Chapter III: Conclusion (1)

My effort in this little volume has been to offer to my professional brethren the means employed by the most eminent chemists, both in this country and Europe, to preserve bodies, and the methods given are the best known to modern science. I have also tried to make them feel aware of the necessity of knowledge, and shall feel happy if by so doing I have helped to raise our profession to the standard it really deserves.

UNDERTAKING.

It may not be amiss at the commencement of this work, to say a few words about the profession of an undertaker, and undertakers as a class.

Among the many who have chosen

UNDERTAKING AS A PROFESSION,

and carried on the business for years, there exists a certain class who, although pecuniarily successful, do not have a very clear idea of the requisite qualities indispensable to the general make up of a first-class professional. Others seem to ignore the multitudinous duties, the performance of which will bring either credit, or blame, to themselves, according to the degree of tact or skill exhibited in the discharge thereof.

A great many have gone into the business simply because it is represented to them as a _money making_ profession; others, because their fathers being undertakers have thought proper to train them to it, although their mercantile ideas may run in another direction. And again, some without capital will try and battle against competition, merely to make a living; but above all, there is that class of men who, entirely ignorant of the rudimentary knowledge of the business, having means, and regardless of the qualifications necessary to insure success, plunge right into it with the idea that it is a safe investment for surplus funds, a genteel employment, and one which, according to their notions, does not require any extraordinary amount of brains or labor.

Is it then a matter of astonishment if so many of our undertakers fail, or find themselves unable to cope with some more favored rival? To them it is a source of wonder, but to a discriminating public the cause is soon apparent.

It is safe to assert that every one cannot be an undertaker; in this profession, a man is more than in any other the architect of his own fortune; his success depends altogether upon his tact, skill, discrimination and untiring efforts to please those who may honor him with their trust. No small matter is it for an undertaker to perform his solemn duties with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of all present; sorrow has not so blunted all other feelings in relations and friends as to make them relax their lynx eyed vigilance of every motion of the undertaker while performing the delicate duties of his avocation.

He must be endowed with the soft touch of a woman in the handling of the dear remains; his work must be performed in silence, with soft tread and expedition; his presence in the house is a constant reminder to all of the irreparable loss which has bereft the family of one of its members.

He must be quick of perception and ready of expedients, as there is often no time left for reflection. To hesitate at times would be taken for ignorance, and prompt action is the only means at hand to retrieve himself.

A clear head and a cool judgment are among the most necessary qualities. Urbane and affable in his manners; your first-class professional is an accomplished gentleman; his knowledge of the world and daily contact with people of all conditions allow him to assimilate himself with quiet dignity with persons of all rank in the social scale of life.

Well dressed, yet without ostentation, punctual in his engagements, without the flurry of general transactions, he will treat his more wealthy customers with deferential politeness without cringing, as also will he bring in his dealings with his more modest patrons none of the _hauteur_ characteristic of a narrow mind and a lack of education.

Perfect equanimity of temper is a transcendent virtue in an undertaker. Mistakes and delays will happen in spite of the most careful preparations and the best laid plans; accidents, unforeseen and unthought of, will occur suddenly; it is then that a clear headed man will find some prompt means to remedy all before any one of those present has taken notice of anything amiss.

Good taste is also eminently one of the requisite attributes to be displayed in the easy, informal laying out of the remains, the attitude of repose devoid of the conventional rigidity of limbs; in the chaste trimmings of the casket, rich with elegance, but without overloading with useless ornaments. How many so-called undertakers will calculate the beauty of a casket by the accumulation of silver ornaments promiscuously scattered on the top and sides; to such the profusion of flashy trimmings is the standard of elegance.

The floral decorations either in the house or the church must also be in accordance with the spirit of the scene. Good taste will likewise dictate to the undertaker that any attempt at a lachrymose or woe begone cast of countenance on his part, will not be regarded by his patrons as a criterion of his sympathies for the bereaved family, but rather as a hypocritical mask assumed for the occasion. A decorous, quiet bearing is by far better appreciated by friends and mourners.

The master head of a really good undertaker will show itself in every small detail and appointment of a funeral pageant; the carriages will quietly form without confusion, and either receive or deliver their occupants without orders being vociferously shouted from one end to the other of the line; everything will work without bluster or any noise which may grate harshly upon the ears of sorrow stricken friends or parents.

On the contrary, how is it with one who is not a proficient? His advent into the house of mourning is heralded by unusual bluster, and the often contradictory orders given to an assistant. Questions without number are asked from friends of the family or those present, about the time of the funeral, number of carriages required, etc., inquiries which are altogether out of place at the time, and ought to be postponed until those having charge of the arrangements will make the wishes of the family known to the undertaker, at his office or place of business.

Nervousness is manifest with some as soon as they commence handling a corpse, and is apparent through all the details of a funeral. Let any incident take place and everything is immediately thrown into hopeless confusion, as the undertaker himself feels more at fault than any one else.

With others, again, a funeral is made a public display of their personal authority; it is to them an occasion to conspicuously show in an ostentatious manner that the job is theirs; the management of it in their hands; they intend to run it according to their notions, with the utmost disregard of anyone else’s wishes in the matter. The undertaker is, however, but a public servant; a well-bred man will not try to coerce people into following his own ideas in regard to certain matters and utterly disregard their views of the same.

