.

The Italians do not only stand at the head of the cremation movement to-day, but they recognized the value of that sure and never-failing germicide—fire—as early as 1837; in that year thousands of the victims of the cholera epidemic, then raging in Italy, were burned on the seashore at Palermo.

The report of the London Board of Health for 1849 directs attention to the fact that the cholera was especially prevalent and fatal in the neighborhood of graveyards. This, however, need not cause any surprise, as the London Athen?um, to this day one of the most reliable journals of the United Kingdom, states in 1850 that, during the prevalence of the scourge, 500 bodies, dead of cholera, were daily interred, in addition to those of other diseases.

Professor Jaccoud, of the faculty³⁴⁶ of medicine of the University of Paris, claims, in his “Pathologie Interne,” that there are three ways of transmission of cholera, of which the third is by corpses.

An employee of the French marine³⁴⁷ hospital at Therapia, near Constantinople, was present at the autopsy of Marshal Saint Armand, who had died of cholera, which was held in the amphitheatre of the institution. A few days after the man succumbed to a severe attack of de choléra foudroyant, which he had contracted at the post-mortem examination.

Dr. F. Bidlot, of Liege, Belgium, states that, in 1867, he was called to a robust cholera patient who, when asked about the cause of his illness, said that until 121noon he had worked at the grave of a person, dead of cholera, who had been buried very superficially, since an exhumation was to take place: when the body was disinterred, he was seized by an illness which soon proved to be cholera.

The following case was also reported by Dr. Bidlot. A nun¹⁶² who had nursed cholera patients in a hospital died of the dread disease in the summer of 1860. At 10 A.M. in the latter part of October she was exhumed. At four o’clock in the forenoon of the same day Dr. Bidlot was called to Dr. Romiée, who had attended the disinterment. He was found to be suffering from cholera, and declared that his illness was owing to his exposure to the emanations of the body dug up.

Trinity Church graveyard, at New York, was the center of very fatal prevalence of cholera at every visit of that pest from 1832 to 1854.

Dr. Rauch relates (Intra-Mural Interments in Populous³⁴⁸ Cities, Chicago, 1868) how the cholera was spread in Burlington, Ia., in 1850. Not a single death took place in the vicinity of the cemetery of the city, until 20 persons, deceased of cholera, had been interred therein; then one case after another occurred, till the epidemic became truly alarming.

In 1865, when a cholera epidemic invaded Paris, France, it raged with great virulence in the old quarter of Montmartre; in that part of the metropolis there was a vast burial-ground, from which toxic vapors were continually escaping. Of 5000 victims of the epidemic, 1800 belonged to this ancient community. The great mortality in this quarter of the city was no doubt due to the presence of the overcrowded cemetery.

Dr. John Murray, inspector-general of hospitals in 122Bengal, India, wrote a book, in which he endeavored to determine whether or not cholera can be propagated by human remains. He declares emphatically (Propagation of Cholera, 1873, p. 216), that the body of a cholera patient, dead or alive, must be regarded as an agent of transmission of the disease; and adduces the sequent facts to prove his assertion. Several women, whose business it was to lay out corpses, had contracted cholera. In 1818 a man died of the dread disease; five fellow-men, who carried his body to the last resting-place, were taken down with cholera, and died in the night after the burial. Dr. Townsend reported that, in 1869, three men were commissioned by the police to carry a corpse to Dumwahi. The day following their arrival the cholera appeared in this city, and the first to die of the scourge were the three who had borne the corpse.

Cholera from time to time threatens to invade our peaceful land. When it comes, shall we, in view of what has just been shown, bury its victims, saturate¹²⁵ the earth with its specific germs, which, if the grave should ever be disturbed, may breed a terrible pestilence, if not during our lifetime, yet surely during that of our descendants? There can be but one answer: To secure ourselves against a repetition of epidemics, we must burn our dead; it is a duty that cannot be evaded³⁴⁹, that we owe to all mankind, that, when sinned against, as it has been in the past, is revenged by the resulting visitation.

When the cases above related are taken into consideration, even the most vehement³⁵⁰ anti-cremationist cannot deny that the specific germs of infectious and contagious diseases are propagated by earth-burial, and that the only sure medium for their destruction is fire, 123for no disease germ can pass through the rosy³⁵¹ heat of the crematory and survive to propagate its species.

FURNACE OF THE CINCINNATI CREMATORIUM.
(Designed by M R. Conway.)

The scientific world was lately startled by the gladsome news that Dr. Domingo Freire, a physician of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, had discovered the peculiar microbe of yellow fever. The blood of yellow fever patients swarms³⁵² with these microbes (cryptococci), which, by inoculation, produce the disease in animals. Dr. Freire named the microbe cryptococcus xanthogenicus. He was aided in his labors³⁵³, to detect the specific germ 124of yellow fever, which included microscopic³⁵⁴ and spectroscopic examinations as well as experiments on animals, by his able assistant, Se?or Menezes Doria.

Dr. Freire also examined some soil from the cemetery of Jurujuba, where victims of the yellow jack³⁵⁵ (as we call this fever sometimes) lie interred. Some of this earth was dried and then placed in a cage which contained a guinea pig. Previously to the introduction of the earth, the blood of the animal was examined microscopically³⁵⁶, and found to contain no bacteria of any kind. The animal became ill, and died within five days. When its tissues were examined after death, they were found to present all the characteristic changes which yellow fever brings about. The blood was full of cryptococci xanthogenici in various degrees of development. The urine was highly albuminous. The brain and the intestines were stained yellow by the infiltration of the coloring matter of the cryptococci. After this discovery, the doctor recommended that all victims of yellow fever be destroyed by fire, to prevent general infection. The Brazilian government (one of the most enlightened in the world) immediately ordered that a cremation furnace be built at Jurujuba, in which all those that die of yellow fever there must be incinerated.

The St. Louis Medical and Surgical³⁵⁷ Journal makes this very sensible suggestion regarding the disposition of the remains of those dying of yellow fever in our own United States. It says:—

“From what we have learned from private sources, the resurrection of the bodies, during the winter months, of those who died of yellow fever, has done much to perpetuate³⁵⁸ this terrible disease in southern cities, until 125the warm weather has set in. Cremation obviates³⁵⁹ all possible harm that can come from the dead, and duty to the living demands that everything be done to destroy the possibility of propagating this and all contagious diseases that run so malignant a course.”

Dr. J. F. A. Adams says:—

“Dr. Joseph Akerly expressed the belief that Trinity Churchyard had been an active cause of the yellow fever in New York in 1822, aggravating³⁶⁰ the malignity³⁶¹ of the epidemic in its vicinity. This church was built in 1698, and the ground had been receiving the dead for 124 years. Sometimes bodies were buried only 18 inches below the surface, and it was impossible to dig without disturbing the remains. During the Revolutionary War, this burial-ground had emitted pestilential odors, and in 1781 Hessian soldiers were employed to cover the ground with a layer of earth two or three feet in depth. The ground was unusually offensive in 1782, and annoyed passengers on the surrounding streets previous to the appearance of the yellow fever in July. During the epidemic, the condition of this churchyard, and the virulence of the disease in its vicinity, called for some active measures, and on the night of Sept. 22 Dr. Roosa covered the ground with 52 casks of quicklime, the stench being at the time so excessive as to cause several laborers³⁶² to vomit³⁶³. On the 25th and 26th of the same month St. Paul’s Churchyard, and the vaults of the North Dutch Church in William Street, received the same treatment, these being likewise very offensive and foci of epidemics.”

When the yellow fever raged in New Orleans in 1853, the death-rate in the Fourth District (in which there 126were three large burial-grounds) was 452 per 1000 of the population.

Dr. Bryant, writing on yellow fever at Norfolk in 1855, regards cemeteries as a constant source of danger in an epidemic, and urges the total forbidding of intramural or even near-by suburban³⁶⁴ cemeteries.

