Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-09-25
A GREAT SECRET DIVULGED.
The New Process OFPetrifying Human
Flesh.

ElGsh.
Paris Correspondence New York Times.
Not long ago / spoke of the lost secret
for petrifying human flesh, Of the perse-
vering attempts made in Italy TO re-discover
it. and of the discovery, while making
these researches, of another method of pre-
serving flesh, perhaps quite as valuable as
the one lost At the great exposition, DIR.
Brunetti, of Padua, the finder of the new
method, was honored with gold medals
and with the true spirit Of a man of science,
he came forward the other evening at one
of the meetings of the International Medi-
cal Congress, now an session at the School
of Medicine Of Paris, and divulged his So
cret. The great amphitheatre Of the
school was crowded with distinguished
medical men from all parts Of the world,
and when the Italian sdUdnt had concluded
his speech he was rewarded with an ova-
ton which must have been a full compen-
sation for any losses he may suffer from
having his secret pass into the public do
main. The following details are sufficient
TO enable any anatomist 10 avail himself Of
this important discovery.
The process Of DIR. Burnett, which he
explained in French with method, and in
a pure and elegant diction, comprises sew
eral operations viz: |, the washing Of the
piece to be preserved; 2, the Segraissage, or
eating away Of the fatty matter; 3, the
tanning 4, the desiecation.
l. To wash the piece NJ. Burnett passes
a current Of pure water through the blood
vessels and various excretory canals, and
then he washes the water out by current
Of alcohol
.. For destroying the fat he follows the
alcohol with ether, which he pushes, of
course, through the same blood vessels, and
eKcretory ducts; this part Of the operation
lasts some hours, the ether penetrates the
interstices of the flesh, and dissolves all the
fat The piece, at this point of the pro-
cess, may be be preserved, any length Of
time desired, plunged in ether, before pro-
ceeding to the final operations
3. For the tanning process M. Bunetti
dissolves tannin in boiling distilled water,
and then, after washing the ether out of the
vessels with distilled water, he throws this
solution in it.
4. For the drying process DR.. Burnett
places the piece in a vase with a double
bottom, filled with boiling water, and he
fills the places Of the preceding liquids with
naiuIi uiy All ny AiS anu Vi IeSeIfOlIp
in which air is compressed TO about two
atmosphere, and which communicates by
a stop-cock and a system Of tubes, first TO
vase containing chloride of calcium, then
with the vessels and excretory ducts of the
anatomical piece in course of preparation,
he establishes gaseous current which ex-
pels in a 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
handled without fear, and will last indefi-
nitely. The discovery is a magnificent
one, and the sooner medical schools are
provided with full cabinets Of natural and
pathological pieces, the better