EMBALMING PROCESSOF WORTH AND DURAND.
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Thisprocess, often employed in Europe, has given very satisfactory results, and seems to deserve a good deal of attention. The mode of proceeding differs in some particulars from the methods already given; also the preparations used in this process are very different from the others, although the principles upon which it is founded are the same.
The solution employed as an injecting fluid in this process is as follows:
Dissolve the arsenious acid and soda in hot water, in a glass or porcelain vessel, and, after solution, let the liquor cool off; then add enough of water to make up a gallon of the mixture. In the making and using of this preparation a great amount of care should be exercised, as it must be borne in mind that arsenious acid is a violent poison.
The stomach is then opened, as described in former chapters, and emptied of its contents; the bowels, also, must be subjected to the same process. The trachea is punctured, and the bronchial tubes completely filled with the solution through the opening thus made. The stomach and intestines should also be injected with the solution, and also the surrounding parts.
The main point of injection is the common carotid artery. Before injecting the stomach and bowels, and before replacing the intestines into the abdominal cavity, the inferior vena cava is punctured a little below the renal vein, and the flow of blood allowed to take place in the cavity, from whence it may be either sponged or pumped out.
The right carotid artery is selected as the point of injection, instead of the left, for the following reasons: The right common carotid artery is shorter than the left; it is also more anterior, and, in consequence of proceeding from a branch instead of from the main trunk, is larger than its fellow.
The common carotid artery in the neck is inclosed in a fibrous sheath, which also contains the internal jugular vein lying to the outer side of the artery, and the pneumogastric nerve, which lies between and behind both; the sheath rests on the vertebral column. To the inner side of the carotid is the trachea and larynx; to its outer side, and inclosed in its sheath, the jugular vein. It may be inferred from the above that the jugular vein in the neck is in close proximitywith the carotid artery, and great care must be exercised in puncturing the artery not to injure the vein lying at its side.
After the injection has proceeded upwards, until the arteries of the head and neck are filled, a very small puncture may be cut into the jugular vein, and the blood allowed to escape at that point and for a few minutes, until the flow decreases, when the vein may be tied up.
The nozzle of the injector is then turned in a downward direction, and the injection continued until a sufficient quantity of the liquid has been injected.
The artery is then tied up, and the wound neatly brought together and sewed up. The blood which may have escaped from the vena cava is taken out of the abdominal cavity, and the stomach and bowels injected with the solution. Some of the same solution may also be poured around the bowels before and after their being replaced in their former position, and the opening in the abdomen is then closed.
Another preparation, which has been employed with some success, was as follows:
The sulphuric acid liberates the hyposulphurous acid, which immediately decomposes into sulphur and sulphurous acid. It is to the antiseptic properties of the sulphurous acid that this preparation owes its preserving qualities.
A strong solution of bichromate of potash has also been used several times for an injection, but the result has not always proved satisfactory, as the liquid, when concentrated, is too much of an oxydizing agent.