Embalming has effect preservation
Embalming is the art and science of preserving human remains by treating them (in its modern form with chemicals) to forestall decomposition. This is usually done to make the deceased suitable for public or private viewing as part of the funeral ceremony or keep them preserved for medical purposes in an anatomical laboratory. The three goals of embalming are sanitization, presentation, and preservation, with restoration being an important additional factor in some instances. Performed successfully, embalming can help preserve the body for a duration of many years. Embalming has a very long and cross-cultural history, with many cultures giving the embalming processes a greater religious meaning.
Animal remains can also be embalmed by similar methods, but embalming is distinct from taxidermy. Embalming preserves the body intact, whereas taxidermy is the recreation of an animal's form often using only the creature's skin, fur or feathers mounted on an anatomical form.History
Whilst the term embalming is used for both ancient and modern methods toward preservation of a deceased person, there is very little connection between modern-day practices of embalming and ancient methods in terms of techniques or final aesthetic results.
The Chinchorro culture in the Atacama desert of present-day Chile and Peru are among the earliest cultures known to have performed artificial mummification, as early as 5000⁠–⁠6000 BCE. The earliest known evidence of artificial preservation in Europe was found in Osorno (Spain) and are about 5000 years old human bones covered in cinnabar for preservation, but embalming remained unusual in Europe up to the time of the Roman Empire.Perhaps the ancient culture that developed embalming to the greatest extent was Egypt. As early as the First Dynasty (3200 BCE), specialized priests were in charge of embalming and mummification. They did so by removing organs, ridding the body of moisture, and covering the body with natron. The ancient Egyptians believed that mummification enabled the soul to return to the preserved corpse after death. Other cultures known to have used embalming techniques in antiquity include the Meroites, Guanches, Peruvians, Jivaro Indians, Aztecs, Toltecs, Mayans, and Tibetan and southern Nigerian tribes.In China, artificially preserved remains have been recovered from the period of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), the main examples being those of Xin Zhui and the Mawangdui Han tombs site. While these remains have been extraordinarily well preserved, the embalming fluids and methods used are unknown.In Europe the ancient practice of artificial preservation had become widespread by about 500 CE. The period of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance is known as the anatomists' period of embalming and is characterized by an increased influence of scientific developments in medicine and the need for bodies for dissection purposes. Early methods used are documented by contemporary physicians such as Peter Forestus (1522–1597) and Ambroise Pare (1510–1590). The first attempts to inject the vascular system were made by Alessandra Giliani, who died in 1326. Various attempts and procedures have been reported by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Jacobus Berengar (1470–1550), Bartholomeo Eustachius (1520–1574), Reinier de Graaf (1641–1673), Jan Swammerdam (1637–1680), and Frederik Ruysch (1638–1731).Modern methods
The modern method of embalming involves the injection of various chemical solutions into the arterial network of the body to primarily disinfect and slow the decomposition process. William Harvey, the 17th century English physician who was the first to detail the system of blood circulation, made his discoveries by injecting colored solutions into corpses.The Scottish surgeon William Hunter was the first to apply these methods to the art of embalming as part of mortuary practice. He wrote a widely read report on the appropriate methods for arterial and cavity embalming in order to preserve bodies for burial. His brother, John Hunter, applied these methods and advertised his embalming services to the general public from the mid-18th century.One of his more notorious clients was dentist Martin Van Butchell. When his wife Mary died on 14 January 1775, he had her embalmed as an attraction to draw more customers. Hunter injected the body with preservatives and color additives that gave a glow to the corpse's cheeks, replaced her eyes with glass eyes, and dressed her in a fine lace dress. The body was embedded in a layer of plaster of Paris in a glass-topped coffin. Butchell exhibited the body in the window of his home and many Londoners came to see it; however, Butchell drew criticism for the display. A rumor, possibly started by Butchell himself, claimed that his wife's marriage certificate had specified that her husband would only have control over her estate after her death for as long as her body was kept unburied.Interest in, and demand for, embalming grew steadily in the 19th century largely for sentimental reasons. People sometimes wished to be buried at far-off locations which became possible with the advent of the railways, and mourners wanted the chance to pay their last respects beside the displayed body. Other motives behind embalming were prevention of disease and the wish to prepare funerals and burials, which were becoming more elaborate, without undue haste. After Lord Nelson was killed in the Battle of