EMBALMING BODIES.
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Theboard generally employed to lay the body on while the operation of embalming is being performed resembles any ordinary cooling board with an adjustable head-rest, but it is also provided with a rim, extending all around, and raised about one inch above the level of the board; this rim stops at the foot, where the board remains open in all its width. There are also longitudinal grooves running the full length of the board.
The usefulness of this arrangement is obvious, as the liquids which are used during the washing and embalming of the body run down the grooves—the board being raised at the head about one foot during the operation—and can easily be collected in a pail placed under the foot of the board. This will do away with soiling the floor or carpet, as is often the case with the common board in use. The rim around the board will also prevent any liquid from dripping over the sides, and will save a great deal of annoyance and trouble.
The greatest precaution must be used by the operator. All useless and unnecessary talk must be avoided while at work; the mind must be concentrated uponthe work in hand. The knives, needles and other instruments must be carefully laid away on a stand within easy reach of the operator, and not be left laying about the board, under sponges, towels, etc.; these might be grasped thoughtlessly, and in doing so a gash might be inflicted, which, if not fatal, at all events would certainly prove very serious.
Before commencing the operation, and after the body has been thoroughly cleansed with soap and water, let the operator anoint and rub his hands with either lard or sweet oil; not so much so as to soil any article used, but let a vigorous rubbing force the oil into the pores of the skin until the hands are almost dry.
The eyes and the mouth being carefully closed by the usual means, let the body be well saturated with the following solution:
A cloth moistened with this solution may be laid on the face, and remain while the operation is being performed. This solution should not be wiped off, but it should be allowed to dry on the body; the water will evaporate and leave behind it a thin coating of the salts, which by penetrating the pores of the skin will render it imputrescible.
Next, an incision about five or six inches in length is cut transversely from right to left in the abdominalregion, over the stomach, about one inch in a line below the curvature of the lower ribs. Through this opening is revealed the stomach on the right, the liver and gall bladder on the left, the transverse arch of the colon in front, and below the smaller intestines.
If the stomach is distended with food or gas, it must in all cases be emptied of its contents and injected. For this purpose, puncture the walls of the stomach on the side exposed to view, and passing the left hand gently between that organ and the ribs, press down, so as to force the contents out and through the opening made. Then, after the stomach is completely emptied, inject with the following solution, which we shall designate, for the sake of avoiding mistakes, by the name of
EMBALMING FLUID.
The chloride of zinc and corrosive sublimate must be first dissolved in the alcohol, and the creasote then added.
The small intestines must then be gently and carefully drawn out, and allowed to lay on the right side of the abdomen; this will reveal in the abdominal region a cavity, which may or may not be filled with serum, according to circumstances. At any rate,should there be any liquid, it must be carefully pumped out or sponged off until perfectly dry.
The cavity is then to be sprinkled heavily with tannic acid. The small intestines must then, and before being replaced, be next attended to. If inflated with nothing but gas, a simple puncture at different points, so as to favor the escape of the gas, and a moderate injection through the aperture, will suffice.
If, however, the intestine should be found congested with blood, or some other substance, the contents must be emptied by the following method: Seize firmly, between the two forefingers of the left hand, the intestine, at the lowest point you can reach, and with the right hand draw the intestine through the fingers of the left; this will have the effect of forcing the contents of the intestine forward in front of the fingers of the left hand. After the matter has so accumulated that the progress is impeded, the intestine must be cut, the matter extracted, the part which has thus been emptied, injected with the embalming fluid, and then tied up. This operation must be repeated until the whole of the intestines, small and large, have been emptied and injected, and then the whole is to be replaced into the cavity.
About four ounces of the embalming fluid must be poured over the intestines, and the wound neatly sewed together.
It may be found necessary before closing the opening to lay a thickness of cotton batting over the bowels and under the walls of the abdomen.
Should the lungs be congested with blood, they must be emptied. This object may be attained either by pressing upon the lower part of the thorax, which will have the effect of forcing the blood out through the nostrils and mouth; or else the diaphragm separating the thoracic cavity from the abdomen may be cut through, and the extravasated blood can therefore be got out through the opening. The injection of the thoracic cavity can also be performed through the same opening. The utmost caution must be used in perforating the diaphragm, as some of the arteries might be wounded by a careless use of the knife.
The above operation may be performed before closing the wound in the abdomen or replacing the intestine into the cavity, as it will then leave more room to collect the fluid which may escape from the lungs.
The lungs should in all cases be well injected, either through the trachea or by the process given above. The air passages must be carefully stopped with cotton. The mouth being closed, the nostrils are about the only air passages which require the attention of the operator. The eyes, after a few days, are liable to sink in the sockets, which gives the body an unnatural appearance. Mr. John C. Rulon, of Philadelphia, has invented a wax shell, which, after being introduced under the eyelids, prevents the sinking of the eyes.
The arterial system is to be injected, and next requires attention. Before commencing to inject thearteries, the jugular vein on the left side of the neck must be punctured so as to allow the blood to escape. In some subjects, the flow of blood will be very copious, in which instance the jugular veins must be opened on both sides of the neck; at other times the flow of blood will be very limited, and even the opening of the veins has sometimes been found quite unnecessary.
The femoral artery is the vessel generally chosen for injecting, at a point below the arch about eight inches from and below Poupart’s Ligament. After the artery has been raised, a small incision is punctured into the coat of the artery, large enough to admit the nozzle of the injector, and the canula is carefully pushed upwards into it as far as its length will allow; the artery is then safely and firmly fastened around it, and everything is then ready for injecting.
On the mode of injecting depends, in a great measure, the success of the operation. With some of the instruments now employed, the pressure of the injecting fluid is so strong and sudden as in some instances to rupture the walls of the arteries at some weak point, and fill the cavaties of the thorax and abdomen; sometimes even the liquid has been forced in with such force and in such quantities as to burst the arteries, and, after filling the chest, to pour out in a stream from the mouth and nostrils.
In the above instances, it stands to reason that neither the arterial nor venous systems have been properly injected.
The injection should be performed in a slow, regular manner. After a quart of the embalming fluid (the composition of which has been given above) has been injected, the operation should be suspended for about ten minutes, after which it should be renewed in the same manner, until a gallon and a half or two gallons have been injected. Sometimes the quantity injected need not be so great, as for instance in the case of a person much emaciated by long illness, or if the subject be a child.
The jugular veins must be kept open so long as the flow of blood continues, but they must be closed as soon as the embalming fluid makes its appearance. The best manner of closing the veins is by introducing into the jugulars a small pad of cotton, and neatly sewing up the opening.
It should be remembered that the cloth moistened with the solution for the face should be kept on, well saturated, while this operation is being performed, and even for a few hours after the body has been dressed.
A body prepared in this manner has been kept, in a wooden coffin, in a dark and moderately cool place, for the space of nine months without any perceptible change. After that time the shrinking of the tissues took place, and the body was slowly drying up and being desiccated without in the least decaying or putrefying.