In the course of time the organic tissues will dry and desiccate, the bony prominent parts of the joints may become more angulous, the skin may assume a slightly yellow tinge, but the features will always be natural and recognizable; the skin will never shrivel up and shrink back, exposing the teeth, as is generally the case with the Egyptian mummies; and, above all, putrefaction with all its repulsive hideous accessories, will never take place; nor will noxious gases or offensive odors be emitted.
A wooden casket will also be found preferable to a metallic one, as the free admission of air will favor the drying up of the tissues and the absorption of whatever little moisture which might find its way out of the only opening not hermetically sealed—the mouth.
Undertakers will find this process to be, without any exception, the best method of embalming ever employed; bodies prepared as above can be shipped to the most distant points across the seas; or, can be preserved for an indefinite period of time in some family vault, where the surviving members can at any time obtain a vision of the body without having their sensibilities shocked by the horrible picture of slowly decomposing animal matter.
It must not be forgotten, that, if the above process is slow, long and tedious, requiring a good deal of labor and delicate handling, the results obtained are equally important, and the compensation commensurate with the magnitude of the undertaking.
EXPLANATION OF TERMS.
Sternum.—One of the bones of the thorax; is situated in the middle line in the front of the chest, and is oblique in direction, the superior end lying within a few inches of the vertebral column, the inferior being projected forward so as to be placed at a considerable distance from the spine. The bone is flat or slightly concave in front, and marked by five transverse lines, which indicate its original sub-division into six pieces. It is convex behind, broad and thick above, where it presents a concave border, and narrow at its junction with the middle piece. It is divided into the superior piece or manubrium, the middle piece or body, and the inferior piece, which is the smallest of the three, and varies in appearance, being sometimes pointed, at other times broad and thin, and again, at other times, perforated by a round hole. The seven true ribs are attached at each side of the sternum by means of the costal cartilage.
Abdominal Region.—The abdomen is the inferior cavity of the trunk of the body; it is bounded in front and at the sides by the lower ribs and abdominal muscles, above by the diaphragm, and below by the pelvis, and contains the alimentary canal, the organs subservient to digestion, viz.: the liver, pancreas and spleen, and the organs of excretion, the kidneys and the supra-renal capsules.
The abdomen may be divided into three regions; in the upper region will be seen the liver, extending across from the right to the left side, the stomach and spleen on the left, and the pancreas and duodenum behind; in the middle region is the transverse part of the colon, with the upper part of the ascending and descending colon, omentum, small intestines, mesentery, and behind, the kidneys and supra-renal capsules; in the inferior region is the lower part of the omentum and small intestines, ascending and descending colon, and ureters.
Fascia (from fascia, a bandage) is the name assigned to laminæ of various extent and thickness, which are distributed through different regions of the body for the purpose of investing or protecting the softer or more delicate organs. From a consideration of their structure, these fasciæ may be arranged into two groups: areolo-fibrous fascia, and aponeurotic fascia.