ODERN EM BA LM ING. The art of emhahning was probably never lost in Europe. The develop ment of nnalern nwthods, however, may be said to date from the beginning of the eighteenth cen tury. It is said that arterial injection of em balming fluid for the preservation of a dead body was first practiced successfully by Dr. Fred erick liuyseh, of Amsterdam (11/65-1 717 ) NVII0 also treated the internal organs with alcohol, allo.r removing and cleansing them, replacing then] finally. His secret of preservation of color and form died with him. Following him in the work of embalming caine Dr, William Hunter (Tv.), the celebrated anatomist, who elllphlyell NS an arterial injection a solution containing oil of Inrpentine, Venice turpentine, oil of lavender, oil of rosemary. and vermilion. also removed the abdominal and thoracic organs, cleaned and injected theni.soaked them in camphorated spirits of wine, and then returned them to their cavities, packed in a powder composed of camphor, resin, and nitre. This powder he also placed in all external orifices. The body was then anointed with oil of rosemary and oil of lavender, and placed upon a layer of dry plaster, that its moist ure might be extracted from it. Bodies em balmed after this method by William Bunter or his brother, John Hunter (q.v.), in perfect condi tion, are deposited in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. Other physicians, chief among them being Drs. \lattluew Baillie, Sheldon, and Joshua Brooks, used simila r methods. ,lean Nicholas Canna' (1791-1852). a French chemist, employed a solution with which lie wet the body and which lie injected into the carotid artery; the solution was composed of acetate of lead and sulphate of alumina, together with some form of arsenic. His son, a physician of Paris, used a similar solution, but without the arsenic, and with the addition of certain essential oils. Gannal's method is much inferior to that of Sucquet, of Paris, who used chloride of zinc. Faleony, of Paris, used external applications of zinc sulphate, without opening the body or in jecting the arteries; after 40 days his subjects lost their flexibility and became mummified.
Thenard describes Chaussier's method, by which saturation with a solution of corrosive sublimate was employed. A German preservative. which is said to render the dead body resistant of decay for several years, while it retains color, form, and flexibility, consists of alum, sodium chloride, potash, arsenious acid, and boiling water, with glycerin and methyl alcohol. This liquid is used for both saturation and injection. An impetus was given to embalming in this country by the successful work of Dr. Thomas Holmes, of Brooklyn. N. Y., who prepared and sent home many dead soldiers from the battlefields during the Civil War. Embalming is steadily taking the place of the use of ice, in preserving the dead until funeral services and interment are ended. There are two reasons for its employment: (I) Preservation of the body for transportation or leisurely disposal. (2) Sanitation; for it is an absolute prevention of communication of infec tion, either before the body is buried or after it has crumbled and mingled with the earth in a cemetery. About four quarts of fluid are used for a body, some of which is injected into the arterial system, some into the cavities of the pleurae, peritoneum and pericardium, and some is used for saturation. Discolorations are removed by various processes. The composition of the em balming fluids used to-day in the United States appears to he a secret known only to the un dertaker's supply companies; it is believed that they contain arsenic and alkalies, as well as alcohol.
Consult: Pettigrew, History of Egyptian Mummies (London. 1834) : Gannal, Traite rrembaumement (Paris, 1838), translated by Harlan ( Ph iladel ph 1840 ) Sucquet, Eta bouniement (Paris, 1872) ; Lessley, Embalming (Toledo, Ohio, 1884) : Budge. The Mummy (Lon don, 1893) ; Alyers. Champion Text-Book of Em ( Springfield, Ohio, 1900).