Sir Spencer Wells related a fact recently at a meeting of the Health Exhibition in London, England, which has a strong bearing on the source of epidemics and their annihilation by cremation. Some persons who had died of scarlet fever were interred in a country graveyard. Thirty years afterward³⁶⁵ the cemetery was included in a neighboring garden, and the old graves dug up. Scarlet fever forthwith broke out in the rectory and parish, and no other probable source having been discovered, it is impossible to avoid the inference that the germs of scarlatinal infection can retain their vitality a third of a century.

In epidemics individuals should be forced to allow their dead (unless they succumb¹⁷⁹ to some disease other than the prevailing scourge) to be cremated³⁶⁶. To stamp out a contagious or infectious malady, or to arrest its progress, incineration must be made general; its benefits are nil³⁶⁷ when confined to isolated cases. The individual must stand back when the public health is in jeopardy³⁶⁸.

Governments should not allow bodies to be introduced into their respective countries from an infected land, unless such bodies have been previously reduced to ashes.

Thousands of cases of malignant sickness, I have no doubt, could be prevented by the prompt introduction of cremation. Why not, then, introduce it? Simply 127because there is an unreasonable³⁶⁹ prejudice against the custom? It is ridiculous! Should any mere prejudice stand in the way of a sanitary reform? I leave it to any sound mind to decide the question. I am not advocating obligatory³⁷⁰ incineration in times of peace except in cases of infectious and contagious disease. I would rejoice to see it generally introduced, but not by force. Cremation, moreover, needs not the aid of the sword or law; it will find its way unassisted.

Besides human and animal remains, I think all garbage should be destroyed by fire.

The idea of cremation which, carried by the wings of enthusiasm, traversed the whole civilized³⁷¹ world in the spring of 1874, is really naught but a demand of hygiene in favor of our own health. Not only physicians, but also laymen³⁷², should enter the arena³⁷³ where the great fight between earth-burial and cremation is going on, and combat for glorious incineration.

The International Medical Congress which convened³⁷⁴ at Florence, Italy, in 1869 examined into the various methods of burial, and concluded by expressing its belief that cremation was necessary, and should be adopted in the interest of civilization and public health.

Dr. C. W. Purdy, of Chicago, Ill., says: “Burial-grounds are unquestionably ruinous to health, as both theory and facts amply demonstrate; many sections of population suffer annually disease and death which are exposed to their influences; all engaged in this unwholesome system suffer—the grave-diggers, the gardeners, the men who repair the vaults and tombstones, the friends who visit the graves, and the whole funeral procession are exposed directly. There is no redeeming³⁷⁵ 128feature about this burial system, degrading to the dead and dangerous to the living.”

The celebrated³⁷⁶ medical author, Moleschott, even more vehemently³⁷⁷ condemns³⁷⁸ cemeteries. He claims that they emit a vapor which causes malignant fevers, and concludes his remarks by calling them “workshops and factories of the devil.”

Beyond a doubt, cremation soonest places the bodies of the dead in a condition where they can do the least harm to the living. Incineration destroys all disease germs and at once removes all possibility of the contamination of air and water by the dead.

Then why not introduce cremation and do away with all the evils described in this chapter? It is of no consequence to the dead, whether they rot in the earth and originate miasma, or are transformed by fire into pure white ashes. They feel as little of the process of decay as they do of the flame; their eye is surrounded by the same darkness, whether they are down in the deep grave or in the glowing light of the crematory furnace. But it is of the greatest consequence to us, the living; and the only way to protect ourselves from poisonous infection by our dead is to burn them.

1 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

2 droops   

弯曲或下垂，发蔫( droop的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If your abdomen droops or sticks out, the high BMI is correct. 如果你的腹部下垂或伸出，高BMI是正确的。
• Now droops the milk white peacock like a ghost. 乳白色的孔雀幽灵般消沉。

3 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

4 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

5 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

6 foliage   

n.叶子，树叶，簇叶

参考例句：

• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage.小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。
• Dark foliage clothes the hills.浓密的树叶覆盖着群山。

7 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。

8 par   

n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的

参考例句：

• Sales of nylon have been below par in recent years.近年来尼龙织品的销售额一直不及以往。
• I don't think his ability is on a par with yours.我认为他的能力不能与你的能力相媲美。

9 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

10 reverently   

adv.虔诚地

参考例句：

• He gazed reverently at the handiwork. 他满怀敬意地凝视着这件手工艺品。
• Pork gazed at it reverently and slowly delight spread over his face. 波克怀着愉快的心情看着这只表，脸上慢慢显出十分崇敬的神色。

11 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

12 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

13 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

14 decomposition   

n. 分解, 腐烂, 崩溃

参考例句：

• It is said that the magnetite was formed by a chemical process called thermal decomposition. 据说这枚陨星是在热分解的化学过程中形成的。
• The dehydration process leads to fairly extensive decomposition of the product. 脱水过程会导致产物相当程度的分解。

15 cremation   

n.火葬，火化

参考例句：

• Cremation is more common than burial in some countries. 在一些国家，火葬比土葬普遍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Garbage cremation can greatly reduce the occupancy of land. 垃圾焚烧可以大大减少占用土地。 来自互联网

16 horrid   

adj.可怕的；令人惊恐的；恐怖的；极讨厌的

参考例句：

• I'm not going to the horrid dinner party.我不打算去参加这次讨厌的宴会。
• The medicine is horrid and she couldn't get it down.这种药很难吃，她咽不下去。

17 urn   

n.（有座脚的）瓮；坟墓；骨灰瓮

参考例句：

• The urn was unearthed entire.这只瓮出土完整无缺。
• She put the big hot coffee urn on the table and plugged it in.她将大咖啡壶放在桌子上,接上电源。

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

19 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

20 percolates   

v.滤( percolate的第三人称单数 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• At a low flow rate, fluid merely percolates through the void spaces between stationary particles. 当流速低的时候，流体只是穿过静止的颗粒之间的空隙。 来自辞典例句
• Water percolates through sand. 水由沙中滤过。 来自互联网

21 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

22 eminently   

adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地

参考例句：

• She seems eminently suitable for the job. 她看来非常适合这个工作。
• It was an eminently respectable boarding school. 这是所非常好的寄宿学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 eminent   

adj.显赫的，杰出的，有名的，优良的

参考例句：

• We are expecting the arrival of an eminent scientist.我们正期待一位著名科学家的来访。
• He is an eminent citizen of China.他是一个杰出的中国公民。

24 repulsive   

adj.排斥的，使人反感的

参考例句：

• She found the idea deeply repulsive.她发现这个想法很恶心。
• The repulsive force within the nucleus is enormous.核子内部的斥力是巨大的。

25 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 strew   

vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于

参考例句：

• Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
• Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。

27 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

28 cumber   

v.拖累，妨碍；n.妨害；拖累

参考例句：

• She was cumbered with house hold cares.她被家务事拖累。
• We shall not cumber our thought with his reproaches.我们不应该因为他的责备而阻止我们的思想。

29 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

30 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

31 metaphorically   

adv. 用比喻地

参考例句：

• It is context and convention that determine whether a term will be interpreted literally or metaphorically. 对一个词的理解是按字面意思还是隐喻的意思要视乎上下文和习惯。
• Metaphorically it implied a sort of admirable energy. 从比喻来讲，它含有一种令人赞许的能量的意思。

32 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

33 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

34 porous   

adj.可渗透的，多孔的

参考例句：

• He added sand to the soil to make it more porous.他往土里掺沙子以提高渗水性能。
• The shell has to be slightly porous to enable oxygen to pass in.外壳不得不有些细小的孔以便能使氧气通过。

35 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

36 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

37 putrefaction   

n.腐坏，腐败

参考例句：

• Putrefaction is the anaerobic degradation of proteinaceous materials.腐败作用是蛋白性物质的厌氧降解作用。
• There is a clear difference between fermentation and putrefaction.发酵与腐败有明显区别。

