The Origin and History of EmbalmingChapter 1

Embalming has been in vogue since time immemorial without the deliberate intervention of humans.

The undermentioned means have been secured by the deliberate action of humans:

Embalming originated in Egypt during the period of the first dynasty. It is estimated to have begun about 3200 BC and continued on until AD 650. The motive of Egyptian embalming was religious. According to their belief, the preservation of the human body (intact) was a necessary requirement for resurrection. During this nearly 4000 year period of embalming practice, there obviously existed a number of variations of technique. Egyptian embalming began to decline with the advent of Christianity, as the early Christians rejected the practice, associating embalming with various “Pagan religious rites”. When the Arabs conquered Egypt, they, too, rejected the practice of embalming.

The incentive for embalming in the period AD 650–1861 was the preservation of anatomical material to further the study of and research in anatomy. Those who made the early strides in embalming were the anatomists, but about the time of JN Gannal (early 19th century, France) and Thomas H Holmes (late-19th century, United States), general public interest was aroused in the preservation of the dead. This interest and the later demand for preservation for funeral purposes of all human dead grew far beyond the means and desires of the few trained embalmers in the medical profession—during the late-19th century in the United States, schools of embalming instruction were established by experienced embalmers. Many funeral directors who had no knowledge of embalming attended these schools to acquire the art. Others who were neither funeral directors nor doctors attended the schools to study embalming and to seek employment. By the beginning of the 20th century in the United States, separation of the fields of embalming and medicine was complete—this brought about the advancement of both professions, particularly that of embalming, as it placed a complex art in the hands of specialists who are still striving to acquire more knowledge and skill in preserving the human dead.

During the early predynastic period, well before 3200 BC, the Egyptians had a very simple culture. When death occurred, the unembalmed body was placed in the fetal position (arms and legs folded), wrapped in cloth or straw mats, and placed in a shallow grave scooped out of the desert sand west of the Nile River. A few pieces of pottery and other artifacts were placed in the grave with the body, which was positioned on its side. The body was then covered with the sand and the grave filled. The body was preserved by drying from the contact with the arid, porous sand, and the total absence of rainfall or other moisture. From time to time, desert winds uncovered the bodies in their shallow graves, and cemetery guards or relatives saw that the bodies were indeed preserved (Fig. 1.1).

The actual methods of embalming employed by the Egyptians varied from dynasty to dynasty according to custom and to the technique of the individual embalmer. History provides views of four contemporary writers on the subject who have frequently been quoted.

As may be observed, there were differences in embalming methods as described by the foregoing writers. This may be, in part, due to inaccuracies in copying and translating of the original manuscripts. Egyptologists generally dismiss the accounts of Plutarch and Porphyry as unreliable because the intestines either were removed or placed in containers that were kept near the body or were replaced in the body. As to the accounts of Herodotus and Diodorus, they were given the seal of approval for their general verity. However, scientific proof is lacking with regard to the corrosiveness of oil of Cedar, and it is believed that the covering of the corpse with natron took place before the filling of the trunk cavities with the spices and other substances.

The brain was generally removed by introducing a metal hook or spoon into the nostril and by forcing it through the ethmoid bone to the brain. As much as possible was scooped out in this way. In some mummies, the brain was not removed. A few craniums had the rain removed through the eye socket. There is one case on record in which the evacuation of the cranium was accomplished through the foramen magnum, after excision of the atlas vertebra. After the body was removed from under natron, the cranium was usually repacked with linen bandages soaked in resin or bitumen. One writer tells of removing 27 feet of 3-inch linen bandage from the cranium of a mummy. Sometimes, the cranium was filled with resin believed to have been introduced while molten with the aid of a funnel.

Many bodies were not eviscerated. The earliest incision was made vertically in the left side, extending from the lower margin of the ribs to the anterior superior spine (crest) of the ilium. This incision would measure between 5 inches and 6 inches in length. At a later period, the incision became oblique, extending from a point near the left anterior spine (crest) of the ilium toward the pubes. A variant incision extended vertically from the symphysis pubis toward the umbilicus. In the very late 26th dynasty (665–527 BC), some bodies were eviscerated through the anus. The incision was usually made with a flint knife called Ethiopian stone because of its black color. All the viscera, with the exception of the kidneys and usually the heart, was removed, washed, and immersed in palm wine or packed in natron. (“Their disposition will be referred to later.”)6

Natron is a salt obtained from the dry lakes of the desert and is composed of the chloride carbonate, and sulfate of sodium and the nitrate of potassium and sodium. Because of the corrosive action on the body, the embalmers had to affix the toe and fingernails to the body during the macerating period. This was accomplished by tying the nails on with thread or copper or gold wire. Alternatively, metal thimbles were fit over the ends of the fingers and toes for the same purpose. The body was then ready for the natron treatment. Early Egyptologists believed that the bodies were placed in a solution composed of natron dissolved in water, as described by Herodotus. Present-day authorities, in studying the original writing of Herodotus and other prime sources, detect a flaw in the translation of the text that is responsible for the misrepresentation. Present-day research, where the embalming process was recreated, indicates conclusively that only application of the concentrated dry salt over the body to some depth could dehydrate and preserve it. Experiments with different, concentrations of the natron solution, and immersion of specimens therein were largely unsuccessful in preventing decay.

At the end of the 20th day of immersion in natron, the body was washed with water and dried in the sun.

