The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1867-09-13
Riclrrnond Iispatrlr,
FRIDAY........ SEPTEMBER 10, 1867.
THE CIRCULATION OF THE "DIS-
PATCH" IS LARGER THAN THE COM
BINED CIRCULATION OF ALL THE
OTHER DAILY NEWSPAPERS OF THIS
CITY
Preservation Of Human Bodies.

Inc 1olloW1ng account OF new system
for the preservation of human bodies, or,
as it is styled, "petrifying human flesh, u
is taken from Paris letter to the New
York Times dated August 9th. If the
method does all that is claimed for it, it
excels that which was practiced by the
ancients, and is said to have been lost
We fear it is more complete than desira-
BILE. The dead will become troublesome.
How many dead husbands and wives, whose
survivors have formed new alliances, will
be very much in the way, and finally be
sent to attics and closets, where they will
become hideous. The worst of it is that
they will not be so conveniently disposed
Of as that wife's first husband, who, being
preserved in an image Of wood, was readily
converted into kindling wood after her
second marriage But to the letterwri-
ter's sketch:
Not long ago I spoke of the lost secret
for petrilying human flesh, of the perse-
vering attempts made in Italy to redis-
cover it, and Of the discovery, while max
ing these researches, of another method OF
preserving flesh perhaps quite as valuable
as the lost one. At the Great Exhibition
Dr.. Brunetti, of Padua, the finder of the
new method, was hOnored with gold
medal, and with the true spirit Of man
Of science he came forward the other eve
ming at one of the meetings Of the Inter
national Medical Congress, now in session
at the School Of Medicine of Paris, and
divulged his secret. The great amphi-
theatre of the school was crowded with
distinguished medical men from all parts
of the world, and when the Italian Sauant
had concluded his speech he was re-
warded with an ovation which must have
been full compensation for any losses he
may suffer from having his secret pass into
the public domain. The following details
are sufficient to enable any anatomist to
avail himself Of this important discovery
the process of DR.. Brunetti, which he
explained in French with method, and in
pure and elegant diction, comprises
several operations-viz., l, the washing OF
the piece to be preserved; 2, the d6yrais-
sage, or eating away Of the fatty matter
3, the tanning and 4, the desiccation.
!. To wash the piece NJ. Brunctti passes
q current of pure water through the blood
vessels and the various eNcretOry canals,
and then he washes the water out by a
current of alcohol.
2. For destroying the fat he follows the
alcohol with ether, which lie pushes. OF
course, through the same blood -vcssclsand
excrctory ducts-this part of the opera,
ton lasts some hours. The ether pene-
trates the interstices Of the flesh and dis
solves all the fat. The piece, at this point
of the process, may be preserved any
length OF time desired, plunged in ether,
before proceeding to the Gnal operations,
| 8. For the tanning process NJ. Brunetti
disSo!ves tannin in boiling distilled water,
and then, after washing the ether out OF
the vessels with distilled water, he throws
this solution in.
4. For the drying process DR.. Brunetti
| places the pieces in vase with double
bottom filled with boiling water, and he
fills the places Of the preceding liquids
with warm, dry air. BY the aid of re-
servoir, in which air is compressed to
about two atmospheres, and which COM
municatcs by stop-cock and system OF
tubes, first to a vase containing chloride OF
calcium, then with another heated, then
| with the vessels and excretory ducts OF
the anatomical piece in coarse Of prepa-
ration, he establishes q gaseous current
which expels in very little time all the
fluids. The operation is now finished.
The piece remains supple, light; pre-
serves its size, its normal relations, its
solid astrological elements, for there are
no longer any fluids in it. 1t may be han
died without fear, and will last indefinitely
The discovery is a magnificent one, and
the sooner medical schools are provided
with full cabinets Of natural and patho-
logical pieces the better.