Embalming

“ The Greeks and the Romans, among whom we have particularized some examples of embalming, practised it in a coarse and imperfect manner. The examination of their method would be here without interest.
In order to recover some traces of this art, we must refer to De Bils, Ruysch, Swammerdam, Clauderus, &c. They only boast of their astonishing success, without giving us the means of studying their methods. What we do know of them suffices only to make us doubt, as we have seen, the perfection of their processes. ”

“ These people had established invariable rules and a certain method for the process of embalming. We remark, in effect, that the labour of those who were charged with embalming the dead, consisted in two principal operations, very distinct: the first, to subtract from the interior of the corpse all that might become a cause of corruption during the time allotted to dry it; the second, to secure the body from any cause that might subsequently occasion its destruction. ”

“ Large incisions must be multiplied on the interior surfaces of the great cavities, and along the extremities.”
I stop at these details, because they suffice to prove that the art of embalming, down to the present, has had for its object, not the preservation of the whole subject intact, but the preparation of animal matters padded, stuffed with aromatics and salts: a preparation always incomplete, tedious, and expensive. This is the point from which I start in the preservation of animal matter, and the art of embalming. Have I the happiness of adding a step to science? ”

“ Tho interesting and important subject of embalming, and of preserving and preparing anatomical objects, though much improved of late, is by no means exhausted. It has long been our desire to turn our attention in a special manner to such researches, and to have instituted numerous experiments, but imperative duties, and unexpected events, have interfered with such views for the present—we are not without a hope, however, that some one of our countrymen, more fortunately situated, will push his discoveries in a direction which affords so admirable a field for distinction. ”

“ What obdurate Hearts and pitiless Eyes can then bear such a miserable Object, when Embalming so easily prevents it, by rendring the Body sweet and decorous, retaining still its natural Form, Feature and Shape? Again, if we consider the natural and innate Desire most People have of being bury’d in their own Tombs and Countries, |Necessary for Transporting Bodies.| we shall find there is a necessity of Embalming such Bodies, the better to convey those that die in Foreign Parts to their Native Soil. ”

“ It is necessary, in effect, to preserve to the tissues in embalming, a freshness and suppleness which is lost by desiccation, at the end of some months, in the subjects injected for the use of the anatomist; it is necessary, above all, to secure to the body, in this latter case, a more prolonged preservation: the facts which I can show, will prove that I have attained my end. ”

“ After agreeing about the price, the relatives retire; the embalmers work alone, and proceed as follows, in the most costly embalming. They first withdraw the brain through the nostrils, in part with a curved iron instrument, and in part by means of drugs, which they introduce into the head; they afterwards make an incision in the flank with a sharp Ethiopian stone. ”

“ But the Sands of Egypt being much more hot, from the reflection of the scorching Sun, are capable of Preserving Bodies without either Salination or Embalming, and that only by exhaling and drying up the Humidities and adventitious Moisture, insomuch that it has occasion’d no small Contests among some Authors, which of the two is the truer Mummy, that dry’d in the Sands, or that which is Embalm’d with Balsams and Aromatics. ”

“ When they have done this they give back the corpse at once in that condition without working upon it any more. The third kind of embalming, by which are prepared the bodies of those who have less means, is as follows:—they cleanse out the belly with a purge and then keep the body for embalming during the seventy days, and at once after that they give it back to the bringers to carry away. ”

“ Having thus done, they restore the dead Body to the Relations, doing nothing more. The third way of Embalming is for those of yet meaner Circumstances: They with Lotions wash the Belly, then dry it with Salt for 70 Days, and afterwards deliver it to be carry’d away. Nevertheless, beautiful Women and Ladies of Quality were not deliver’d to be Embalm’d till three or four Days after they had been dead. ”

“ Anatomical preparations—Those of pathology, and Natural history—Facts, proving a perfect preservation during many years—Composition of various preservative liquids—Usage—Example of the preservation of dry pieces by the simple sulphate—All my experiments first attempted on the fœtus—Circumstances the most unfavourable: 3. Embalming—There remains for me a series of experiments to perform, to enable me to practise embalming—Data to which I must confine myself—Have I attained my end?—Answer to this question by facts—Exhumation—First observation—Second observation. ”

