CEMETERY (OF. ecmetiere, Lat. citmite rium, Gk. K01111/7 et eri011, sleeping place, later graveyard, from nog:ay, koiman, to put to sleep, from xeiaaat, keisthai, to lie down). A graveyard or other place of deposit for the dead. The term is used with particular reference to those extensive ornamental burial-grounds which have been established in the United States and other countries, as the practice of burying within and around churches has gradually been aban doned. (See There was at first a natural feeling of regret at the prospect of de serting places of deposit for the dead so hallowed by ancient use and associations as the church and the churchyard, but in many instances such places were in reality surrounded by degrading, disgusting. and unsanitary circumstances. On the other hand, the new places of interment be gan to develop humanizing and elevating influ ences. in the way of beautiful trees and flowers, natural scenery, and artistic monuments. The fine burial-ground- of the Turks. extending over large tracts and adorned by cypress and other trees. may have suggested the desirability of such cemeteries to Europeans. Around Constanti nople the cemeteries are located in vast tracts of woods under whose branches stand lhousands of tombstones. It is the custom never to reopen a grave, and a new resting-p]aee is given to every one, with the result that the dead now oc cupy a wider territory than that which is covered by the homes of the living. The Turks believe that until the body is buried the soul is in a state of discomfort. and the funeral therefore takes place as hem as possible after death. No coffin is used. The body is laid in the grave and a few rough board: placed about it and then the earth is shoveled in. care being taken to leave a small ripening from the head of the corpse to the surface of the ground. This method. from a sanitary standpoint, is preferable to the cus tom of using double wood or even metallic collies, for as little as possible should be dune to inter fere with the speedy dissolution of the body into its elements.
The famous Pere Lachaise, in Paris, is the most celebrated of modern cemeteries, although by no means the largest. It was laid out in 1804, and comprises ;thont 1 10 acres, and about •0,000 monuments erected to the memory of nearly all the great men of France of the Nineteenth Cen tury. Twice this cemetery and the neighboring heights have been the scene of desperate fight ing. In 1814, (hiring the attack on Paris by the Allies, it was stormed by a Russian column; and in 1871 the Communists made their last stand among these tombs. where 900 of them were killed, 200 being buried in quieklinw in one huge grave, and 700 in another. Paris has also the cemeteries of :Montparnasse and INIontmartre, besides many smaller burial-grounds. In 1874 a very large cemetery was laid out 16 miles north of Paris, covering nearly 1300 acres. In France every city and town is required by law to provide a burial-ground beyond its barrier., properly laid out and planted, and each inter ment must take place in a separate grave. This law does not apply to Paris, however. There the dead are buried 40 or 50 at a time in the fosses commupes, or the cemeteries outside of the city limits, the poor being interred gratuitously, and a charge being made in all other eases. The fosse, when full, is left undisturbed for five years; then all the crosses and other memorials are removed, the level of the ground is raised four or five feet by fresh earth, and interments begin again. For 50 francs a grave can he leased for live years; but when permanent monuments are desired the ground must be purchased in fee. Pit-burial is also practiced in Naples and in other cities of Continental Europe. In one of the Neapolitan eemeteries a pit is opened each day in which all the burials of the day are made. At night a joint funeral service is held for all and the pit is filled, not to be opened for a year.