A direct conflict with the mourners in regard to some point of funeral etiquette will not place the undertaker in a very enviable position, whereas a sensible suggestion, deferentially offered to their better judgment, will win a ready assent and establish his reputation as a man thoroughly posted and well qualified for the business. Should the point be insisted upon by the family, and although it may be, in the undertaker’s opinion, a breach of established rules or customs, it is his duty to quietly submit and thereby show his moral sense of the solemnity of the occasion, which is ill-timed for a controversy of any kind.

Some undertakers have been known to extol the cheapness of their wares in the house of mourning, drawing aside some of those present and stating confidentially that such a casket never was sold so low, and were it not for the particular regard they entertain for the family, the regular price would have been charged. This mode of philanthropic advertising has seldom brought any trade to the one that had resorted to it. The best advertising medium for an undertaker consists in the manner his business is carried on, in the style and appointments of his livery, and above all in his own deportment in public, the integrity of his character, and his punctuality in meeting his business engagements.

As the assertion was made at the beginning of this chapter that every man cannot be an undertaker, the above enumerated qualities requisite to the make up of a first-class professional will prove conclusively that such is the case.

Before fully entering upon the text forming the subject of this book, I have thought it advisable as an introduction, to stimulate the zeal of undertakers in self-improvement by illustrating, in brief outlines, the necessary qualities of a popular sexton and exposing _per contra_ the faults others are guilty of. Let not therefore, the reader accuse me of severe criticism, for my aim has been only to try and elevate our profession above its common standard.

That the duties of an undertaker require a larger quota of delicacy, tact, and knowledge of human nature than generally falls to the lot of most men, no one will deny; but it is also a well known fact that, unless he be the busiest professional in one of the largest cities, an undertaker has ample time for SELF-IMPROVEMENT and CULTURE.

It is high time the business of undertaking be truly, and really, raised to the rank of a profession; let every undertaker be convinced that his calling is a solemn and responsible one, and our ranks will soon be free from the few interlopers who, so far, have impeded our progress toward a just recognition from the public for a class of men whose services are often very little short of self-sacrifice.

The physician has an office of great responsibility thrust upon him; into his hands we blindly confide the lives of relations and friends, hoping and expecting that his medical knowledge, his experience and skill, may save the existence of some one dear to us.

And after science has been baffled and death claims his victim, the undertaker is the one to whom we look to perform the last sad duties. To him we intrust the care of the beloved remains, relying entirely upon his experience and good judgment in such matters, to carry out in a manner becoming to this age of christian feeling, the ceremonial of sepulture with the deferential respect due to the dead.

EMBALMING.

It has been a custom among ancient nations to preserve the bodies of the dead for a long period of time. Even to this day we find traces of it in the mummies of Egypt and the sarcophagi of Etruria. Their method of achieving this result may not have been strictly in accordance with the principles of modern science; certainly their success would hardly be satisfactory to the more refined taste of our generation. Still their discoveries in this art have been such that they have commanded the respect of modern savants. They also show conclusively that the sciences of chemistry and physiology, even at that remote period, had attained a certain degree of prominence among their scientific men. Many of their discoveries were no doubt accidental, still we must give them credit for the spirit of investigation which actuated their researches, and carried them on undaunted through the many disappointments they must certainly have encountered before they satisfactorily solved the problem.

The imagination is carried back to the time when the mysterious worship of Osiris and Isis was flourishing on the banks of the river Nile, when the Sphinx uttered, or was thought to utter, the sacred oracles of Thormes, and before the pyramids had entombed a long generation of kings.

A great number of persons cannot revert to the science of embalming without placing it among the lost arts; to them a mummy is the contemporary of a mysterious past dimly perceived through the long vista of succeeding generations; a tangible proof of that much vaunted ancient civilization, which as they express regretfully will never be found again. A thorough elimination of the subject would convince those unsophisticated mourners that the loss is not quite an irreparable one. Let us divest a mummy of his bitumen-coated and fire-scorched bandages; we will then have before us a mass of blackened and hardened cement-like substance, shrunken and emaciated to almost a skeleton, and bearing semblance to the form of a human organism, only so far as the shape of the osseous frame has retained its symmetry. The lips have shrunk apart so far as to expose the row of white teeth, the sockets of the eyes are empty, the cheek bones are prominent, the whole covered with patches of the dark and almost petrified epidermis. Such is the picture a mummy presents to our view when denuded of its envelope

It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if some associate this repulsive image with the idea of modern embalming. Our present object in preparing bodies is two-fold: In the first place we desire to keep perfect for a certain length of time the remains of those who have been dear to us while living; but when desiccation has begun, when the roundness of the lines loses itself into the more angular shrinkage of the tissues, then we may take, and without any feeling of horror, a last look at the body, and consign it, not to slow, foul corruption, but to the gradual drying of the organic substances, without the horrible accessions of decay and putrefaction.

