THE LABORATORY.
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Beforefully 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’ssilk. 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.
[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.
[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.