Trafalgar, his body was preserved in brandy and spirits of wine mixed with camphor and myrrh for over two months. At the time of his state funeral in 1805, his body was found to still be in excellent condition and completely plastic.Alternative methods of preservation, such as ice packing or laying the body on so called 'cooling boards', gradually lost ground to the increasingly popular and effective methods of embalming. By the mid 19th century, the newly emerging profession of businessmen-undertakers – who provided funeral and burial services – began adopting embalming methods as standard.Embalming became more common in the United States during the American Civil War, when servicemen often died far from home. The wish of families for their remains to be returned home for local burial and lengthy transport from the battlefield meant it became common in the United States.The period from about 1861 is sometimes known as the funeral period of embalming and is marked by a separation of the fields of embalming by undertakers and embalming (anatomical wetting) for medical and scientific purposes. Dr. Thomas Holmes received a commission from the Army Medical Corps to embalm the corpses of dead Union officers to return to their families. Military authorities also permitted private embalmers to work in military-controlled areas. The passage of Abraham Lincoln's body home for burial was made possible by embalming, and it brought the possibilities and potential of embalming to wider public notice.Until the early 20th century, embalming fluids often contained arsenic until it was supplanted by more effective and less toxic chemicals. There was concern about the possibility of arsenic from embalmed bodies contaminating ground water supplies and legal concerns that people suspected of murder by arsenic poisoning might claim in defense that levels of poison in the deceased's body were the result of post-mortem embalming, not homicide.In 1867, the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann discovered formaldehyde, whose preservative properties were soon noted, and it became the foundation for modern methods of embalming.Dr. Frederic Ruysch was the first one to have used the arterial injection method for embalming. His work of embalming was so nearly perfect that people thought the dead body was actually alive; however, he only used it to prepare specimens for his anatomical work.Present day
Modern embalming is most often performed to ensure a better presentation of the deceased for viewing by friends and relatives. It is also used for medical research or training.
A successful viewing of the body is considered to be helpful in the grieving process. Embalming has the potential to prevent mourners from having to deal with the rotting and eventual putrescence of the corpse. It is a general legal requirement for international repatriation of human remains (although exceptions do occur) and is required by a variety of laws depending on locality and circumstance, such as for extended time between death and final disposition or above-ground entombment.Chemicals
Embalming chemicals are a variety of preservatives, sanitizers, disinfectant agents, and additives used in modern embalming to temporarily delay decomposition and restore a natural appearance for viewing a body after death. A mixture of these chemicals is known as embalming fluid, and is used to preserve deceased individuals, sometimes only until the funeral, other times indefinitely.
Typical embalming fluid contains a mixture of formaldehyde, glutaraldehyde, methanol, humectants and wetting agents, and other solvents that can be used. The formaldehyde content generally ranges from 5–35%, and the methanol content may range from 9–56%.
Environmentalists sometimes have concerns about embalming because of the harmful chemicals involved and their potential interactions with the environment. Recently, more eco-friendly embalming methods have become available, including formaldehyde-free mixtures of chemicals.Notable embalmings
Lord Nelson (1758–1805) was preserved for two months in brandy and spirits of wine mixed with camphor and myrrh after which time the body was found to be in excellent condition and completely plastic.
Various communist leaders have been embalmed and put on public display. Perhaps the most famous embalmed body of the 20th century is that of Vladimir Lenin, which continues to draw crowds decades after his death in 1924, and is seen in his Moscow mausoleum. Joseph Stalin was also embalmed and placed next to Lenin, but his body was buried in 1961 during de-Stalinization. Klement Gottwald of Czechoslovakia, who died just five days after attending Stalin's funeral, was embalmed and displayed in a mausoleum at National Monument in Vitkov in Prague. However, in 1962 due to political reasons, the body was removed and cremated. Bulgarian Georgi Dimitrov was embalmed and placed on display in the Sofia Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum. After the fall of Communism in Bulgaria, his body was buried in 1990 in the Central cemetery of Sofia. Mongolia's Khorloogiin Choibalsan, Angola's Agostinho Neto, Romania's Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej and Guyana's Forbes Burnham were also embalmed by the same Russian team. Currently, embalmed communist leaders can also be found in the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, and the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun for Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.