In view of all this, and with the help of modern chemistry, it is not singular that the art of embalming should have received a new impetus in this country and Europe, especially here, where it is customary to send back and over long distances the bodies of those that have died far from home. This usage has already brought about some astonishing results. The large majority of our first-class undertakers have taken the matter in hand; they vie with each other in trying to perfect themselves in an art which is daily growing into favor. Almost every day a new antiseptic is, if not discovered, at least brought to exercise its functions in the preservation of organic substances. Of late, new methods have been inaugurated on all sides, and among the number there are certainly some which are deserving all the merits claimed for them.

It behooves all professionals to exert their ingenuity to bring this science to a satisfactory issue. Many of the preparations sold under the name of preserving liquid are good; others are not. How then are undertakers to discriminate? By what means can the merits of the one, and the utter worthlessness of the other, be determined? There is but one way, and that is an infallible one, of finding out the best method and preparation, and that is simply by experimenting, until the real means, which is the only true one, has been hit upon.

It may also be objected to, with reason that a certain process has been known to work effectually in some cases, whereas the same method employed in a similar manner has proved a signal failure in another instance. To this but one cause can be assigned, and that is the utter ignorance on the part of the operator of the properties, antiseptic and otherwise, of the materials he is employing, also of the different conditions, which will according to existing circumstances modify their action and govern their effect. To use a certain preparation simply because it is highly recommended by some, without knowing the constituents thereof, is very little short of foolhardiness. How is it possible for the operator to employ it with discrimination and judgment? Should he be successful, well and good; the end would be obtained without he being the wiser for it. Should it be otherwise, and the result prove unsatisfactory, how is he to account for the failure, and how to guard against a repetition of the same in the future?

A good embalmer, one that really understands his business, does not have recourse to ready-made preparations for preserving bodies; but he chooses the chemicals according to the properties each is known to possess. His experience of their relative actions teach him beforehand how they will work out the result he anticipated. I do not mean that every undertaker and embalmer should be an Orfila in regard to Chemistry, nor is it expected that his knowledge of Anatomy should enable him to fill the chair of demonstrator in a dissecting room, but to achieve real, legitimate success, an embalmer ought to possess a thorough knowledge of the drugs he is manipulating, their individual effects, singly and collectively, and under different circumstances, upon subjects of different natures. A certain amount of the acquaintance with the anatomy of the human body is not only required, but strictly necessary; a gash of the knife upon some vessel of the arterial system might jeopardize the success of an otherwise satisfactory operation.

It is this rudimentary knowledge of Physiological Chemistry and Anatomy we shall endeavor to explain in this book, with complete instructions upon the best methods which have been heretofore and are now employed in the preservation of bodies.

THE LABORATORY.

Before fully entering upon the subject of Embalming, it may not be out of place to make mention of the room devoted to that purpose.

As a general thing, undertakers will find it to their advantage to have set aside, either in the rear part of their store or at some other convenient point of the building, a room of moderate dimensions, exclusively for the purpose of preparing bodies. It may also be used either for the purpose of holding inquests, post mortem examinations, and as a morgue.

Although the purpose for which it is intended, be that of a laboratory or room where the embalming of bodies may be carried on, undisturbed by the traffic of the warerooms or the office, it will be found useful for the above named objects. Very often physicians, who may be wanting to investigate the immediate cause of death in some of their patients, and who cannot prosecute the necessary investigations either in their own office or at the house of the deceased, will avail themselves, with pleasure, of the opportunity thus offered to them. The advantages of this arrangement to the undertaker are obvious and require no explanation.

The room should be well ventilated and lighted, and everything so arranged as to be within reach; a sink with a water faucet should occupy a corner of the room; in the center an embalming board, with longitudinal grooves, on trestles, the head elevated about a foot higher than the feet, so as to allow all liquids to run down and be collected in a pail at the lower extremity, without unnecessarily soiling the floor; a closet or cupboard for chemicals, which, by the way, ought always to be kept locked up. It is also necessary to keep a certain amount of the preparation used in daily practice, already mixed for use at a moment’s notice. The preceding recommendation will prevent mistakes, and do away with the confusion generally attendant upon a hasty call.

A very useful custom, and one that cannot be too highly praised, is that of keeping all needful articles for laying out and keeping a body, in a neat morocco satchel, which can be carried about in the hand without the least inconvenience. The contents should include all that is necessary to preserve bodies, say for five or six days, without the use of ice. The annexed list will furnish the explanation:

Two sponges for washing purposes. They can be, when dry, kept in a very small compass; these should be thoroughly cleaned after using, and immediately returned to their place.

A small post mortem case, containing a cartilage knife, two scalpels, one catheter, one pair scissors, chain and hooks, nippers, hook to raise arteries, and four crooked needles, assorted; also a skein of surgeon’s silk. These instruments should be carefully cleaned before returning to the case.

Two pint bottles containing antiseptic solution for injecting stomach and bowels. I have here mentioned two pint bottles, in place of a quart bottle, for this reason: the two former are easier carried, less liable to break, and thus more convenient than the latter.

An eight-ounce vial, containing a concentrated solution for the complexion; it can be diluted to suit when using.

Some cotton for stopping air passages and rectum.

Two cups for collecting blood from the jugulars, should the veins be so congested as to require emptying of their contents.

