2d. That it may be necessary to inject the body at different points.
3d. That, in many cases, the cause of failure does not lay in the lack of antiseptic properties of the chemicals used, but in the need of discrimination on the part of the embalmer, in choosing the proper place for injecting, and also in his ignorance of where that place should be.
It is, therefore, patent, that should the course of the arteries and veins be not readily understood by the operator, it will be a rather hard matter for him to discover the cause of his failure. This want, we will try to supply in the following chapters, by giving in detail the course of the blood vessels, also of the different positions of the several parts of the viscera, which it is necessary for the embalmer to be acquainted with, and which it is absolutely indispensable to know, so as to fully comprehend the instructions given further on in this book.
DEATH FROM POISONING.
By Sulphuric Acid.—There does not seem to be any lesions of the arteries after death, as the stomach is the only part which might be perforated, as also the adjoining viscera might be blackened and softened by the action of the acid. The blood is thickened, sirupy acid, and the body may be partially preserved from decomposition.
Nitric Acid.—In this case the stomach will be found to contain a viscous, sanguinolent yellow or greenish fluid, which must be got rid of before injecting. The lungs will also be found highly congested, and the blood must therefore be emptied out. The acid, Nitrate of Mercury, and Muriatic Acid, produce about the same changes after death as those of Nitric Acid.
Oxalic Acid.—The stomach will be found to contain a dark, brown, mucous fluid, but in some cases of death from this poison there are no well marked lesions.
Oxalate of Potash produces the same changes.
Potash-Soda.—These alkalies and their carbonates are rarely used as poisons. Cicatrices and strictures of the œsophagus and stomach may be produced.