The body was coated within and without by resin or a mixture of resin and fat. The skull was treated as in Step 1. The viscera, when removed from the body and not returned to the body, were placed in four canopic jars, the tops of which were surmounted by the images of the four children of Horus. Each jar held a specific portion of the. The jar topped with the human head represented Imset, and this jar contained the liver. The jar covered with the jackal's head represented Duamutef and contained the stomach. The jar topped with the ape's head represented Hapy and held the lungs. The fourth jar, surmounted by a hawk's head, represented Qebeh-Snewef and contained the intestines. No mention is made of the disposition of the spleen, pancreas, or pelvic organs (Fig. 1.2).

It was during this part of the preparation in the 20th dynasty (1288–1100 BC) that a little known process was performed. Most present clay embalmers feel that the restoration to normal of emaciated facial features of corpse is of comparatively recent origin. On the contrary, the Egyptian embalmers performed this operation, but on a much more extensive scale. Not only were the facial features restored, but the entire bodily contours were subcutaneously padded to regain their normal shape. The methods and materials used varied.

The wrapped mummies were usually additionally encased and placed in boxes or coffins. An additional encasement, termed cartonnage, was made of 20 or 30 sheets of linen cloth or papyrus saturated in resin, plaster of Paris, or gum acacia and placed over the wrapped body while wet. To ensure a tight fit, the material was drawn together in the back of the body by a kind of lacing not unlike present-day shoe lacing. The cartonnage, when dry, was as hard as wood and was covered with a thin coating of plaster, then painted with a representation of a human head and other designs. Two or more wood cases of Cedar or sycamore might encase the cartonnage and each other. These coffins or mummy cases were of different shape, depending on the period when they were made. The outer wooden case was, at times, rectangular in shape with a cover resembling the roof of a house. Early coffined embalmed bodies were placed within the coffins lying on their side. The exterior of the coffin contained the representation of a pair of eyes on one side near the head of the coffin (Fig. 1.3). This indicated the position of the body facing outward at this point. Coffins shaped like the human form were termed anthropoid or mummiform (Fig. 1.4). If the deceased was a member of a great family, he might be enclosed within a stone sarcophagus that was a stone coffin or vault fashioned of marble, limestone, granite, or slate.

Many mummy cases were broken open and the mummies themselves were damaged. The embalmers were called upon to repair the damaged mummies and to rewrap and recoffin them. This may explain, in part, the so-called faking of mummies. In the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, there are numerous X-ray pictures of unopened mummy cases and unwrapped mummies. Some of these pictures show damage that might have occurred prior to or during the course of embalming. One X-ray photo of a young child displays the complete absence of the anns and bilateral fractures of the femurs at about their midpoint, with the lower broken portion entirely missing. Museum authorities advance the theory that this was done to fit the child into a smaller mummy case. Another X-ray photo reveals a wrapped mummy lacking arms and the trunk of the body. The head was connected to the legs by a board and the body had been represented by padding of straw or lichen moss.

The Jews did not embalm but simply washed and shaved the body and swathed it in sheets between the folds of which were placed spices such as myrrh and aloes. The purpose of herbs and spices was to disguise the odor of decay of the body, not to preserve it.

Sometimes, the ancient Persians, Syrian, and Babylonians immersed their human dead in jars of honey or wax. Alexander the Great was said to have been so treated to preserve his body during the long journey from the place of death in Babylon in 323 BC (during a military campaign) to Egypt.

The ancient Ethiopians eviscerated and desiccated their dead in a manner similar to the Egyptian method. The bodily contours were restored by applying plaster over the shrunken skin. The plaster-covered corpse was then painted with lifelike colors and given a coating of clear resin-like substance believed by some authorities to be a fossil salt and by others to be a type of amber, somehow rendered fluid at the time of application.

In the Atlantic Ocean, about 4° South of the Madeira Islands, on the northwest coast of Africa, there is a cluster of 913 islands known as the Canary Island. These islands were not subdued by any European nation until the Spaniards overran them in the late 15th century. The original inhabitants, known as Guanches, are thought to have been descendants of the lost continent of Atlantis. It is believed that only prominent and influential families had the dead embalmed. The Guanches’ method of embalming their dead is very similar to the Egyptian method.

Preservation of the body in Peru was practiced for at least a thousand years before the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. It had for its motive a religious belief in the resurrection of the body. Most authorities agree that the Peruvians had no process of embalming, but—that their mummies were a product of the extremely dry climate of the region. There are reports that the Incas or ruling classes were embalmed, and because only mummies of the common people have been discovered, this report may be true. The manner in which the Inca rulers are believed to have been prepared was by evisceration. The intestines were placed in gold vases, the cavity filled with an unspecified resin, and the body coated with bitumen. The bodies were said to have been seated upon their thrones, clothed in their regal robes, hands clasped upon the breast, and head inclined downward. There is mention of the use of gold to plate or replace the eyes.

The Jivaro Indians of the Marano River region of South America had a method of preserving heads by shrinking 10them. Technically, this process does not come under the heading of embalming, but a brief general description of the process is of interest.

Upon Ute basis of information received from Dr Alfonso Caso, Mexico's outstanding anthropologist, there is no evidence of the employment of any artificial means of preservation of the body in the pre-Spanish era in these regions. There are accounts of finding mummies wrapped in matting and buried in the earth or in caves, but it is the opinion of Dr Caso and others that such mummification was the result of the natural climate of the region.

Although no proof exists to substantiate claims that some of the Indian tribes embalmed their dead, there are quotes from two accounts of embalming means recounted by Dr HC Yarrow in his Study of Mortuary Customs of North American Indians from 1880, collected from earlier publications. On page 185 of the History of Virginia (by Beverly, 1722), the below statement is found:

Their bodies are first bowelled, then dried upon hurdles till they become very dry, an so about most of their joints and neck they hang bracelets or chains of copper, pearl, and such like, as they are used to wear. Their innards they stuff with copper beads, hatchets, and such trash. Then they lap them very carefully in white skins and so roll them in mats for their winding sheets.