An eight-ounce, black rubber syringe, for injecting either the stomach, lungs or bowels; this should be well cleansed after using, and also the leather forming the head of the plunger be saturated with glycerine; it will keep it moist and free from getting sticky, which generally happens when oil is used for that purpose.

A bottle of some pungent, aromatic, acidulated liquid, which will serve, not to absorb, but to disguise the smell, always more or less unpleasant, of a corpse.[1]

An eight-ounce bottle containing tannic acid to dust in cavities of the thorax or abdomen before closing the wounds.

And last, but not least, a one-ounce bottle of liquid muriate of ammonia, which is invaluable to cauterize any scratch, abrasion of the skin, or cut, on the hands of the operator while at work.

I would here advise that some adhesive plaster be also a part of the contents.

The following chapters on chemicals may be found, by some, dry and of no consequence; but to a sensible person, and a shrewd undertaker, it will be apparent that, unless possessed of some knowledge of physiological chemistry and morbid anatomy, it will be impossible for him to judge, with any degree of certainty, what means are to be employed to secure success in embalming. It will also be found, by the more enlightened mass of the profession, that a thorough examination of the causes of putrefaction and the means to counteract the same, are essential to a successful practice.

How, then, can such means be resorted to? How is it possible for an undertaker to prosecute the business of embalmer satisfactorily, if he has not in his hands all the information necessary to perform his labors, with credit to himself and satisfaction to his employers? The only resource he has consists in the complete knowledge acquired from study and experience, and the following chapters will pave the way to the desired result.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] I have found by experience that vinaigre de bully, an imported toilet article, completely answers the purpose in this case, when slightly sprinkled over the clothes of a corpse.

DRUGS AND CHEMICALS.

As it is of the utmost importance for the operator to get familiar with the drugs or chemicals he is called upon to handle, the history and properties of each one will be detailed at length in the following chapters:

_Acetic Acid._—The acid liquid distilled when charcoal is prepared from wood, in close cylinders without access of air, contains this valuable acid in a very impure state; by subjecting this to further distillation the liquid is collected which is known as wood vinegar, or pyroligneous acid. By saturating this acid with lime, acetate of lime is produced, which by decomposition with sulphate of soda, furnishes sulphate of lime and acetate of soda; the latter salt being crystallized in a state of purity yields, by distillation with sulphuric acid, pure hydrated acetic acid in solution in water.

Acetic acid is also produced by the oxydation of alcoholic liquids, especially cider and wine, and in this impure and diluted form is called vinegar. In chemical works it is generally classed among the derivatives of alcohol.

_Camphorated Acetic Acid._—This is largely used as a pungent and refreshing perfume, to remove fetid odors from bodies. Take of

Camphor, half ounce,
Acetic Acid, 6½ fluid ounces.

Pulverize the camphor by means of a few drops of alcohol and dissolve it in the acetic acid.

_Aromatic Vinegar._—This is another pungent and reviving perfume, formerly deemed a preventive of contagion, and which will be found very useful in removing foul smells from the chamber of death. Take of

Camphor, 2 ounces,
Alcohol, sufficient quantity to pulverize the Camphor,
Oil of Cloves, 1 fluid ounce,
Acetic Acid, very strong, 12 fluid ounces.

_Acetone, or Pyroacetic Spirit, and Pyroxilic Spirit, or Wood Naptha._—These are products of the distillation of wood, which are separated from the acid liquors after they are saturated with lime by simple distillation and rectification.

Owing to its cheapness, pyroxilic spirit has been extensively used in England, as a substitute for alcohol in the arts and manufactures.

_Uses of Crude Pyroligneous Acid._—This acid having been incidentally described as the source of the acetic acid of commerce, it may be proper in this place to notice its uses. It acts on the principle of an antiseptic and a stimulant; the former property being chiefly due to the presence of creasote.

Several cases in which it was successfully employed in the preservation of animal matter are reported by Dr. T. Y. Simmons, of Charleston, S. C. The crude acid has been so advantageously used for the above purpose that Mr. Wm. Ramsey was led to perform with it some very interesting experiments. Some fresh fish, simply dipped in the acid and afterwards dried in the shade, were effectually preserved, and when eaten, at the end of eight months, were found very agreeable to the taste. Fresh beef, dipped in the acid in summer for the space of a minute, was perfectly sweet the following spring.

_Carbolic Acid, or Phenylic Acid._—It occurs in castor and the urine of many domestic animals.

Coal tar is distilled, the product between 300° and 400° is saturated with a strong solution of potassa, the oil is removed, the salt decomposed by muriatic acid; the carbolic acid washed with water, dried with chloride of calcium, rectified, cooled to about 12° F., the liquid decanted and the crystals quickly dried. It is in long colorless needles; not very soluble in cold water; more so in hot water; in all proportions in alcohol and ether; also soluble in concentrated acetic acid.

_Commercial Creasote._—When obtained from coal tar is always contaminated with phenylic acid (carbolic acid.) Indeed, it is said that phenylic acid has been sold for creasote, which it closely resembles in properties. How far these properties may be similar, deserves to be studied; for if they should prove to be the same, the fact would lead to its substitution as a substance to be easily obtained pure, for the variable creasote.