The botched embalming of Pope Pius XII (1876–1958; pope 1939–1958) by a charlatan doctor – which only sped up the rate of decomposition – led to his body turning black and his nose falling off while lying in state, and the body disintegrated in the coffin. The Swiss Guards stationed around Pius XII's body were forced to change shifts every 10 to 15 minutes, since the body's odor caused some guards to pass out. The doctor who performed the embalming had also taken photos of the pontiff in his death throes, intending to sell them to tabloids. The Italian tabloids refused to buy the photos, and the doctor was banned from entering the Vatican City-State by John XXIII, who furthermore prohibited any photography of a deceased pope until the body is properly vested and laid out.
Charles XII (1682–1718) is one of several Swedish kings to have been embalmed. When Charles XII's sarcophagus was opened in 1917, his features were still recognizable, almost 200 years after his death. Photographs of his remains clearly show the gunshot wound to his head leading to his death.
The body of Pope John XXIII (1881–1963; pope 1958–1963) is on display on an altar on the main floor of the Basilica of Saint Peter after having been exhumed from the grottoes beneath the main altar and has retained an extremely well-preserved state. If a body's remains do not decompose, contrary to expectations, it is often treated as a miracle. However, the case of John XXIII's body did not enjoy the same acclamation, as it was held to have been due to embalming and adipocere formation.
The body of Pope Pius X (1835–1914; pope 1903–1914) lies in a crystal coffin, in the Chapel of the Presentation of the Virgin Mary. On 17 February 1952, Pius X's body was transferred from the crypt of the Vatican grotto. The body is dressed in pontifical robes, while the face and hands are covered with silver. He lies within a glass and bronze-work sarcophagus for the faithful to see. Papal physicians had been in the habit of removing organs to aid the embalming process. Pius X expressly prohibited this, however, and none of his successors has allowed the practice to be reinstituted.
Murdered civil rights activist Medgar Evers was so well embalmed that a valid autopsy was able to be performed on his corpse decades after his death, and this helped secure the conviction of his killer.
Famous Russian surgeon and scientist N. I. Pirogov was embalmed after his death in 1881. He was embalmed using the technique he himself developed. His body rests in a church in Vinnitsa, Ukraine. In contrast to the corpse of Lenin, which undergoes thorough maintenance in a special underground clinic twice a week, the body of Pirogov rests untouched and unchanging – reportedly only dust has to be brushed off of it. It rests at room temperature in a glass-lid coffin (while Lenin's body is preserved at a constant low temperature).
Abraham Lincoln was embalmed after his assassination in 1865. To prevent anyone stealing Lincoln's body, Lincoln's eldest son Robert called for Lincoln's exhumation in 1901 to be buried in a concrete vault in the burial room of his tomb in Springfield, Illinois. Fearing that his body would have been stolen in the interim, Lincoln's coffin was opened, and his features were still recognizable, 36 years after his death.
Rosalia Lombardo, who died at age one on 6 December 1920, was one of the last corpses to be interred in the Capuchin catacombs of Palermo, Sicily before the local authorities banned the practice. Nicknamed the 'Sleeping Beauty', Rosalia's body is still perfectly intact. Embalmed by Alfredo Salafia, she is in a glass case, looking very much like a surreal doll.
Eva Perón was embalmed by Dr. Pedro Ara, as ordered by her husband Juan Perón. The body was preserved to look like it was in a sleep-like state. The procedure worked and the body showed no signs of decomposition when Eva was interred at her final resting place many years after the initial procedure.
Kemal Atatürk was embalmed. His remains were originally laid to rest in the Ethnography Museum of Ankara from 10 November 1938 to 10 November 1953. He was subsequently moved to Anıtkabir in Ankara, Turkey, buried in a 42-ton sarcophagus.
Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo were embalmed and rest at Cihu Mausoleum and Touliao Mausoleum in Daxi District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan.
Francisco Franco was embalmed. His remains were originally laid to rest in the Valley of the Fallen from 1975 to 2019. He was subsequently moved to Mingorrubio Cemetery, El Pardo, Madrid, Spain.
