Section Two.

Composition of the Digestive Organs and of their Secretions—Chemical Phenomena of Digestion.

Mucus.—The living membrane of the alimentary canal is moistened with a liquid possessing many of the characteristics of vegetable mucus, but containing nitrogen. It is a thick, tenacious substance, which contains, dissolved in the water through which it is diffused, the ordinary salts of the serum of the blood; it swells up with water to a considerable mass, but without dissolving; it dissolves in alkaline liquors, and is precipitated therefrom on the addition of an acid and the tincture of galls; the mucus from different parts of the mucus membrane is, however, by no means identical in properties.

The liquid secreted by the internal surface of the stomach—the gastric juice—which exercises an important influence on digestion, differs essentially in its character from mucus. When the stomach is empty and contracted, it contains ordinary mucus; but if even indigestible substances are introduced, and still more, after taking proper food, a liquid is abundantly poured out, which is colorless or pale yellow, and contains a very small quantity of solid matter (two per cent.), which consists principally of inorganic salts (common salts and sal ammoniac, with a trace of a salt of iron); it is specially characterized by the presence of a notable quantity of free muriatic acid, the proportions of which vary with the activity of the digestive powers at the time. This gastric juice possesses the remarkable property of softening down and dissolving fibrine and albumen, and thus converts the masses of food into the uniform pulp (chyme), from which the absorbing vessels of the small intestines take up the nutritious elements.

If we form an artificial gastric juice by mixing together the muriatic acid and salts in the right proportions, it is found to be totally incapable of dissolving the materials of the food, and, indeed to be quite inactive towards digestion. The organic material of the gastric juice, although its quantity be so minute, is, therefore, essential to its powers, and these may be perfectly conferred upon the previously inactive, artificial juice, by the addition of a little of the mucus of the stomach or by steeping in the acid liquor, for a short time, a small portion of a mucous membrane, and filtering the liquor; for this purpose it is not even necessary to use the mucous membrane of the stomach, for that of the bladder has been found to answer equally well. The substance which is dissolved out of the membrane in these cases has been termed pepsine. It has not been obtained in a truly isolated or pure form, but its properties are very remarkable. For its full activity it requires the presence of a free acid, as the artificial gastric juice becomes much less active in dissolving food when neutralized by an alkali, though it retains other properties, as that of coagulating milk-like rennet. If the artificial juice be precipitated by nitrate of lead, the precipitate washed, and then decomposed by sulphuret of hydrogen; the solution thus obtained possesses all the digestive powers of the juice. Hence, the pepsine and muriatic acid act together, by combining with oxide of lead.

Pepsine appears to be completely decomposed by contact with alcohol or boiling water; its powers are also destroyed by deodorizing substances; the solution of albumen and fibrine in gastric juice differs essentially from their solution in muriatic acid, as in the former case the quantity of acid is very minute, in relation to the quantity of material dissolved, and after solution the acid remains quite uncombined.

The action of the stomach in digestion, appears, therefore, so far as our actual knowledge extends, a purely catalytic fermentative action; one in which the active excitant is an organic substance (pepsine), secreted by the mucous surface, and whose properties are developed by the presence of muriatic acid, which is secreted at the same time. The new products into which the food, fibrine, albumen, gluten, starch, oils, sugar, etc., are converted, and which collectively constitute the white uniform pulp, termed by physiologists chyme, have not been made the subject of accurate chemical researches.

In the mouth the mass of nutritive material is acted on by a liquid which is secreted by the salivary glands, the saliva. It is alkaline, and holds in solution not one per cent. of solid matter, which contains some carbonate of soda and common salt, admixed mucous, and a peculiar organic body, termed salivary matter.

This last substance is soluble in water; its solution is not coagulated by heat, nor precipitated by tincture of galls, corrosive sublimate, acetate of lead, nor by acids. The pancreas, so similar in structure to the salivary glands, has a different secretion; it contains no salivary matter, but albumen and some salts; it is generally slightly acid.

Composition of the Bile.—The precise part which this remarkable secretion performs in the animal economy is not yet fully known; it has been the subject of repeated and accurate chemical examination, although, from the facility with which its elements are transferred into other bodies, by the action of the reagents employed, every succeeding analysis has led to different results.

The Coloring matter of the Bile.—is present during health but in small quantity, but in disease it sometimes accumulates so as to form solid masses. When pure, it is a reddish-yellow powder, which is scarcely soluble in water or in alcohol, but dissolves easily in a solution of caustic potash. This solution is of a clear yellow color, but when exposed to the air it becomes deep green, absorbing oxygen. This change is remarkably produced by nitric acid, and it is indeed the reaction by which the presence of the bile in the serum of the blood, in the skin, in the urine, and eyes, etc., may be shown in cases of jaundice.

Chyle and Lymph.—The nutritive materials extracted from the food by the absorbing vessels of the intestines, is thrown into the thoracic duct, where it meets with another fluid, which is transmitted to the same vessel from all parts of the body by the colorless veins or lymphatics. The fluid from the intestines is termed chyle; that from the body is generally termed lymph. It is the mixture of these that has alone been examined, for the vessels which carry either separately are too minute to allow of the extraction of their contents in a pure form.

When taken from the thoracic duct, a few hours after a meal, when, probably, the chylous element prevails, it is whitish, opaque, liquid, like milk, with generally a reddish shade; a short time after separation from the body, it coagulates; the clot is at first pale, but it soon becomes light crimson red; the milkiness of the serum is due to the presence of oil; it contains albumen, and coagulates by heat; except that it is more dilute, and that the hematosine is for the most part absent, the chyle and lymph have the same composition as the blood. It appears to vary, however, with the nature of the food, as Dr. Prout found the chyle of persons fed on vegetables to contain a much smaller quantity of albumen than when they had had animal food.

Dr. Prout also indicates in chyle the presence of a substance which he terms incipient albumen, which is not coagulated by heat, except after the addition of acetic acid; the properties of this form of albumen, however, are not fully known.

Constitution of the Urine in Health and Disease.—The nature of this secretion has at all times been an object of considerable interest to the chemist, from the indications which changes in its composition give of diseases of important organs and from the number and interest of the different organic substances it contains. As in almost all other branches of animal chemistry, Burzelius first determined its composition, and lately Lecaner has ascertained with great care the limits to which the proportions of its ingredients may vary in health, and this established a correct basis of comparison for urine in the various conditions of diseases.

Of the Urine in Disease and after Death—Urinary Calculi.—To the chemist, the indications of disease of the urinary and digestive organs, formed by changes in the composition of urine, are most valuable. The majority of the substances which are taken into the circulation, but are incapable of assimilation to our organs, are thrown off by this secretion, and hence a variety of medicinal substances may be traced to it after having been ingested, sometimes quite unaltered, at others modified in their natures. Thus if alkaline salts of organic acids be taken into the stomach, the organic material is oxidized, probably during the action of respiration, while the alkali passes into the urine in the state of carbonate. If, however, the organic acid be taken uncombined, it escapes decomposition, and, passing into the urine, produces an abundant precipitate of salts of lime. In the case of the tartaric acid and oxalic acids, some organic bodies, as aspharagine and the oil of turpentine, are decomposed, and the products which they form are execreted, giving to the urine peculiar odors; in the latter case like that of violets.

The majority of coloring matters are thrown out of the system by this secretion, while others are not so given off.

The mineral acids—alcohol, camphor and most metallic salts—do not pass into the urine to any sensible degree.

Urine in Diabetes.—The most remarkable change in the nature of urine occurs in Diabetes Mellitus, it is voided in great quantity; it is found to contain a great quantity of grape, sugar, and very little urea.

It was supposed that in this disease urea ceased to be formed by the system, and was replaced by sugar; but it has been shown that, although the quantity of urea is very small in any one specimen of urine, yet the total quantity is so much increased that in twenty-four hours the natural quantity of urea is secreted; the secretion of sugar being an act of faulty digestion, and totally unconnected with the urea. These results have been fully confirmed by experience.

The diabetic urine sometimes contains albumen, which arises from complications of other forms of disease.

All that has been said in the former chapter about the solid and fluid constituents of the human body may, at first sight, and to a great many, seem to be superfluous and out of place in a work of this kind. It is true that the different modes of preserving bodies, as explained in this book, do not require this long dissertation on animal chemistry in order to be understood; still, when we consider that the chemicals used in these different processes have an object to accomplish, it must be granted that a thorough knowledge of the constituents of the body, their composition and chemical proportion, will, to a great extent, explain the reason why these same chemicals are used in preference to others.

The secondary object, which is not less important, consists in the fact that a thorough knowledge of the animal chemistry of the human organism is most necessary to understand the different changes which take place in the formation of the different juices and tissues of the body, when they enter into combination with the chemicals, the object of which is to render them imputrescible.

However, the study of these combinations affords a simple and clear explanation of the means resorted to in order to preserve bodies.

GANNAL’S PROCESS OF EMBALMING.

WITH MODIFICATIONS.

This process, which has been successfully employed in Europe for a long time, for the purpose of embalming bodies and for the preservation of anatomical preparations, is still practised extensively, owing to the cheapness of the materials used and to the simplicity of the modus operandi.

The embalming fluid in this instance is composed as follows, viz.:

Sulphate of alumina, 4 pounds. Arsenious acid, 4 ounces. Creasote, 4 ounces. Water, 1 gallon.

To prepare this fluid, an explanation of its constituents is required.

There are two different kinds of arsenious acid, the opaque and the transparent. This latter variety (the transparent) should be selected in preference to the other, on account of its greater solubility; the acid must also be procured in crystals, and not in powder, as it will, in the first place, dissolve quicker, and will not be liable to be adulterated. The water must then be heated to 55°, and the acid dissolved in it. The sulphate of alumina is then to be added, and, after being completely dissolved, let the solution cool off to the usual temperature; then add the creasote, and, after stirring gently, the solution is ready for use.

Lay the body on an inclined board, as described in a former chapter, and, after thoroughly cleansing with water and soap, saturate well with a concentrated solution of alum; the body should be kept well moistened with the solution, as prescribed in the processes of embalming already given, until the operation is completed.

Through an opening made in the skin of the abdomen, and immediately over the transverse part of the colon, the bowels and the stomach will then be revealed, which must be emptied of their contents and properly cleaned, and injected with the above preparation.

After the contents of the abdomen have thus been treated, the whole abdominal viscera is to be heavily sprinkled over with tannic acid, until the acid forms a layer about one-half inch in thickness between the bowels and the skin of the abdomen; the flaps of the skin are then brought together and neatly sewed up.

The femoral vein is then opened. The femoral vein ascends the thigh in the sheath of the femoral artery, and, entering the pelvis beneath Poupart’s ligament, becomes the external iliac vein. In the lower part of its course, it is situated on the outer side of the artery; it then becomes placed behind that vessel, and at Poupart’s ligament lies to the inner side. It receives the muscular veins and propenda, and, through the saphenous opening, the internal saphenous vein.

The blood, in some cases, will issue very freely, and the flow of it must continue until the embalming fluid makes its appearance.

To inject the circulatory system, extend the left arm at a right angle with the body, and open the axilliary artery about three inches from the arm-pit. The axilliary artery is a continuation of the sub-clavian artery; it passes through the axilla or arm-pit into the arm, and is called the axilliary artery; that part of its continuation into the upper arm is called the brachial artery, and in the fore arm it divides into the radial and ulnar arteries, which are distributed to the hand and fingers.

Through the opening thus made in the axilliary artery two gallons of embalming fluid may be injected, or such quantity as may be found necessary to completely fill the arterial and venous systems.

After the blood has ceased to flow from the opening in the femoral vein, the wounds must be sewed up, and the body, anointed with the solution, left to dry in a cool, well ventilated place.

The surface of the body and also the face may be mottled in some places with white spots, but the skin will soon assume a uniform color, and the blotches will disappear.

After the solution on the body has become sufficiently dry and has penetrated the pores of the skin, the excess of moisture must be wiped off with a clean towel.

The nostrils should be hermetically sealed, by introducing into them some cotton, well saturated with gum shellac dissolved in alcohol.

The eyes must be well closed, and, if no other means at hand, the lids must be sewn together with a small circular needle, and some silk, saturated in spirits of turpentine.

The body is then saturated with a thin coating of turpentine; and after the turpentine is dry, the clothing can be put on, and the body is then ready for interment.

As shown by the preceding, this process is very simple, and has given satisfactory results in all cases, although the amount of embalming liquid and the composition thereof vary in all cases, and according to the temperature of the season and country.

For instance, if the body to be embalmed is that of a very fleshy person, and it be in the summer season, when animal substances are more prone to putrefy than at other seasons, the embalming fluid must be altered as follows, in its quantitative composition:

Sulphate of alumina, 6 pounds. Arsenious acid, transparent, 4 ounces. Creasote, 6 ounces. Water, 1 gallon.

For the minor parts of this process, as, for instance, the closing of the eyes, mouth, etc., the reader is referred to previous processes already given in former chapters.

The most reliable composition yet found for embalming purposes, and the one which has given the most satisfactory results, is the following:

Alcohol, one gallon; dissolve into it eight ounces of corrosive sublimate, and, after complete solution, add two pounds of creasote. This solution, for injecting purposes, has never failed to accomplish the purpose, and has given the most astonishing results. The only objection to its use, but one which does not in reality carry any weight with it, is the fact that the solution will produce a white scar on the skin of the body wherever it may be dropped; but a very moderate amount of care in the use of it will preclude the possibility of such an accident.

The embalming of bodies by injection has so far occupied our attention. We will hereafter pass briefly in review the process of maceration employed in the preservation of bodies.

EMBALMING BY MACERATION.

The process of embalming bodies, as at first practised, was founded on the principle of complete immersion of the body into some bath composed of antiseptics, which, by being absorbed by the system, rendered the tissues imputrescible, much in the same way as we now preserve anatomical preparations by immersing in alcohol.

At the commencement of this century a process of embalming was brought out in Europe, and succeeded very well for some time; but after a certain period, Mr. Gannal and others inaugurated a new system of preserving the dead, and the process of maceration was abandoned, and has not since been revived to any extent. The following is the manner of treatment to which a body was subjected in the above process:

The body was washed thoroughly with soap and water; then the abdomen was opened and the sternum raised; the thoracic as well as the abdominal viscera was then removed altogether, as also the brain.

The body was then immersed for one week in a strong solution of alum and nitrate of potash; the body was then taken out and the cavities filled with tow and powdered arsenic; the bowels, lungs, liver, etc., in fact all the viscera, were buried separately.

The body was then completely buried in dry sand for the space of ten days, to absorb all the moisture contained in the tissues, and was then dressed in the funeral habiliments and placed in a leaden coffin, hermetically sealed; a small, thick glass, immediately over the face, allowed the friends to obtain a view of the features.

