E. H. Crane

“ Perfection, however, has been attained in the Excelsior Preservative, it being a perfect deodorizer, and for preserving and embalming the dead it surpasses anything known either in ancient or modern times. ”

“ I tell you when they come around and malign our friends, we want to look out for them, and the Excelsior Preservative has helped us through too many tough places to be counted out now. When we want some more you may be assured you will hear from us, as there is nothing to equal the Preservative. ”

“ We are in receipt of the Preservative, and I will say as the Undertaker of Michigan City that there is no use for any other Fluid for me. I have one case that I have kept several days now, through this hot, rainy weather, full of thunder showers, that is just like wax. Although a comparatively young man—of only 43 summers—I have been an Undertaker for 20 years, and say without fear or favor to any one that the Excelsior Preservative is the “stuff that knocks.” ”

“ The Preservative is giving me entire satisfaction. I had a body shipped to me from Columbus, which had all the appearance of having been in an ice-box for a time, then hastily jammed into a casket and shipped—the abdomen being fearfully swollen. I kept the body over two days, by drawing off the gas and filling the abdomen and lungs with the Preservative, and from all appearances it would have been all right for some time to come. ”

“ The greatly improved appearance of a body that has been even so partially treated with the Preservative, will not only make your customer’s investment in it entirely satisfactory to them, but it will be also an advertisement for and an aid to your business. It will be, in a professional point of view, entirely proper in such cases, and in cases of infectious diseases, to make the Preservative an article of merchandise, as it will aid in introducing and familiarizing the idea of embalming in your community ”

“ Which may be from the fact that from the nature of the disease or from circumstances connected with the death of the subject, decomposition sets in very rapidly, in some cases the blood and fluids of the body being in a state of rapid progress towards disintegration even before death, and although the Preservative permeates the tissues of the body very readily, the amount of actual contact of it is so limited in proportion to the whole mass of animal matter to be preserved, that some time must be allowed for sufficient saturation. ”

“ It is of the greatest importance that the Preservative be kept entirely free from mixture with any other substance, as, owing to the peculiar combination of the chemicals used in the process of its manufacture, an addition of even a small portion of any foreign substances, especially any of the Arsenical Solutions sometimes used for embalming purposes, will completely change its character and destroy some of its most valuable properties. ”

“ A fatal case happened under my own personal observation in California where the undertaker laid out a Chinaman that was purging at the mouth. Some of the poisonous fluid got into a hang-nail, and in three days he died, although a council of physicians was called, but nothing devised or prescribed could help him, simply for the want of a perfect antidote like the Excelsior Preservative, which, if applied, as directed in this manual, is a certain preventative against the deadly ravages of this virus. ”

“ Therefore I say that there is nothing that can possibly pay the Undertaker better than to educate himself up to a full knowledge of the requirements of his profession, and it certainly is a very great inducement for him to do so when it is so easily done with the aid of the Excelsior Preservative and the instructions which I have laid before you. ”

“ Cases of purging or sloughing of the skin are of the worst type, these juices being fearfully poisonous, and the longer the body lays without treatment the worse it grows, hence the more dangerous to handle; therefore I say, it matters not what the undertaker charges for his services, he is never half paid for the risk he runs of losing his own life while fulfilling the duties of his profession in handling and taking care of the dead. ”

“ We call particular attention to this matter as we have more than once traced up the cause for a complaint of the quality of some particular shipment of the Preservative to the fact that the customer has had one or more kinds of “fluid” on hand and in some careless moment has emptied back some little left over, into the package containing our Preservative to its very great injury. Even keeping the Preservative in wood totally destroys its efficiency as an Embalming preparation and therefore it should never under contingency be kept in wooden packages. ”

“ I dare not use some of the “fluids,” once having lost four finger nails in using one kind, and others harden the skin and benumbs the fingers so that the touch is not as delicate as desired. I will now stick by your Preservative as it is just as nice for the undertakers hands as can be, softens and cleanses so nicely that it is a pleasure to use it and it has never failed us in embalming. ”