Of all the properties of creasote, the most remarkable is its power of preserving animal matter; this property has suggested its name, derived from two Greek words which mean flesh preserver. Dr. Christison finds that creasote water is as good a preservative of anatomical preparations as alcohol, with the advantage of not hardening the parts; it is probably to creasote that the antiseptic properties of pyroligneous acid are owing.

_Tannic Acid._—Some powder of nut galls is macerated in a bottle, with just enough ether to moisten it, for 24 hours, and then expressed in a powerful press; and the process of maceration and expulsion is repeated in the same way until the powder is exhausted; the liquors are mixed, the ether distilled off, and the residue dried by means of a water bath.

Properties: Pure tannic acid is solid, uncrystallizable, white or slightly yellowish, inodorous; very soluble in water, and much less soluble in alcohol and ether, and insoluble in the fixed and volatile oils.

Tannic acid precipitates solutions of starch, albumen and gluten, and forms with gluten an insoluble compound which is the basis of leather.

_Chromic Acid._—To 100 parts, by measure, of cold saturated solution of bichromate of potassa, 150 parts of sulphuric acid are added and allowed to cool; the sulphuric acid unites with the potassa, and the chromic acid crystallized in deep red needles, very soluble and deliquescent.

It is a powerful oxydizing and bleaching agent. Small animals, as mice, etc., after being immersed in the acid were so completely dissolved after 20 minutes, that no traces were left of either their claws, hair, bones or teeth.

_Sulphurous Acid._—It is prepared by exposing to heat a mixture of one part concentrated sulphuric acid with one part of mercury, or one-third part of copper filings, washing the gas by passing it through a little water, and condensing it in water which is well cooled. Professor Proctor directs the gas evolved from four ounces of copper turnings, and eight fluid ounces of sulphuric acid, to be condensed into four pints of water.

Sulphurous acid is a gas which dissolves largely in water and has a smell of burning sulphur.

_Liquor Chlorinated Soda—Labarraque Disinfecting Solution._—It is prepared as follows:

Chloride of Lime, 1 pound,
Carbonate of Soda, 2 pounds,
Water, 1½ gallons.

Dissolve the carbonate of soda in 3 pints of water by the aid of heat; to the remainder of the water add, by small portions at a time, the chloride of lime, previously well triturated, stirring the mixture after each addition; set the mixture by for several hours that the drugs may subside, then decant the clear liquid and mix it with the solution of carbonate of soda. Lastly, decant the clear liquor from the precipitated carbonate of lime, pass it through a linen cloth and keep it in bottles secluded from the light.

It is a colorless alkaline solution, having a faint odor of chlorine, and an alkaline taste; it owes its antiseptic properties to containing hypoclorous acid which is readily liberated by the addition of even a weak acid and, on exposure to the air, by the absorption of carbonic acid.

One of its principal uses is to purify the air in dissecting rooms and hospitals, in which case it acts by decomposing sulphurated hydrogen, against which gas when inhaled, it is also an antidote.

_Nitrate of Lead._—Take of litharge 4½ ounces; dilute nitric acid one pint. Dissolve the litharge to saturation by the aid of a gentle heat; filter, and set the liquor aside to crystallize; concentrate the residual liquid to obtain more crystals. This is a beautiful white salt, of a sweet astringent taste and soluble in 7½ parts of water and in alcohol. It has recently been found useful in the correction of fetid odors, dependent upon the presence of sulphurated hydrogen or hydrosulphate of ammonia, which it decomposes.

It will not prevent the putrefaction of animal matter, but it will be found extremely useful, as a disinfectant of putrescent animal fluids.

_Ledoyen’s Disinfecting Fluid_.—Which is greatly esteemed abroad, is a solution of this salt in water, in the proportion of two ounces of salt to one pint of water.

_Corrosive Sublimate._—By the action of boiling sulphuric acid on mercury, the hipersulphate is first formed. When this is heated with common salt mutual exchange takes place, and bichloride of mercury and sulphate of soda, the former of which sublimes are produced. Corrosive sublimate is in heavy, white crystalline masses, of a styptic and metallic taste, soluble in about 20 parts of cold water, much more so in alcohol. A solution of corrosive sublimate precipitates albumen and forms with it a definite insoluble compound, to which property its use as an antiseptic is due.

Corrosive sublimate has the property of retarding putrefaction. Animal matters immersed in its solution shrink, acquire firmness, assume a white color, and become imputrescible. On account of this property it is usefully employed in preserving anatomical preparations. We have seen a head prepared in this manner which had for seven years resisted the attacks of decay and insects, and been subjected to all changes of temperature.

_Hyposulphite of Soda._—This salt may be economically prepared by the following process: 16 ounces finely powdered carbonate of soda are mixed with 5 ounces flowers of sulphur, and heated in a porcelain dish with constant agitation until it takes fire and burns to sulphite of soda; this is dissolved in water and boiled with sulphur and thus forms hyposulphite acid; it is then evaporated to crystallization.

It is easily soluble in water; the solution gradually deposits sulphur; 1 to 4 ounces dissolved in the necessary quantity of water, and with the subsequent addition of 3 fluid ounces of sulphuric acid for each ounce of the salt, will liberate the hyposulphurous acid, which immediately decomposes into sulphur and sulphurous acid.