38 thereby   

adv.因此，从而

参考例句：

• I have never been to that city,,ereby I don't know much about it.我从未去过那座城市，因此对它不怎么熟悉。
• He became a British citizen,thereby gaining the right to vote.他成了英国公民，因而得到了投票权。

39 pestilence   

n.瘟疫

参考例句：

• They were crazed by the famine and pestilence of that bitter winter.他们因那年严冬的饥饿与瘟疫而折磨得发狂。
• A pestilence was raging in that area. 瘟疫正在那一地区流行。

40 calamities   

n.灾祸，灾难( calamity的名词复数 )；不幸之事

参考例句：

• They will only triumph by persevering in their struggle against natural calamities. 他们只有坚持与自然灾害搏斗，才能取得胜利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• One moment's false security can bring a century of calamities. 图一时之苟安，贻百年之大患。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

41 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

42 cemeteries   

n.（非教堂的）墓地，公墓( cemetery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It's morbid to dwell on cemeteries and such like. 不厌其烦地谈论墓地以及诸如此类的事是一种病态。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In other districts the proximity of cemeteries seemed to aggravate the disease. 在其它地区里，邻近墓地的地方，时疫大概都要严重些。 来自辞典例句

43 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

44 constituents   

n.选民( constituent的名词复数 )；成分；构成部分；要素

参考例句：

• She has the full support of her constituents. 她得到本区选民的全力支持。
• Hydrogen and oxygen are the constituents of water. 氢和氧是水的主要成分。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

46 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

47 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

48 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

49 derive   

v.取得；导出；引申；来自；源自；出自

参考例句：

• We derive our sustenance from the land.我们从土地获取食物。
• We shall derive much benefit from reading good novels.我们将从优秀小说中获得很大好处。

50 combustion   

n.燃烧；氧化；骚动

参考例句：

• We might be tempted to think of combustion.我们也许会联想到氧化。
• The smoke formed by their combustion is negligible.由它燃烧所生成的烟是可忽略的。

51 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

52 calcium   

n.钙(化学符号Ca)

参考例句：

• We need calcium to make bones.我们需要钙来壮骨。
• Calcium is found most abundantly in milk.奶含钙最丰富。

53 magnesium   

n.镁

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The water contains high amounts of magnesium.这水含有大量的镁。

54 silicon   

n.硅(旧名矽)

参考例句：

• This company pioneered the use of silicon chip.这家公司开创了使用硅片的方法。
• A chip is a piece of silicon about the size of a postage stamp.芯片就是一枚邮票大小的硅片。

55 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

56 atmospheric   

adj.大气的，空气的；大气层的；大气所引起的

参考例句：

• Sea surface temperatures and atmospheric circulation are strongly coupled.海洋表面温度与大气环流是密切相关的。
• Clouds return radiant energy to the surface primarily via the atmospheric window.云主要通过大气窗区向地表辐射能量。

57 consistency   

n.一贯性，前后一致，稳定性；(液体的)浓度

参考例句：

• Your behaviour lacks consistency.你的行为缺乏一贯性。
• We appreciate the consistency and stability in China and in Chinese politics.我们赞赏中国及其政策的连续性和稳定性。

58 crumble   

vi.碎裂，崩溃；vt.弄碎，摧毁

参考例句：

• Opposition more or less crumbled away.反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
• Even if the seas go dry and rocks crumble,my will will remain firm.纵然海枯石烂，意志永不动摇。

59 mingle   

vt.使混合，使相混；vi.混合起来；相交往

参考例句：

• If we mingle with the crowd,we should not be noticed.如果我们混在人群中，就不会被注意到。
• Oil will not mingle with water.油和水不相融。

60 shudder   

v.战粟，震动，剧烈地摇晃；n.战粟，抖动

参考例句：

• The sight of the coffin sent a shudder through him.看到那副棺材，他浑身一阵战栗。
• We all shudder at the thought of the dreadful dirty place.我们一想到那可怕的肮脏地方就浑身战惊。

61 shuddering   

v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• 'I am afraid of it,'she answered, shuddering. “我害怕，”她发着抖，说。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• She drew a deep shuddering breath. 她不由得打了个寒噤，深深吸了口气。 来自飘（部分）

62 assails   

v.攻击( assail的第三人称单数 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对

参考例句：

• The fragrance of flowers assails one's nose. 花气袭人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Envy assails the noblest, the wind howls around the highest peak. 位高招人怨；山高刮大风。 来自互联网

63 nostrils   

鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Her nostrils flared with anger. 她气得两个鼻孔都鼓了起来。
• The horse dilated its nostrils. 马张大鼻孔。

64 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

65 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

66 putrid   

adj.腐臭的；有毒的；已腐烂的；卑劣的

参考例句：

• To eat putrid food is liable to get sick.吃了腐败的食物容易生病。
• A putrid smell drove us from the room.一股腐臭的气味迫使我们离开这房间。

67 revelling   

v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉

参考例句：

• I think he's secretly revelling in all the attention. 我觉得他对于能够引起广泛的注意心里感到飘飘然。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were drinking and revelling all night. 他们整夜喝酒作乐。 来自《简明英汉词典》

68 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

69 waxy   

adj.苍白的；光滑的

参考例句：

• Choose small waxy potatoes for the salad.选些个头小、表皮光滑的土豆做色拉。
• The waxy oil keeps ears from getting too dry.这些蜡状耳油可以保持耳朵不会太干燥。

70 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

71 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

72 interred   

v.埋，葬( inter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The body was interred at the cemetery. 遗体埋葬在公墓里。 来自《简明英汉词典》

73 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

74 gravel   

n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石

参考例句：

• We bought six bags of gravel for the garden path.我们购买了六袋碎石用来铺花园的小路。
• More gravel is needed to fill the hollow in the drive.需要更多的砾石来填平车道上的坑洼。

75 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

76 decompose   

vi.分解；vt.（使）腐败，（使）腐烂

参考例句：

• The eggs began to decompose after a day in the sun.鸡蛋在太阳下放了一天后开始变坏。
• Most animals decompose very quickly after death.大多数动物死后很快腐烂。

77 decomposed   

已分解的，已腐烂的

参考例句：

• A liquid is decomposed when an electric current passes through it. 当电流通过时，液体就分解。
• Water can be resolved [decomposed] into hydrogen and oxygen. 水可分解为氢和氧。

78 coffins   

n.棺材( coffin的名词复数 )；使某人早亡[死，完蛋，垮台等]之物

参考例句：

• The shop was close and hot, and the atmosphere seemed tainted with the smell of coffins. 店堂里相当闷热，空气仿佛被棺木的味儿污染了。 来自辞典例句
• Donate some coffins to the temple, equal to the number of deaths. 到寺庙里，捐赠棺材盒给这些死者吧。 来自电影对白

79 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

80 superfluous   

adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的

参考例句：

• She fined away superfluous matter in the design. 她删去了这图案中多余的东西。
• That request seemed superfluous when I wrote it.我这样写的时候觉得这个请求似乎是多此一举。

81 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

82 oxide   

n.氧化物

参考例句：

• Oxide is usually seen in our daily life.在我们的日常生活中氧化物很常见。
• How can you get rid of this oxide coating?你们该怎样除去这些氧化皮？

83 permeates   

弥漫( permeate的第三人称单数 )； 遍布； 渗入； 渗透

参考例句：

• Studies show that water vapor quickly permeates plastic packaging material. 研究证明水蒸汽能迅速渗入塑料封装材料。
• Democracy permeates the whole country. 民主主义（的思想）普及全国。

84 saturation   

n.饱和(状态)；浸透

参考例句：

• The company's sales are now close to saturation in many western countries.这家公司的产品销售量在许多西方国家已接近饱和。
• Road traffic has reached saturation point.公路交通已达到饱和点。

85 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

86 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

87 graveyards   

墓地( graveyard的名词复数 )； 垃圾场； 废物堆积处； 收容所

参考例句：

• He takes a macabre interest in graveyards. 他那么留意墓地，令人毛骨悚然。
• "And northward there lie, in five graveyards, Calm forever under dewy green grass," 五陵北原上，万古青蒙蒙。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