This process has been found objectionable for a good many reasons; in the first place, the eviscerating of the body is a repulsive feature of it, and not to be had recourse to when less barbarous means are at hand; secondly, the skin of the body assumes a yellow and wrinkled appearance, which, if it does not entirely destroy the cast of the features, alters the general appearance so much as to render them very different from the natural appearance.

At any rate, the method of preserving bodies by the above means has entirely fallen into disuse, and as, with our perfected improvements in this branch of the undertaking business, we are able to do away with the most repugnant features of it, this system has been superseded by the less objectionable and more effective arterial injections.

LAWS OF HEALTH.

Undertakers, like physicians and all those who may be called at any time of the day or night to make use of their physical and mental faculties, whose duties compel them to breathe the foul effluvia of the sick chamber, or the noxious gases generated by the dead, even to come into direct contact with every variety of contagious or epidemic disease—such professionals find it to their interest and physical welfare to observe certain rules of living in accordance with the requirements of their calling.

It is a matter of great importance that their diet, clothing and habits be regulated by certain laws, which will, to a great extent, reduce the dangers to which they are exposed in the discharge of their duties.

DIET.

Man is less uniform in his diet, and suffers more in consequence of it, than any other animal. All other animals are directed by instinct to select only those substances which are best adapted to their wants. Man is endowed with reason to enable him, by the exercise of thought and reflection, to make his choice of food. He should, therefore, select his daily food with as much forethought and care as he would select the materials for his dwelling. He should consider, not what will gratify his taste, but what will build up and strengthen his bodily structure, and secure most perfectly the highest and most permanent enjoyment of all his faculties.

The kind of food which each individual should select is by no means uniform; the climate, the season of the year, the occupation, the temperament, the age, the habits of life, and various other circumstances which might be mentioned, demand modifications of diet.

MODIFICATIONS OF AGE.

The constituent elements of the body are not found in the same relative proportions at different periods of life, or in different individuals of the same age. In middle life the muscular system predominates, and the body is remarkable for the compactness of its fibres, its strength, and its power of endurance.

In the child there is an excess of fluids, which renders the body more plump and round and the form beautiful, though more frail and delicate than at a later period. In advanced age, the soft tissues become greatly diminished, and the form wrinkled and wasted.

CLIMATE.

The inhabitants of cold climates require those articles of food which produce the largest amount of animal heat, such as oil, tallow and fat meats, which contain from sixty-six to eighty per cent. of carbon. The natives of the arctic regions consume enormous quantities of fat and oil, and seem to relish them as great luxuries; the inhabitants of tropical regions subsist mainly on rice, fruits, vegetables and lean meats. It would be impossible to live in Greenland on the plaintain and rice of the Hindoo, or in Hindostan on the seal fat and whale oil of the Greenlander.

In temperate climates we require different kinds of food at different seasons of the year. In winter we consume larger quantities of fat meat and carbonaceous food, and in summer more fruit and vegetables. Were we to indulge in the summer in the same diet which we might find highly conducive to health in the winter, the system would soon become burdened with an excess of carbonaceous matter, and induce congestion and inflammatory diseases. It is therefore highly important that each person should possess some knowledge of the properties of different articles of diet, and select from time to time those which he may think most suitable to his own organization.

Different substances are nutritious in proportion as they yield, when digested, those elements which are found to exist in the different tissues of the body. Animals do not possess the power of forming new elements, or of converting one element into another, and it necessarily follows that the elements of their growth and nutrition must be derived from the food which they take.

The largest part of nearly all the substances which make up the human body are composed of oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon, and different substances are regarded as nutritious in proportion as they furnish these essential elements of our organization. In general, those substances may be regarded as the most important articles of diet which furnish, with the greatest facility of digestion, the largest amount of these elements.

Milk is regarded, perhaps correctly, as the plainest and simplest kind of food. Cow’s milk is composed of:

Casein, 4.48 Butter, 3.13 Sugar of milk, 4.77 Various salts, .60 Water, 87.00

Milk, being furnished by nature as the only food for the young of the mammalia during a certain period of their existence, contains all the elements necessary to the nutrition and the growth of the body. Out of the casein are formed the albumen and fibrin of the blood. The butter serves for the formation of fat, and contributes, with the sugar, to the support of animal heat, by yielding carbon and hydrogen to be burnt in the lungs. The earthy salts (phosphate of lime, etc.) are necessary for the development of the bones, the iron required for the blood, corpuscles and the hair.

In this country, meat constitutes an important part of the diet of almost every family. As a general rule, animal food is more easily digested, contains a greater amount of nutriment, and is more stimulating than any of the varieties of vegetable food.

As minuteness of division and tenderness of fibre facilitate digestion, young meats are more tender than old; thus, roasted pig is more speedily digested than broiled pork; steak and boiled lamb sooner than boiled mutton. Still, there are some exceptions to the digestibility of young meats, veal, and with some persons lamb, are slower of digestion than beef or mutton.

The vegetable kingdom greatly exceeds the animal in the number and variety of the aliments which it furnishes to man. It is well known that the four essential elements, carbon, oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen, which form an important part of all animal compounds, are also to be found in great abundance in all vegetable compounds; it is owing to this fact that different animals are nourished equally well on an exclusive diet of either. The lion, tiger and other animals which live exclusively on animal food, give no evidence of being better nourished than the deer, the ox, and animals which subsist wholly on vegetable food; but the apparatus for digestion in each class is constructed with an evident adaptation to the kind of diet on which the different animals subsist.

In man the digestive apparatus is more extensive than in flesh-eating animals, but is less complicated than in those which are confined to vegetable food alone. Man is therefore omnivorous, both in his structure and in his habits.

But the universal tendency of mankind gives preference to a mixed diet. The most perfect development and the greatest individual vigor are to be found among those races in which a mixed diet is the prevalent habit.

During the warm season vegetables and fruits may be made the means of great mischief or of great good. Perfectly ripe fruits or vegetables are highly useful and well adapted to the wants of the system at that season of the year; yet they may become, and often are, a prolific source of disease. So frequently is this kind of food a cause of bowel complaint that city physicians discard it wholly from the diet of children not under their immediate supervision.

Vegetables and early fruits that have been long exposed, in a malarious or filthy market, or in transportation, are unquestionably dangerous articles of food for all persons. But the injurious consequences which follow the use of ripe and wholesome vegetables and fruit are, in almost all cases, the results of imprudence. They are either in an improper condition to be used as food, or the quantity is too great, or they are taken at improper hours.

In either case there is a great change in the usual diet. Instead of a lack of refrigerant food, there is now an excess of it. Active fermentation takes place in the process of digestion, and results in serious derangement in the alimentary canal, which leads to cholera morbus, diarrhœa or dysentery.

During warm weather vegetables and fruit are to be regarded as safe only when used as an accompaniment to other food; they are not adapted to meet all the wants of the system, and therefore should not constitute a full meal at any time. In the country, where this kind of food is enjoyed daily in a proper condition to be eaten, injurious consequences are quite rare, and then they are the result of an excess, or of an indulgence of an appetite at irregular hours.

Much care is also requisite to prevent imperfect mastication of this kind of food. Orange peel and the skins and stones of cherries, plums and grapes are wholly indigestible, and often cause serious mischief when swallowed. Cucumbers, green potatoes, green fruit of all kinds should be wholly discarded from the diet.

DRINKS.

Water in some form is more essential to our existence than any of the solid aliments we have yet considered, and is next in importance, in the performance of the vital process, to the air we breathe. Water enters into the formation of all the various tissues of the body, and constitutes a very large proportion of the human system. The blood contains about eighty per cent., the flesh about seventy-six per cent., of water; and of the entire human body, at least seventy-five per cent., or three-fourths of its weight, is water. The most important purposes in the animal economy are accomplished through this medium.

In the blood, the solid vital elements are transported by the medium of water from one part of the body to another, in a form and condition to promote the vital changes which are constantly taking place.

In exhalation, secretion and absorption, the presence of water is indispensable. It acts as a solvent of various alimentary substances, and thus assists the stomach in the act of digestion; though when taken in large quantities immediately after eating it dilutes the gastric juice and hinders digestion.

Water enters more or less largely into the composition of all alimentary substances, and is taken into the stomach in a pure state, or forms the principal part of the various kinds of drinks in use.

Water is unquestionably the natural drink of adults, and meets the wants of the body more perfectly than any of the artificial liquids which are regarded as improvements on water. Whenever a man is left to the cravings of instinct, unbiased by a vicious appetite, he invariably resorts to water as the natural means to quench his thirst, cool his system, and invigorate his wasting strength.

When we say that water is the only fitting drink for man’s daily and habitual use, we are sustained by the facts of the case. Water is the only liquid which is necessary to the formation, development and support of his frame; it is equal to all the exigencies of thirst, for the relief of present inconvenience, and of dilution, by mixing with his blood and other fluids, to prevent further sufferings and disease.

DIGESTIBILITY OF ALIMENTARY SUBSTANCES.

The facility with which alimentary substances are digested, depends on a variety of circumstances. Some kinds of food are naturally more difficult of digestion than others. This is especially the case with oily and fatty substances, which contain a large amount of nutritive matter in a concentrated form. Tenderness of fibre renders the digestive process more easy; and, therefore, all those circumstances which affect the texture of flesh have an influence on its digestibility. Violent muscular exertion previous to the death of the animal renders the flesh more easy of digestion. The flesh of young animals, though more tender than the flesh of adult animals, is frequently not so easily digested. Of adult animals, the youngest will be found more tender and digestible than old animals. Vegetables are generally more slowly digested than meat. Minute division facilitates digestion; hence, if food is properly masticated, the process of digestion will be more rapid than otherwise.

Some variety of food is unquestionably more agreeable and more conducive to health than a diet limited to one or a few simple articles. Accordingly, we find that, whenever the condition of men will admit of it, they universally make use of more or less variety of alimentary substances, and that variety increases very much in proportion to the wealth and ability which exists to gratify the desires of the palate.

Too great a variety of alimentary substances is always injurious when it becomes a temptation to excess. Thus, a much larger amount of food is taken than the wants of the body require, and more than the digestive organs have the capacity to dispose of.

It is impossible to point out to each individual the kind of diet which will suit best. This, to some extent, must be a matter of personal observation and experience. Peculiarities of constitution, habits of life, age, sex, etc., require modifications of diet in accordance with the natural wants of each individual.

Abstinence from all that is found or suspected to be injurious, uniform hours and temperate indulgence should be observed by all who value lasting health more than the mere temporary gratification of the palate.

CLOTHING.

Dress does not make the man, but it is often indicative of his character. Some men dress in such a manner as to indicate that they estimate themselves by the cost per yard of the garments they wear; others dress so as to carry an impression of perfect indifference to the feelings and sentiments of those around them. Both are wrong. Our personal appearance, which depends to a great extent on dress, is a matter of some consequence; and the man who wholly disregards the customs and habits of others in this respect will be very likely to be indifferent to the sentiments and feelings of society in other particulars, and at least may be in danger of passing for less than his true worth. But the fop, whose only accomplishment is the dress he wears, is usually despised as thoughtless and vain.

The style of dress which is most to be commended is that which will not draw attention either for its gaudiness or its plainness. The external appearance of our clothing should always be regarded as less important than its practical uses, inasmuch as bodily health is infinitely more important than personal appearance.

During the warm season we require clothing which will protect the body without retaining too large an amount of heat. For this purpose we prefer, in summer, materials which are good conductors of heat. Cotton and worsted, though not as good conductors as linen, are usually found sufficiently cool for the temperature of the Northern States, where the climate is so changeable that there are but few days in the season when linen can be worn with safety.

Winter clothing should correspond somewhat with the exposure, both in quality and amount. The object to be sought in winter clothing is, not to produce heat, but to retain the heat which the body is constantly evolving.

Woolen is one of our best non-conductors of heat, and all garments formed from this material are regarded as warm clothing. All kinds of furs are good non-conductors, but they are liable to two serious objections: First, furs are too warm for ordinary exposure, and cause too great a change of temperature when they are removed; second, they prevent the escape of perspiration, and confine it within the garments usually worn inside of the fur.

The amount of clothing should depend on the constitutional vigor and the exposure of each individual. Indoors we require less than during an outdoors exposure; less when taking active exercise than when inactive. The amount of clothing, therefore, should be sufficient to insure a constant and uniform protection against sudden changes.

It is especially injurious to bundle up the face and neck with fur collars and shawls, which are so warm that colds will be induced when they are removed.

In a changeable climate, the constant wearing of flannel under garments next to the skin should be recommended. Flannel absorbs the perspiration and preserves a uniform temperature of the surface of the body, and prevents that sense of chilliness which we are liable to experience without flannels.

EMBALMING PROCESS

OF WORTH AND DURAND.

This process, 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:

Arsenious acid, 3 ounces. Carbonate of soda, 4 ounces Water, 3 quarts.

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 proximity with 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:

Hyposulphite of soda, 12 ounces. Sulphuric acid, 6 ounces. Water, 1 gallon.

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.

MISCELLANEOUS.

When the services of the undertaker are required, the party or parties—generally some friend of the deceased—who may have charge of the arrangements will, in a few words, make the undertaker acquainted with the nature of the case and the particular duties he is expected to perform.

Sometimes they will there and then select the style of case or casket, order the carriages, and arrange all the other details of the funeral. At other times, again, these particular points are to be decided upon only after consulting the wishes of the family in this respect.

In either case it is the undertaker’s most imperative duty to hasten to the house of mourning with all the implements necessary for washing, laying out, dressing, and if necessary preserving the body. That is, where the party has died at his own house; for, in many cases, where death has taken place either at a hotel, boarding house, or any other place of a like public character, the proprietor thereof may wish the remains removed, at as short notice as convenient, to the rooms of the undertaker, where the remains may be properly cared for without any annoyance or discomfort to the other inmates.

Before the undertaker brings in any of the appliances necessary to the laying out of the corpse, it will be well for him to make his entrance unincumbered, and be introduced to the persons present. He must also view the remains, and make such arrangements or alteration in the furniture of the room as may be necessary to facilitate the operation of laying out, washing, etc.

The assistant may then be called in, and he shall dispose of the funeral implements according to the directions given by the undertaker. After the preliminaries have thus been disposed of, none but the intimate friends or relatives of the deceased are allowed to remain while the work of dressing the corpse is being performed. This is subservient to the wish and good judgment of the undertaker, who is supposed to be vested with powers of expelling those whose presence is not justifiable, or retaining others who may have claim to the privilege.

It should be here borne in mind that the work must be done as silently and noiselessly as the nature of the case admits of; and that any subject of discourse between the undertaker and his assistant, not immediately connected with the matter in hand, is very much out of place, and will be regarded by the persons present as a lack of good manners, not to say a disrespectful behavior.

Let it be also remembered that a mortuary chamber is not the place fitly chosen to consummate the ulterior arrangements of the funeral, but some other apartment in the house, or even the undertaker’s own office, are the proper places to perfect subsequent proceedings.