“ Your Excelsior Preservative is the best embalming fluid in America. It has always done just what we wanted it to do.
J. P. JAMES & CO.
Salem, Ohio., July 7, 1886. Crane & Allen:
While other parties are offering “fluids” at a much reduced price, we do not want to buy elsewhere as long as you still continue to furnish us as good a fluid as your Preservative has proved to be, as it has never failed to do just what a fluid should do. ”

“ I have all the Preservative I shall need this season. I shall be pleased to recommend it to anyone, as I can do with a clear conscience, as I have used it for several years and have never lost a case where I have done my work as well as I knew how. I always use, in an adult, three quarts to a gallon, as I do not care for a little Fluid if I keep the case in good shape. Can make a better charge and get it easier. ”

“ You will no doubt have customers who will only buy the casket and who will not require your attendance in laying out and caring for their dead, and we would suggest a source of profit and advantage to you in such cases in recommending the purchase of a bottle or two of the Preservative with directions for using on the face and exposed portions of the body, and such other uses as may be appropriate in each case. We can furnish the Preservative put up in bottles, labeled with directions for its use by unprofessional persons as a face application and as a disinfectant and deodorizer. ”

“ We are using the Preservative quite freely and with great success, as we have had some bad cases of late, from deaths by dropsy, heart disease, and cancer of the bowels, in all of which we have been complimented for the manner we have handled the cases, and Crane & Allen’s Preservative was our reliance in all. ”

“ We have decided never to use any “Fluid” but yours. It is the best we ever saw. About a month ago we gave it a good test, and kept a man who died very sudden—weighed 225 lbs. We kept him five days in his parlor, and he looked better than he did the day he died. We then placed him in the vault and ten days afterwards we took his wife and family to see him, and he looked as well as ever. It was the largest funeral we have had in 20 years, in this city. We now know just what to count upon to keep a corpse, and that is Crane & Allen’s Preservative. ”

“ To such of our good friends and customers who find such an expression from themselves printed in this book, we ask pardon for the publicity given to their letters, trusting that the good company in which they will find themselves, among the leading members of their profession, will be our best excuse for the liberty we have ventured to take. ”

“ It is sometimes necessary to puncture the body in two or three places, in order to get rid of all the gasses, but seldom more than once, as in nine cases out of ten the gas will all escape in less than two minutes from one opening.
17Immediately after the gas has escaped, insert the point of the Syringe and inject one or two pints of the Excelsior Preservative into the cavity of the abdomen, which will pass all around the bowels and arrest any further decomposition or putrescence, and entirely prevent any further accumulation of gas or possibility of bloating. ”

“ Our syringe has a screw fitting turned on the suction end so that any of the tubes or the Gas-trocar can be fitted on and collections of fluid in the body pumped out with it.
All the tubes and the Gas-trocar are nickel plated and non-corrosive, and we would call especial attention to our improved Gas-trocar which is the most complete tool of its kind ever manufactured being superior to any other as it is so constructed that it will not clog. ”

“ A body treated in the foregoing manner can be kept for a week or ten days in any kind of weather (the very warmest) with perfect safety, and with comparatively little trouble to yourself you will have conferred a very great favor on the friends of the deceased, by thus giving them an opportunity of looking upon the remains from day to day, as often and as long as they wish, and also giving them all the time they may want to arrange and re-arrange the dress, hair and flowers preparatory to the funeral. ”

“ In a case of this kind (as the ice-box or icing is done away with or omitted) , all the undertaker has to do is to lay the body out, with the head from ten to twelve inches higher than the feet (the higher the head the better) , and inject with the Syringe, using the large bent tube, say one-half of a pint of the Preservative into the nose or mouth, which will immediately run down the throat into the lungs and stomach, and prevent any fermentation or decay of any substance that may be in them. ”