88 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

89 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

90 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

91 sanitary   

adj.卫生方面的，卫生的，清洁的，卫生的

参考例句：

• It's not sanitary to let flies come near food.让苍蝇接近食物是不卫生的。
• The sanitary conditions in this restaurant are abominable.这家饭馆的卫生状况糟透了。

92 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。

93 encumber   

v.阻碍行动，妨碍，堆满

参考例句：

• He never let a woman encumber him for any length of time.他从来不让一个女人妨碍他太久的时间。
• They can't encumber us on the road.他们不会在路上拖累大家。

94 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

95 entailing   

使…成为必要( entail的现在分词 )； 需要； 限定继承； 使必需

参考例句：

• Israel will face harsh new trials entailing territorial and functional concessions. 以色列将面临严峻的考验，在领土和能源方面做出让步。
• Taking on China over North Korea option entailing the most strategic risk. 让中国处理朝鲜问题冒有最大的战略风险。

96 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

97 mowed   

v.刈，割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草，然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句

98 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

99 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

100 trenches   

深沟，地沟( trench的名词复数 )； 战壕

参考例句：

• life in the trenches 第一次世界大战期间的战壕生活
• The troops stormed the enemy's trenches and fanned out across the fields. 部队猛攻敌人的战壕，并在田野上呈扇形散开。

101 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

102 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

103 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

104 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

105 whitewashed   

粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The wall had been whitewashed. 墙已粉过。
• The towers are in the shape of bottle gourds and whitewashed. 塔呈圆形，状近葫芦，外敷白色。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文

106 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

107 reeks   

n.恶臭( reek的名词复数 )v.发出浓烈的臭气( reek的第三人称单数 )；散发臭气；发出难闻的气味 (of sth)；明显带有（令人不快或生疑的跡象）

参考例句：

• His statement reeks of hypocrisy. 他的话显然很虛伪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His manner reeks prosperity. 他的态度表现得好象有钱的样子。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

108 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

109 abolition   

n.废除，取消

参考例句：

• They declared for the abolition of slavery.他们声明赞成废除奴隶制度。
• The abolition of the monarchy was part of their price.废除君主制是他们的其中一部分条件。

110 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

111 vaults   

n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴

参考例句：

• It was deposited in the vaults of a bank. 它存在一家银行的保险库里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

112 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

113 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

114 consigned   

v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃

参考例句：

• I consigned her letter to the waste basket. 我把她的信丢进了废纸篓。
• The father consigned the child to his sister's care. 那位父亲把孩子托付给他妹妹照看。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

115 devouring   

吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光

参考例句：

• The hungry boy was devouring his dinner. 那饥饿的孩子狼吞虎咽地吃饭。
• He is devouring novel after novel. 他一味贪看小说。

116 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

117 metropolis   

n.首府；大城市

参考例句：

• Shanghai is a metropolis in China.上海是中国的大都市。
• He was dazzled by the gaiety and splendour of the metropolis.大都市的花花世界使他感到眼花缭乱。

118 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

119 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

120 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

121 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

122 pacified   

使（某人）安静( pacify的过去式和过去分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平

参考例句：

• The baby could not be pacified. 怎么也止不住婴儿的哭声。
• She shrieked again, refusing to be pacified. 她又尖叫了，无法使她平静下来。

123 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

124 saturated   

a.饱和的，充满的

参考例句：

• The continuous rain had saturated the soil. 连绵不断的雨把土地淋了个透。
• a saturated solution of sodium chloride 氯化钠饱和溶液

125 saturate   

vt.使湿透，浸透；使充满，使饱和

参考例句：

• We'll saturate California with the rise in its crime rate.我们将使加利福尼亚州的犯罪案件增长率达到饱和点。
• Saturate the meat in the mixture of oil and herbs.把肉浸泡在油和作料的卤汁里。

126 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

127 cadaver   

n.尸体

参考例句：

• Examination of a cadaver is to determine the cause of death.尸体解剖是为了确认死亡原因。
• He looked down again at the gaping mouth of the cadaver.他的眼光不由自主地又落到了死人张大的嘴上。

128 cadavers   

n.尸体( cadaver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Human cadavers were the only known source of hGH, and demand was intense. 人类尸体是hGH已知的惟一来源，而且需求广泛。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 口蹄疫疯牛病
• Will there be enough cadavers for each group this term? 这个学期每一个组都有足够的尸体吗？ 来自电影对白

129 enact   

vt.制定(法律)；上演，扮演

参考例句：

• The U.S. Congress has exclusive authority to enact federal legislation.美国国会是唯一有权颁布联邦法律的。
• For example,a country can enact laws and economic policies to attract foreign investment fairly quickly.例如一个国家可以很快颁布吸引外资的法令和经济政策。

130 exhaled   

v.呼出，发散出( exhale的过去式和过去分词 )；吐出（肺中的空气、烟等），呼气

参考例句：

• He sat back and exhaled deeply. 他仰坐着深深地呼气。
• He stamped his feet and exhaled a long, white breath. 跺了跺脚，他吐了口长气，很长很白。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子

131 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

132 exhumation   

n.掘尸，发掘；剥璐

参考例句：

• The German allowed a forensic commission including prominent neutral experts to supervise part of the exhumation. 德国人让一个包括杰出的中立专家在内的法庭委员会对部分掘墓工作进行监督。 来自辞典例句
• At any rate, the exhumation was repeated once and again. 无论如何，他曾经把尸体挖出来又埋进去，埋进去又挖出来。 来自互联网

133 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

134 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

135 myriads   

n.无数，极大数量( myriad的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Each galaxy contains myriads of stars. 每一星系都有无数的恒星。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sky was set with myriads of stars. 无数星星点缀着夜空。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

136 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

137 paupers   

n.穷人( pauper的名词复数 )；贫民；贫穷

参考例句：

• The garment is expensive, paupers like you could never afford it! 这件衣服很贵，你这穷鬼根本买不起！ 来自互联网
• Child-friendliest among the paupers were Burkina Faso and Malawi. 布基纳法索，马拉维，这俩贫穷国家儿童友善工作做得不错。 来自互联网

138 brook   

n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让

参考例句：

• In our room we could hear the murmur of a distant brook.在我们房间能听到远处小溪汩汩的流水声。
• The brook trickled through the valley.小溪涓涓流过峡谷。

139 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

140 swells   

增强( swell的第三人称单数 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The waters were heaving up in great swells. 河水正在急剧上升。
• A barrel swells in the middle. 水桶中部隆起。

141 ribs   

n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• Make a small incision below the ribs. 在肋骨下方切开一个小口。

142 memento   

n.纪念品，令人回忆的东西

参考例句：

• The photos will be a permanent memento of your wedding.这些照片会成为你婚礼的永久纪念。
• My friend gave me his picture as a memento before going away.我的朋友在离别前给我一张照片留作纪念品。

143 scorching   

adj. 灼热的

参考例句：

• a scorching, pitiless sun 灼热的骄阳
• a scorching critique of the government's economic policy 对政府经济政策的严厉批评

144 strand   

vt.使（船）搁浅，使（某人）困于（某地）

参考例句：

• She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.她把一缕散发夹到了耳后。
• The climbers had been stranded by a storm.登山者被暴风雨困住了。

145 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

146 vapors   

n.水汽，水蒸气，无实质之物( vapor的名词复数 )；自夸者；幻想 [药]吸入剂 [古]忧郁（症）v.自夸，（使）蒸发( vapor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• His emotions became vague and shifted about like vapors. 他的心情则如同一团雾气，变幻无常，捉摸不定。 来自辞典例句
• They have hysterics, they weep, they have the vapors. 他们歇斯底里，他们哭泣，他们精神忧郁。 来自辞典例句