The laying out and dressing of the body being completed, the assistant may retire, after having carefully removed whatever articles may have been used in the process; while the undertaker, who may have some directions to give about the proper care of the body until the time of burial, or some instructions to receive from the persons in charge of the funeral, will wait until every point is settled; or some other time and place may be selected for the purpose.

It is not the sphere of the undertaker, especially at such time, to press with questions the parties whom he may chance to serve; but he will abide his time and accept their decisions with becoming respect, unless some imperative object should make it incumbent upon him to hasten the proceedings, as, for instance, the danger of contagion from some infectious disease, or some other equally important reason.

In the matter of dressing the body, especially if it be that of a lady, this duty is usually performed by some lady attached to the establishment, or by some lady friend of the deceased, although the undertaker is often called to perform this office himself. It is at such a time that good taste and refinement will show conspicuous in the professional undertaker.

The same may be said about the floral decorations and the ornamenting of the casket; a certain amount of good sound common sense and discrimination should be used in both cases.

Some parties will consider it a mark of good taste to have but a few elegant and well chosen gold or silver trimmings, while others would consider a superfluity of these as needful to the complete decoration of the casket. This part of the business must be well understood by the undertaker, and it requires a certain amount of tact to pamper successfully to the taste of the different parties he may be called upon to serve.

The remains, after being placed in the coffin a few hours previous to the time of the funeral, do not require much of his attention, but he is expected to be on hand at the specified time. As the hearse and carriages arrive at the house of mourning and take the places allotted to them without confusion or unnecessary noise, the undertaker will see that each carriage driver has his place assigned in the cortège and observes the directions given him.

The assistant stands ready to receive the casket and help the pall bearers in placing it properly in the hearse; he will also see that each carriage approaches in time and receives the occupants, as his employer may direct. Should the religious ceremonies be performed in the house of the deceased, his duties will end there until the cemetery is reached; should, however, the services be performed at some public place of worship, it will be his duty to precede the arrival of the procession, to see that everything is in readiness, to give timely warning to the sexton, and to assist in removing the casket from the hearse; also in preserving order in the loading and unloading of carriages; while the undertaker takes the lead in the carrying of the remains into the church, and will see that the casket is laid up with proper care at the place appointed.

The undertaker is expected to occupy a position not far remote from the officiating clergyman, so as to be within hearing of the latter should it be necessary for him to request some service or make some inquiries.

The funeral services over, the undertaker is expected to lead the march out of the church, preceding the casket bearers, but following the minister, who, in many instances, will walk at the head as far as the door.

The assistant will be found ready to assist in placing the casket in the hearse, as before mentioned, and will also have the carriages move up in the right order, open and close the carriage doors, while the undertaker ushers the occupants into the vehicles.

The undertaker may also require the services of an assistant at the grave, but this will depend in great measure upon the nature of the funeral itself, whether it be of a certain magnitude, or if it be one of less importance.

This brief elucidation of the duties of an undertaker in the discharge of his functions is not given as a general rule to be strictly adhered to without any exception, but merely as a ground plan to work upon, and to be subject to different modifications, as circumstances may require.

One undisputable fact is, that in the general management of a funeral pageant, and for the better and more systematic working of the details, especially if the funeral is one on a large scale, the services of a well trained assistant will be found almost indispensable to the undertaker, and will be conducive of the happiest results in securing perfect system, dispatch; and also in preventing delays and mistakes, which might otherwise happen where the responsibility and the smooth working of the whole rests upon one man.

The laying out, washing, dressing, etc., of a corpse, under any and every circumstance, ought to be so systematized and arranged, that either the undertaker or his assistant may be able to perform these duties alone and singly, with ease and promptness, should circumstances so require.

As the undertaker is supposed to understand the wants required by different cases, it will be his duty, so soon as he is acquainted with the nature of the cause of death, to take such steps as his experience will suggest, as regards the safety of those who may trust him with the care of properly disposing of the remains.

Should the disease be of a contagious or infectious character, it will be incumbent upon the undertaker to see that perfect ventilation be established in the chamber where the body lies; that all cloths which are removed from the corpse be disposed of in a cautious manner; that the bed-clothes be either carried immediately out of the room and exposed outside to the light and heat of the sun, or be burned up, if the character of the disease be so dangerous as to require it.

He will see that proper means of disinfecting the house be used, so as to a great extent neutralize, if not completely destroy, the germ of the epidemic.

A good preparation to combat noxious and poisonous miasma, besides the other disinfecting liquids which have been enumerated in previous chapters, consists of the following:

Nitrate of potash (saltpetre), 6 ounces. Water, 2 quarts. Sulphuric acid, 4 ounces.

Dissolve the nitrate of potash in the water. If the water be moderately warm it will dissolve quicker. For this purpose use a large china wash bowl (no metallic vessel), which must hold at least twice the amount of the solution, or about one gallon. When the solution is completed, gradually pour into it the sulphuric acid; it will effervesce, and care must be taken not to let any of it fall on the carpet, as it will not only destroy the color but also the texture of the fabric; the effervescence will, however, soon subside, and the foul effluvia of the room will soon lose its offensive odor.

This fumigation has been successfully employed in Southern cities, in times of severe epidemics.

Although it may be questioned by some whether or no these measures come within the sphere of the undertaker’s duties, it is by no means a reason why they should be discarded by our professionals, or why undertakers should not be familiar with all the means that will tend to enhance the success of the profession, as well as to promote the comfort and safety of those whom they may be called upon to serve; besides the credit they will receive from the family for their well directed efforts in securing their approval.

CHLORIDE OF LEAD AS A DEODORIZER AND DISINFECTANT.

Dr. R. H. Goolden calls attention in the Lancet to the value of chloride of lead, which he says is the most powerful deodorizer and disinfectant. To prepare it for use, he directs to take half a drachm of nitrate of lead, dissolve in a pint or more of boiling water; then dissolve two drachms of common salt in a bucket of water, and mix the two solutions together; allow the sediment to subside.

The clear supernatant fluid will be a solution of chloride of lead. A cloth dipped in this solution and hung up in a room will sweeten a fetid atmosphere instantaneously; or if the solution be sprinkled over the bed-clothes or clothing of a fast decomposing body, it will produce a like result.

Even the tarnishing of gold and silver ornaments may be prevented, by a rag dipped in the solution being hung up in the room or window where they are exposed.

He relates some striking instances of the instantaneous and efficient action of this preparation.

DANGERS OF ABSORPTION OF CARBOLIC ACID.

Undertakers and others using carbolic acid to some extent should always use extreme caution in the handling of it.

The carelessness with which certain papers take up some popular recipe is not always without its dangers. For instance, there appeared lately in some public print an article upon the poison of vipers, which is very similar to that of the virus from a putrefying corpse; the article recommended that carbolic acid should be immediately introduced into the wound, the acid to be mixed with alcohol in the proportion of two to one. Observe the off-hand manner with which a toxic agent is spoken of, as if it were the most inoffensive thing in the world.

In order to try the experiment, a cat was selected, upon whose skin, denuded of hair alone, a saturated solution of carbolic acid in alcohol, with an equal quantity of water, was rubbed; this produced no effect; but when the same solution was rubbed into a scratch upon the end of the nose two or three times, the animal fell immediately into convulsions and very shortly succumbed. Prussic acid could not have acted more promptly. The moral of this experiment is obvious.

DISINFECTANTS.

Dr. Baxter has executed a great number of very careful experiments, with a view to testing the different disinfecting properties of the so-called disinfectants commonly used. Evidence was adduced to show that carbolic acid, sulphur, permanganate of potash and chlorine are all endowed with true disinfectant properties, though in very varying degrees. The effectual disinfectant operation of chlorine and permanganate of potash appeared to depend far more on the nature of the medium through which the particles of infective matter are distributed than on the specific character of the particles themselves.

A virulent liquid cannot be regarded as certainly and completely disinfected by sulphur, unless it has been rendered permanently and thoroughly acid. No virulent liquid can be considered disinfected by carbolic acid, unless it contains at least two per cent., by weight, of the pure acid.

When disinfectants are mixed with a liquid, it is very important to make sure that they are thoroughly incorporated with it, and that no solid matters capable of shielding contagion from immediate contact with its destroyer be overlooked.

Aerial disinfection, as commonly practised in the sick room, is either useless or positively objectionable, owing to the false sense of security it is calculated to produce.

To make the air of a room smell strongly of carbolic acid, by scattering carbolic powder about the floor, or of chlorine, by placing a tray of chloride of lime in a corner, is, so far as the specific destruction of contagion is concerned, an utterly futile proceeding.

The practical result of these experiments goes to prove, first, that dry heat, when it can be applied, is probably the most perfect of all disinfectants; second, that the old plan of stopping up crevices and fumigating with sulphur and charcoal is more efficacious than any other proceeding with more modern disinfectants; third, that the use of carbolic vapor for disinfecting purposes should be abandoned, owing to the relative feebleness and uncertainty of its action.

A RELIABLE SIGN OF DEATH.

This sign consists in the absence of contraction of the pupil, after puncture of the cornea and evacuation of the aqueous humor. When the pupil contracts, life is still present; when it remains immovable, it is a certain sign of death. The puncture of the cornea may be made with a cataract knife, or even an ordinary lancet. It is a harmless operation.

RAPID DECAY OF THE HUMAN STRUCTURE.

Under this heading, we will present to our readers an essay upon the causes of the dissolution of the human body. The writer, Mr. W. W. BALL, of Bangor, Michigan, who published the following in THE CASKET of March, 1877, has kindly allowed us to republish it, for the benefit of those who have not read it, and also as a proof that the theories advanced in this volume cannot be refuted. We give the article at length. The statements advanced in the essay, also the course of treatment adopted in the preservation of bodies, will be found to possess great similarity with the different methods herein given.

BY W. W. BALL.

As soon as the vital action ceases, decomposition ensues in the substances which were before the very elements of life, viz.: blood, lymph, chyme, chyle and gastric juice, become active agents in its destruction.

In the blood, the most important agent during life, as soon as life ceases it becomes one of the first to produce that blackened, putrid and sloughing condition we find shortly after death. The blood being

left in every part of the body, it breaks up and forms new compounds, of which only a general outline is attainable, for want of definite chemical analysis or microscopical observation. The fibrine and serum separate; the former, which contains most of the red corpuscles, albumen, saline and fatty substances, glutinates or coagulates on the sides of the vessels themselves, while the serum permeates the surrounding tissues, uniting with oxygen carried off from the pulmonary structure during life, and these, having an affinity for the tissues, form those compounds termed sulphuretted and carburetted hydrogen gases, giving rise to that effluvium which characterize deceased bodies.

CONDITION OF THE BLOOD.

After death the blood is found in two forms. This is owing to certain diseases and circumstances. The first is encountered when death has ensued after a long stage of sickness. The vital fluids become exhausted by disease, and the organs of circulation become too weak to perform their office of circulating the fluid they contain; hence, dissolution takes place in the blood from want of constant and rapid action. Thus the fibrine becomes lodged and coagulated in the veins and capillary system. The fibrine and serum separate, leaving the fibrine coagulated or clotted, and the serum, a transparent, fatty or oily liquid, permeates the tissues of the flesh. Usually the arteries are found without any blood remaining in them. In instances of this kind there will be no difficulty encountered from the corpse turning black, as the gases cannot force the blood to the surface into the capillary system, because the fibrine is lodged elsewhere, but the flesh may turn brown or saffron color to some extent.

DIFFICULT CASES.

The second condition of the blood is found when death resulted from accident or short duration of sickness. In these instances there is usually a large abundance of fluids remaining in the system. These foster fermentation in every structure, and evolve the gases so rapidly as to cause the cavities of the thorax and abdomen to become extended to their utmost capacity with gases that induce the blood to leave the vessels in the thorax and appear at the surface in the capillary system. In this instance the fibrine and serum of the blood remain together in an inky or eccymosed condition.

Thus it is observed that the gases are so rapidly evolved by the destructive fluids, that before the fibrine coagulates it is forced from the vessels of the thorax (especially the superior vena cava), and caused to appear above the surface into the neck and face. The great pressure of the gases depresses the vessels of the thorax in the same manner that it does the stomach when purging takes place, which occurs invariably whenever the stomach contains any movable matter. The lymph, chyle and chyme, which are the same or similar, as soon as death ensues take on new molecular changes; the lymph especially, which is retained in all the glands and vessels of the lymphatic system, enters into the process of decomposition, fostering putrefaction in the whole structure; while the gastric juice, a peculiar fluid so subservient to digestion, which affects the food only during life, immediately attacks the substances of the stomach when life is extinct, in the same or similar manner as it affected the food during life, corroding and completely destroying everything with which it comes in contact, as there is no vitality to resist its action. Elements having other affinities, and the organism generally, hurry back to their primeval state. Nature knows no delays. The work to be done is to disorganize the body and destroy its form. This is the work of heat, moisture, air and germs in unison, causing the fluids and tissues of the body to decay rapidly, while the albumenoid matters are decomposed into fetid gases escaping into the air, which in a short time accomplish the work of dissolution, leaving the body a mass of corruption and the receptacle of myriads of germs of microscopic beings. The corpse is their natural aliment, and death their chosen laboratory.

The products of putrefying animal matter are carbonic acid, water, ammonia and carburetted hydrogen gases, which are generally mixed with various portions of phosphuretted and sulphuretted hydrogen gases. The blackened or mortified appearance in those instances is usually caused by the eccymosed or dark blood from the vessels of the thorax (especially the superior vena cava). The great pressure of the gases in the abdomen and thorax prevents the liquid from gravitating to the regions of the heart and large vessels, producing the black and livid appearance of the face and neck by its retention in the capillary system of the epidermis. Man has been facetiously described as twelve pounds of solid matter wet up with six pails of water; hence, the great abundance of water in the human structure gives the necessary mobility for putrefaction. This is proven by this fact: that by drying the animal substances they are completely preserved. It is thus that the bodies of those perishing in the Arabian deserts are recovered years subsequently, dried, but otherwise fresh and life-like. This fact also proves that the atmosphere and climate in Asia is far more favorable for the preservation of animal substances than in this country, and the writer thinks it has far more to do in preserving the many thousand mummies of the ancient Egyptians than any art or untold science. If it were not for want of space, I would dwell more upon this subject; but as the public generally have no desire to be wafted into untold centuries, I shall confine this writing to further the progress of science in this direction, if possible. Having no secret nostrum to impose upon the public, I will offer a few hints which I hope will prove to be of importance to the profession generally.

EMBALMING PROCESSES.