“ In like manner are we to believe the preservation of dead Bodies was not effected by those Charms or Idols, found about them, but purely perform’d by an extraordinary Skill in Medicine and Anatomy, and particularly in that exquisite Art of Embalming. ”

“ The sentiments to which the authors above cited attribute the origin of embalming among the Egyptians exist in every man, viewed either as a social or isolated being. One individual may be induced to embalm the bodies of his relatives or friends by motives of superstition ”

“ On the other side, the men also girdle themselves, and strike their breasts; after this ceremony they carry the body to the place where it is to be embalmed.
Certain men according to the law have charge of the embalming, and make a profession of it. When a body is brought to them, they show the bearers models of the dead in wood. ”

“ They informed me, that decomposition only took place when the bodies fell by accident to the ground; which was owing to the humidity occasioned by the snow, which occasionally entered with the currents of air through the windows of the morgue. [G] (Note communicated by Dr. Lenoir.)
The existence of the mummies of the sands, is attested by numerous travellers, and all the authors who have written on embalming mention them. They are every where found, where an arid and burning atmosphere deeply penetrates the masses of fine sand, easily agitated by the winds. ”

“ The relatives now reclaim the body, they have made a wooden case for the human form, in which they enclose the corpse, and put it in a chamber destined for this purpose, standing erect against the wall. Such is the most magnificent method of embalming the dead. ”

“ Nevertheless, judging from the great incisions, perforations, the flesh hacked and stuffed with perfumes, the arbiter would have been justified in deciding that the hog-butcher possessed superior claims to any of his competitors for practising embalming. We shall be convinced, in reading the following notice, that the pretensions which we claim in favour of an honest artist, are neither ridiculous nor extravagant. ”

“ For embalming, Plutarch, Herodotus, Diodorus Sicculus, Stacy, Pliny, Cicero, Porphyrus, Prosper Alpin, Cassien, Clauderus, Penicher, Baricel, Rodiginus, Corippus, Gryphius, Crollius, the Reverend Fathers Kircher and Ménestrier, De Maillet, Volney, Rouelle, the Count de Caylus, MM. Pariset, Rouyer, Bory de Saint Vincent, and numerous other authors, have furnished me with descriptions and materials, which I was obliged to put in order and bring before the eye of the reader, in order to present to him a useful lecture, and in some sort preparatory to my own ideas. ”

“ The introduction of embalming in the seventies has been of untold benefit in improving the environment of the dead prior to interment. Recollections of the use of the old ice box, the crude and cumbersome cooler, the ice water to be cared for and the thought of the chilled body are not pleasant now, and were far from pleasant then to those into whose homes death had entered in hot weather. In winter natural cold was depended upon, the body being placed in the coldest place possible. ”

“ I have persisted all my life in the worship of those Gods, whom I hold from my fathers, I have ever honoured the Author of my being, I have killed no one, I have committed no breach of trust, I have done no other evil: if I have been guilty of any other fault during life, it was not on my own account, but for these things.’ The embalmer, in finishing these words, shows the trunk containing the intestines, and afterwards casts it into the river. ”

“ Secondly, To expose raw Flesh or Fish to the open Air, or lay them on the Earth, when if they quickly corrupt, ’tis a sign of a disposition in that Air to Putrifaction. Thirdly, The quick Putrifaction of Waters or Dews may likewise disclose the Qualities of the Air and Vapours of the Earth more or less corrupt: ’Tis good also to make Trial not only of the moisture and dryness of the Air, but of the Temper thereof in heat or cold; for that may concern Health variously, and whatever in this respect conduces thereto, the same is to be observ’d in Embalming. ”

“ The embalmer ought to furnish himself with silk ribands, of a black, violet, or white colour, according to the subject which he has to embalm, in order to tie the sheet by the two extremities, as well as a quarter of taffeta of one of the said colours to envelope the box containing the heart; further, five fathoms of cord to tie the corpse enveloped in cere-cloth. A coffin of lead in a coffin of wood. A barrel for the intestines. Bandages soaked in the liniment to bandage the body. ”