147 vapor   

n.蒸汽，雾气

参考例句：

• The cold wind condenses vapor into rain.冷风使水蒸气凝结成雨。
• This new machine sometimes transpires a lot of hot vapor.这部机器有时排出大量的热气。

148 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

149 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

150 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

151 diffuses   

（使光）模糊，漫射，漫散( diffuse的第三人称单数 )； （使）扩散； （使）弥漫； （使）传播

参考例句：

• A gas in solution diffuses from region of greater to one of less concentration. 溶液中的气体由浓度较高的区域向浓度较低的区域扩散。
• The sun diffuses light and heat. 太阳发出光和热。

152 porousness   

多孔性

参考例句：

153 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

154 obviated   

v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

155 diffused   

散布的，普及的，扩散的

参考例句：

• A drop of milk diffused in the water. 一滴牛奶在水中扩散开来。
• Gases and liquids diffused. 气体和液体慢慢混合了。

156 impede   

v.妨碍，阻碍，阻止

参考例句：

• One shouldn't impede other's progress.一个人不应该妨碍他人进步。
• The muddy roads impede our journey.我们的旅游被泥泞的道路阻挠了。

157 miasma   

n.毒气；不良气氛

参考例句：

• A miasma rose from the marsh.沼泽地里冒出了瘴气。
• The novel spun a miasma of death and decay.小说笼罩着死亡和腐朽的气氛。

158 inhaling   

v.吸入( inhale的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was treated for the effects of inhaling smoke. 他因吸入烟尘而接受治疗。 来自辞典例句
• The long-term effects of inhaling contaminated air is unknown. 长期吸入被污染空气的影响还无从知晓。 来自互联网

159 avaricious   

adj.贪婪的，贪心的

参考例句：

• I call on your own memory as witness:remember we have avaricious hearts.假使你想要保证和证明，你可以回忆一下我们贪婪的心。
• He is so avaricious that we call him a blood sucker.他如此贪婪，我们都叫他吸血鬼。

160 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

161 inundation   

n.the act or fact of overflowing

参考例句：

• Otherwise, inundation would ensue to our dismay. 若不疏导，只能眼巴巴看着它泛滥。
• Therefore this psychology preceded the inundation of Caudillo politics after independence. 在独立后，这一心态助长了考迪罗主义的泛滥。

162 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

163 stagnant   

adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的

参考例句：

• Due to low investment,industrial output has remained stagnant.由于投资少，工业生产一直停滞不前。
• Their national economy is stagnant.他们的国家经济停滞不前。

164 regenerated   

v.新生，再生( regenerate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are regarded as being enveloped in regenerated gneisses. 它们被认为包围在再生的片麻岩之中。 来自辞典例句
• The party soon regenerated under her leadership. 该党在她的领导下很快焕然一新。 来自辞典例句

165 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

166 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

167 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

168 noxious   

adj.有害的，有毒的；使道德败坏的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• Heavy industry pollutes our rivers with noxious chemicals.重工业产生的有毒化学品会污染我们的河流。
• Many household products give off noxious fumes.很多家用产品散发有害气体。

169 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

170 teem   

vi.(with)充满，多产

参考例句：

• Good ideas teem in her head.她的头脑里好主意极多。
• Fish teem in the Chinese waters.中国近海鱼产丰富。

171 monk   

n.和尚，僧侣，修道士

参考例句：

• The man was a monk from Emei Mountain.那人是峨眉山下来的和尚。
• Buddhist monk sat with folded palms.和尚合掌打坐。

172 penitent   

adj.后悔的；n.后悔者；忏悔者

参考例句：

• They all appeared very penitent,and begged hard for their lives.他们一个个表示悔罪，苦苦地哀求饶命。
• She is deeply penitent.她深感愧疚。

173 exhumed   

v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Marie Curie's remains were exhumed and interred in the Pantheon. 玛丽·居里的遗体被移出葬在先贤祠中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His remains have been exhumed from a cemetery in Queens, New York City. 他的遗体被从纽约市皇后区的墓地里挖了出来。 来自辞典例句

174 dame   

n.女士

参考例句：

• The dame tell of her experience as a wife and mother.这位年长妇女讲了她作妻子和母亲的经验。
• If you stick around,you'll have to marry that dame.如果再逗留多一会，你就要跟那个夫人结婚。

175 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

176 suffocation   

n.窒息

参考例句：

• The greatest dangers of pyroclastic avalanches are probably heat and suffocation. 火成碎屑崩落的最大危害可能是炽热和窒息作用。 来自辞典例句
• The room was hot to suffocation. 房间热得闷人。 来自辞典例句

177 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

178 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。

179 succumb   

v.屈服，屈从；死

参考例句：

• They will never succumb to the enemies.他们决不向敌人屈服。
• Will business leaders succumb to these ideas?商业领袖们会被这些观点折服吗？

180 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

181 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

182 edifice   

n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室)

参考例句：

• The American consulate was a magnificent edifice in the centre of Bordeaux.美国领事馆是位于波尔多市中心的一座宏伟的大厦。
• There is a huge Victorian edifice in the area.该地区有一幢维多利亚式的庞大建筑物。

183 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

184 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

185 vocation   

n.职业，行业

参考例句：

• She struggled for years to find her true vocation.她多年来苦苦寻找真正适合自己的职业。
• She felt it was her vocation to minister to the sick.她觉得照料病人是她的天职。

186 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

187 seeped   

v.（液体）渗( seep的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• The rain seeped through the roof. 雨水透过房顶渗透。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Icy air seeped in through the paper and the room became cold. 寒气透过了糊窗纸。屋里骤然冷起来。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

188 decomposing   

腐烂( decompose的现在分词 )； （使）分解； 分解（某物质、光线等）

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the overpowering stench of decomposing vegetation. 空气中充满了令人难以忍受的腐烂植物的恶臭。
• Heat was obtained from decomposing manures and hot air flues. 靠肥料分解和烟道为植物提供热量。

189 respiration   

n.呼吸作用；一次呼吸；植物光合作用

参考例句：

• They tried artificial respiration but it was of no avail.他们试做人工呼吸，可是无效。
• They made frequent checks on his respiration,pulse and blood.他们经常检查他的呼吸、脉搏和血液。

190 inhaled   

v.吸入( inhale的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. 她合上双眼，深深吸了一口气。
• Janet inhaled sharply when she saw him. 珍妮特看到他时猛地吸了口气。 来自《简明英汉词典》

191 olfactory   

adj.嗅觉的

参考例句：

• He is to develop a sensor to substitute for the olfactory abilities of dogs.克罗克将研制一种传感器用以代替狗的嗅觉功能。
• Based on these findings, Keller suspects that each person has an olfactory blind spot.根据这些发现，凯勒推断，每个人都有一个嗅觉盲区。

192 penetrating   

adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的

参考例句：

• He had an extraordinarily penetrating gaze. 他的目光有股异乎寻常的洞察力。
• He examined the man with a penetrating gaze. 他以锐利的目光仔细观察了那个人。

193 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

194 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

195 languor   

n.无精力，倦怠

参考例句：

• It was hot,yet with a sweet languor about it.天气是炎热的，然而却有一种惬意的懒洋洋的感觉。
• She,in her languor,had not troubled to eat much.她懒懒的，没吃多少东西。

196 incurred   

[医]招致的，遭受的； incur的过去式

参考例句：

• She had incurred the wrath of her father by marrying without his consent 她未经父亲同意就结婚，使父亲震怒。
• We will reimburse any expenses incurred. 我们将付还所有相关费用。

197 impurity   

n.不洁，不纯，杂质

参考例句：

• The oxygen reacts vigorously with the impurity in the iron.氧气与铁中的杂质发生剧烈的化学反应。
• The more general impurity acid corrosion faster.一般来说杂质越多酸蚀速度越快。

198 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

199 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

200 interferes   

vi. 妨碍，冲突，干涉

参考例句：

• The noise interferes with my work. 这噪音妨碍我的工作。
• That interferes with my plan. 那干扰了我的计划。