It is believed that the inhabitants of Aleutian Islands and Kodiak Archipelago practiced preservation of their dead from at least AD 1000, although the custom did not prevail on the mainland. The internal organs were removed through an incision in the pelvic region and the cavity was refilled with dry grass. The body was placed in a stream of cold running water, which was said to have removed the fatty tissues in a short time. The corpse was removed from the water and wrapped in the fetal posture, knees under the chin, and arms compressed about the legs. This position was accomplished by use of force, breaking bones, if necessary. In this posture, the body was sun dried and, as a final gesture, was wrapped in animal skins and matting.11

With the Arabic conquest of Egypt and the fall of the Roman Empire, European and Mediterranean civilizations declined virtually to the vanishing point. The old world of law and order as the Romans and others knew it was replaced by anarchy. Geographical areas were ruled by bands of arm men with little stability of control. These Dark Ages were to continue until the year 1000 when a gradual elimination of unstable leaders left a few more wise and capable individuals in charge of substantial geographical divisions of Europe. With a return to a more normal civilized existence came the establishment of schools and colleges in what is today Sicily, Italy, France, and England and later in Germany, Holland, Belgium, and Switzerland. The schools were, in part, the product of the Catholic Church, which throughout the Dark Ages had maintained and served as a sanctuary for work in the fields of medicine, nursing, teaching, copying of manuscripts, and establishment of orphanages and poorhouses.

During the period from 1095 to 1291, a series of military religious campaigns mounted by the Christian nations of Europe (termed Crusades) were conducted to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims. The campaigns were successful early on, but with the passage of time, the Christian occupation forces in Holy Land became complacent and less martial and eventually—were expelled from the entire conquered territory. Many prominent members of the nobility, including King Louis XIX of France, died far from home during the crusades. To allow the return to their homeland of their remains, it was necessary to develop what became a gruesome procedure, as no certain means of embalming was available during the campaigns. The procedure consisted of disemboweling and disarticulating the body, cutting off all soft tissue and then boiling the bones until they were free of all soft tissues. The bones were then dried and wrapped within bull hides and returned to their homeland by the couriers who maintained the communication lines.

Early instruments for injection were crude and usually made in two parts—a container for the injection material and some form of cannula. The cannula was often contrived from a hollow straw, feather quill, hollow metal, or glass tube, which was attached by ligature to an animal bladder (stomach, or other intestine). The cannula was inserted into the hollow opening being studied and the bladder tied onto its free end. The bladder, in turn, was filled with a liquid and then tied to retain the bladder full. Entrance of the liquid material into the hollow area was secured by squeezing the bladder until it emptied.

Born in France, Ambroise Pare was military Barber Surgeon an eventually surgeon to French Kings Henri II, Francois II, and Charles IX. He was famous for rediscovery and improvement of use of ligature of control bleeding after amputations, podalic version (changing the position of an unborn infant within the uterus) to facilitate delivery, and designing of artificial limbs. Pare, like many surgeons of the period embalmed the bodies of prominent military leaders and noblemen killed during military campaigns as well as similarly prominent civilians dying of natural causes.

Anatomical dissection, nonpreservative injections, and study continued until inevitably the technique of arterial injection of some preservative substance into the blood vascular system to secure an embalmed subject was stumbled upon. Contrary to popular belief, three men, all Dutch and all friends, were involved and must be recognized for their contributions to the technique—Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680), the original inventor or discoverer; Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731) the great practitioner who refined the technique; and Stephen Blanchard (1650–1720), the person who openly publish the method.

Ludwig De Bils was a Flemish anatomist and resident of Leiden who was also an embalmer. As with Ruysch, he never divulged his embalming methods and is said to have gone to great lengths to prevent accidental discovery of his method by visitors to his museum. Gabriel Clauderus, while viewing De Bils’ specimens, shrewdly moistened his forefinger and applied it to the skin of an embalmed body and, tasting the moistened finger, disclosed a salty flavor, which led Clauderus to suspect that the principal ingredient in De Bils’ fluid was salt. De Bils’ wrote several books on the subject of embalming but failed to disclose his methods.

Gabriel Clauderus, a physician from Altenburg, Germany, was contemporary of De Bils. In 1695, he published a book, Methodus Balsamundi Corpora Humani, Alique Majora Sine Evisceratione, in which he described his method of embalming, which omitted evisceration. His fluid was made from 1 pound of ashes of tartar dissolve in 6 pounds of water, to which was added ½ pound of sal ammoniac. After filtration, it was ready for use and was denominated by Clauderus as his “balsamic spirit”. He injected this fluid into the cavities of the body and then immersed the cadaver in the fluid for 6–8 weeks. The treatment was concluded by drying the corpse either in the sun or in a stove.

While the British Isles are geographically grouped with Europe, they developed different customs and their scientific achievements advanced at a pace different from that in continental Europe.

William Hunter (1718–1783) was born in Scotland and studied medicine at the University of Glasgow and at Edinburgh. He finally settled in London where he specialized in the practice of obstetrics and taught anatomy. He became one of the great teacher of anatomy in English medical history and received many awards and appointments to honor societies, climaxed in 1764 by his appointment as Physician-Extraordinary to Queen Charlotte of England. He was the author of many brilliant treatises on medical subjects, perhaps the greatest being his Anatomy of the Gravid Uterus. His private collections of anatomical and pathological specimens, together with his lecture and dissecting rooms, occupied a portion of his home. All of this, plus a large sum of money, were donated to the University of Glasgow after his death.