For chemical embalming, it is well known to those having experience as undertakers and embalmers, that in order to successfully perform this kind of work, it requires knowledge as well as experience. The various circumstances encountered necessarily govern the work. In the writer’s experience, he finds that when difficult and obstinate cases are to be retained for some length of time (especially in warm weather), it will be necessary to complete the work with care. A very important matter in this work is to renovate the stomach thoroughly; then, with simple instruments, similar to an aspirator needle or trocar, give vent to the gases and thus expel them from the cavities of the system. Then, with pump, draw off or force out the fluids and gases from the organs of circulation, and in this manner disinfect the body as far as possible. Elevate the head and shoulders for the purpose of letting the inky fluid gravitate from the capillary system of the face to the large vessels of the thorax. This will renew the life’s characteristics in a remarkable and satisfactory manner, if the gases be properly removed.

A simple method of disposing of the gastric juice of the stomach is to inject into the nose or mouth one or two ounces of an aqueous solution of any powerful antiseptic, similar to those mentioned in this article, and after a few moments carry the head off the bed, and, by gently pressing the stomach, empty its contents. This will prevent further difficulty from purging, if refilled with the solution and carefully sealed. Insert an instrument into the trachea, and thus give vent to the gases in the lungs, and inject full of the solution. In the same manner dispose of the gases from the thorax, and fill with solution. Also, the abdominal cavities, by completing thus, will preserve the viscera. The reagents or coagulants spoken of render the albumenoids or azotized material incapable of putrefaction, by the impervious nature of the compounds it forms of all substances that have protein for their base, as the tissues readily absorb the preserving solutions after being prepared as mentioned above. This unites the antiseptic and deodorizing agent with the very substances that it is necessary to render inactive in order to successfully retain the remains of deceased persons.

DEODORIZING AGENTS.

The following are very good antiseptics and deodorizing agents: Chloride of zinc, corrosive sublimate, hyposulphite, oxymuriate of mercury, carbolic acid, bicarbonate of potassa, aqueous solution of alumina. The two latter may be rendered more subservient by combining them with the higher oxides. The metallic salts are much the best for chemical embalming, if properly used. The remains of drowned persons may be prepared in the manner as above, with no small degree of success, as giving vent to the gases and freely applying antiseptics and deodorizing agents will readily correct, to a great extent, the difficulties thus encountered by this process. We have removed the most destructive fluids, or effected a combination with them, thus preventing the fermenting process and dispersing the gases, rendering the body absolutely free from those disagreeable and noxious odors which are termed phosphuretted and sulphuretted hydrogen gases, as well as low types or germs of disease, while the life’s characteristics in this state of preservation invariably present a most pleasant appearance, allaying all natural repugnance to the dead, as they seem so natural and life-like, and remain in this state of preservation for a great length of time, either in transit or various changes of atmosphere, while this manner of operation is simple and without complication, affording appropriate means that undertakers may apply successfully and save themselves annoyance, time, labor and expense, by a little practice and observing closely the directions herein given.

The enlightenment of the public demands more attention to these important matters, as there is no necessity for the untimely and indecent burial of the loved but unfortunate victims of mortality, when due observance is given to the progress of art in modern science. To successfully retain the dead for such a period of time as will enable the bereaved friends to make such arrangements for burial as the occasion may require, without the necessity of mutilating or eviscerating in the horrible manner that has been practised in many instances, has been the design of the writer, who has devoted much time in the work, and hopes, with the aid of others, in the no distant future, to make such additional suggestions and contributions as will practically apply to the wants of the profession, as well as meet the approbation of a grateful public.

Scientific research has defined and established those fixed laws of nature with that precision whereby organic matters may be traced to their simple elements. We will herein endeavor to very briefly trace, as far as possible, the chemical changes that are observed in dead animal matter. We assert that in the majority of cases (with a given temperature maintained), the first described subject will be the first to become an uncontrollable mass from the agents of putrefaction; first, simply by the abundance of those fluids contained in subjects that immediately become active agents of dissolution, while such agents have been completely exhausted by the disease of the second.

The apparent healthy condition of the flesh after death is produced by the favorable temperature that is maintained, dryness of the atmosphere, etc., together with the general favorable conditions of the subject, which will render the preservation of such remains quite perfect, in some instances for a surprisingly long time. It is shown that disease of long standing completely exhausts the vital fluids before death, especially when the functions of the body have failed to produce the necessary nutrition. Thus it will be observed that the process of decomposition is very different than when the system is full of albumenoids and watery fluids, notwithstanding the tissues may have been seized upon by putridity before death. With consumptives, the disease reduces the flesh to dry parchment, or nearly so, leaving but a very small portion of water in the system. Hence, as putrefaction is impossible in the absence of moisture, and the active agent, albumen, equally reduced, decomposition of such substances that remain ensues only by a process of decay, slow combustion or oxidation, the slowly uniting of oxygen with the substance. In this the constituent parts of the animal tissues break up into simpler compounds by the chemical changes that nature produces, and differs from other forms of putrefaction only by the length of time employed. In cases like typhoid fever, the flesh, after death, assumes more of a putrid and sloughing condition, as the fluids are not so completely exhausted as in the former disease, thus leaving more of the active agents in the body for its immediate destruction.

When death is the result of a putrid malady, putrefaction begins almost immediately when the body grows cold; its effects are noticeable much sooner when the atmosphere is warm. In general, in our climate, the work of decomposition becomes evident after from thirty-five to forty hours. Its first effects are noticeable on the skin of the stomach; this takes on a greenish discoloration, which soon spreads and covers the whole surface of the body; at the same time everything is seized upon by what is termed putridity; the moist parts soften and decay; little by little the flesh sinks and grows watery, and is thus carried away or burned up by the air’s oxygen.

And now, dear reader, we would impress your mind with the fact that the moment of the appearance of putrefaction absolutely varies with the degree of outward temperature, the causes of death, and the general condition of the remains, and just in accordance to the quantity of fluids remaining in the system. The degree of difficulty in retaining the life’s characteristics are encountered, first, because of the albumenoids, the active agents of putrefaction; second, the large per cent. of water they contain; hence we have the necessary mobility of putrefaction, and the very substances that are most prone to the active ferments, united with the agents of disorganization, vibrois and bacteria, or rather the germs of those thread-like corpuscles which penetrate the skin and wind their way through the ducts into the vessels of circulation, which seem to conduct the rabid element to every structure. The living germs that collect on the surface of the body and in the digestive canal, develope, multiply, pierce into all the points of the organism, and produce in it a complete separation of all the tissues and humors.

When persons have been killed suddenly, there being no disease to tamper with the functions of the body, the process of nutrition would be complete until the very moment the vitality is removed; hence the supply of fuel for this fire of dissolution. The corruption of these animal matters is not more possible than the fermentive action of gluten in grape juice, and precisely the same. When these animal matters maintain a high temperature, the products formed are said to be destructive distillation.

Many cases are recorded of similar stages of decomposition, which is an apparent spontaneous combustion, renewing the normal temperature of life, many times giving flushness to the cheeks, and thus appearing to have life renewed, notwithstanding the body had been cold for many hours previous to this phenomenon taking place, the result of a peculiar chemical action. But these instances seldom or never occur, while the difficulty encountered is in completely reducing the heat from the bodies of those persons killed by accident, which fact renders the successful preservation of such remains for any length of time utterly impossible, as the fetid gases are evolved in such great abundance as to literally cook the flesh and escape into the air. Developed in the cadaverous odor, a pungent and ammoniacal stench, except there be prompt application of some powerful chemical reagent, with which the organized material may enter into combination and thus overcome the delivellant tendencies of the affinities of its elements. If ice is used and the temperature of the body reduced below 32°, the water in the system is frozen, which acts as if the tissues had been dried, and putrefaction is thus arrested for such time as the proper temperature is maintained.

PRACTICES WHICH MUST BE ABOLISHED.

Some usages which seem to be sanctioned by long practice, but not by any remarkable amount of good judgment, ought to be discountenanced and done away with, simply upon the ground that these acts conflict directly with all sanitary laws, and to a great extent endanger the lives of the persons who may be present. Still, these repeated transgressions upon the common precautionary measures against contagion are not the result of a desire to do wrong, neither do they always arise from sheer ignorance, but they are almost always caused by an utter disregard of even the simplest prudence.

For instance, how often, where a child has succumbed to the attack of some infectious disease, like scarlet fever, diphtheria, etc., how often will parents, regardless of the contagious character of the disease, insist upon kissing the pallid lips of the corpse, and, moreover, invite other children to follow the same dangerous practice.

And again, another prolific source of disease lies in the fact that funeral services will be conducted in a close, warm, ill ventilated room, crowded with a sympathizing audience, in close proximity to a corpse emitting foul and infectious effluvia, and inhaling these into the system. It is true that these same noxious gases may not always be detected by the smell, as the floral ornamentations, the crowded state of the room, etc., all tend to disguise any unpleasant odors; but the germ of contagion is still there and actively at work.

It is a fact, patent and undeniable, that carelessness in the keeping and disposing of bodies is an act of guilty neglect, and the sooner the community be made acquainted with the danger attending such practices as those above spoken of, the better it will be for the enforcement of those sanitary measures which are necessary in every well regulated city or town.

We have already spoken of dangers to be encountered in the handling of bodies, but the subject is of so much importance to undertakers, and concerns the profession so closely, that it may not be amiss here to renew our former cautions, also to add a few more suggestions, so as to modify the danger thereof, even if it cannot be completely eradicated.

DANGERS ARISING FROM HANDLING THE DEAD.

To those who, like physicians, students and nurses, are almost constantly thrown into direct contact with every form of epidemic, contagious and infectious diseases, the dangers arising therefrom are considerable. But undertakers are exposed to a still greater risk, namely: that of handling the remains of those who have died from the effects of those same diseases. Not only do they have to guard against the infectious character of the contagion, but they have also to protect themselves against the malignant effluvia which emanates from the victims of the contagion after disintegration of the body has taken place, the nauseous and sickening gases which are generated by decay, and the deadly virus which may be innoculated into the system, either through some puncture or abrasion of the skin; the virulent effects of the poison may be carried carelessly to the mouth, the nose or the eyes by a thoughtless action. Too much care cannot be exercised by undertakers in handling a corpse, especially if the subject is known to be afflicted with some infectious or malignant complaint.

Still, the precautions generally in use among undertakers, and the different preparations that are commonly recommended as preventives, are useless in most cases, as there are conditions of the system which will increase the danger, and in some instances leave it open to the insidious attacks of disease and contagion. Too much importance has been attached, so far, by undertakers, to the artificial means devised by some, under the names of preservatives, antidotes, etc., etc. The reliance placed on them, in a great many cases, has proved futile, and although some possess real and undisputed merit, they proved ineffectual when the system has been influenced by the following

CONDITIONS OF THE SYSTEM,

which will increase the danger of contagion:

Fear.—Almost in every case, if a person is brought in sudden contact with the remains of one who has died of either cholera, small pox, yellow fever, or any of those terrible epidemic and contagious diseases which will in a few weeks decimate a populous city, the feeling will be one of repulsive horror; in some this feeling will amount to absolute fear, which will show itself in the dilated pupil, the bleached countenance, and the momentous forebodings which assail the mind and predispose the system to the attacks of the disease. In this case, the mind influences the body to such an extent that the disease has already fastened itself upon the system, before the first symptoms are felt.

Another and potent cause of danger is that which proceeds from a debilitated condition of the system, the causes of which are numerous: over-exertion of either the body or the mind; labor carried on incessantly without due regard to relaxation; imperfect nutrition, or long fast, are all causes which will tend to render the system more vulnerable to the aggressions of sickness.

But the most pernicious and fatal of all mistakes, is that of using stimulants to ward off the effects of contagion. How many of our professionals and their assistants have given way to the use of ardent spirits, under the delusion that it was absolutely necessary, to avoid the noxious effects of infectious diseases. It is a well authenticated fact, and one worthy of notice, that persons who generally indulge in the use of spirituous liquors, even in a moderate quantity, are those who are first attacked by epidemic or contagious diseases, and who almost always fall victims to it. Take, for instance, the case of a surgeon about to perform a dangerous operation. His first inquiry will be about the habits of the patient; he knows well enough that a man addicted to drink will not bear up under the trial.

The only means we have to protect ourselves from the dangers of infection from dead bodies are, first, a perfect ventilation of the room where the remains lie, so as to obviate the bad tendency which the air of the death-chamber might have upon the system. Attention must also be paid to the diet; the food eaten should be generous and nutritious, and it is proper to take a small quantity of wine at a time when the body and mind are debilitated by long and exhaustive manipulation of the dead, but avoid all excess of fluids or solids. Temperance is strictly necessary.

Wounds received while handling a corpse should not be neglected; if a simple abrasion, it should be covered; if pricked, the liquid muriate of ammonia or caustic potass are recommended to be applied as cauteries. These are the early measures to be pursued; but after absorption has taken place, a different course must be practised, and a good physician consulted without delay. The garments ordinarily worn should never be brought into direct contact with the remains of a person tainted with some infectious disease.

But it is to the hands we must pay particular attention. Gangrenous or syphilitic sores may be found on a subject, in which case extreme caution must be exerted; the hands should be first well rubbed with lard or sweet oil mixed with carbolate of camphor, and thoroughly washed after the handling of the body is over; then the hands should be well soaked in chlorinated soda (Labarraque solution), as the disinfecting properties of chlorine will be found here particularly useful.

If the above suggestions are faithfully followed, they will be found to greatly diminish the dangers attending the handling of the dead—dangers which can never be entirely avoided.

MANAGEMENT AND DISCIPLINE

OF AN UNDERTAKING ESTABLISHMENT.

Much of the success of an undertaking establishment will be dependent, not only upon the head of the firm himself, but also upon the discipline maintained among those to whom the details of the business are entrusted; and the difficulties surrounding proper management will increase as it extends and involves the employment of more numerous operatives, unless the general duties of all are specifically laid down, and the particular duties of each well defined and insisted upon.

The rules which follow were prepared by a gentleman of considerable experience and unusual success in business; they were designed for a store employing three assistants.

Although, of course, they require modifications to suit the circumstances of different establishments, their general tenor is adapted to all, and the high tone of professional and moral aptitude they require renders them worthy the acceptance of every assistant who would deserve the approval of his employer, and of every employer who desires the best interests of his assistants.

SPECIFIC DUTIES OF THE FIRST ASSISTANT.

1st.—To see that the specific duties of the other assistants are promptly and well performed.

2d.—To attend to mail orders from dealers in the country; select the goods to be packed up and sent out; to wait on customers, etc., that the two other assistants may not be hindered in the performance of their duties.

3d.—He is to attend to the laying out of bodies; and in the absence of the proprietor, or if the pressure of business should require it, he is to take charge of the funerals, with the assistance of the second assistant.

4th.—In case of the absence of either of his juniors, to take the place of the second assistant.

5th.—He is to take charge of the books, collections, etc., should the proprietor wish him to do so.

6th.—He is to take knowledge of and properly note any articles that may be needed for the store, including goods to be purchased and work to be attended to.