201 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

202 gasping   

adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词

参考例句：

• He was gasping for breath. 他在喘气。
• "Did you need a drink?""Yes, I'm gasping!” “你要喝点什么吗？”“我巴不得能喝点！”

203 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

204 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

205 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。

206 suffocating   

a.使人窒息的

参考例句：

• After a few weeks with her parents, she felt she was suffocating.和父母呆了几个星期后，她感到自己毫无自由。
• That's better. I was suffocating in that cell of a room.这样好些了，我刚才在那个小房间里快闷死了。

207 cadaveric   

尸体的

参考例句：

• Study Design. An in vitro human cadaveric biomechanical study. 研究设计：体外人尸体生物力学研究。 来自互联网
• Study Design. In vitro biomechanical investigation using human cadaveric vertebral bodies. 人类尸体椎体标本的体外生物力学研究。 来自互联网

208 abounding   

adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Ahead lay the scalloped ocean and the abounding blessed isles. 再往前是水波荡漾的海洋和星罗棋布的宝岛。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比
• The metallic curve of his sheep-crook shone silver-bright in the same abounding rays. 他那弯柄牧羊杖上的金属曲线也在这一片炽盛的火光下闪着银亮的光。 来自辞典例句

209 defunct   

adj.死亡的；已倒闭的

参考例句：

• The scheme for building an airport seems to be completely defunct now.建造新机场的计划看来整个完蛋了。
• This schema object is defunct.No modifications are allowed until it is made active again.此架构对象不起作用。在重新激活之前，不能进行任何改动。

210 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

211 philosophic   

adj.哲学的，贤明的

参考例句：

• It was a most philosophic and jesuitical motorman.这是个十分善辩且狡猾的司机。
• The Irish are a philosophic as well as a practical race.爱尔兰人是既重实际又善于思想的民族。

212 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

213 oration   

n.演说，致辞，叙述法

参考例句：

• He delivered an oration on the decline of family values.他发表了有关家庭价值观的衰退的演说。
• He was asked to deliver an oration at the meeting.他被邀请在会议上发表演说。

214 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

215 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

216 aristocrat   

n.贵族，有贵族气派的人，上层人物

参考例句：

• He was the quintessential english aristocrat.他是典型的英国贵族。
• He is an aristocrat to the very marrow of his bones.他是一个道道地地的贵族。

217 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

218 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

219 manure   

n.粪，肥，肥粒；vt.施肥

参考例句：

• The farmers were distributing manure over the field.农民们正在田间施肥。
• The farmers used manure to keep up the fertility of their land.农夫们用粪保持其土质的肥沃。

220 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

221 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

222 eruptions   

n.喷发，爆发( eruption的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year. 今年火山爆发了好几次。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Over 200 people have been killed by volcanic eruptions. 火山喷发已导致200多人丧生。 来自辞典例句

223 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

224 mischief   

n.损害，伤害，危害；恶作剧，捣蛋，胡闹

参考例句：

• Nobody took notice of the mischief of the matter. 没有人注意到这件事情所带来的危害。
• He seems to intend mischief.看来他想捣蛋。

225 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

226 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

227 aridity   

n.干旱，乏味；干燥性；荒芜

参考例句：

• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。 来自辞典例句
• The name conjures up images of a desert of aridity. “撒哈拉”这个名字使人想起“干旱”的沙漠情景。 来自互联网

228 consecrated   

adj.神圣的，被视为神圣的v.把…奉为神圣，给…祝圣( consecrate的过去式和过去分词 )；奉献

参考例句：

• The church was consecrated in 1853. 这座教堂于1853年祝圣。
• They consecrated a temple to their god. 他们把庙奉献给神。 来自《简明英汉词典》

229 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。

230 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

231 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

232 incarcerated   

钳闭的

参考例句：

• They were incarcerated for the duration of the war. 战争期间，他们被关在狱中。 来自辞典例句
• I don't want to worry them by being incarcerated. 我不想让他们知道我被拘禁的事情。 来自电影对白

233 innocence   

n.无罪；天真；无害

参考例句：

• There was a touching air of innocence about the boy.这个男孩有一种令人感动的天真神情。
• The accused man proved his innocence of the crime.被告人经证实无罪。

234 chalice   

n.圣餐杯；金杯毒酒

参考例句：

• He inherited a poisoned chalice when he took over the job as union leader.他接手工会领导职务，看似风光，实则会给他带来很多麻烦。
• She was essentially feminine,in other words,a parasite and a chalice.她在本质上是个女人，换句话说，是一个食客和一只酒杯。

235 liberated   

a.无拘束的，放纵的

参考例句：

• The city was liberated by the advancing army. 军队向前挺进，解放了那座城市。
• The heat brings about a chemical reaction, and oxygen is liberated. 热量引起化学反应，释放出氧气。

236 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

237 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

238 penetrated   

adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• The knife had penetrated his chest. 刀子刺入了他的胸膛。
• They penetrated into territory where no man had ever gone before. 他们已进入先前没人去过的地区。

239 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

240 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

241 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

242 impervious   

adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的

参考例句：

• He was completely impervious to criticism.他对批评毫不在乎。
• This material is impervious to gases and liquids.气体和液体都透不过这种物质。

243 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

244 watershed   

n.转折点，分水岭，分界线

参考例句：

• Our marriage was at a watershed.我们的婚姻到了一个转折关头。
• It forms the watershed between the two rivers.它成了两条河流的分水岭。

245 plausibility   

n. 似有道理, 能言善辩

参考例句：

• We can add further plausibility to the above argument. 我们可以在上述论据之外，再进一步增添一个合理的论据。
• Let us consider the charges she faces, and the legal plausibility of those charges. 让我们考虑一下她面临的指控以及这些指控在法律上的可信性。

246 encroachment   

n.侵入，蚕食

参考例句：

• I resent the encroachment on my time.我讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
• The eagle broke away and defiantly continued its encroachment.此时雕挣脱开对方，继续强行入侵。

247 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

248 brackish   

adj.混有盐的；咸的

参考例句：

• Brackish waters generally support only a small range of faunas.咸水水域通常只能存活为数不多的几种动物。
• The factory has several shallow pools of brackish water.工厂有几个浅的咸水池。

249 impurities   

不纯( impurity的名词复数 )； 不洁； 淫秽； 杂质

参考例句：

• A filter will remove most impurities found in water. 过滤器会滤掉水中的大部分杂质。
• Oil is refined to remove naturally occurring impurities. 油经过提炼去除天然存在的杂质。

250 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

251 prostrated   

v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的过去式和过去分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力

参考例句：

• He was prostrated by the loss of his wife. 他因丧妻而忧郁。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They prostrated themselves before the emperor. 他们拜倒在皇帝的面前。 来自《简明英汉词典》

252 virulence   

n.毒力，毒性；病毒性；致病力

参考例句：

• The virulence of the café owner's anger had appalled her.咖啡店老板怒气冲天，充满敌意，把她吓坏了。
• Medical authorities were baffled,both as to its causes and its virulence.医疗当局对其病因及有多致命都还不甚了解。

253 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

254 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

255 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

256 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

257 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

258 surmounted   

战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上

参考例句：

• She was well aware of the difficulties that had to be surmounted. 她很清楚必须克服哪些困难。
• I think most of these obstacles can be surmounted. 我认为这些障碍大多数都是可以克服的。

259 percolating   

n.渗透v.滤( percolate的现在分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• Bubbles simply supply a short cut for the faster-moving percolating gas. 气泡不过是对快速运动的渗透气体提供了一条捷径。 来自辞典例句
• I' ll percolate some coffee, ie make it by percolating. 我去用过滤法煮些咖啡。 来自辞典例句

260 oozing   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood was oozing out of the wound on his leg. 血正从他腿上的伤口渗出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The wound had not healed properly and was oozing pus. 伤口未真正痊瘉，还在流脓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

