Before fully 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’s silk. 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.