Digging for Answers - 10/13/11

 

 

Digging for Answers -- WHAT IS EMBALMING?

by Randy Seaver

Welcome to the Digging for Answers column on the Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal.

This column will depend on your submission of questions about cemeteries, gravestones, burial practices, and other topics that concern a Graveyard Rabbit (other than where his next carrot is coming from!). So please send some questions to the editor, who will pass them along and keep the columnist hopping.

Question: What is embalming?

A definition: "Embalming is the process of preserving a corpse, typically so that it can be viewed at a funeral ceremony. Generally, when embalming does not occur within several days of a person's death, the body will begin to decompose. To ensure that this does not happen, preserving chemicals will be used so that the body of the deceased can be viewed at an open-casket funeral."

There is a long history of embalming - Ancient Egypt was one of the earliest cultures to develop and practice embalming, and developed the process of mummification.  The Incas and other cultures in Peru also developed embalming processes.  Some of the best preserved bodies in the world are from the Han Dynasty in China.  In  all of these cases, relatively low temperatures in the tombs underground or within earthen structures, help to preserve the embalmed or mummified bodies.

In Europe, arterial embalming is believed to have been first practiced in the 1600s in the Netherlands.  In America, embalming methods advanced during the Civil War when families wished their loved ones to be returned to them for burial near their home and family.   The embalming of Abraham Lincoln's body, and transport of his body to Springfield, Illinois for burial by train, brought the practice to more public notice.

The German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann discovered formaldehyde in 1867, and the preservative properties became the foundation for modern methods of embalming, replacing previous methods based on alcohol and the use of arsenical salts.

Modern embalming is most often performed to ensure a better presentation of the deceased for viewing by friends and relatives.  A successful viewing of the cadaver is considered by many to be helpful in the grieving process. Embalming is also a general legal requirement for international repatriation of human remains (although exceptions do occur) and by a variety of laws depending on locality, such as for extended time between death and final disposition or above ground entombment.

The website for the Baris Funeral Home in Clyde, New York describes the five steps in the arterial embalming and body preparation process:

1)  Pre-embalming preparation -- Lay out the remains on an embalming table, remove all of the clothing, inventory jewelry and glasses.

2)  Preparation of the body -- Clean the body with a disinfectant, position the remains, relieve rigor mortis if required, and make small incisions on the right side of the neck to provide access to the carotid artery and the jugular vein.

3)  Arterial Embalming process -- A tube connected to the embalming fluid pump is placed into the carotid artery, and a drain tube is placed into the jugular vein. Embalming fluid is pumped into the artery, and this causes the blood to return out through the jugular vein for disposal. Approximately 3 gallons of a mixture of fluid and water are circulated through the remains for thorough disinfection and preservation.  Many fluids have a slight dye added to them, which gives the remains a pinkish glow,  making it visible to see the fluid as it travels into the drain.  Cavity embalming is the application of full strength fluid into the internal organs of the remains. A small incision is made just above the navel, and a long needle (a "trocar") is placed inside the abdominal and thoracic cavities of the remains. A suction pump, either water or electric powered, is used to remove the fluids in the body cavities. The trocar is then attached to a gravity fed system, which causes full strength fluid to be put into each organ, causing a more thorough disinfection and preservation of the remains.  All incisions are then sutured closed.

4)  Washing the body -- The remains are washed with cool water, often with a soapy, germicidal solution containing bleach to kill viruses and bacteria. The fingernails are cleaned, stains on the remains are removed, the hair is washed, and the face is shaved with a razor.  Hairdressing is normally done after embalming has been completed. 

5)  Dressing and casketing -- Using the clothes  provided by the family, or purchased through the funeral home, the remains are dressed.  The face and hands are cosmetized.  The remains are placed in a casket, and adjustments to clothing, touching up of hair and cosmetics are made.  The head and hands are posed in a life-like position. 

Embalming is permitted in many Christian denominations, but it is forbidden in several, including the Jewish and Muslim faiths.

Readers - please submit questions to the Graveyard Rabbit Online Journal editor, and she will pass them along for me to dig into and answer.