261 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

262 casements   

n.窗扉( casement的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are two casements in this room. 这间屋子有两扇窗户。 来自互联网
• The rain pattered against the casements; the bells tolled for church with a melancholy sound. 雨点噼噼啪啪地打在窗子上；教堂里传来沉重的钟声，召唤人们去做礼拜。 来自互联网

263 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

264 rends   

v.撕碎( rend的第三人称单数 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破

参考例句：

• Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit. 如同这把剑撕开那些肉体一样，它也将撕开使用者的灵魂。 来自互联网

265 graceful   

adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的

参考例句：

• His movements on the parallel bars were very graceful.他的双杠动作可帅了!
• The ballet dancer is so graceful.芭蕾舞演员的姿态是如此的优美。

266 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

267 invalids   

病人，残疾者( invalid的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The invention will confer a benefit on all invalids. 这项发明将有助于所有的残疾人。
• H?tel National Des Invalids is a majestic building with a golden hemispherical housetop. 荣军院是有着半球形镀金屋顶的宏伟建筑。

268 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

269 percolated   

v.滤( percolate的过去式和过去分词 )；渗透；（思想等）渗透；渗入

参考例句：

• Water had percolated down through the rocks. 水从岩缝间渗漏下去。
• The rumour percolated through the firm. 那谣言在公司里慢慢流传开来。 来自辞典例句

270 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

271 deplore   

vt.哀叹，对...深感遗憾

参考例句：

• I deplore what has happened.我为所发生的事深感愤慨。
• There are many of us who deplore this lack of responsibility.我们中有许多人谴责这种不负责任的做法。

272 advent   

n.(重要事件等的)到来，来临

参考例句：

• Swallows come by groups at the advent of spring. 春天来临时燕子成群飞来。
• The advent of the Euro will redefine Europe.欧元的出现将重新定义欧洲。

273 vampire   

n.吸血鬼

参考例句：

• It wasn't a wife waiting there for him but a blood sucking vampire!家里的不是个老婆，而是个吸人血的妖精！
• Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampire.由于听过许多有关吸血鬼的传说，孩子们晚上不敢去睡觉。

274 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

275 quaff   

v.一饮而尽；痛饮

参考例句：

• We quaffed wine last night.我们昨晚畅饮了一次酒。
• He's quaffed many a glass of champagne in his time.他年轻时曾经开怀畅饮过不少香槟美酒。

276 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

277 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。

278 pertinently   

适切地

参考例句：

• It is one thing to speak much and another to speak pertinently. 说得多是一回事，讲得中肯又是一回事。
• Pertinently pointed out the government, enterprises and industry association shall adopt measures. 有针对性地指出政府、企业和行业协会应采取的措施。

279 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

280 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

281 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

282 impure   

adj.不纯净的，不洁的；不道德的，下流的

参考例句：

• The air of a big city is often impure.大城市的空气往往是污浊的。
• Impure drinking water is a cause of disease.不洁的饮用水是引发疾病的一个原因。

283 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》

284 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

285 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

286 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

287 swarm   

n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入

参考例句：

• There is a swarm of bees in the tree.这树上有一窝蜜蜂。
• A swarm of ants are moving busily.一群蚂蚁正在忙碌地搬家。

288 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。

289 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

290 delusion   

n.谬见，欺骗，幻觉，迷惑

参考例句：

• He is under the delusion that he is Napoleon.他患了妄想症，认为自己是拿破仑。
• I was under the delusion that he intended to marry me.我误认为他要娶我。

291 scruples   

n.良心上的不安( scruple的名词复数 )；顾虑，顾忌v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• I overcame my moral scruples. 我抛开了道德方面的顾虑。
• I'm not ashamed of my scruples about your family. They were natural. 我并未因为对你家人的顾虑而感到羞耻。这种感觉是自然而然的。 来自疯狂英语突破英语语调

292 revered   

v.崇敬，尊崇，敬畏( revere的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A number of institutions revered and respected in earlier times have become Aunt Sally for the present generation. 一些早年受到尊崇的惯例，现在已经成了这代人嘲弄的对象了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Chinese revered corn as a gift from heaven. 中国人将谷物奉为上天的恩赐。 来自辞典例句

293 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

294 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

295 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

296 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

297 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

298 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

299 sewers   

n.阴沟，污水管，下水道( sewer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sewers discharge out at sea. 下水道的污水排入海里。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Another municipal waste problem is street runoff into storm sewers. 有关都市废水的另外一个问题是进入雨水沟的街道雨水。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

300 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

301 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

302 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

303 monograph   

n.专题文章，专题著作

参考例句：

• This monograph belongs to the category of serious popular books.这本专著是一本较高深的普及读物。
• It's a monograph you wrote six years ago.这是你六年前写的的专论。

304 nay   

adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者

参考例句：

• He was grateful for and proud of his son's remarkable,nay,unique performance.他为儿子出色的，不，应该是独一无二的表演心怀感激和骄傲。
• Long essays,nay,whole books have been written on this.许多长篇大论的文章，不，应该说是整部整部的书都是关于这件事的。

305 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

306 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

307 vitality   

n.活力，生命力，效力

参考例句：

• He came back from his holiday bursting with vitality and good health.他度假归来之后，身强体壮，充满活力。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

308 sprout   

n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条

参考例句：

• When do deer first sprout horns?鹿在多大的时候开始长出角？
• It takes about a week for the seeds to sprout.这些种子大约要一周后才会发芽。

309 dormant   

adj.暂停活动的；休眠的；潜伏的

参考例句：

• Many animals are in a dormant state during winter.在冬天许多动物都处于睡眠状态。
• This dormant volcano suddenly fired up.这座休眠火山突然爆发了。

310 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

311 afflicted   

使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• About 40% of the country's population is afflicted with the disease. 全国40%左右的人口患有这种疾病。
• A terrible restlessness that was like to hunger afflicted Martin Eden. 一阵可怕的、跟饥饿差不多的不安情绪折磨着马丁·伊登。

312 saturating   

浸湿，浸透( saturate的现在分词 )； 使…大量吸收或充满某物

参考例句：

• In the last days before the vote, both sides are saturating the airwaves. 选举前最后几天，竞选双方占用了所有的广播电台和电视台。
• A saturating rain was expected to end the drought. 只盼下场透雨，解除旱情。

313 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

314 pithily   

adv.有力地，简洁地

参考例句：

• The essay was pithily written. 文章写得很简洁。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She expressed herself pithily. 她简洁地表达了自己的想法。 来自互联网

315 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。

316 illustrates   

给…加插图( illustrate的第三人称单数 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明

参考例句：

• This historical novel illustrates the breaking up of feudal society in microcosm. 这部历史小说是走向崩溃的封建社会的缩影。
• Alfred Adler, a famous doctor, had an experience which illustrates this. 阿尔弗莱德 - 阿德勒是一位著名的医生，他有过可以说明这点的经历。 来自中级百科部分

317 renowned   

adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的

参考例句：

• He is one of the world's renowned writers.他是世界上知名的作家之一。
• She is renowned for her advocacy of human rights.她以提倡人权而闻名。

318 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

319 analogous   

adj.相似的；类似的

参考例句：

• The two situations are roughly analogous.两种情況大致相似。
• The company is in a position closely analogous to that of its main rival.该公司与主要竞争对手的处境极为相似。

320 gastric   

adj.胃的

参考例句：

• Miners are a high risk group for certain types of gastric cancer.矿工是极易患某几种胃癌的高风险人群。
• That was how I got my gastric trouble.我的胃病就是这么得的。

321 disorders   

n.混乱( disorder的名词复数 )；凌乱；骚乱；（身心、机能）失调

参考例句：

• Reports of anorexia and other eating disorders are on the increase. 据报告，厌食症和其他饮食方面的功能紊乱发生率正在不断增长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The announcement led to violent civil disorders. 这项宣布引起剧烈的骚乱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

