Prelude to the Science of Embalming
Cavity treatment has been considered the simplest form of embalming but, in my opinion, it should be considered a method of basic preservation. The value of cavity treatment is the most controversial process in the treatment of a dead body. Some practitioners believe that it is not necessary in the treatment of a dead body while others are of the opinion that aspiration and injection are necessary. In actuality, a body is sterile and after the integrity of the life processes have been jeopardized, decomposition may occur due to tissue enzymatic and microbial contamination. All we have had to work with has been early visual observations of the physical/chemical changes a body undergoes. An early sign may be distention and purging from the orifices of the body. This expulsion may be liquid or semi-solids from the nose and mouth. When associated with pulmonary and/or some cardiac conditions, such purge may be odorless or putrid. In some conditions the purge will be a frothy light yellowish or pinkish color, specked with pus indicating the existence of pyogenic micro-organisms and/or small clots. Another common occurrence from the nose and mouth may originate from the stomach referred to as gastric purge with a coffee ground (brown) appearance. This purge contains particles of partly digested food with a sour fecal odor. Purge may be the only indication of pre-existing conditions associated with a specific cause of death which, in some cases, can be determined through the pre-analysis process. Early thoughts were to discourage the purge and continue to wipe the oral area during the treatment. As the years passed, thinking changed and the body was placed on its side with the head extended over the side of the preparation table to encourage the elimination of the purge by applying regional pressure. The major concern is the actual burning and staining of the tissue around the mouth from the gastric acid. This is easily corrected by applying a liberal amount of message cream around the mouth area. Today I question the need of cranial aspiration in an average body and those conditions that warrant its use. I can remember working with a firm over fifty years ago where we did cranial treatment on everybody. In thinking back, I only saw a few cases where it was necessary to treat the cranial vault due to bone erosion of the cribriform plate because of infections in the central nervous system. The sign of a cranial purge is leakage a creamy blood spotted viscid fluid through the nose. Treatment would be aspiration, injection of two or three ounces of preservative and then packed with cotton. Today the opening of the cranial cavity (vault) is not recommended in individuals suffering from dementia if the etiology is a prion (a filterable self-replicating agent). Pathologists have been infected through accidental self-inflected punctures (wounds) during surgery or in the performance of a post-mortem examination. Using common sense will keep the practitioner/embalmer from risk during the preparation of a body. All that is known is that it is fatal through accidental exposure. Prelude Forty-Four will review and compare methodologies.
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