7th.—To see that the stock of goods is well supplied with those items which are generally kept by the quantity. Should the place of business be remote from any manufacturing firm of undertakers’ goods, such as coffins, hardware, caskets, etc., he is to keep a faithful and strict account of the sizes, styles and grades of caskets and coffins on hand, as also of the needful requirements in that line; he should also call the attention of the proprietor to the quality, style, etc., of the goods needed, and place in the hands of his employer a list of the goods to be ordered, or likely to be called for.

8th.—To keep a note book of what is necessary to be done in the ordinary business of the store, and to designate employment for the other assistants.

9th.—He is to superintend, and if need be to help, in the lining and trimming of coffins, and, in the absence of the proprietor, to attend to the embalming and preserving of bodies.

10th.—In short, he must, during the absence of the proprietor, take entire charge of the store, and be alone responsible for its business.

SPECIFIC DUTIES OF THE SECOND ASSISTANT.

1st.—It will be his duty to dust the cases, desks, etc., thoroughly every morning. This service must be performed before breakfast, and as often repeated through the day as necessary.

2d.—In the absence of the third assistant, he is to perform his duties.

3d.—He shall assist the proprietor, or the first assistant, in the laying out, washing and dressing of bodies; and also at funerals, in the management of the hearse and carriages.

4th.—He is to trim caskets according to the directions of the first assistant, and follow the instructions given him as to the choice of materials used in their ornamentation.

5th.—He shall see that a sample of each size, style and grade of coffin and casket be always on hand in the show room, and ready to be turned out in the shortest space of time possible.

6th.—He is to keep an exact record, in the book devoted to that purpose, of the name, residence, cause of death, age and place of burial, of all parties which may have been interred by the firm. This register must always be posted up to date.

7th.—It will be his duty to clean the show cases, work room, and the stock in general, once a week, and oftener if necessary.

SPECIFIC DUTIES OF THE THIRD ASSISTANT.

1st.—He is to open the store in the morning; make the fire, and attend to it through the day; sweep out the store; wash the windows; and see that all tools and implements are in their proper place and ready for instant use.

2d.—It shall be his duty to keep cooling boards clean and tidy; to have palls, stools and pedestals dusted and in shape.

3d.—It shall be his duty to pack goods and make boxes when required.

4th.—It will be required of him to do such errands as the business of the store may demand, and also to close the store at night.

GENERAL REGULATIONS OF THE STORE.

1st.—Business hours will include the time between breakfast and six o’clock, P. M., except when special duty may require it otherwise.

2d.—During business hours, all hands must be employed at some regular store duty.

3d.—As waiting on customers is a duty which requires most knowledge and experience, the first assistant must always serve when there is one customer; the other assistants may help if need be.

4th.—The first assistant must always take that part of the duty which requires most knowledge and skill. This order of duty must never be deviated from, if circumstances will admit of it.

5th.—All other duty must give way to that of waiting on customers.

6th.—Every person entering the store, whether pauper or president, infant or adult, white or colored, must be treated with courtesy and kindness.

7th.—Boisterous mirth and a sullen temper are to be equally avoided, as productive of neither business nor business character. The acquisition of a uniformly cheerful temperament is an attainment worth far beyond the price it usually costs.

8th.—There are to be no masters and no servants. Each one is to feel conscious of the fact that the performance of the duties assigned to him is just as necessary and as important as what pertains to any other hand in the store. All useful employment is honorable; indolence is a disgrace.

9th.—An afternoon of every week will be devoted to the cleaning of the store, in which all must share as occasion offers.

10th.—As neatness, order and cleanliness are necessary, and not mere accomplishments, in an undertaking establishment, all are required to practice them constantly.

11th.—Assistants should be rather select in the choice of their acquaintances; while the occasional visit of a well behaved friend will be countenanced, lounging in the store will not be tolerated.

12th.—Each assistant shall have, if business permits, one afternoon and evening every week, and every other Sunday; the afternoon will comprise the time between twelve o’clock at noon and six o’clock P. M.; the evening, between six o’clock P. M. and the closing of the store. These privileges must not be interfered with unnecessarily.

13th.—No assistant residing in the house will be allowed to be absent at night after the closing of the store, without special permission.

14th.—A vacation of two weeks every year will be allowed each assistant.

15th.—It is not the wish of the proprietor that any of his employes should extol the goods beyond their merits to advance his pecuniary interests, or to say or do aught in the performance of his duties that he would not be willing that others should say or do to him under the same circumstances.

A cheerful compliance with the foregoing rules is confidently expected, and the repeated infraction of a regulation of the store will be cause for dismissal.

In certain establishments, where a driver is kept for the purpose of taking care of horses and driving the hearse or other vehicles, this employe shall be under the immediate supervision of the proprietor.

MODIFICATIONS IN THE MODE

OF EMBALMING BODIES.

There are modifications in the processes used for the preservation of bodies, which are governed by circumstances affecting the different conditions of the body at the time of death. Although we may lay general rules for the quantity and variety of antiseptics used in embalming, there are certain cases where the quantity of the chemicals which enter into the composition of the injecting fluid must be either increased or curtailed, as well as the amount of the injection.

It would require the scope of a cyclopedia to give in detail the proportions of each constituent in the number of different cases which may come under the notice of the embalmer.

The mode of operation in all cases may be the same, but the nature and quantity of the injection will vary, first, with the climatic circumstances of the atmosphere; second, with the cause of death; third, with the age of the deceased; fourth, with the state of the body after death; fifth, with the length of time which has elapsed since death took place.

It has been demonstrated in a previous chapter that a high temperature is conducive to rapid decomposition of organic matter, also that a warm, moist atmosphere will operate in the same manner; it is therefore incumbent upon the operator to guard against these two agents of putrefaction by keeping the body in a moderately cool and well ventilated place until the work of preserving is accomplished; also to give the antiseptics employed time to successfully destroy and render harmless the dangerous effects of the heat.

It must not be understood by the preceding caution that a body cannot be embalmed in an ordinary room during the heat of the summer, but the suggestion herein given is solely for the purpose of facilitating the operation and rendering the success certain; besides, as it has been illustrated in some of the processes precedingly given, the strength as well as the quantity of the injection have been increased when used during the warm season.

As to the modifications to be observed in the treatment of bodies, when the cause of death is taken into consideration. It has formed the subject of some chapters to show that, in cases where death is the result of a certain class of diseases, the body is more prone to putrefy than in others; whilst in other cases, again, the body is to a certain extent preserved from corruption by the agents which have proved fatal to the organism; as, for instance, when death has been the result of poisoning, either by alcohol or arsenic.

The age of the person deceased, and the condition of the body after death, as also the length of time elapsed since death took place, as affecting the mode of treatment, have all been discussed in a former part of this work, and it would hardly be necessary to have a new elucidation upon the same subject.

The important point we wish to impress now upon the minds of our professionals is, that circumstances in this case are to be strictly investigated; also, that a uniform treatment of all cases, however different the circumstances and conditions, will not prove successful; and that a thorough knowledge and experience are necessary to achieve satisfactory results.

Discrimination and judgment are to be used in every case. Some are too ready to condemn a certain process, or to question the properties of some antiseptics, because their first trial of either has proved an ignominious failure; whereas the real cause of all the trouble lies in their ignorance of the laws which govern the mode of proceeding, and the use of the chemicals placed at their disposition.

Others, again, are prone to extol the merits of some preparation, the component parts of which they do not know, but it may have done them good service in several instances; and when, contrary to their expectations, it fails to answer the purpose, they lose faith in it, discard it altogether as worthless, and never entertain the idea that an alteration in the quantity used, or in the combination and strength of the constituents, is the real source of mischief.

Hence, it is a fact not to be denied that a diagnosis (if it may be called so) is necessary before the work of embalming be entered into. And he who would endeavor to preserve the body of a stout, fleshy person by the same means employed in the preserving of a body emaciated by long sufferings, and under different conditions of temperature, might not meet with a success equal to his expectations.

CHLORINE:

ITS PROPERTIES AND USES.

Chlorinated Lime.—In consequence of its powers as a disinfectant, chlorinated lime is a very important compound in its application to medical police; it possesses the property of arresting or preventing animal or vegetable putrefaction, and perhaps of destroying pestilential and infectious miasma. It is used with advantage in preventing bodies from exhaling an unpleasant odor before interment in the summer season. In juridical exhumations its use is indispensable, as it effectually removes the disgusting and insupportable fetor of the corpse.

The mode in which it is applied in these cases is, to envelope the body in a sheet completely wet with a solution made by adding about one pound of the chloride to a bucketful of water. It is employed also for disinfecting dissecting rooms, vaults, cemeteries and other places, which exhale offensive effluvia.

In destroying contagion and infection it appears to be highly useful. In short, all places deemed infectious from having been the receptacle of virulent disease may be more or less disinfected by its use, after having undergone the ordinary process of cleansing.

Chlorinated lime acts exclusively by its chlorine, which, being loosely combined, is disengaged by the slightest affinities. All acids, even the carbonic, disengage it; and as this acid is a product of animal and vegetable decomposition, noxious effluvia furnish the means, to a certain extent, of their own disinfection. But the stronger acids disengage it more freely, and amongst these sulphuric acid is the most convenient. Accordingly, the powder may be dissolved in a very dilute solution of this acid; or a small quantity of the acid may be added to an aqueous solution already formed, if a more copious evolution of chlorine be desired than that which takes place from the mere action of the carbonic acid of the atmosphere.

The great and only objection, so far, against the use of chlorinated lime by the profession, has been the strong smell of the chlorine evolved; but taking into consideration the great antiseptic properties, and also the strong bleaching and disinfecting qualities of the chlorine, we find that it cannot be overlooked as an agent of major importance in the preservation of bodies.

There are certain modes of using the chlorinated lime whereby the offensive odor can be to a great extent diminished, if not altogether done away with. When used in its crude state, it will be found difficult to handle; besides, it could not be used for the purpose of an injection; it needs, then, a certain amount of preparation before it be used in a liquid form. The following has been given as the simplest manner of preparing it for injecting:

Take, of chlorinated lime, one pound, carbonate of soda, two pounds, water, one gallon; dissolve the carbonate of soda in three pints of water by the aid of heat; to the remainder of the water add, by small portions at a time, the chlorinated lime, previously well triturated, stirring the mixture after each addition. Set the mixture by for several hours, that the dregs may subside; then decant the clear liquor, and mix it with the solution of carbonate of soda. Lastly, decant the clear liquor from the precipitated carbonate of lime, pass it through a linen cloth, and keep it in bottles secluded from the light.

The London Pharmacopœia gives a still better process for preparing it, for reasons which will be given hereafter:

Take, of carbonate of soda, one pound, water, forty-eight fluid ounces, chloride of sodium (common salt), four ounces, black oxide of manganese, three ounces, sulphuric acid, two fluid ounces and a half; dissolve the carbonate of soda in two pints of water; then put the chloride of sodium and the binoxide or black oxide of manganese, rubbed to powder, in a retort, and add to them the acid, previously mixed with three fluid ounces of water, and cooled. Heat the mixture, and pass the chlorine first through five fluid ounces of water, and afterwards into the solution of the carbonate above directed. Upon the addition of muriatic acid, both these solutions emit carbonic acid and chlorine together.

The foregoing given preparation will be found to answer the purpose for disinfecting, injecting and preserving corpses. For injecting purposes, the solution should be used fresh, and the muriatic acid only added to it, for a more copious liberation of both carbonic acid and chlorine, when ready to inject the liquid, as the antiseptic properties of the solution depend altogether on its gaseous evolutions.

To inject the solution, it will be found that the axillary artery on the left side is a good point; also, the right jugular vein should be punctured, so as to facilitate the flow of blood from the head. But to make the operation complete, and to be sure of a perfect and thorough injection, the ascending aorta should be injected, and the inferior vena cava severed at a corresponding point. This mode of injecting has been described in a former chapter.

It is not possible to specify here the amount of liquid to be injected; but as a general rule there should be enough of the solution injected to fill the circulatory system, and the injection be continued until after the blood has ceased to flow from the wound in the vena cava and the injecting fluid appears in its place.

When injected with this solution, a corpse may present for a few hours afterwards a bloated and swollen appearance, and the face and body may be marbled over with white spots; but these symptoms will soon disappear, the body will collapse again to its normal size, and the color become of a uniform shade.

To preserve bodies during the summer season for a few days and without ice; also to prevent the swelling up of the abdomen and the purging at the mouth and nostrils, open the stomach, as explained in a previous chapter, empty out the contents, and inject into it some of the above solution; the bowels must be treated in the same manner, and also inject the lungs through the nostrils, by producing artificial respiration. If the liquid cannot be injected in this manner, cut into the trachea an incision large enough to admit of the nozzle of the injector being inserted, and pour in the necessary quantity.

If any fetor is exhaled from the corpse after being placed in the coffin, a sponge well saturated with the solution and being placed at the feet of the corpse will remove all foul effluvia; or better still, a china or porcelain bowl filled with the solution may be placed inside the case until a few minutes before the funeral and the screwing down of the lid.

The air of the room may also be purified by saturating some cloths with the solution and hanging them in different parts of the apartment. The vessels containing excretions should not be neglected, and some of the solution poured into them.

In fact, undertakers will find the above solution to be adapted to all purposes of disinfecting, deodorizing and preserving corpses.

INSTRUMENTS.

Undertakers will find it to their advantage to possess instruments of the best materials and make; they are always cheaper in the end, as they will resist the wear and tear to a greater extent, and will not be liable to get out of order when most needed.

Especially in injecting apparatus should a great amount of care be exercised about the selection. The greatest danger to be guarded against is corrosion, as all injecting fluids which are now in use contain more or less of either acids or metallic salts, all of which will attack and corrode, to a lesser or greater extent, the metals and other substances with which they come in direct contact.

Any injector, therefore, so constructed as to be free from danger to its mechanism from the corroding effects of the liquids above mentioned, will be the one to be chosen. According to the statements above given, any part of an apparatus which is required to operate with a certain degree of nicety must be kept from the corrosive effects of the fluids, and this result is to be gained only by the peculiar construction of the apparatus.

In the greater part of the injecting pumps now manufactured and in use in this country, the body of the pump, which contains the working part of the apparatus, is also filled with the liquid while in use; and, therefore, this part, which ought to be protected from injury, is constantly immersed in the strong corrosive solution during all the time that the injector is being worked.

The result of this constant corroding action upon the apparatus will soon show itself in the working of it, and constant repairs will be found necessary to keep it in order or in a state of comparative effectiveness.

It must be well remembered, that upon the working of the apparatus depends, to a great extent, the good or poor success of embalming; also, that upon the manner of using an apparatus, of whatever description it may be, the length of its duration and its effectiveness will be in the same ratio.

The automatic apparatus of Girard, for injecting purposes, is a marvel of simplicity and durability; there is no piston or force pump, which is liable at any moment to get out of order; no valves, which will wear out by friction, or leak from the effects of the liquid used.