Ferdinand Marcos was embalmed in Hawaii upon his death. His body was flown home and is on display at Marcos Museum and Mausoleum in Batac, Ilocos Norte, Philippines from 1993 to 18 November 2016.
Diana, Princess of Wales was embalmed shortly after her death in France in August 1997. The decision to embalm her provoked conspiracy theories that she was pregnant; conspiracists claimed, incorrectly, that the embalming fluid would have destroyed any evidence of fetal presence in her womb. The official explanation for the embalming was that the warm conditions in the chapel of rest where her body was laid out would have sped up the decomposition of the remains.
When the Basilica of Saint-Denis was desecrated by French revolutionaries in 1793, the body of Henry IV was so well preserved it was displayed two days before being thrown in a mass grave, and a new death mask was able to be made. Likewise, Louis XIII was still recognisable thanks to his well preserved moustache. Turenne was so well preserved that looters first thought he was still alive.
Maria II of Portugal died in childbirth on 15 November 1853 at the age of 34. She was embalmed the following day. In a letter dated 28 November 1853, the Duchess of Ficalho, the queen's lady-in-waiting, reported the outcome to her brother, the 2nd Count of Lavradio:"Sad embalming, which took place on November 16th, I was always there. The Infante's (prince) and the Queen's lasted seven hours. Once that affliction was over, it was time to put the clothes on, which was almost impossible due to the state of dissolution [of the body] of Her Majesty, but it was done as well as possible, bearing the Orders and the Royal Mantle, but it was necessary to close the coffin, because it's not possible to describe the state of dissolution."
Between February and September 2012, researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil exhumed the remains of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil  (also King of Portugal as Pedro IV; 1798–1834) and his two wives Empress Maria Leopoldina (1797–1826) and Empress Amélie (1812–1873). They were surprised to find that the body of the latter had been mummified. Skin, hair and internal organs were preserved. Examinations at the Hospital das Clínicas found an incision in the empress' jugular vein. Aromatics such as camphor and myrrh were injected into the incision during the embalming process. "It certainly helped to nullify the decomposition", said Brazilian archaeologist Valdirene Ambiel, responsible for the research. She added that another contributing factor was the casket, saying it was so hermetically sealed that there were no micro-organisms in it. Before the reburial, scientists reembalmed Amélie's mummified body using a method similar to the first one.
Pedro II of Brazil died during his exile in France in 1891 at the age of 66. He was embalmed on December 5, the day of his death. During the process, six liters of hydrochloride of zinc and aluminum was injected into his common carotid artery. Three coffins were used: an inner lead-lined coffin, which contained the body, and two outer coffins. According to Julie Anne Taddeo, a research professor of history at the University of Maryland, lead helps keep out moisture and preserve the body for longer and prevent smells and toxins from a dead body escaping. Pedro II was interred in the Royal Pantheon of the House of Braganza in Lisbon, Portugal on December 12, 1891. The site had become a place of pilgrimage for Brazilians arriving in the country at the time. Many people used to visit it late at night only to find the place dark. With candles given to them by a local guard, they went to the emperor's glass-topped coffin in order to see the embalmed monarch and accidentally spilled wax on the flag of the Empire of Brazil that covered it. In the 1910s, Brazilian educator and archivist Luís Gastão d'Escragnolle Dória went to Europe as a scholarship student to search for historical documents about Brazil. In 1912, he visited the Royal Pantheon.  At the occasion, he had noticed the well-preserved state of Pedro II's body, along with the clothes which he was interred in (the court dress military uniform; the collar of the Order of the Rose; and a silver crucifix sent by Pope Leo XIII in his hands), although he did find the embalming left a lot to be desired. He wrote:"His face looks like old wax. His beard, once so fine, so silky, so white, has turned ugly and yellow, like old ivory [...]. When I saw him in February 1912 I did find he was smaller than he had been in late 1909 [...]. Dom Pedro II's head rests on a pillow filled up with Brazilian sand [...]. The emperor looks so different! How cruel is an imperfect embalming! Where is that majestic head, crowned in past times with that silvery silky hair? Where are his steel gleam blue eyes; the beautiful beard gilded by youthfulness and silvered by old age; his stately bearing?
Everything is gone, faded!
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