_Solution of Chloride of Zinc_.—Made in the proportion of 1 ounce of chloride of zinc dissolved in 1 pint of water. It is a powerful deodorizing and disinfecting agent in neutralizing noxious effluvia and in arresting animal and vegetable decomposition.

The concurrent testimony of a number of observers shows that it acts as an excellent disinfectant for hospitals, dissecting rooms, etc. When injected into the blood vessels, it preserves bodies for dissection without injuring their texture. The advantage is claimed for it, that while it destroys putrid odors, it has no smell of its own.

_Alumina._—Dissolve alum in six times its weight of boiling water, add solution of carbonate of soda in slight excess, agitate for a few minutes, filter, and wash the precipitate with distilled water; the product is hydrate of alumina.

_Acetate of Alumina._—A solution of this salt is obtained by saturating acetic acid with hydrated alumina and cannot be evaporated without the loss of acetic acid. It has a faint smell of acetic acid and a sweetish taste, and possesses strong antiseptic properties.

_Sulphate of Alumina._—Saturate diluted sulphuric acid with hydrated alumina, evaporate and crystallize; it is in thin, flexible plates, of a pearly lustre, sweet and astringent taste; soluble in twice its weight of cold water, but not in alcohol. Its chief use is as an antiseptic; a solution of 1 pound to a quart of water is used to preserve dead bodies; as a lotion it may be used in a somewhat less concentrated form.

The salts of alumina have been ascertained by Mr. Gannal to be powerful preservatives of animal matter. Among these the sulphate is to be preferred on account of its easy preparation and moderate price. Its aqueous solution was found by Mr. Gannal to be very effectual in preserving bodies, when injected into the blood vessels; in the summer season bodies were preserved for thirty days or more; in the winter for _three_ months.

For use in the winter, a quantity of the solution sufficient for injecting one body, may be made by adding a pound, avoirdupois, of the salt to a quart of water; for use in warm weather, the solution must be saturated.

POST MORTEM EXAMINATIONS.

Before commencing the work of embalming, and even while laying out a corpse, it is always necessary to make an inspection of the surface of the body. The minuteness of this inspection will depend upon the character of the case, and, in a great measure, dictate the course of treatment to be followed so as to insure success. It also behooves the operator, for his own safety, to look for evidences of skin diseases, ulcers, abscesses, etc.; the glands, penis and prepuce are to be carefully examined for syphilitic cicatrices.

It is customary to find certain changes in the external appearance of the body, which are due to the cessation of vitality in the tissues and the commencement of decomposition. I speak now of bodies which have not yet been buried, and which have been kept in the ordinary way, partly covered by a shroud, and lying on the back, in a loosely covered coffin.

If the bodies have been left in their ordinary clothes, the appearances are just the same. In such bodies, one of the first noticeable changes is the paleness of the skin and its mottling with irregular livid patches. After a short time the blood settles in the vessels of the more dependent portions of the body, and the skin which covers the back of the trunk and extremities becomes of a livid red color.

In many cases, if we cut through the skin, we find the tissues beneath congested and infiltrated with bloody scum; in bodies which have been kept for a number of days in cold weather, this red color is also seen on the anterior portions of the body, especially on the face and neck. In hot weather, the red color is very soon altered by decomposition; if the epidermis has been detached at any point, the skin beneath this is dry, hard and red. In warm weather, we may find, for a few hours after death, broad, bluish lines, corresponding to the cutaneous veins, ramifying in the skin of the neck and thorax. These lines are formed by the escape of the coloring matter of the blood from the vessels.

Within a few hours after death, even in cold weather, there is usually some escape of bloody froth and mucous from the mouth and nose. If the eyelids are not closed, the conjunctira and cornea soon become dry, brown and hard, the eyeballs also become flaccid. After a considerable time the skin of the abdomen becomes green; still later, decomposition fairly sets in. The entire body is of a dark green color; the tissues are infiltrated with serum, the abdomen is distended with gas, then the color changes from a green to a reddish brown; the epidermis is detached; the skin is covered with maggots; the entire body is swollen from the formation of gases; the face can hardly be recognized; the nails drop off, and the scalp becomes detached.

When a body is in this condition it can hardly be determined whether a month or five months have elapsed since death occurred. After this all the soft parts change into a formless, pustulent mass. The cavities are open, the viscera are indistinguishable, and the bones are left bare.

The rapidity with which these changes take place, varies under the influence of a great number of conditions. The bodies of infants usually decompose more rapidly than those of adults; fat bodies putrefy quicker than lean ones; the bodies of persons who die suddenly from violence, decompose less rapidly than the average, unless the body be considerably mangled. Exhausting diseases, fevers, and the puerperal condition, are followed by rapid decomposition, as is also death from suffocating gases. Poisoning by alcohol, by arsenic, and by sulphuric acid, may preserve the bodies for an unusual length of time. Atmospheric air, moisture, and warmth, quicken decomposition. At the same temperature, a body which has been for one week in the air, one which has been two weeks in the water, and one which has been eight weeks buried in the usual way, will all exhibit the same degree of decomposition.