John Hunter (1728–1793) was born in Scotland, the younger brother of William Hunter, in whose anatomy classes he first proved so adept. After studying under the pat surgeons of his time, he was appointed to hospital staffs and lectured on anatomy. A region of the body, he described was named in his honor—“Hunter's canal”. He served as a surgeon in the British army during the campaign in Portugal (1761–1763) and; upon his discharge from the service, settled in general practice in London. There he continued the collection and study of anatomical and natural subjects. He was the most brilliant and prolific writer on all phases of medicine and surgery and later founded his own private anatomy classes, which was unexcelled for the number of students who later distinguished themselves in medicine. Among these students were Jenner, Abernethy, Carlisle, Chevalier, Cline Coleman, Astley Cooper, Home, Lynn, and Macartney.

Dr Baillie (1761–1823) was a nephew of William and John Hunter. He was educated by his uncles and became famous as a physician and writer on medical subjects. He modified the Hunterian method of embalming, so as to provide as good preservation as ever in a shorter period. Using a solution of oil of turpentine, Venice turpentine, oil of chamomile, and oil of lavender (to which was added vermillion dye) he injected the femoral artery. He allowed several hours to elapse before he opened the body as in a postmortem examination and made a small incision in the bowel below the stomach, into which he inserted a small 17piece of pipe through which he introduced water to wash out the contents of the bowels. Then, ligating the rectum above the anus and the small bowels below the stomach, he filled the intestinal track with camphorated spirits of wine. The lungs were filled with camphorated spirits of wine via the trachea. The bladder was opened and emptied of its contents and a powder of camphor, resin, and niter was dusted over the viscera and the incision was dosed. The eyeballs were pierced and emptied of their contents and repacked to normal with the powder mixture, as were the mouth and ears. The body was rubbed with oil of rosemary or lavender and placed upon a bed of deep plaster.

Continental European countries such as France, Germany, and Italy did not encounter the problems in supplying medical schools with cadavers as existed in Great Britain. Medical schools had access to bodies unclaimed for burial, a situation not present in the British Isles until after passage of the Warburton Ad in 1832. The problem in continental Europe was different, consisting of securing a means to preserve Cadavers for dissection with nonpoisonous chemicals. In France, for example, medical schools in the North had scheduled anatomical dissection classes during the cold months of the year as the cadavers were unembalmed.

Baron Leopold Cuvier (1769–1832) of France was a comparative anatomist whose classification of mammals and ava forms the groundwork for present-day systems. Cuvier advocated the use of pure alcohol as a preservative agent.

Dr Francois Chaussier (1746–1828) of France recommended immersion of an eviscerated body in a solution of bichloride of mercury for preservation.

Dr Louis Jacques Thenard (1777–1857) of France was a brilliant teacher of and researcher in chemistry. He discovered the nature of hydrogen peroxide and made study of human bile and the preservative action of bichloride of mercury. In 1834, he advocated introduction of an alcoholic solution of bichloride of mercury into the blood vessels to preserve cadavers for anatomical dissection.

Dr G Tranchina (also spelled Tranchini or Franchini) of the early 19th century in Naples, Italy, openly advocated and successfully used arsenical solutions, arterially injected, to preserve bodies for both funeral and anatomical purposes. Tranchini's method of embalming varied, but the fluid was usually composed of 1 pound of arsenic dissolved in 5 pounds of alcoholic wine. He usually injected 2 gallons of this solution into the femoral artery without drainage of blood. At other times, he injected the same amount into the right common carotid artery, sending the fluid first toward the head and then downward toward the body, allowing some drainage through the jugular vein. This was followed by incision of the abdomen, opening, and emptying of the bowels, and moistening of the bowels with the injecting solution. The lungs were filled with the fluid via the trachea. A body prepared in this manner is said to have completely dried in 6 weeks.

Dr JP Sucquet of France (mid-19th century) was one of the earliest proponents of the use of zinc chloride as a preservative agent. He injected about 5 quarts of a 20% solution of zinc chloride in water through the popliteal artery and also introduced some of this solution into the abdomen. One body prepared in this way was buried for 2 years, then disinterred and found to be in an excellent state of preservation. About 1845, an agent representing Dr Sucquet sold the US rights to his method and chemical to Dr Charls D Brown and Dr Joseph Alexander of New York City.

Jean-Nicolas Gannal (1791–1852), a chemist in France (Fig. 1.5), began his life's work as an apothecary's assistant. From 1808 to 1812, he served in the medical department of the French Army, including the Russian campaign under Napoleon. After his discharge from the army, he re-entered the field of chemistry and was appointed assistant to the great French chemistry teacher Theaard. He later became interested in industrial chemistry and did research on methods of refining borax and improving the quality of glues and gelatins. In 1827, he was awarded the Montyon science prize for developing a method of treating catarrh and tuberculosis with chlorine gas. In 1831, he was asked to devote his time to devising an improved method of preserving cadavers for anatomical purposes. Close application to the problem resulted in success, which was recognized in 1836 by the JL Ward to Gannal of a second Montyon science prize.

A physician of Florence, Italy (17th century), Segato is known to have converted the human body to stone by infiltrating the bodily tissues with a solution of silicate of potash and succeeded in this treatment by immersion of the body in a weak acid solution. The exact modus operandi is unknown.

