October 30, 1852
1 min read
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When the cemetery of the Innocents at Paris was removed to the outside of the barriers, the buried corpses which had accumulated to the depth of 60 feet, were found, to a great" extent, apparently converted into fat. The substance of the skin, cellular tissue, and tendons, all the sott parts, and even the bones had completely disappeared, leaving only the fat. which, resisting longest the influence ot decay (oxygen), remained in the form of margaric acid. This human fat was employed to the extent of many tons by the soap boilers and tallow chandlers of Paris for the manufacture ot soap and candles. The French are a people of fine sentiment, and they certainly carried the quality to a charming point of reflection in receiving light from candles made out of the bodies of their fathers. We loathe the cannibal, but civilization has features which, if not rendered familiar, would be as repulsive as the practices of the savage
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