“ All bodies should be laid out upon an inclined plane (45 degrees is not too much) , particularly during the process of embalming, as by thus inclining the body, the slight bloating of the face, caused by the filling of the arterial circulation with the Preservative, will soon pass off and a life-like expression remain. ”

“ We received last month from you the package of the Preservative, and last week I had my first case of embalming—an old man who died from dysentery, and the friends wanted the body kept until relatives arrived from Kansas. I had never used any Fluid or seen any embalming done, but had got posted from your Manual by reading it over. The doctors said that it would be of no use to try to keep the body without ice, as it would be “as black as your hat” in 24 hours, in such weather ”

“ We would prefer to supply our customers with a good set of Instruments at a nominal price to cover the cost of manufacture rather than to have them remain without them or be using inferior ones, as the best results in Embalming are attained only with the best tools which rule holds good in every kind of work. ”

“ Every artery has its corresponding vein by its side from which it is easily distinguished, as the veins are of a bluish color, while the arteries are of a creamish white. There is usually a nerve in close proximity to the artery, and although nearly of the same color, it may be distinguished by its being rounder and not being hollow like the artery. Taken between the 27thumb and finger the artery has the feeling of a hollow tube, while the nerve feels more solid to the touch being filled with a fibrous substance, something of the consistency of marrow. ”

“ Your Preservative we can say is all that you recommend it to be. We had the care of the body of a young man who committed suicide by hanging and when we took the body it was in bad condition, bloated and black in the face. We embalmed him with your Preservative and shipped him to Toledo, O., and the undertaker there said that the body came to him in the best shape of any corpse he ever handled and wanted to know what kind of “fluid” was used. ”

“ When the body is to be kept longer, it is best to first empty the stomach of whatever mucous or other substance can be got out of it. This is done easiest by turning the body onto its side, with the head drooping a little over the side of the bed or couch or whatever the body may be lying upon, and by pressing with your hand upon the stomach a portion of its contents will run out. ”

“ Whenever it is desirable for any reason to avoid leaving any external mark of the puncture, it should be made at the navel, first drawing the loose fold of skin at one side and puncturing through the navel; then, when the trocar is withdrawn the loose skin around the navel returns to its natural position. The trocar can be pointed downwards and to each side, injecting some of the Preservative in each place, thus accomplishing the thorough injection of the abdominal cavity from only one point of insertion. ”

“ The Undertaker who will give this part of the profession a little careful study and attention, will find that nothing will pay him better, for as soon as the people find out that he is really a professional undertaker, they will gladly rely upon him, and his services will be more and more appreciated by the educated and refined portion of the people, who always want this class of 41work well done, and are willing to pay and do pay for it whenever the Undertaker can convince them that he really understands the requirements of his profession. ”

“ It is a very dangerous thing in any contingency to handle the dead, notwithstanding it has been done thousands of times without injury to the undertaker, yet this is due to great precaution on his part, or from the fact of his hands being in perfect condition, having 37no scratch, cracks, hang-nails, or abrasion of the skin through which the poison could be inoculated into his system, whereas, others with a simple scratch or hang-nail that they were not aware of until too late, have thus been poisoned and lost their lives. ”

“ The Carotid or great Artery of the neck (see illustration) being the largest one of the whole body, is used for the injection by some Embalmers, but in many cases it is necessary to avoid having the marks of the incision show, as would be the case with children dressed low in the neck. ”

“ We were not called until he had been dead 12 hours and then we found him improperly laid out, but in spite of it all, we kept him a week by the use of the Preservative, and had a very large funeral (he being a very prominent man) . The casket stood open and every one said it was the most life-like corpse they ever saw. ”

“ There is no public servant that takes upon himself one-half the personal risk, or whose services should be better appreciated by the community than those of the professional undertaker, and when the customer complains of prices, or where the undertaker’s charges are brought in question, these facts should be fully explained. ”