It would be impossible to omit any part of the process and still expect the same results, for, after repeated experiments and trials under favorable and adverse circumstances, the result has always proved to be the same. Still, this process is regulated by the same laws and governed by the same conditions which affect a body under all circumstances. An explanation of these conditions has already been given, and it will be found that a thorough knowledge of these will materially assist the operator in his work.

Let us suppose, for one moment, that a man entirely unacquainted with the causes which may affect the morbid conditions of the veins and arteries, goes recklessly on, and commences to inject some part of the circulating system; if that system is in a normal condition the injection will prove successful; if not, the worst consequences may follow. How is he then to remedy his mistake? His very limited knowledge, if he has any, will be of no avail to him. It is in the lack of a sufficient understanding of the human organism that the cause of many failures is to be found. When the proper antiseptics are used, the fault does not lie in the inefficiency, but in the manner in which they have been employed.

It is unnecessary to repeat here what we have before stated, that in order to understand thoroughly the process of embalming, the operator must make himself familiar with the explanations already given, and also with those which shall be found hereafter.

It will be seen in the following pages that the mode of treatment to which the body is subjected in this process, is entirely different from that which has already been given.

The completeness of this process will be readily understood after a careful study of its details, and if strictly followed in every particular, will be found not only satisfactory in its results, but also lasting for an indefinite period of time.

It is well enough to say here, that a metallic casket is not required to assist in keeping the body after it has been treated according to the following method. Quite the reverse, a wooden casket will answer the purpose much better, as the body is rendered perfectly inaccessible to the attacks of the ambient atmosphere by the external covering which encases the body, in its transparent and elastic coating, impervious alike to air and moisture.

The body should be placed on a table about four feet high, and elevated nearly six inches at the head; it must be here borne in mind that, to perform the following operation successfully, the operator should be left alone to his work, in a room free from intrusion, where idle questioning from standers by, or the talk of the usual routine of business, will not disturb him. And as it may require some time to complete the work, it were better that the remains were brought to the undertaker’s establishment, where there is generally, or ought to be, a room set apart for this branch of the business.

The body is first washed clean with soap and tepid water, so as to remove every particle of fat or greasy substance which might obstruct the pores of the skin, and thereby prevent the salts contained in the bathing lotion to penetrate the tissues and produce the desired effect.

The body must then be thoroughly dried by means of clean towels, and be well saturated with the following lotion:

Acetate of Alumina,1 pound.
Sulphate of Iron,4 ounces.
Corrosive Sublimate,2 ounces.
Water,1 gallon.