The force used in ejecting the fluid is that of a gas, highly antiseptic in its nature, and which, being generated inside of a cylinder, saturates the injecting fluid (itself an antiseptic solution), and by its expansive force propels it into the arteries of the body.

All the appliances necessary to the perfect working of the apparatus are condensed into a small compass. The amount of gas generated can be increased or diminished at will. A pressure gage indicates the force of expansion acquired by the gas. A glass tube, similar to the water tube in use on some boilers, and with a graduated scale attached, shows both the amount of liquid used and also the quantity remaining in the apparatus; while a relief-cock insures safety to the operator against too rapid an accumulation of gas.

This last danger need scarcely be apprehended, as, after the pressure gage indicates the force of expansion required, the further generation of the gas can be entirely stopped, until the vacuum created by the outflow of liquid needs to be replaced by a new supply of gas. For it is a fact well understood, that the force of expansion of the generating power decreases in the same proportion as the volume of the liquid is diminished, thereby causing a greater vacuum in the apparatus.

The inside of the apparatus is thickly coated with lead, as that metal is not sensibly acted on by either muriatic or sulphuric acid, except at very high temperatures.

The jet or stream of liquid can be regulated by a screw cock, attached to the neck of a metallic tube reaching to the bottom of the apparatus, inside, and provided at its inner extremity with a perforated bulb, which, acting as a filter, prevents any impurity or sediment from finding its way into and stopping the circulation of the fluid through the arterial system; at the same time it prevents any excessive amount of pressure upon the rubber tube five or six feet in length, which is connected with the delivery tube outside, and at the end of which the nozzle is attached.

The nozzle or cannula itself is a very important part of the apparatus, and is of a peculiar shape; it consists of a thin copper tube about eight inches in length and a little over an eighth of an inch in diameter; it is to be inserted at full length, or nearly so, into the artery to be injected, as by doing so it meets a point where the walls of the artery are strengthened by the surrounding tissues.

The shape of the apparatus is that of an elongated cylinder, rounded off at both ends, resembling somewhat a soda fountain; it stands upright, upon four curved legs about four inches in height, and possesses a symmetrical and substantial appearance.

The other apparatus—Ronsard’s—is about similar in construction, but the power exerted in forcing out the liquid is not gas, as in the former apparatus, but compressed air, forced into the body of the reservoir by means of a pump.

The body of the apparatus consists of a cylinder holding about five gallons; this constitutes the reservoir containing the liquid to be injected. Outside of this cylinder and running alongside of it is the body of the pump. The pipe communicating the air forced inside the cylinder above the liquid enters the bottom of the reservoir, and, passing through the liquid, runs along the inner side of the vessel until it has reached a point almost to the top of the cylinder. In the center of the apex at the top of the cylinder is a small funnel connected to a pipe running inside of the apparatus; this pipe, which is furnished with a cock, is intended to conduct inside the apparatus the liquid poured in at the funnel; it will act also as a relief cock, should it be found necessary to relieve the pressure on the liquid.

This apparatus is not provided, like the other, with a pressure gage, from the fact that the pressure being the result of a mechanical cause, the operator will soon be able to judge the amount of pressure by the number of strokes of the piston.

The delivery pipe is similar in every respect to the one in the apparatus described formerly; the graduated tube outside showing the quantity of liquid inside the apparatus is also the same; in fact, the similarity between the two is striking. But the principal feature of the apparatus, and that which recommends it to the profession, is the perfect isolation of all the working parts of the apparatus from direct contact with the liquid injected. The greatest objection in this case, as in the other, is removed, as the most important part of the work, namely: that of compressing the air, is performed without any danger to the generator.

Another apparatus—that of Waldon—combines the two systems in one, and can be operated with equal facility either by means of compressed air or by means of gaseous expansion.

Still, these instruments require a certain amount of familiarity in the handling before they can be operated with efficiency, as, to a person not fully conversant with their mechanism, they may prove awkward.

The instruments of Messrs. G. Tiemann & Co., of New York, which I have employed so far very successfully, could be rendered perfect by adopting some modifications in their make.

GASEOUS COMPOUNDS.

Too little attention has been paid heretofore to the antiseptic powers of certain gases. It is a well known fact, that some of the gases which are the result of animal and vegetable decomposition are, to a certain extent, the means of their own disinfection; hence, some of these are endowed with deodorizing as well as antiseptic properties.

We have already given at length the properties of chlorine. Carbonic acid gas is another of those antiseptic agents which will occupy our attention.

It exists in the atmosphere as a product of combustion and of the respiration of animals; it is a result, also, of the slow decomposition of most vegetable substances, and is evolved in great quantities from the ground in volcanic countries. In the formation of sugar it is produced in abundance, along with alcohol.

For the purposes of the chemist, it is generally prepared by decomposing marble by means of some stronger acid. From its cheapness and the solubility of the residual salt, muriatic acid is generally employed.

The properties of carbonic acid are very remarkable; it is perfectly colorless and invisible; it is irrespirable, producing, when an attempt is made to breathe it, violent spasms of the glottis. If it be respired mixed with air, even in the proportion of one to ten, it gradually produces stupor and death, acting as a narcotic poison. Hence, when disengaged in large quantities, whether by natural operations or in process of manufacture, it accumulates in all cavities within its reach, and may cause fatal accidents to animals who enter unadvisedly.

Carbonic acid does not support combustion; a taper plunged into a jar full of the gas is instantly extinguished. Carbonic acid is also a check on putrefaction, and arrests decay.

SULPHUROUS ACID.

Sulphurous acid exists at ordinary temperature and pressure in the gaseous form; it is one, however, of the most easily liquified gases. It is produced always when sulphur burns, either in air or in pure oxygen; sulphur not being capable of passing directly to a higher degree of oxydation. In the burning of sulphur, the volume of sulphurous acid gas formed is exactly equal to the amount of oxygen consumed.

Sulphurous acid gas may also be simply prepared by heating three parts of flowers of sulphur with four of peroxide of manganese. The reaction is very simple: one part of the sulphur uniting with the metal, and another with the oxygen, form sulphuret of manganese and sulphurous acid.

Another and quicker way to obtain this gas in small quantities is, to decompose a solution of hyposulphate of soda, by adding muriatic acid to it, so as to liberate the hyposulphurous acid, which immediately decomposes into sulphur and sulphurous acid.

Sulphurous acid is absorbed by water. It is colorless and transparent, possessing an odor peculiarly irritating (the smell of burning sulphur), and cannot be breathed. It is not combustible, nor does it support combustion. Water dissolves about thirty-seven times its volume of sulphurous acid; the solution possesses the properties of the gas in a very high degree, and bleaches vegetable colors with great power; when kept for some time it gradually absorbs oxygen, and the sulphurous becomes changed into sulphuric acid. The sulphuric acid is one of the feeblest acids, and is expelled from its combinations by almost all but the carbonic acid.

As has been demonstrated, all these gases are absorbed by water, and a saturated solution possesses the properties of the gases themselves.

PHYSIOLOGY.

GENERAL VIEW OF THE CIRCULATING APPARATUS OF MAN.

The course and relative positions of the principal arteries and veins of the Systemic circulation are shown in this plate. The arteries commence from the great arterial trunk, called the aorta, and their branches are distributed to all parts of the system. The venous branches, which accompany the arteries, unite into two great veins, the superior and inferior vena cava, which convey the blood back to the heart.

a, The left ventricle of the heart. b, The right auricle. c, The superior vena cava. d, The root of the pulmonary artery. e, e, The aorta, which is seen arching backward over the heart, and passing downward into the abdomen, where it divides into its two great branches, the iliac arteries, through which the blood passes to the lower extremities. f, The inferior vena cava, which accompanies the descending aorta and its branches, and returns the blood from the lower extremities. The dotted lines represent the outlines of the kidneys.

PRINCIPAL DIVISIONS OF THE AORTA AND VENA CAVA.

It should be remembered that most of the branches which spring from the great artery and vein are double—that is, each right branch has a corresponding one at the left side—so that there are, for instance, the right and the left carotid arteries, the right and the left jugular veins, etc.

From the arch of the aorta are sent off those arteries which are distributed to the head and arms. The principal ones among these are named as follows:

g, The carotid artery, which ascends in the side of the neck, and divides into the temporal artery, h, which is distributed in the temple, and the facial artery, i, which supplies the face; and also sends a branch, called the internal carotid, to the parts within the skull.

j, The sub-clavian artery, lying beneath the clavicle or collar-bone. That part of the continuation of this artery which passes through the axilla or arm-pit is called the axillary artery, k; that which lies in the upper arm, the brachial artery, l; and in the fore-arm it divides into the radial and ulnar arteries, m, n, which are distributed to the hand and fingers in the manner indicated in the plate.

The principal branches of the descending aorta are named as follows:

The iliac artery, o, on passing into the thigh becomes the femoral artery, p, and in the leg divides into the tibial and peroneal arteries, q, r, which form numerous branches for the supply of the leg and foot.

Before dividing into the iliac arteries, the descending aorta gives off several important branches, as the cœliac artery, from which the stomach and liver are supplied; the renal artery, which goes to the kidneys, and the mesenteric artery, to the intestines; besides many other sub-divisions in various parts of its course.

The branches of the vena cava generally accompany those of the aorta in their distribution, as shown in the figure, and are often called by the same names. The principal divisions of the superior vena cava are: The jugular vein, s, which accompanies the carotid artery the sub-clavian vein, t, which accompanies the artery of the same name, and receives the blood from the arm and hand.

The inferior vena cava, like the aorta, divides into two great branches, the iliac veins, u, the sub-divisions of which accompany those of the arteries, and are called by the same names. The manner in which the superficial veins ramify and anastomose with each other is shown on the upper and lower extremity of the left side.

ORGANS OF DIGESTION.

FIGURE 1.—General View of the Digestive Organs of Man.—This figure is intended to give a general idea of the forms and relative positions of the organs of digestion.—a, The œsophagus. b, The stomach. c, The duodenum, d, d, d, Convolutions of the small intestine. e, The cœcum. f, Appendix of the cœcum. g, Opening of the small into the large intestine. h, The ascending colon. i, i, Transverse arch of the colon. j, The descending colon. k, The liver. l, The gall-bladder. m, The pancreas, mostly covered by the stomach. o, The spleen.—In this figure, the liver is raised up and the transverse arch of the colon drawn down, in order to show parts which they cover when in their natural situation.

FIGURE 2.—General Aspect of the Abdominal Viscera.—In this figure, the anterior walls of the abdomen are removed, so as to show the organs in their natural positions. The small intestine is removed.—a, The liver, situated beneath the right arch of the diaphragm. b, The stomach. c, Epiploa, or floating folds of the peritoneum. d, Summit of the gall-bladder. e, e, Large intestine, showing all its courses.

ORGANS OF CIRCULATION.—HEART AND LUNGS.

FIGURE 1.—Front View of Heart and Lungs.—Both organs are stripped of their envelopes, the pleura and pericardium. The right lung is drawn aside, so as to uncover the heart and large vessels. The left lung is deeply dissected, to show the distribution and mode of ramification of the air-tubes and blood-vessels.

a, The larynx. b, The trachea.—The right lung is somewhat shorter than the left, and is divided into three lobes, c, d, e; while the left lung has but two lobes, f, g. The surface of the lobes is sub-divided into lobules, by the intersection of great numbers of depressed lines. h, Right auricle of the heart. i, Right ventricle. j, Left auricle. k, Left ventricle. l, The aorta. m, The pulmonary artery. n, Left pulmonary veins.—These veins are four in number, two for each lung; and they return to the heart the blood which has been conveyed into the lungs by the pulmonary artery. The division of the pulmonary artery into right and left branches cannot be seen in this figure, being hidden by the aorta. o, The superior vena cava. p, Root of the right innominate artery, springing from the arch of the aorta. q, Root of the left sub-clavian artery. r, Root of the left carotid artery.

FIGURE 2.—Back View of the Heart and Lungs.—a, Larynx. b, Trachea. c, Right bronchus. d, Left bronchus. e, Left auricle of the heart. f, Left ventricle. g, Right pulmonary veins. h, Left pulmonary veins. i, Left pulmonary artery. j, Section of the aorta. k, Trunks of the brachio-cephalic veins (those which belong to the arms and head). l, The opening of the inferior vena cava.—The sub-divisions of the pulmonary arteries and veins, and of the air-tubes or bronchi, are seen accompanying each other in the left lung in both figures.

GLOSSARY AND INDEX.

ABDOMEN (L. abdo, to hide). So called from its containing the intestines, &c.

ABDUCTOR (L. abduco, to draw from). Abducent. A muscle whose office is to draw one part of the body away from another.

ABSORPTION. The act or process of imbibing or swallowing.

ABSORBENTS. Vessels which imbibe, as lymphatics and lacteals.

ALBUMEN (L. albus, white). Albumen is of two kinds, animal and vegetable: 1. Animal albumen exists in two forms, the liquid and the solid. In the liquid state, it is a thick, glairy fluid, constituting the principal part of the white of egg. In the solid state, it is contained in several of the textures of the body, as the cellular membrane, the skin, glands and vessels.—2. Vegetable albumen closely resembles animal albumen, and has been found in wheat, rye, barley, peas and beans.

ANASTOMOSIS (Gr. aná, through, and stoma, a mouth). The communication of vessels with each other, as of the arteries with the veins, which, by touching at numerous points, form a net-work or reticulation. See Inosculation.

ANATOMY (Gr. anatémnō, to cut up). The science of organization; the science whose object is the examination of the organs or instruments of life. Animal anatomy is divided into human anatomy and comparative anatomy, according as it treats of the organization of the human body, or of that of other animals.

AORTA (Gr. aèr, air, teréō, to keep; as having been formerly supposed to contain only air). The great artery of the heart. It is distinguished into the ascending and descending.

AQUEOUS. Watery.

ARACANOID MEMBRANE (Gr. arachnē, a spider, and eīdos, likeness). The fine cobweb-like membrane situated between the dura and pia mater. It is the serous membrane of the cerebro-spinal centers.

ARBOR VITÆ. Literally, tree of life. A term applied to the arborescent appearance presented by the cerebellum, when cut into vertically.

ARTERY (Gr. aèr, air, and teréō, to hold). A vessel which carries the blood from the heart; formerly supposed, from its being found empty after death, to contain only air.

ARYTÆNOID (Gr. arútaina, a ewer, and eīdos, likeness). A term applied to two triangular cartilages of the larynx.

AUDITORY (L. audio, to hear). Belonging to parts connected with the sense of hearing.

AURICULA (L. dim of auris, the ear). An auricle; the prominent part of the ear. Also, the name of two cavities of the heart.

AUTOMATIC MOTIONS (Gr. automatos, of his own accord). Those muscular actions which are not dependent on the mind.

