n idea can be formed of the disagreeableness and
unhealthiness of the cemeteries. Moreover, bodies are not brought
there to be buried at once, but are placed within twelve hours after
death in the dead-house, where they are allowed to remain forty-eight
hours before burial. This provision, which is in force in most of the
cities of Germany, is a wise one in view of the number of families
inhabiting a single house: it would seem also to offer additional
securities against the horrible fate of being buried alive, though the
time allowed is not sufficient to ensure certainty in suspicious
cases, and is apt to be infringed upon in seasons of epidemic. But, be
that as it may, the continual presence of scores of corpses lying in
open coffins, and separated only by glass doors from the hundreds of
spectators who come daily to gaze upon the ghastly sight, cannot be
otherwise than injurious to the general health. Also, the practice of
the citizens using the cemeteries as a favorite promenade, and of
spending hours in wandering amongst the graves, is highly pernicious:
it would seem as though the people of Munich had fed upon stenches so
long that they could not be satisfied with the ordinary smells of the
houses and streets, but must seek the fountain-head of corruption to
still their morbid craving for the odors of decay. During the height
of the cholera epidemic of the winter of 1873-74 an article appeared
in one of the newspapers, written by a citizen who signed himself "A
Constant Visitor of the Dead-houses;" and the article was answered by
an opponent who signed himself "Another Constant Visitor of the
Dead-houses;" as though no more worthy occupation could be imagined
than this of prowling like ghouls among the victims of the pestilence!

It is now time to speak of another principal cause of the
unhealthiness of Munich, perhaps the most important one of all--the
water. As before stated, Munich is situated on what was formerly the
bed of a lake: the ground, therefore, is full of springs, and from
these the water-supply of the inhabitants has always been obtained.
There is a well in the court of almost every house, in close proximity
to the vault, the refuse-pit and the drain, and well impregnated also,
doubtless, with that bugbear of Munich hygienists, "the
ground-water." The most ignorant citizen knows that the well-water is
not fit to drink, and avoids it as a beverage; still, its use
necessarily enters largely into all d