322 nauseating   

adj.令人恶心的，使人厌恶的v.使恶心，作呕( nauseate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I had to listen to the whole nauseating story. 我不得不从头到尾听那令人作呕的故事。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• There is a nauseating smell of rotten food. 有一股令人恶心的腐烂食物的气味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

323 oozed   

v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出

参考例句：

• Blood oozed out of the wound. 血从伤口慢慢流出来。
• Mud oozed from underground. 泥浆从地下冒出来。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

324 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

325 malady   

n.病，疾病(通常做比喻)

参考例句：

• There is no specific remedy for the malady.没有医治这种病的特效药。
• They are managing to control the malady into a small range.他们设法将疾病控制在小范围之内。

326 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

327 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

328 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

329 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

330 inoculated   

v.给…做预防注射( inoculate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• A pedigree pup should have been inoculated against serious diseases before it's sold. 纯种狗应该在出售前注射预防严重疾病的针。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Disease can be spread by dirty tools, insects, inoculated soil. 疾病也能由不干净的工具，昆虫，接种的土壤传播。 来自辞典例句

331 spores   

n.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的名词复数 )v.（细菌、苔藓、蕨类植物）孢子( spore的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Ferns, mosses and fungi spread by means of spores. 蕨类植物、苔藓和真菌通过孢子传播蔓生。
• Spores form a lipid membrane during the process of reproducing. 孢于在生殖过程中形成类脂膜。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 预防生物武器

332 germinate   

v.发芽；发生；发展

参考例句：

• Seeds will not germinate without water.没有水，种子是不会发芽的。
• Can thin and hollow seeds germinate?瘦瘪的种子能够发芽吗？

333 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

334 inoculation   

n.接芽；预防接种

参考例句：

• Travellers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 提醒旅游者接种预防黄热病的疫苗是明智的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Travelers are reminded that inoculation against yellow fever is advisable. 旅客们被提醒，注射黄热病预防针是明智的。 来自辞典例句

335 alimentary   

adj.饮食的，营养的

参考例句：

• He had the disease of alimentary canal.他患了消化道疾病。
• This system is mainly a long tube,called the alimentary canal.这一系统主要是一根长管，称作消化道。

336 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

337 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

338 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

339 malarial   

患疟疾的，毒气的

参考例句：

• Malarial poison had sallowed his skin. 疟疾病毒使他皮肤成灰黄色。
• Standing water like this gives malarial mosquitoes the perfect place to breed. 像这样的死水给了传染疟疾的蚊子绝佳的繁殖地点。

340 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

341 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

342 attested   

adj.经检验证明无病的，经检验证明无菌的v.证明( attest的过去式和过去分词 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓

参考例句：

• The handwriting expert attested to the genuineness of the signature. 笔迹专家作证该签名无讹。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Witnesses attested his account. 几名证人都证实了他的陈述是真实的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

343 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

344 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

345 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

346 faculty   

n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员

参考例句：

• He has a great faculty for learning foreign languages.他有学习外语的天赋。
• He has the faculty of saying the right thing at the right time.他有在恰当的时候说恰当的话的才智。

347 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

348 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。

349 evaded   

逃避( evade的过去式和过去分词 )； 避开； 回避； 想不出

参考例句：

• For two weeks they evaded the press. 他们有两周一直避而不见记者。
• The lion evaded the hunter. 那狮子躲开了猎人。

350 vehement   

adj.感情强烈的；热烈的；(人)有强烈感情的

参考例句：

• She made a vehement attack on the government's policies.她强烈谴责政府的政策。
• His proposal met with vehement opposition.他的倡导遭到了激烈的反对。

351 rosy   

adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的

参考例句：

• She got a new job and her life looks rosy.她找到一份新工作，生活看上去很美好。
• She always takes a rosy view of life.她总是对生活持乐观态度。

352 swarms   

蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They came to town in swarms. 他们蜂拥来到城里。
• On June the first there were swarms of children playing in the park. 6月1日那一天，这个公园里有一群群的孩子玩耍。

353 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

354 microscopic   

adj.微小的，细微的，极小的，显微的

参考例句：

• It's impossible to read his microscopic handwriting.不可能看清他那极小的书写字迹。
• A plant's lungs are the microscopic pores in its leaves.植物的肺就是其叶片上微细的气孔。

355 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

356 microscopically   

显微镜下

参考例句：

• Microscopically the ores are medium grained to amorphous. 显微镜下，矿石为中粒至非晶质。 来自辞典例句
• He studied microscopically the statistics of trade. 他极仔细地研究了贸易统计数字。 来自辞典例句

357 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

358 perpetuate   

v.使永存，使永记不忘

参考例句：

• This monument was built to perpetuate the memory of the national hero.这个纪念碑建造的意义在于纪念民族英雄永垂不朽。
• We must perpetuate the system.我们必须将此制度永久保持。

359 obviates   

v.避免，消除（贫困、不方便等）( obviate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• This new evidence obviates the need for any further enquiries. 这项新证据排除了继续调查的必要。
• The new road obviates the need to drive through the town. 有了新路，车辆不必再穿行市区了。 来自辞典例句

360 aggravating   

adj.恼人的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• How aggravating to be interrupted! 被打扰，多令人生气呀！
• Diesel exhaust is particularly aggravating to many susceptible individuals. 许多体质敏感的人尤其反感柴油废气。

361 malignity   

n.极度的恶意，恶毒；（病的）恶性

参考例句：

• The little witch put a mock malignity into her beautiful eyes, and Joseph, trembling with sincere horror, hurried out praying and ejaculating "wicked" as he went. 这个小女巫那双美丽的眼睛里添上一种嘲弄的恶毒神气。约瑟夫真的吓得直抖，赶紧跑出去，一边跑一边祷告，还嚷着“恶毒！” 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Outside, the pitiless rain fell, fell steadily, with a fierce malignity that was all too human. 外面下着无情的雨，不断地下着，简直跟通人性那样凶狠而恶毒。 来自辞典例句

362 laborers   

n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工

参考例句：

• Laborers were trained to handle 50-ton compactors and giant cranes. 工人们接受操作五十吨压土机和巨型起重机的训练。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Wage-labour rests exclusively on competition between the laborers. 雇佣劳动完全是建立在工人的自相竞争之上的。 来自英汉非文学 - 共产党宣言

363 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。

364 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

365 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

366 cremated   

v.火葬，火化（尸体）( cremate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He wants to is cremated, not buried. 他要火葬，不要土葬。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The bodies were cremated on the shore. 他们的尸体在海边火化了。 来自辞典例句

367 nil   

n.无，全无，零

参考例句：

• My knowledge of the subject is practically nil.我在这方面的知识几乎等于零。
• Their legal rights are virtually nil.他们实际上毫无法律权利。

368 jeopardy   

n.危险；危难

参考例句：

• His foolish behaviour may put his whole future in jeopardy.他愚蠢的行为可能毁了他一生的前程。
• It is precisely at this juncture that the boss finds himself in double jeopardy.恰恰在这个关键时刻，上司发现自己处于进退两难的境地。

369 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

370 obligatory   

adj.强制性的，义务的，必须的

参考例句：

• It is obligatory for us to obey the laws.我们必须守法。
• It is obligatory on every citizen to safeguard our great motherland.保卫我们伟大的祖国是每一个公民应尽的义务。

371 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

372 laymen   

门外汉，外行人( layman的名词复数 )； 普通教徒（有别于神职人员）

参考例句：

• a book written for professionals and laymen alike 一本内行外行都可以读的书
• Avoid computer jargon when you write for laymen. 写东西给一般人看时，应避免使用电脑术语。

373 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

374 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

375 redeeming   

补偿的，弥补的

参考例句：

• I found him thoroughly unpleasant, with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. 我觉得他一点也不讨人喜欢，没有任何可取之处。
• The sole redeeming feature of this job is the salary. 这份工作唯其薪水尚可弥补一切之不足。

376 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

377 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

378 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》