23 FEBRUARY 1884, Page 3

In the Assizes held at Swansea, Mr. Justice Stephen deter-

mined yesterday week that cremation, if properly carried out, is not illegal,—the question being raised by the attempt of Dr. Price, the Welsh Druid, to burn the dead body of his child in a field near his own house, with the help of a cask of petro- leum. On the point whether the burning was so carried on as to constitute an indecency and a nuisance, the Jury could not decide, but disagreed, and were dismissed. Does not Mr. Justice Stephen's decision render it necessary to make cremation with- out a previous inquest illegal, since evidence of poisoning, or, indeed, of other kinds of murder, might easily be destroyed, if the body may be burned at the discretion of the relatives P