|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
e-Feature Fun Fact October Embalming!
Mark how fleeting
and paltry is the estate of man--yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a
mummy or ashes. Happy Halloween and thanks to all of you who attended our annual tour, “Prescription Paranormal.” Although the museum generally focuses on how pharmacists assisted patrons in securing greater health, this month’s Fun Fact acknowledges one way they were able to serve customers after death. Pharmacists were not traditionally involved in the embalming procedure, but they were the purveyors of a number of secret recipe embalming solutions as well as embalming kits and supplies. Embalming includes a variety of methods throughout ages and across cultures for the primary purpose of preserving a dead body. The motivation for preserving a corpse may be temporal or clerical, concerned with practicalities in either this life or the next, yet in both realms the value of embalming is not universally heralded. Ancient Egypt Across the globe some form of embalming has evolved independently in a variety of cultures. The earliest known and some of the best-studied practice is mummification in ancient Egypt. The Egyptians believed that upon death the soul took a requisite 3,000 year journey and they needed to maintain the body in good working condition so that the vessel could again house the soul for eternal life with the gods. According to Roman historian Dio Cassius (150 – 235 AD), Egyptians correlated contaminated drinking water and the spread of lethal disease. Embalming prevented these unsanitary conditions when the valley where the dead were buried was regularly flooded. In this respect ancient embalming had a similar aim of preventing disease as modern embalming does today. Members of the priesthood embalmed customers using techniques that varied based upon the wealth of the individual… and hence the price-tag of the service. The most involved method included the following steps at a cost equivalent to more than $2000 today: 1. Removal of the brain and repacking the skull with resin. 2. Evisceration of internal organs through the abdomen and transfer to canopic jars. 3. Immersion of the body in sodium salt for 20-70 days. (Fun fact: this often caused the finger and toenails to fall off and they would need to be reattached for eternal use. Also, this step was pretty much the extent of basic package.) 4. Dehydration in the sun. The hot, dry climate is probably the greatest single element to the Egyptians’ success in cadaver preservation. 5. Wrapping in bandage, placement in a sarcophagus, and return to the family. Embalming in America Dr. Thomas Holmes (1817-1900) became the father of modern embalming during the Civil War, personally enabling the return of some 4,000 fallen soldiers to their families before resigning to bring his services to the public for $100. He is also credited with the popularity of arsenic in embalming solution, threatening the health of cemetery workers and neighbors more than a century after his own death. In the mid-1800s a number of patents were issued for embalming fluids containing between four ounces and twelve pounds of arsenic per quantity of solution required to treat a single cadaver. Embalmers often created their own formulas by mixing arsenic and other ingredients all obtained from the local pharmacist. Formaldehyde eventually replaced arsenic as the major component of embalming solution, but as it is also toxic, some practitioners prefer glutaraldehyde which releases less irritating fumes. In fact, it may be the marketability of embalming fluid that drove the profession forward. Traveling sales representatives offered one or two day classes in embalming. After attending these “schools” and purchasing the minimum quantity of product, the undertaker became a certified embalmer. It wasn’t until the 1930s that state licensing became a typical. Modern embalming is performed to disinfect, temporarily preserve, and restore the human body. Its function is to protect and comfort the living and, at least among most Americans, is not believed to assist the individual in the afterlife. Contrarily, embalming is forbidden by the Muslim religion as well as by traditional Jewish law. The procedure for modern embalming in America is quite different from that of the ancient Egyptians. The body is double checked to confirm identity and death; it is massaged if necessary to alleviate stiffness from rigor mortis and placed in a supine position with the arms laid over the stomach, mimicking repose; and it is washed and disinfected. A small perforated disk, an eyecap, may be used to keep the eyes closed and a specially designed “tack” does the same for the lips. About three gallons of solution is forced into the carotid artery via the tube of an embalming pump displacing blood in the arterial system (and eventually the cells) until the blood and some fluid exits through a tube in the accompanying vein. The embalmer uses a trocar to withdraw fluids and gases from the abdominal cavity by suction. Finally, the body is washed and prepared for presentation. The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum is proud to display arsenic and other popular ingredients used in embalming solutions plus an antique embalming kit!
For more information online: Wyoming Funeral Directors Association: History of Embalming - www.wyfda.org/basics_3.html Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Embalming - www.embalming.net BBC h2g2: Artificial Preservation of Human Remains - http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3533483 Museum of Funeral Customs – www.funeralmuseum.org Advanced Chemistry Development: Tryptophan - http://www.acdlabs.com/publish/tryptophan/
|
|||||||
|
514 Chartres
Street |
||||||||