BILIS. Bile, gall, or choler; the secretion of the liver. A term employed to characterize a class of diseases caused by a too copious secretion of bile.

BRONCHUS (Gr. bróngchos, the windpipe, from bréchō, to moisten). The windpipe; a ramification of the trachea; so called from ancient belief that the solids were conveyed into the stomach by the œsophagus, and the fluids by the bronchia.

BRONCHIAL-TUBES. The minute ramifications of the bronchi, terminating in the bronchial cells, or air cells of the lungs.

BRONCHITIS. Inflammation of the bronchi or ramifications of the trachea.

BURSÆ MUCOSÆ (mucous bags). Small sacs situated about the joints, being parts of the sheaths of tendons.

CÆCUM, or CŒCUM (L. cæcus, blind). The first part of the colon or blind intestine.

CALLUS (Latin, hardness). New bone, or the substance which serves to join together the ends of a fracture, and to restore destroyed portions of bone.

CAPILLARY (L. capillus, a hair). Resembling a hair in size; a term applied to the vessels which intervene between the minute arteries and veins.

CAPSULA (L. dim. of capsa, a chest). Literally, a little chest. A capsule or bag, which incloses any part.

CARBON (L. carbo, a coal). A substance well known under the form of coal, charcoal, lamp-black, &c. In chemical language, it denotes the pure inflammable principle of charcoal; in its state of absolute purity it constitutes the diamond.

CARBONIC ACID. Carbon and oxygen combined.

CARDIA (Gr. kardia, the heart). The entrance into the stomach; so called from being near the heart.

CARDIAC (Gr. kardia, the heart). Relating to the heart.

CAROTID (Gr. karóō, to induce sleep). The name of two large arteries of the neck; so called from an idea that tying them would induce stupor.

CARPUS (Gr. karpós, fruit). The wrist. The ossa carpi, or carpal bones, are eight in number, and form two rows.

CARTILAGE. Gristle. It is attached to bones, and must be distinguished from the ligaments of joints and tendons of muscles.

CEREBELLUM (dim. of cerebrum). The little brain, situated behind the larger or cerebrum.

CEREBRUM (Gr. káre, the head). The brain; the chief portion of the brain, occupying the whole upper cavity of the skull.

CEREBRO-SPINAL. System.

CERVIX. The neck; the hinder part of the neck. The fore part is called collum.

CHEST. Thorax. An old English term, commonly traced to the Latin cista.—“When it is considered that the same word was anciently used for a basket, the appropriation of it to the human thorax will appear quite natural to any one who has ever seen a skeleton.”—Forbes.

CHYLE (Gr. chulòs, juice). The milk-like fluid absorbed by the lacteal vessels.

CHYLIFICATION (L. fio, to become). The process by which the chyle is separated from the chyme.

CHYME (Gr. chumòs, juice). The semi-fluid matter which passes from the stomach into the duodenum.

CHYMIFICATION (L. fio, to become). The process by which the aliment is converted into chyme.

CLAVICULA (dim. of clavis, a key). The clavicle, or collar-bone; so called from its resemblance to an ancient key.

COCCYX (Gr. kókkux, a cuckoo). The lower end of the spine; so called from its resemblance to a cuckoo’s beak.

COLON (Gr. kolīn, quasi, koīlon, hollow). The first of the large intestines, commencing at the cœcum, and terminating at the rectum.

COMA (Gr. kōma, drowsiness, from kéō, to lie). Drowsiness; lethargic sleep; dead sleep; torpor.

COMMISSURE (L. commissura). To joint or sever the place where two bodies or parts of a body meet and unite.

CONDYLE (Gr. kóndulos, a knuckle). A rounded eminence in the joints of several bones, as the humerus and the femur.

CONGESTION (L. congero, to amass). Undue fullness of the blood-vessels.

CONJUNCTIVA (L. conjungo, to unite). The mucous membrane which lines the posterior surface of the eyelids, and is continued over the fore-part of the globe of the eye.

CORIUM. Leather. The deep layer of cutis, or true skin, forming the basis of the support of the skin.

CORPUSCULUM (L. dim. of corpus, a body). A corpuscle, or little body.

CRANIUM (Gr. kára, the head). The skull, or cavity, which contains the brain, its membranes and vessels.

CRICOS (Gr. krikíos, a ring). Whence crícoïd, the name of the ring-like cartilage of the larynx.

CRYSTALLINE (Gr. krústallos, ice). A term applied to the lens of the eye.

CUTICLE (L. dim. of cutis). The epidermis or scarf-skin.

CUTIS (Gr. kútos, the skin). The true skin, as distinguished from the cuticle, epidermis or scarf-skin.

DEGLUTITION (L. deglutio, to swallow). The act of swallowing.

DIAPHRAGM (Gr. diàphragma, a partition). The midriff; the transverse muscular partition which separates the thorax from the abdomen.

DIGESTION (L. digero, from diversim gero, to carry into different parts). In Physiology, the change of food into chyme by the mouth, stomach and small intestines; and the absorption and distribution of the more nutritious parts, or the chyle, through the system.

DORSUM (Latin). The back; the round part of the back of a man or beast. Whence Dorsal, appertaining to the back, as applied to a region, ligaments, &c.

DUODENUM (L. duodeni, twelve). The twelve-inch intestine; so called from its being equal in length to the breadth of twelve fingers. The first portion of the small intestines, beginning from the pylorus.

DURA MATER (hard-mother). The outermost membrane of the brain.

EFFLUVIA (L. effluo, to flow out). Exhalations, vapors, &c.

ELASTICITY. The property or power by which a body compressed or extended returns to its former state.

ENAMEL. The hard exterior surface of the teeth.

ENCEPHALON (Gr. èn, in, kephalē, the head). The brain; the contents of the skull, consisting of the cerebrum, cerebellum, medulla oblongata, and membranes.

EPIDERMIS (Gr. epi, upon, and dérma, the skin) The cuticle, or scarf-skin; the thin, horny layer which protects the surface of the integument.

EPIGLOTTIS. A cartilage of the larynx, situated above the glottis.

EPIPLOON (Gr. plēo, to sail). The omentum; a membranous expansion which floats upon the intestines.

EPITHELIUM (Gr. títhēmi, to place). The cuticle on the red part of the lips, and on the mucous membranes in general.

EXCRETION (L. excerno, to separate from). A general term for the perspiration, fæces, &c., which are separated and voided from the blood or the food.

EXPIRATION (L. expiro, to breathe). That part of the respiration in which the air is expelled. Compare Inspiration.

EXUDATION. Transpiration. The flow of liquid from the surface of the skin or membrane, an ulcer, &c.

FACIAL (L. facies, the face). Belonging to the face; as facial nerve, facial vein, &c.

FALX. A scythe or sickle. The sickle-like processes of the dura mater, situated between the lobes of the cerebrum and cerebellum.

FASCIA (L. fascis, a bundle). Literally, a scarf or large band. Hence it is applied to the aponeurotic expansion of a muscle.

FASCICULUS (L. dim. of fascis, a bundle). A little bundle; a handful. Thus, a muscle consists of fasciculi of fibres.

FAUCES. The gullet or upper part of the throat; the space surrounded by the vellum palati, the uvula, the tonsils, and the posterior part of the tongue.

FEMUR, FEMORIS. Os femoris. The thigh-bone; the longest, largest and heaviest of all the bones of the body.

FIBRE (L. fibra, a filament). A filament or thread, of animal, vegetable or mineral composition.

FIBRIL. A small filament or fibre, as the ultimate division of a nerve. The term is derived from fibrilla, L. dim. of fibra, a filament.

FIBRIN. A tough, fibrous mass, which, together with albumen, forms the basis of muscle.

FIBRO-CARTILAGE. Membraniform cartilage; a substance intermediate between proper cartilage and ligament.

FILAMENT (L. filum, a thread, forma, likeness). Thread-like; applied to the papillæ at the edges of the tongue.

FISSURE. A cleft; a longitudinal opening.

FLEXOR (L. flecto, to bend). A muscle which bends the part into which it is inserted. Its antagonist is termed extensor.

FLUIDS. Substances which have the quality of fluidity, and are, in consequence, of no fixed shape.

FOLLICLE (L. dim. of follis, a pair of bellows). Literally, a little bag or scrip of leather. In anatomy, a very minute secreting cavity.

FORAMEN (L. foro, to pierce). An opening.

FOSSA (L. fodio, to dig). A ditch or trench; a little depression, or sinus.

FUNCTION (L. fungor, to discharge an office). The office of an organ in the animal or vegetable economy; as of the heart in circulation, of the leaf in respiration, &c.

GALL-BLADDER. A membranous reservoir, lodged in a fissure on the under surface of the right lobe of the liver, and containing the bile.

GALL-DUCTS. These are the cystic, proceeding from the gall-bladder; the hepatic, proceeding from the liver; and the ductus communis choledochus, resulting from the union of the two preceding.

GANGLION (Gr. gangglíon, a nerve-knot). A small nervous center, or an enlargement in the course of a nerve, sometimes termed a diminutive brain.

GASTER. The Greek term for stomach.

GASTRIC (Gr. gaster, the stomach). Pertaining to the stomach; as the gastric juice, &c.

GASTRIC JUICE. The peculiar digestive fluid secreted by the stomach.

GELATINE (L. gelu, frost). The principle of jelly. It is found in the skin, cartilages, tendons, membranes and bones. The purest variety of gelatine is isinglass.

GLAND (L. glans, glandis, an acorn). A soft body, composed of various tissues, vessels, nerves, &c., usually destined to separate some fluids from the blood.

GLENOID (Gr. glēne, a cavity, eīdos, likeness). The name of a part having a shallow cavity; as the socket of the shoulder joint.

GLOBULES RED (L. dim. of globus, a ball). The red coloring matter of the blood; a peculiar animal principle.

GLOSSA, or GLOTTA (Gr. glōtta). The tongue; the organ of speech. Glosso. Terms compounded of this word belong to nerves or muscles attached to the tongue.

GLOTTIS. The aperture of the larynx between the arytænoïd cartilages. It is covered by a cartilage called the epi-glottis.

GRANULE. A small particle.

HÆMATOSIN (Gr. haima, blood). A characteristic constituent of the blood, derived from the globules.

HÆMORRHAGE. A rupture of a blood-vessel; a bursting forth of blood; loss of blood.

HEPATIC. A term applied to any part belonging to the liver.

HUMERUS. The bone of the upper arm.

HUMOR (L. humeo, to be moist). An aqueous substance; as the humors of the eye.

HYGIENE (Gr. to be well). Health; the preservation of health; that part of medicine which regards the preservation of health.

HYOIDES (the Greek letter upsilon). A bone situated between the root of the tongue and the larynx.

HYPOGASTRIUM. The lower anterior region of the abdomen.

HYPOGLOSSAL. The name of the lingualis, or ninth pair of nerves, situated beneath the tongue.

I, J

ICHOR. A thin, acrid discharge, issuing from wounds, ulcers, &c.

JEJUNUM (L. jejunus, hungry). The upper two-fifths of the small intestines; so named from this portion being generally found empty.

ILEUM (to turn about). The lower three-fifths of the small intestines; so called from their convolutions or peristaltic motions.

ILIAC BONE. Another name for the os innominatum, derived from the circumstance that this compound bone supports the parts which the ancients called ilia, or the flanks.

ILIAC REGION. The region situated on each side of the hypogastrium.

INDEX (L. indico, to point out). The forefinger; the finger usually employed in pointing at any object.

INFRA-SPINATUS. A muscle arising from the scapula below the spine, and inserted into the humerus.

INNOMINATUS (L. in, priv., nomen, name). Hence, Innominatum os, a bone composed of three portions, viz: 1, The ilium, or haunch-bone; 2, The ischium, or hip-bone; 3, The os pubis, or share bone.

INTEGUMENT (L. in, and tego, to cover). The covering of any part of the body, as the cuticle, cutis, &c.

INTER-COSTAL. The name of two sets of muscles between the ribs—the external and the internal.

INTESTINES (L. intus, within). That part of the alimentary canal which extends from the stomach to the anus.

JUGULAR. Belonging to the neck; applied chiefly to the principal veins of the neck.

KINGDOM. A term denoting any of the principal divisions of nature. Thus we have the organic kingdom, comprehending substances which organize; and the inorganic kingdom, comprehending substances which crystallize.

KNEE-PAN. Patella; the small round bone at the front of the knee-joint.

KIDNEYS. Two oblong glands, which secrete the urine.

LABIA. The lips. They are laterally united by means of two acute angles, which are called their commissures.

LABYRINTH. The name of a series of cavities of the inner ear, viz: the vestibule, the cochlea, and the semi-circular canals.

LACHRYMA. A tear; the fluid secreted by the lachrymal gland, and flowing on the surface of the eye.

LACTEALS (L. lac, milk). Numerous minute tubes which absorb or take up the chyle, or milk-like fluid, from the alimentary canal.

LACTIC ACID (L. lac, lactis, milk). An acid produced whenever milk—and perhaps most animal fluids—become spontaneously sour.

LAMINA. Literally, a small plate of any metal. A term applied to the foliated structure of bones or other organs.

LARYNX (Gr. larungx, the larynx). The superior part of the trachea, situated immediately under the os hyoïdes.

LENS (L. lens, lentis, a bean). Properly, a small roundish glass, shaped like a lentil, or bean.

LIGAMENT (L. ligo, to bind). A membrane of a flexible but compact texture, which connects the articular surfaces of bones and cartilages; and sometimes protects the joints by a capsular envelope.

LINGUA (L. lingo, to lick). The tongue; the organ of taste and speech.

LIVER. The largest glandular apparatus in the body, the office of which is to secrete the bile.

LUMBI. The loins; the inferior part of the back; whence Lumbar, the designation of nerves, arteries, veins, &c., belonging to the region of the loins.

LUNGS. The organs of respiration.

LUXATION (L. luxo, to put out of joint). Dislocation; or the removal of the articular surface of bones out of their proper situation.

LYMPH (L. lympha, water). A colorless liquid which circulates in the lymphatics.

LYMPHATICS (L. lympha, water). Minute tubes which pervade every part of the body, which they absorb, or take up, in the form of lymph.

MAGNESIUM. A metal having the color and lustre of silver.

MASSETER (Gr. to chew). A muscle which assists in chewing.

MASTOID (Gr. a breast). Shaped like the breast or nipple; as applied to a process, and a foramen of the temporal bone.

MEATUS (L. meo, to pass, to flow). Literally, a passage.

MEDULLA. Marrow; a kind of fixed oil, occupying the cavities of bones.

MEDULLA OBLONGATA. The upper enlarged portion of the spinal cord.

MEDULLA SPINALIS. The spinal marrow or cord.

MEDULLARY. The designation of the white substance of the brain.

MESENTERY (Gr. between the bowels). The membrane which connects the small intestines and the posterior wall of the abdomen.

META-CARPUS (Gr. after, the wrist). That part of the hand which is situated between the carpus and the fingers.