THE RIGOR MORTIS.

It is proper to notice whether or not the body is in the condition of post mortem rigidity. More attention has, perhaps, been given to this post mortem condition than it well deserved. According to Kühne, the rigor mortis is produced by a change in the muscular fibres; the fibres first lose their contractibility, then there is coagulation of the myosine and loss of elasticity. When this acidity has reached its height, muscle becomes softer, and the rigor mortis gradually disappears; finally, the acid condition is succeeded by an alkaline fermentation, and decomposition ensues.

The rigor mortis generally begins in the muscles of the lower jaw and back of the neck; it then extends to those of the face, neck, thorax, arms, and finally, the legs; it usually disappears in the same order; it generally begins in from eight to twenty hours after death, but often much sooner. The bodies of persons killed on the field of battle, and of those who have been drowned, sometimes seem to be overtaken by the rigor mortis at the very instant of death; the bodies retain the same position, and the face the same expression, which they had in the last moments of life. The rigor mortis may continue for from one to ten days, generally, but not always; death from narcotic poisons is followed by a short and feeble rigidity. While death by lightning is followed by rapid and intense rigidity, in young children, it is feeble and of short duration. The degree and duration of rigor mortis after death from violence, from different diseases, etc., is stated so variedly and contradictorily by different observers, that no definite rules can be given concerning it.

The temperature of the normal living body is 98° to 99° F. In illness, the temperature may be increased several degrees. After death, the body generally cools to the same point as the surrounding air; this is said to take place in from fifteen to twenty hours.

Taylor, from the examination of one hundred bodies, states that the average heat of the skin of the abdomen, at a period of two to three hours after death, is 77°; at four to six hours, 74°; at six to eight hours, 70°; at twelve hours, 69°. The internal viscera retain their heat longer than the surface of the body.

It is said, that, after sudden death from accidents, apoplexy, acute disease and asphyxia, the body retains its heat for an unusually long period. It is both asserted and denied, that after death from hemorrhage the body cools rapidly; the body of an adult cools more slowly than that of a child or an old person; that of a fat person more slowly than that of a lean one.

In some cases there is an exceptional retention and even an increase of heat in the dead body. Dr. John Davy reports, that in case of death from rheumatism, after the viscera had been exposed for several minutes, the temperature of the left ventricle of the heart was 113°, and that of the liver 112°. In a second case, six hours after death, the temperature of the heart was 108°. It is stated that after death from yellow fever and cholera, the temperature increases for several hours after death. There are also recorded a number of instances in which the body retained its heat for several days, without known cause.

It will be seen from what has been said, that if we are called upon to pronounce upon the length of time that has elapsed since death, in a given case, this is only to be done approximately, and it is probably necessary to take into consideration the cause and manner of death, the condition of the individual, the state of the atmosphere, the manner in which the body has been kept after death; and even after making these allowances, we can only say that a person has probably been dead for such and such a time.

This chapter may prove tedious to some, but it is, however, an undeniable fact, that the preceding information (compiled from the Morbid Anatomy of F. Delafield, M. D.), is of the utmost importance to the professional undertaker. The external examination of the body, before handling, is a matter not to be neglected. Should any syphilitic sores or foul ulcers be present, the utmost caution must be used in handling the body, as the pus, which is a most virulent poison, might find its way into the system through some abrasion of the skin. The effects of this poison are such, that, should it not prove fatal, it will leave in the system traces that can never be completely eradicated. This chapter also contains information of such character as will be found needful to fully understand the subsequent chapters.

PRESERVATION OF BODIES.

The following process is intended to preserve bodies without the use of ice, merely until the time of the funeral may arrive. Sometimes, this ceremonial may be delayed for three or four days, or until some member of the family, who may be at some distance, can arrive. It is also intended to take the place of the cumbrous refrigerator, and substitute for the labor of removing ice, carrying the box to and from the residence, the more simple and less laborious process of injecting the abdominal viscera.

The first step to be taken upon arrival in the chamber of death, is to create a current of fresh air, by lowering the upper part of a window, or of a couple of them, if there be no transom light over the door.

Next, remove the body from the bed and place it on a cooling board; this board ought to be elevated about one foot at the head; also, the head of the body should be raised at an angle of about forty-five degrees; this disposition of the body will allow the fluids contained in the circulatory system to go down of their own gravitation, and leave the face, neck, and upper part of the body uncongested, and therefore free from the purple spots that gradually discolor the face and neck.

The head is raised on the cooling board at the proper elevation as directed above, by means of a head rest attached to the cooling board, and provided with a catch resting on a cog scale, which allows the rest to be raised or lowered at will.

The mouth must next be firmly closed by means of a ligature, tied firmly round the head and passed under the apex of the chin; this ligature should be kept in place until the rigor mortis has firmly set the jaws together.

A great improvement for the above purpose upon the old way of tying a cloth or a handkerchief round the head, is to use a band of some wide, elastic fabric, of which several sizes must be kept on hand, as when this ligature presses too tightly it leaves upon the face, especially on fat persons, unsightly wrinkles.