A London physician and surgeon, graduate of Guys Hospital, and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Pettigrew (1791–1865) was one of the great historians of the science of embalming. His treatise History of Egyptian Mummies, published in London in 1834, is a masterpiece revealing Pettigrew's ability to accurately observe and minutely describe objects and processes of interest to students and practitioners of the art of embalming. This volume is to this day considered one of the fine works on Egyptian embalming methods and customs. In 1854, he withdrew from the practice of medicine and devoted his entire energy to the study of archaeology.

A French physician of the mid-19th century, Falconry employed a means of preservation of cadavers for anatomical purposes that are of interest because of its simplicity. The corpse was placed upon a bed of dry sawdust to which about a gallon of powdered zinc sulfate had been added. No injections, incisions, baths, or any additional treatment was used. The bodies so treated were said to have remained flexible for about 40 days, after which time they dried and assumed the appearance of mummies.

Marshall was a London physician who published an account of a means of embalming in the London Medical Gazette in December 1839. His technique consisted of generously puncturing the body surface with needles or scissors and repeatedly brushing the body surface with strong acetic acid. A diluted acetic acid solution was introduced into the cavities of the body. The author claimed that the acetic acid would restore normal color even to gangrenous tissue.

A professor of anatomy at the University of Dublin, Dr Morgan made use of two principles, which are widely recognized as necessary to achieve the best embalming results—(1) the use of the largest possible artery for injection, and (2) the use of force or pressure to push 20the preserving fluid through the blood vessels. Also noted are his use of a preinjection solution (the earliest mention found) and his controlled technique of drainage. Dr Morgan cut the sternum down its center, opened the pericardium to expose the heat, made an incision into the left ventricle or into the aorta, and inserted a piece of pipe about 8-inches long. This injecting pipe was connected by 15 feet of tubing to a fluid container that was maintained 12 feet above the corpse, thereby producing about 5 pounds of pressure (Fig. 1.7).

The founder of occupational medicine, Ramazzini (1633–1714) wrote the Diseases of Workers in 1700, and an enlarged edition of that text was published in 1713. The latter edition contained a chapter on the Disease of Corpse Bearers.

The transfer of embalming knowledge from Europe to the colonies in what today is the United States was accomplished by several means.

By the year 1861 and the onset of the Civil War, the transfer of embalming knowledge from Europe to the United States was virtually concluded. A small group of medically trained embalmers existed together with printed information such as Harlan's translation of Gannal's textbook and various European embalming formulas and techniques that had been acquired.

At the beginning of the Civil War, as in all previous wars fought by the United States, there was no provision for return of the dead to their homes. In the Seminole Indian Wars (during the 1830s), the Mexican War (1846–1848), and the campaigns against the Indians up to the outbreak of the Civil War, the military dead were buried in the field near where they fell in battle. It was possible for the relatives to have the remains returned to their home for local burial under certain conditions.

Dr Thomas Holmes (1817-1900): Holmes was born in New York City in 1817 and educated in local public schools and New York University Medical College, though the records of the period are incomplete and document only his attendance, not his graduation. He did practice medicine and was a Coroner's physician in New York during the 1850s as numerous newspaper stories at. He apparently moved to Williamsburg (now Brooklyn) and experimented with a variety of chemicals for embalming and techniques. When the Civil War broke out, he opened an embalming office in Washington, DC and Colonel Ellsworth became his first prominent client. Holmes subsequently embalmed Colonel ED Baker, a prominent politician and soldier killed in battle. This case brought more publicity both for Dr Holmes and for embalming (Fig. 1.8).

William J Bunnell (1823–1891): Bunnell was born in New Jersey, moved to New York City, and in the 1850s became acquainted with Dr Holmes and married his sister. Dr Holmes found him employment as an anatomy technician for some New York medical schools while teaching him embalming. When war broke out, Bunnell did not work directly with Dr Holmes but formed his own Embalming 23Surgeon's Organization with Dr RB Heintzelman from Philadelphia as his active partner. Holmes and Bunnell did occasionally work together during the war at Gettysburg and at City Point, Virginia. After the war, it was reported that Bunnell was practicing medicine briefly in Omaha, Nebraska and eventually opened an undertaking establishment in Jersey City, New Jersey. He became a marshal at the funeral of General Grant and became prominent in Undertakers Associations. His son George Holmes Bunnell (1 1932) followed his father in the business and was given assistance by his uncle, Dr Holmes George H Bunnell had twin sons, Milton, who became a funeral director, and Chester, who became a physician.

Dr Charles DeCosta Brown, Dr Joseph B Alexander, and Henry P Cattell: Brown, Alexander, and Cattell were all active in the firm of Brown and Alexander, Embalming Surgeons. It is not known whether Brown and Alexander met in New York City in the late 1850s or in Washington, DC in early wartime. Cattell (Fig. 1.10) is believed to have been the stepson of Dr Charles Brown's brother, as his mother married a Dr Brown in 1860. In any event, he entered the employment of the firm that embalmed Willie Lincoln, son of the President Abraham Lincoln, and later embalmed the President himself in 1865. After the war Dr Brown abandoned embalming, returned to New York City practiced dentistry, and became very active in the Masonic Lodge. He died in 1896 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

Frank A Hutton Little is known of Hutton's personal biography. Born in or near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, about 1835, he was a pharmacist by occupation. He had military service in the 110th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry ending in June 1862, was discharged in Washington, DC, and became a partner in the firm of Chamberlain and Hutton, Surgeons. This partnership did not last long and Hutton withdrew in February, 1863. He formed the firm of Hutton and Company with EA Williams, son of a Washington, DC undertaker as his partner. Hutton advertised in the Washington City Directory, taking a full page space to extol his embalming expertise. He was also issued Patent 38,747 for an embalming fluid on June 1, 1863. The formula included alcohol, arsenic, bichloride of mercury, and zinc chloride.

