PROF. E. H. CRANE’S
Manual of Instructions
TO UNDERTAKERS,
WITH
FULL AND COMPLETE INSTRUCTIONS IN THE BEST METHODS FOR
Preserving the Dead,
INCLUDING MINUTE DIRECTIONS FOR
Arterial Injection,
WITH PLATES ILLUSTRATING THE LOCATION OF THE PRINCIPAL ARTERIES.
REVISED EDITION.
Copyright, 1888,
BY CRANE & ALLEN,
Kalamazoo, Mich.
Printed by Kalamazoo Publishing Co.
REVISED EDITION.
It is to be understood that this MANUAL OF INSTRUCTION is _not for
sale_, but is only for your information and instruction while using the
Excelsior Preservative, and that it will not be furnished to any other
than our customers _at any price_.
Therefore we trust that you will keep this MANUAL under lock and key, or
where no person other than yourself or your regular assistants can have
access to it, as it contains all of the information and instructions
that you could heretofore have gained by personal attendance on mine or
any course of lectures on Embalming, at much expense of time and money,
_with the single exception_ of a practical demonstration of the
operation of taking up and injecting the Arteries.
This is, however, so fully and minutely described and explained in the
MANUAL, with the aid of accurate drawings of the principal arteries—_see
Chapters IX, X and XI_—that the operation can be easily learned without
any other instruction.
E. H. CRANE.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Chap. I. —Ancient Embalming.
„ II. —Care of Ordinary Cases.
„ III. —Cases requiring Cavity Injection.
„ IV. —Cases requiring a full Treatment without Arterial
Injection.
„ V. —Treatment in Cases indicating an Absence of immediate
Results and final Success.
„ VI. —The Preservative as a Disinfectant and Preventative of
Contagious Diseases.
„ VII. —The Preservative put up in Bottles for the use of
Unprofessional Persons.
„ VIII. —Embalming by Arterial Injection.
„ IX. —Injection of the Carotid Artery. (Illustration of location
of Carotid Artery.)
„ X. —Injection of the Brachial Artery. (Illustration of
location of Brachial Artery.)
„ XI. —Injection of the Femoral Artery. (Illustration of location
of Femoral Artery.)
„ XII. —Precautions to observe for the Safety of the Operator in
Embalming.
„ XIII —Chemical Affinities.
„ XIV. —Advantages to the Undertaker of Scientific Embalming.
„ XV. —Absorption by the Capillaries.
„ XVI. —Embalming Instruments.
„ XVII. —Caution in Storing and Keeping the Preservative.
Appendix, with commendatory letters, Page 48
Note—Care of the Manual, „ 141
Letter to our Customers, „ 142
PROF. E. H. CRANE’S
Manual of Instructions
TO UNDERTAKERS.
CHAPTER I.
Ancient Embalming.
It is my object in these instructions to lay before the undertakers of
this country a minute and detailed description of the _only reliable_
process, and _best method known_, for the preservation and embalming of
the dead, and at the same time to submit to them the important details
to be followed out so condensed and free from unnecessary and
superfluous language that the methods used shall be plain to any one,
believing that any matter not strictly pertaining to the subject is out
of place in a Manual of Instruction.
Long study and experiment in this interesting science has brought to
light many valuable and practical results, and it is from actual tests
and experiments extending over nearly a quarter of a century that I have
devoted to this subject that has enabled me to say that with the aid of
my Excelsior Preservative the Undertaker may rely with entire and
perfect confidence, upon meeting with complete success in each and every
case to which he may be called, and I can assure him that after using
the Excelsior Preservative, he will have no desire to return to the use
of ice, or any other preparation he may have used in the past.
The Egyptians embalmed their dead by a tedious process, which occupied
from sixty to ninety days—constant attention and care being required.
They always removed the brain, stomach and intestines, which last were
sometimes deprived of their excrement and replaced in the body, and when
they were called to embalm very fleshy subjects all of the adipose or
fatty substances that could be removed were taken out of the bodies;
this done, they were next bathed, or even immersed, in a solution of
Arsenic, Asphaltum, Oil of Cedar, Gum Myrrh, and any or all of the
aromatic spices that they could possess themselves of without respect to
kind or quantity. After which the body was subjected to slow and steady
heat for from sixty to ninety days; the application of the solution
being repeated several times (smoke was also used in some cases); when
the moisture was finally expelled from the body they were wrapped or
rather wound with narrow strips of linen cloth from head to foot. These
cloths were also saturated with Asphaltum, Arsenic and Gum Myrrh, which
soon became dried and cemented together in a manner to prevent moisture
from permeating the body as long as the wrapping remained intact.
Thus it will be observed that the Egyptian method is not a lost art, as
has been supposed, neither would any person living under the present age
of improvement allow it to be practiced on their dead.
It has been often remarked by those not informed in such matters, that
the Egyptian method could not be fully analyzed or a new and better
method discovered to take its place; but, fortunately, this is a great
mistake.
The Peruvians equalled the Egyptian method without removing anything
from the body, and all they used was smoke and heat. When the moisture
was fully evaporated from the body it was placed in a dry, rocky tomb.
Many of these _mummies_ have been discovered in a fine state of
preservation, and few, if any, are prepared to say but that these
ancient dead have been lying in their rock-hewn tombs as long as the
so-called Egyptian mummies have in the catacombs of Egypt.
I have given the above, as you will be asked many times in regard to the
Egyptian method of embalming, and it will be a very great advantage to
you in being able to give the information called for.
There are a number of so-called preserving or embalming preparations,
sold as such (some having a little merit as a temporary preservative),
but _none of them_ possessing all the requirements of a perfect
preservative, deodorizer and embalming compound.
_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.
Having explained the ancient method of preserving the dead, I will now
take up the science as perfected, with the aid of the Excelsior
Preservative and the practical instructions, which I herewith lay before
you.
With this manual in your possession, you will be enabled to attain that
perfection in the art of preserving and embalming the dead which the
educated and refined taste of the people of this day require of your
profession.
[Illustration: [Fleuron]]