“ Then is the Body restor’d to its Relations, who prepare a wooden Coffin for it, in the shape and likeness of a Man, and then put the Embalm’d Body into it, and thus inclos’d place it in a Repository in the House, setting it upright against the Wall. After this manner they with great expence preserve their Dead, whereas those who to avoid too great a Charge desire a mediocrity, thus Embalm them: They neither cut the Belly nor pluck out the Entrails, but fill it with Clysters of Oil of Cedar injected up the Anus, and then salt it the aforesaid number of Days. ”

“ The mummy of the avalanches, and all those, the preservation of which is due to a constant low temperature, retain the freshness and plumpness of the tissues for years and for centuries, if the conditions of the medium remain the same ”

“ The cause of death is vitally necessary. In some cases, the ordinary contents of the embalmer's grip or hand bag are sufficient for the usual needs. In other cases, extra material of various kinds are necessary, for instance, the rubber floor covering for the carpet in dropsical cases ”

“ I have not remarked, what Maillet asserts, caverns specially destined to the sepulture of men, of women, and of infants; but I was surprised to find so few infant mummies in the tombs which I visited. These embalmed bodies, among which we meet with nearly an equal number of men and women, and which at first view appear to resemble each other, and to have been prepared in the same manner, differ, nevertheless, in the various substances which have been employed to embalm them, or in the arrangement and in the quality of the linen employed to envelope them. ”

“ But a wound inflicted within two hours after death may resemble very closely one received during life. In general, unless a wound is old enough for the edges to present inflammatory changes, the embalmer must be very careful in asserting its antemortem or postmortem character. ”

“ The intelligent embalmer, will never trust to the fluid passing from the tops of the lungs to the base, as in almost all cases the adhesions between the lungs and the walls absolutely prevent this taking place. ”

“ A great number of bones, and the wreck of soft parts, dried and preserved like the whole bodies, form a layer of seventeen or eighteen feet, upon which are supported the inferior extremities of seventy subjects, arranged in a circle around the wall, and retained in a vertical position by the cords which bind them. ”

“ Brasavolus thinks those dry’d Bodies of the Arabians and other Nations, brought to us from Syria and Egypt for Mummies, were only fill’d with Pissasphalt, inasmuch as being the poorer sort of People in those Countries, they could not be suppos’d to afford the expence of a better Embalment, for the Rich and Noble, whose Bodies were Embalm’d more costly with 278Myrrh, Aloes, Cinamon, Balsam, Saffron, and the like, were so carefully inclos’d in their private Sepulchres, that it was not only a very difficult matter to get at them, but also more rare to bring any of them over ”

“ As soon as thy feet are on the moss, cut the rope, stop not to untie it, fall on thy breast, and crawl into that hole—my finger shows it now—where slab of stone leans unto stone, and the body of a large heart may lie hidden. ”

“ The water dashing violently against these rocks, is beaten back, and rebounds the contrary way, by which are made wonderful whirlpools, and by the repeated influx, the whole place is covered with froth and foam, to the no small amazement of the beholders: for the river there runs down with as quick and violent a current, as an arrow out of a bow. ”

“ Sometimes after cutting a large limb into the right length to be used in the construction of a dam, the animal, finding he does not need it immediately, floats it out into the middle of a stream and sinks it to the bottom. ”

“ Here, therefore, we have evidence of an entire limb not having been washed in a fossil state out of an older alluvium, and then swept afterwards into a cave, so as to be mingled with flint implements, but having been introduced when clothed with its flesh, or at least when it had the separate bones bound together by their natural ligaments, and in that state buried in mud. ”

“ I only know it was extremely beautiful, and came pouring down like a great rolling heap of amber. The rocks around are high to the heavens, scooped, and singularly regular; and the sides of the torrent are every now and then paved with large smooth layers of rock, as even and regular in their proportions as if the fairies had done the work. After standing before the tumbling mass of water for a length of time, we climbed to the brink above, and went on. Mr. —— flung himself down under a roof of rock by the waterfall. ”