Daniel H Prunk (1829–1923): Born in Virginia in 1829, Prunk and his family migrated to Illinois where he attended college. After attending medical school in Cincinnati, he began medical practice in Illinois and, in April 1861, moved to Indianapolis where he joined the 19th Indiana Volunteer Infantry as an assistant surgeon in September, 1861. He was transferred to the 20th Indiana Volunteer Infantry in June 1862, and was arrested in November of that year and incarcerated in the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, DC for about 3 months for conduct unbecoming of an officer. He was then dismissed from the service. From July to October, 1863 he was acting assistant surgeon at the 2nd Division Army Hospital at Nashville, Tennessee, and subsequently requested permission to provide embalming services in Nashville. The request was initially refused but finally granted late in 1863. He eventually had embalming establishment local not only in Nashville but also in Chattanooga and Knoxville in Tennessee, at East Point, Atlanta, Dalton, and Marietta in Georgia, and at Huntsville in Alabama (Fig. 1.11).

Dr Richard Burr: Although little biographical information other than his rumored origin in Philadelphia is available concerning Burr (who apparently practiced during the period 1862–1865), he has achieved immortality as the embalmer photographed by the Civil War photographer Brady in front of his embalming tent while injecting a subject (Fig. 1.12).

25WJ Bunnell complained about Burr's unprofessional conduct, alleging that, among other things, he set Bunnell's embalming tent on fire! He was also one of the men against whom complaints had been issued regarding inflated prices and poor services, which resulted in all embalmers’ being excluded from military areas by order of General US Grant in January 1865. This resulted in establishment of the first set of rules and regulations for the licensing of embalmers and undertakers in the United States.

CB Chamberlain: Chamberlain is said to have Philadelphia as his origin. Although very little is known of the man, he definitely was an early partner of FA Hutton. He and Hutton apparently were not compatible, and he formed a new partnership with Ben Lyford. They both can be documented as practicing embalming surgeons on the scene at Gettysburg after the battle. Chamberlain is listed in the Washington, DC City Directory as late as 1865 as a partner in Chamberlain and waters Embalmers at 431, Pennsylvania Avenue. He is mentioned by FC Beinhauer, Pittsburgh undertaker, as being in the Pittsburgh area prior to and during the Civil War. Joseph H Oarke also mentioned Chamberlain. As a teacher of embalming in the post-Civil War period.

GW Scollay: Judging from the various patents issued to him, Scollay was apparently from St Louis, Missouri. Very little personal information about him has been uncovered. He appeared to be an active embalming surgeon at the Gettysburg battlefield and in the area near Richmond. He has a listing in the 1865 Washington, DC City Directory as a member of the firm of Scollay and Sands-Embalmers of the Dead. Frank T Sands was a prominent undertaker in Washington, DC. Scollay patented two methods of embalming in the post-Civil War period, one in January 261867 and the other in October 1869. Both patents involved the use of gaseous compounds injected via the blood vascular system, one of the earliest recommendations for choice of gas rather than a liquid as a preservative introduced into the blood vascular system. In 1860, Scollay patented a two-piece cast glass coffin and, during the war, produced a number of different “sanitary” coffins.

Benjamin F Lyford: Born in Vermont in 1841 and receiving public school education there, Lyford attended and graduated from Philadelphia University's 6-month course of medical studies. He first appears on the Civil War scene as a partner of CB Chamberlain, who provided embalming after the Battle of Gettysburg. Later he had altercations with Provost Marshal General Rudolph Patrick of the Army of the Potomac. This series of disagreements stimulates him to accept appointment on July 1, 1864, as assistant surgeon of the 68th Regiment of Infantry US Colored Troops. He reported to the unit in Missouri and subsequently served Memphis. For a time, he served as commanding officer of a small cavalry and artillery contingent in southern Alabama.

Dr EC Lewis, WP Cornelius, and Prince Greer: This most interesting account of the Civil War embalming surgeons relates the method of the transmission of embalming technique from a medically trained practitioner to an undertaker, who, in turn, trained a layman in the skill. Dr EC Lewis was a former US Army surgeon, WP Cornelius (1824–1910) was a successful undertaker in Nashville, Tennessee, and Prince Greer was a former orderly, body servant, and slave of a Colonel Greer of a Texas cavalry regiment who died in the fighting in Tennessee.

Dr Thomas Holmes wrote: In the forepart of the war, a young ex-Army doctor named EC Lewis called at my headquarters in Washington and wished me to instruct him in the embalming profession and sell him an outfit to go to the western Army and locate at Nashville. He offered as security a property holding m Georgetown, DC for any amount of fluid I would trust him for. I made a bargain with him and he used many barrels of fluid, I was often surprised at his large orders. (Note: Dr. Lewis headquarters were at Mr Cornelius undertaking establishment in Nashville.)

Cornelius stated: It was during the year 1862 that one Dr EC Lewis came to me from the employ of Dr Holmes and proposed to embalm bodies. It was new to me but I at once put him to work with the Holmes fluid and Holmes injector. He was quite an expert, but like many men could not stand prosperity and soon wanted to get into some other kind of business, which he did. When Lewis the embalmer quit, I then undertook the embalming myself with a colored assistant named Prince Greer.