META-TARSUS. That part of the foot which is situated between the tarsus and the toes.

MIDRIFF. Diaphragm. The muscle which divides the body into the thorax and the abdomen.

MITRAL VALVES (L. mitra, a mitre). The name of two valves which guard the left ventricle of the heart.

MOLAR (L. mola, a mill-stone). The double or grinding teeth. Those with two fangs are called bicuspid, or false molars.

MOTOR (L. moveo, to move). A mover; a part whose function is motion.

MUCUS. The liquid secreted by the mucous surfaces, as of the nostrils, intended as a protection to the parts exposed to external influences.

NARCOTICS (Gr. stupor). Medicines which induce sleep or stupor, as opiates.

NASUS. The nose, or organ of smell; whence nasal, belonging to the nose.

NERVES (L. nervus, a string). White cords arising from the brain or the spinal marrow, and distributed to every part of the system.

NEURON (Gr.) A nerve; a cord arising from the brain or spinal marrow. Whence Neurilemma, the sheath of a nerve; and Neurology, the doctrine of the nerves.

NITROGEN. Azote. An elementary principle, constituting four-fifths of the volume of atmospheric air.

NUTRITION (L. nutrio, to nourish). The process of nourishing the frame.

OBTURATOR (L. obturo, to stop up). The name of two muscles of the thigh, and of a nerve.

OCCIPUT (L. ob caput). The back part of the head; the part opposite to the front or sinciput.

ŒSOPHAGUS (Gr. to carry, to eat). A canal leading from the mouth to the stomach.

OLEAGINOUS (L. oleum, oil). That which contains or resembles oil.

OLFACTORY (L. olfacio, to smell). Belonging to the smell; the name of the first pair of cerebral nerves, &c.

OMENTUM. The caul; a fold or reflexion of the peritoneum.

OMO (Gr. the shoulder). Words compounded with this term belong to muscles attached to the scapula.

OPTIC. Belonging to the sight.

ORBIT (L. orbita, an orbit, a track). The cavity under the forehead, in which the eye is fixed.

ORGAN. A part which has a determinate office in the animal economy.

ORGANIZATION. A term applied to a system, composed of several individual parts, each of which has its proper function, but all conduce to the existence of the entire system.

ORIGIN (L. origo). The commencement of a muscle from any part. Its attachment to the part it moves is called its insertion.

OS, OSSIS. A bone; a portion of the skeleton, constituting a passive organ of locomotion, as distinguished from a muscle or active organ of this faculty.

OSSIFICATION. The formation of bone; the deposition of calcareous phosphate, or carbonate, on the soft solids of animal bodies.

OXIDES. Substances combined with oxygen, without being in the state of an acid.

OXYGEN. A gas which forms about one-fifth of atmospheric air, is capable of supporting flame, and is essential to the respiration of animals.

PANCREAS. A gland, situated transversely across the posterior wall of the abdomen. In cattle it is called the sweet-bread.

PANCREATIC JUICE. The peculiar fluid secreted by the pancreas.

PAPILLA. The term papillæ denotes the small eminences which constitute the roughness of the upper surface of the tongue.

PARALYSIS. Palsy; the total loss, or diminution, of sensation or of motion, or of both.

PAROTID. The name of the large, salivary gland situated near the ear.

PARIES, PARIETIS. The wall of a house or any other building; whence Parietal, belonging to the walls of an organ.

PATELLA (L. dim. of patina, a pan). Literally, a small pan. The knee-pan.

PECTORAL (L. pectus, the breast). Pertaining to the breast.

PECTORALIS. The name of two muscles of the trunk.

PEDAL (L. pedules). Pertaining to a foot.

PELVIS (Gr. a basin). The basin or large bony cavity which terminates the trunk inferiorly.

PERICARDIUM (Gr. around the heart). A fibro-serous membrane which surrounds the heart.

PERICRANIUM. The periosteum or membrane which covers the bones of the cranium.

PERIOSTEUM. The membrane which surrounds the bones.

PERISTALTIC. A term applied to the vermicular contractions of the intestines upon themselves.

PERITONÆUM. The serous membrane which lines the interior of the abdomen, and invests all the viscera contained therein.

PERMEABILITY (L. per, through, meo, to pass). That property of certain bodies by which they admit the passage of other bodies through their substance.

PERSPIRATION (L. perspiro, to breathe through). The watery vapor which is constantly passing off through the skin.

PHARYNX (Gr. the throat). A musculo-membranous bag, situated at the back part of the mouth, leading to the stomach.

PHRENES (Gr. the mind). The diaphragm; so called because the ancients supposed it to be the seat of the mind. Hence the term Phrenic, a designation of the internal respiratory nerve, which goes to the diaphragm.

PHRENOLOGY (Gr. an account). A description of the mind; a science, introduced by Gall and Spurzheim, by which particular characters and propensities are indicated by the conformation and protuberances of the skull.

PHYSIOLOGY (Gr. phusis, nature, logos, an account). The science which treats of the properties of organic bodies, animal and vegetable, of the phenomena which they present, and of the laws which govern their actions.

PIA MATER. A vascular membrane, investing the whole surface of the brain.

PITUITARY MEMBRANE. A designation of the Schneiderian membrane, which lines the cavities of the nose.

PLEXUS (L. plecto, to weave). A kind of net-work of blood-vessels or nerves.

PNEUMO-GASTRIC NERVES (Gr. pneumon, the lung, gastér, the stomach). The par vagnum, nervi vagi, or eighth pair of nerves, distributed to the stomach.

PORTAL CIRCULATION. A subordinate part of the venous circulation, in which the blood makes an additional circuit before it joins the rest of the venous blood.

PORTAL VEIN (L. vena portæ). A vein originating from the organs within the abdomen.

POTASSIUM. The metallic base of the well known alkaline substance, potassa.

PROCESS. Apophysis. A process or eminence of a bone. Also, a lobe or portion of the brain.

PRONATION (L. pronus, bending downward). The act of turning the palm of the hand downwards, by rotating the radius upon the ulna by means of the pronator muscles.

PRONATOR (L. pronus, bending downward). The name of two muscles which turn the radius and the hand inwards and downwards.

PROXIMATE PRINCIPLE. A term applied, in analyzing any body, to the principle which is nearest to the natural constitution of the body, and more immediately the object of sense, as distinguished from intermediate or ultimate principles. Ultimate principles are the elements of which proximate principles are composed.

PULMONARY, pulmonic (L. pulmo, the lungs). Relating or belonging to the lungs.

PULSE (L. pulsus, a stroke). A beating or striking; and hence, the stroke or beat of an artery.

PUNCTA LACHRYMALIA. The external commencements of the lacrymal ducts.

PUPILA (L. dim. of pupa, a puppet). The pupil, or the round aperture in the center of the iris of the eye.

PYLORUS (Gr. púle, a gate, ora, care). Literally a gate-keeper. The lower and contracted orifice of the stomach, guarding the entrance into the bowels.

QUARTZ. A species of silicious minerals.

RAMIFICATION (L. ramus, a branch, fio, to become). The issuing of a small branch from a large one, as of the minute branches from the larger arteries.

RAMUS. A branch of a tree; the designation of portions of several bones.

RECTUM (L. rectus, straight). The last portion of the intestines.

REFRACTION (L. refractus, broken back). The property of light, by which a ray becomes bent, or refracted, when passing from a rarer into a denser medium, and vice versá.

RESPIRATION. The function of breathing.

RETINA (L. rete, a net). The net like expansion of the optic nerve on the inner surface of the eye.

SAC (L. saccus, a bag). A term applied to a small cavity, as the lacrymal sac.

SACRUM (L. sacred). The bone which forms the basis of the vertebral column; so called from its having been offered in sacrifice, and hence considered sacred.

SACRO. A term applied to parts connected with the sacrum. Hence we have sacro-iliac symphysis, sacro-spinal ligament, sacro-vertebral angle, &c.

SALIVA. The insipid, transparent, viscous liquid secreted by the salivary glands, principally the parotid.

SANGUIS. Blood; the fluid which circulates in the heart, arteries and veins.

SARTORIUS (L. sartor, a tailor). The muscle by means of which the tailor crosses his legs.

SCAPULA. The shoulder-blade.

SCHNEIDERIAN MEMBRANE. The pituitary membrane, which secretes the mucous of the nose; so named from Schneider, who first described it.

SCLEROTICA (Gr. sklēròs, hard). The dense fibrous membrane which, with the cornea, forms the external tunic of the eye ball.

SEBACEOUS (L. sebum, suet). Suety; a term applied to follicles, which secrete a peculiar oily matter, and are abundant in some parts of the skin, as in the nose, &c.

SECRETION (L. secerno, to separate). A substance secreted or separated from the blood by the action of a secreting organ.

SERUM. The thin yellowish fluid constituent of the blood.

SINCIPUT. The fore part of the head. The back part is called occiput.

SINEW. The ligament which joins two bones.

SINUS. A gulf. Hence it denotes a cavity or cell within the substance of a bone, as of the forehead; also a large venous canal, as those of the dura mater.

SKELETON (Gr. skéllo, to dry up). The dry, bony frame work of an animal, which sustains the other organs.

SPINAL CORD. Medulla spinalis. The medullary matter contained within the spine, or vertebral column.

SPLEEN. A spongy organ situated at the left and behind the stomach.

SPLINT-BONE. The fibula or small bone of the leg; so named from its resembling a surgical splint.

STERNUM. The breast bone.

SUB. A Latin preposition, denoting a position beneath any body.

SUB-CLAVIAN. Situated under the clavicle.

SUB-CLAVIUS. A muscle arising from the cartilage of the first rib, and inserted into the lower surface of the clavicle.

SUB-CUTANEOUS. Beneath the skin.

SUB-LINGUAL. Beneath the tongue.

SUB-MAXILLARY. Beneath the jaw.

SUDOR (L. sudo, to sweat). Sweat; the vapor which passes through the skin and condenses on the surface of the body.

SUDORIFEROUS CANALS. Minute spiral follicles, distributed over the whole surface of the skin, for the secretion of the sweat.

SUTURE (L. suo, to sew). A seam; the junction of the bones of the cranium by a serrated line, resembling the stitches of a seam.

SYMPATHETIC NERVE. A nerve consisting of a chain of ganglia, extending along the side of the vertebral column from the head to the coccyx, communicating with all the other nerves of the body, and supposed to produce a sympathy between the affections of different parts.

TARSUS. The instep; the space between the bones of the leg and metatarsus.

TEARS. A peculiar fluid which lubricates the eye.

TEMPORA (L. pl. of tempus, time). The temples, or that part of the head on which the hair generally begins to turn gray, thus indicating the age; whence temporal, pertaining to the temples, as temporal bones.

TENACITY (L. teneo, to hold). The degree of force with which the particles of bodies cohere or are held together.

TENDON (L. téino, to stretch). A fibrous cord at the extremity of a muscle, by which the muscle is attached to a bone.

TENSOR (L. tendo, to stretch). A muscle which stretches any part.

TENTACULA. A filliform process or organ on the bodies of various animals.

THORAX (Gr. thórax). The chest; or that cavity of the body which contains the heart and lungs.

THORACIC DUCT. The great trunk formed by the junction of the absorbent vessels.

THYROID (Gr. thureòs, a shield). The name given to a shield-shaped cartilage of the larynx, and of a gland situated on the trachea.

TIBIA. Literally, a flute or pipe. The shin-bone, or the great bone of the leg.

TIBIAL. Tibialis. Pertaining to the tibia.

TISSUE. A web, or web-like structure, constituting the elementary structures of animals and plants.

TONSILS (L. tondeo, to clip or shear). The round gland situated in the throat between the pillars of the velum palati.

TRACHEA (Gr. trachus, rough). The windpipe. The term is derived from the inequality of its cartilages.

TRICEPS. Having three heads. Applied to several muscles.

TRICUSPID. Having three points. A term applied to three triangular fords or valves situated between the right auricle and the right ventricle of the heart.

TRIFACIAL. Triple-facial. A term applied to the fifth pair of nerves, the grand sensitive nerve of the head and face.

TROCHANTER (Gr. trocháo, to run or roll). The name of two processes of the thigh-bone—the major and the minor.

TUNIC. The upper garment of the Romans. Hence it is applied to several membranes of the body.

TYMPANUM (Gr. túmpanon, a drum). The drum of the ear.

ULNA (Gr. olénē, the cubit). The large bone of the fore-arm; so named from its being often used as a measure, under the term ell.

UVEA (L. uva, grape). The posterior surface of the iris; so called from its resemblance in color to a ripe grape.

VACUUM (L. vaccus, empty). Literally, an empty place. This term generally denotes the interior of a close vessel, from which the atmospheric air and every other gas have been extracted.

VALVE (L. valvæ, folding-doors). A close lid affixed to a tube or opening in some vessel, by means of a hinge or other movable joint, and which can be opened only in one direction. Hence it signifies a little membrane which prevents the return of fluid in the blood-vessels and absorbents.

VALVULA (L. dim. of valve). A little valve.

VAS, VASIS. Plural, Vasa. A vessel, or any utensil to hold liquor.

VASCULAR SYSTEM. That part of the animal economy which relates to the vessels.

VENOUS. Belonging to a vein.

VENTRICULUS (L. dim. of venter, the belly). The term ventricle is also applied to two cavities of the heart, and to several cavities in other parts of the body.

VERTEBRA (L. verto, to turn). A bone of the spine; so named from its turning upon the adjoining one.

VERTEBRAL. Connected with the vertebra.

VESSICLE (L. dim. of vesica, a bladder). A little bladder.

VILLUS. Literally, the shaggy hair of beasts. Some of the membranes of the body, as the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal, present a surface of minute papillæ, termed villi, villosities, resembling a downy tissue, continually covered with fluid.

VITREOUS BODY (L. vitrum, glass). Vitreous humour. A transparent mass, resembling melted glass, occupying the globe of the eye, and inclosed in the hyaloïd membrane.

WARM-BLOODED. A term applied to the mammalia and birds which have a two-fold circulation.

XYPHOID (Gr. xíphos, a sword, eìdos, likeness). Sword-like; a term applied to the cartilage of the sternum.

THE END.

Transcriber’s Notes

pg 67 Changed: Alcohol and common salt both act in the preservavation to: Alcohol and common salt both act in the preservation

pg 76 Changed: that a man entirely unaquainted to: that a man entirely unacquainted

pg 80 Changed: upwards into the the fascia to: upwards into the fascia

pg 102 Changed: as to the quantitive composition to: as to the quantitative composition

pg 126 Changed: the lids must be sown together to: the lids must be sewn together

pg 126 Changed: in its quantitive composition to: in its quantitative composition

pg 137 Changed: unbiased by a viscious appetite to: unbiased by a vicious appetite

pg 192 Changed: being generated insdie of a cylinder to: being generated inside of a cylinder