The eyes must next be attended to; the lids must be brought together firmly, avoiding at the same time interference with the lashes or the creation of wrinkles of the skin on the corners; then fold up neatly some small pieces of linen, well saturated in the following solution, which is also to be used to moisten the face with:

Alum, 8 ounces; Corrosive Sublimate, 2 ounces; Water, 1 gallon.

The linen pads should not exceed the size of a quarter dollar, and thoroughly saturated in the above solution before applying to the eyes. The face, after washing with soap and water, should be well moistened with the same solution, and a cloth laid carefully and evenly over the features, so as to come into direct contact with every part of them; this cloth must be kept moist with the above solution, and remain over the face until such time as the body is placed in the coffin, when the cloth may be removed previous to the lid being closed. This solution should be diluted with one-half water for use on children or persons whose skin is very fine. It must also be kept from a very strong light, in a glass bottle, and should, when used, never be mixed in a metallic vessel, but in a bowl, cup, or some dish of queens-ware or china.

The next step to be taken consists in preventing frothing or purging from the mouth and nostrils; also keeping down generation of gases, and swelling of the stomach and bowels.

For this purpose an incision about 4 or 5 inches in length is made in the abdomen, above the transverse arch of the colon; this incision will reveal the colon and upper part of the large intestines, also the stomach, a little to the left.

If the bowels are distended with gas, puncture first the colon and some of the smaller intestines, and, after expelling the air by firmly pressing on the abdomen, inject into the bowels about eight ounces of the following solution: Dissolve in one gallon of water as much alum as the water will take up, shaking at intervals; then pour off the clear liquor, and add to it two ounces chloride of zinc and two ounces corrosive sublimate. Keep this injecting solution in a cool, dark place.

The bowels being injected, the stomach must be emptied of its contents by puncturing its walls, and by pressing gently upon its outer surface in a downward direction; the matter contained in it will be forced out into the pleural cavity, and can then be either sponged or scooped out; the stomach is then to be injected in a similar manner as the bowels; some of the injecting fluid may be then poured between the interstices of the bowels, about (6 or 8 ounces), and some cotton batting be laid evenly over the bowels; this cotton should be well saturated with the solution after it is properly laid in its place. The lips of the wound may then be neatly brought together and sewed up.

It will be readily understood by the above described operation, that no gases can be generated in either the bowels or the stomach, as the injecting fluid in those parts of the viscera will effectually prevent their formation; and this being the case, the purging at the mouth and nostrils, which is the result of the escape of gas driving out the contents of the stomach, is avoided. The expansion of the abdominal viscera, or the bowels, is also prevented by the same cause.

In some instances, when the body is that of a stout, fleshy person, or especially when some length of time has elapsed from the time of death until the undertaker has been called in, and particularly if the body has been reclining in a horizontal position, the face, neck and shoulders, will be found highly congested with blood; the face, in fact, may be swelled and of a purple appearance, owing to the extravasation of blood into the capillary vessels under the skin.

In such cases, and after the body has been removed and placed into a proper position on the cooling board, if the blood is not carried to some lower part of the body by its own gravitation, it may be found necessary to cut into the jugular veins on either side of the neck, an incision about one quarter of an inch in length; through this opening the congested blood may be let out, and the face will soon recover its original color. This process, which occupies about twenty minutes, will be found preferable to the use of ice, especially when the corpse is at some distance from the undertaker’s place of business; or when it would be almost impracticable to carry a large and cumbrous ice box, besides the labor and bustle occasioned in the house of mourning by the carrying in and out of the box, ice, etc.

It is also well understood that this process can not be applied where the corpse is that of a person who has died of some contagious or infectious disease. Besides the danger to the operator in this case, it is not customary to retain for any length of time the remains of those who may have died from the effects of an epidemic.

To the solution for injecting, as given above, must be added one ounce of creosote to the gallon of liquid, when the preparation is to be used in warm weather.

STATE OF THE BODY AFTER DEATH.

As the object of this book is to give, not only the best modes of preserving and embalming bodies, but also to make comprehensive to our professionals the _modus operandi_, it is a most important matter to them that the different conditions of a body, as influenced by the cause of death, should be made a study of, and fully understood, before proceeding any farther. These different circumstances may so influence the state of the body, that the process of embalming, as given hereafter and as usually practiced, may not be successful.

I repeat an assertion already made, that one body having been treated successfully in a certain manner, yet the same method may fail in another case. Although the same chemicals may have been used in both instances, and given full satisfaction in the first, they failed to accomplish their object in the last.

It is a well known fact that the arterial system must be intact and without lesions, if the injecting fluid is to be carried in a thorough manner, and by the natural channels through the body—therefore any rupture in the arteries may cause the fluid to escape at that point, and fill the neighboring cavities. The result would certainly not in that case be satisfactory to the operator; for as the fluid would thus be arrested in its course, and fail to permeate the tissues through the arteries, veins and smaller vessels, the corpse would soon putrefy in consequence.

Destructive inflammation of the surrounding tissues may invade and destroy the walls of an artery. Thus, ulceration of the brachia, bronchial glands, and œsophagus, may perforate the aorta; gangrene of the lungs, the pulmonary arteries, ulcer of the stomach, the gastric arteries, etc.