Cornelius continued: “Prince Greer appeared to enjoy embalming so much that he himself became an expert, kept on at work embalming during the balance of the war, and was very successful at it was but a short time before he could raise an artery as quickly as anyone and was always careful, always of course coming to me in a difficult case. He remained with me until I quit the business in 1871.”

Public and professional acceptance: With the ending of the war and the Assassination of President Lincoln, the Civil 27War's last major casualty, the public had been familiarized with term embalming and obtained personal knowledge of the appearance of an embalmed body. This knowledge was acquired by the hundreds of thousands who viewed not only President Lincoln but other prominent military and civilian figures as well as the ordinary soldiers embalmed and shipped to their homes.

Dr Auguste Renouard: In 1876, Dr Renouard (1839–1912) became a regular contributor to The Casket of articles on all phases of embalming knowledge, which greatly implemented interest in embalming. He was born on a plantation—in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana, and received his early schooling locally. He is said to have attended to McDowell Medical school in St Louis, Missouri, and, at the outbreak of the Civil War, to have returned to Louisiana to enlist in the confederate Army. Despite his 28claim to military service in the confederate forces, no documented evidence has been found in some 50 years of searching. In the postwar period, he secured employment as a pharmacist in various cities such as New York, Memphis, and Chicago, where he was married. His son, Charles A, was born shortly before the Chicago fire of 1871. Losing everything in the fire, Renouard traveled to Denver, Colorado, and secured employment as a book-keeper for a combination furniture store and undertaking establishment. Because of its altitude, Denver at this time was regarded as a health resort for treatment of lung diseases. The undertaking section of the firm returned many bodies to the east and south for hometown burial, and Renouard became interested in the procedures employed at his firm for shipment of the bodies. After studying the existing rudimentary system, he suggested to his employer that he be permitted to prepare the bodies for postmortem by arterial embalming. This consent was given and it almost immediately produced a volume of letters from the receiving undertakers inquiring about the procedure used to create such beautiful corpses, which resembled a person asleep. Renouard graciously replied, explaining his chemicals and technique to the extent that it assumed the proportions of a correspondence course. Additionally, there were a number of individual undertakers who traveled to Denver to receive personal instruction in embalming from Renouard.

Association: Other states quickly followed the Michigan lead and organized state associations. The various state associations met in 1882 in Rochester and organized the National Funeral Directors Association, another important step toward professionalism. Renouard provided demonstrations of embalming in Rochester at the first national convention of the Association.

This sets a pattern for many 29years of an obligatory embalming demonstration at state and national conventions. During the 1882 gathering, agents of an English firm (Dottridge Brothers, Funeral Supply Firm) offered Renouard a 5-year contract to teach embalming in London at $5000 per year, which he rejected.

Joseph Henry Clarke: Born in Connersville, Indiana, Joseph Henry Clarke (1840–1916) received his early education in Pharmacy and enrolled as a student in a medical college in Keokuk, Iowa. His studies, however, were interrupted by the Civil War. He volunteered for service with the Union Arm, 3, but was rejected because of physical defects. He was permitted to serve as a civilian and later held the position of assistant hospital steward in the 5th Iowa Infantry. After the death of his father, he returned home before the end of the war to support his family. He married and secured employment as a casket salesman. During the course of his travels, he became acquainted with a fluid manufacturer and became sufficiently interested in embalming to sell embalming fluids as a sideline. His interest in embalming grew as he realized the need to demonstrate the method of use of the fluid he hoped to sell to his patrons. This, in turn, led to his study of and experimentation with embalming chemicals to solve problems relating to preservation of the dead. He enrolled in an anatomy course conducted by Dr CM Lukens of the Pulte Medical College in Cincinnati, Ohio, which broadened into a lifetime friendship and professional partnership in the founding of the Clarke School of Embalming at Cincinnati in 1882 (Fig. 1.15).

30Clarke was in Baltimore on the day of Grant's death, but he became ill and went to his Springfield, Ohio, home where he was bedridden for 3–4 weeks. The embalming was accordingly performed by one member of the Holmes Undertaking Company family and a Dr McEwen using Clarke's proprietary embalming chemical.

Felix Aloysius Sullivan (1843–1931): Sullivan was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1843, the son of a Scotch immigrant undertaker and an Irish mother. He unquestionably had the most interesting, controversial, riotous, and successful career as a practitioner, writer, teacher, and lecturer of embalming and related subjects. His career was so full of incidents that it would be impossible to recount all but a few highlights. After the usual parochial school education and some experience working with his father, Sullivan, together with several other friends, crossed the border into the United States and enlisted in a New York cavalry regiment during the Civil War. Military records verify his service but reveal he deserted to service near the end of the war. He claims to have assisted in embalming while in the service, but the claim can neither be affirmed nor denied, as it lacks proof.

Increase in embalming schools: Some early “graduates” of embalming courses of instruction gave up regular employment at an undertaking establishment to provide embalming service to a number of undertaker who had no staff member trained to embalm. This is how the terms embalmer to the trade or trade embalmer originated.

Carl Lewis Barnes: Born into a family that operated an undertaking establishment in Connellsville, Pennsylvania, Barnes (1872–1927) studied medicine in Indiana, opened an embalming school there, and moved it to Chicago. He manufactured embalming chemicals, wrote many books and articles on the subject, and had the largest chain of fixed location schools in history in New York, Chicago, Boston, Minneapolis, and Dallas. While serving overseas as a medical colonel in the US Army in World War I, his business failed. He never reopened the schools, continuing the practice of medicine until his death.

Albert H Worsham: Worsham (1868–1939) attended Barnes school and was on the faculty from 1903 to 1911 when he opened his own school in Chicago, with his wife Laura and brother Robert as faculty members. He lectured widely and was noted principally for contributing to the early foundation of postmortem plastic surgery.

Howard S Eckels: Eckels (1865–1937) was a manufacturer of embalming chemicals and the founder of Eckels College of Embalming in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (The school and chemical plant were in the same building, which was not on uncommon arrangement.) Eckels wrote many articles and books, was successfully sued for plagiarism, and was not adverse to engaging in prolonged debates in the press. After his death, his son John managed the school well into the post-World War II period when it closed after a period of affiliation with Temple University.

William Peter Hohenschuh: Born in Iowa City, Iowa, the son of an undertaker, Hohenschuh (1858–1920) took over the family business upon the death of his father and began to teach embalming, which he had learned by correspondence from Auguste Renouard in the mid-1870s. Hohenschuh was active in the Iowa State Association and was elected president of the National Funeral Directors Association. He operated an embalming school in Chicago and, in 1900, in partnership with Dr William S Carpenter (1871–1944), opened the Hohenschuh–Carpenter School of Embalming in Des Moines, Iowa. He also operated a funeral home. In 1930, Dr Carpenter moved the school to St Louis and merged it with the Moribund American college of Embalming owned by FA Sullivan. After Dr Carpenter's death his daughter Helen Craig and her son Golden Craig operated the school as well as the American Academy in New York City. This continued well into the post-World War II period.

Clarence G Strub: Born in Iowa March 1, 1906, Strub attended the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Washington University in St Louis, Missouri, and the Hohenschuh–Carpenter College of Embalming in Des Moines, Iowa. He became an instructor at Honenschuh in 1929. In 1930, the school was moved to St Louis where it merged with the American College of Embalming and operated under the name of the St Louis College of Mortuary Sciences. In 1934, he became a member of the staff of the Undertaker's Supply Company of Chicago and conducted clinics and demonstrations throughout the United States and Canada. He taught embalming and funeral management at the 32University of Minnesota and the Wisconsin Institute of Mortuary Science and was the director of research for the Royal Bond Chemical Company for many years.

Women embalmers: Women as well as men were trained as embalmers and not only practiced embalming but founded tools of instruction. Among these women were Mrs EG Bernard of Newark, New Jersey, who founded the Bernhard School of Embalming; Madame Lina Odou, who founded the Odou Embalming Institute in New York City; (Fig. 1.16); and Lena R Simmons, who founded and operated the Simmons School of Embalming in Syracuse, New York, until her son Baxter took over the management.

Early embalming reports concerning arterial injection indicated some concern for special treatment of the trunk viscera. Most such treatments consisted of removal, treatment, and replacement of viscera in the trunk cavity together with some preservative material, either powdered or liquid.

33Other reports, such as those of the Gannal–Sucquet era, indicate dependence for total preservation solely upon the arterial injection unaccompanied by any special treatment for the trunk cavities. Gabriel Clauderus had advocated preservation based upon introduction of his preservative chemical into the trunk cavity followed by immersion of the entire body in the preservative.

Toward the end of the 19th century and on into the 20th century a number of events were to occur that would accelerate embalming toward the level of professionalism. A convergence of two movements became apparent about 341897, with the appearance of ads by embalming fluid companies stating that their fluid contained formalin. For some years, there had been arguments to eliminate arsenic and other poisons from inclusion in embalming fluid formulas for the same medicolegal reason that the French prohibited arsenic in 1846 and bichloride of mercury in 1848. Now that a powerful disinfectant, formalin, was available and reasonably priced, the opportunity to eliminate poisonous chemicals was at hand. The state of Michigan led the way in 1901 and was followed by other states.

Over the years of embalming in bedrooms of the home of the deceased, little in the way t > f improvements was instituted in injection pumps or aspirating devices. With the transfer of the majority of embalming preparation to the funeral home, however, new devices could be used. In the last quarter of the 19th century, most embalming pumps or injectors were based on the gravity bowl, the handpump, or the rubber bulb syringe. The gravity bowl was simply a container suspended above the body and connected to the arterial tube by a length of rubber tubing. The height of the bowl above the body determined the pressure. Its main advantage was that it did not require the constant pumping by the embalmer and, therefore, left hands free to perform other tasks. The handpump could produce either pressure or vacuum for injection or aspiration into or from a glass container.

At a New York state convention in 1914, a battery-powered electric pump, the Falcon Electric Embalmer for injecting embalming chemicals, was demonstrated but was not widely adopted. Some new instruments devised to simplify or improve certain embalming procedures were developed in the 1920s and 1930s. A new method of jaw closure was devised involving “barbed tracks” driven into the mandible and maxilla by a spring-propelled hammer. Wires attached to the “tacks” were then twisted together to sure the desired degree of jaw closure. A plastic, threaded, screw-like device called the trocar button became the most useful waterproof sea l for trocar punctures, bullet wounds, and even for intravenous needle punctures (when surgically enlarged). A metal dispensing device that was attached directly to any standard 16-ounce bottle of cavity fluid (by screwing it into the bottle opening in place of the cap) simplified cavity fluid injection.

With the end of World War II, metal and other materials became available to produce various new embalming devices. The concept of utilizing externally generated agitation to assist in blood removal became popular. Some embalming table had such pulsating devices built in as an integral part of the structure. Other pulsating devices were devised to be attached to existing operating tables or were handheld devices to be applied to the body over the course of the major blood vessels. Disillusionment with this development came after a short period of the use. The vibrations produced by such devices made it impossible to keep instruments, and even the body itself, from sliding downward toward the foot of the table.