The Osceola times., 1880-05-15
BODIES ON ICE.
Does the undertaIser's Ice-box Freeze the
Life Out of Bodies that Might BE
Resuscitated.
Philadelphia News.

Philade phla news.
The question ot placing the bodies of
supposed dead persons upon ice imme-
diately after death, or presumed death.
is jus; now being discussed apropos Of
the case Of the Montreal man, who, the
other day, kicked the lid from his coffin
while the earth was falling upon it.
THE modern custom, introduced by
the undertakers, Of putting bodies on
ice" said prominent physician to
NeUs reporter, Immediately after sup
posed death, and often before there Is
official proof of the extinction of the vi
tai spark, while il is entirely unneces-
sary, and simply disgraceful device for
making exorbitant underiaker's fees out
of the surviving friends Of the deceased.
is also attended with the most serious
risk of freezing to death one who may
simply be in trance or in q state of sus-
pended animation. There have been
some instances where there was every
reason to believe that if proper means
had been employed for resuscitation,
instead OF resorting TO this heaitless and
outrageous practice, life, which in these
cases was only temporarily suspended,
might have been revived.
"The undertaker's shallow plea that
bodies cannot be preserved from morti-
fication unless they are Immediately put
away in ice, is refuted by the fact that it
takes twelve hours for animal life to
leave the body after death and before
decomposition can set in, while in the
majority of cases a body can be preserv-
ed two or three days, and in moder-
ately cool weather as long as week,
before disagrecqble effects become no.
tIceable. But without proper medical
education, and the sordid anxiety to
make an exorbitant fee, the indecent
practice has become almost general with
undertakes.
There are three stages in the process
of decomposition of the human body.
cn the first day the features and the
flesh are sunken IN and the pallid shade
of death is very ghastly. On the second
day there Is an improved look in every
respect, and the remains l)se part of
the pallor of the first day. On the third
day the flesh becomes full again, the
skin clears up and the natural hue of
life returns TO a degree that Is almost
startling in some cases. AT the end of
this period discoloration sets in, com
menCing about the abdomen, and decom-
position does its work with great rapidi-
~ if the weather be warm.
"Discoloraton and the subsequent de-
composition are, after all, the only real
and conclusive evidences OF DEATH" said
DIR. Thomas ii. Andrews, "and without
these indications | would hesitate if
was under oath, before | could swear
positively that life was extinct. OF
course, there are various ways of arriv-
,,x.. Of ra,onnul,1a ,pnaltstnn IL, thn
matter, among them being the mirror
test, which consists of holding a spotless
mirror to the mouth of the body, and on
which the iaiI test respiration would be
recorded but even that test is not infalli-
ble."
This CUSTOM" said DR.. Andrews, "of
covering the bodies with ice is scan
dalous practice, which the Board of
Health and the law should take meas
ures to prevent. The very idea of put
ting bodies on ice while they are still
warm, before they have time to cool
naturally, and freezing them stiff, and
beyond all possible recovery, is revolt
ing, while he mere sight OF the mortu-
airy box and of pounded ice and the tub
to catch the dIippingS as these things
are taken from the undertakers wagon
in front OF residence is enough to
shock any one. | remember while |
was engaged as coroner's physician,
where in many cases have had TO clear
away not less than bucketiul of broken
ice to yet at the body to Ina X an eXaml' i
nation, and it was then frozen so stlii
that the operation was attended with
considerable difficulty. | am opposed
to the practice for many reasons and re-
fuse to have it carried out in every case
that comes under my notice. A men,
Der of my family died last May, and al
though the weather was moderately
warm | kept the body in the house over
a week, in excellent condition, without
employing anything to preserve it.
There is no necessity for ice, the body
may always be kept few days before
modification sets in. When this mani
tests itself, and there is desire to keep
the body in the house few days longer,
a small pan of ice set on the pit of the
stomach aud a sligh; injection of caI bolic
acid in the nostrils, will preserve it sew
cral days longer, but ice should never
be used until the indications of death
are positive, and the first sign Of decom-
position is the only positive proof OF
that
GLOW are the bodies of dissecting
subjects preserysd?' DIR. Andrews was
asked
"Well, in medical colleges we have a
way of preserving bodies for an indeti-
mite period by an injection of a saturated
solution of chlorate of zinc, composed Of
one part of the chlOrate to six quarts of
water, which is injected into an incision
in the carotid artery, running along the
right side of the neck. The solution
penetrates every part of the body, and
when it is completely saturated with it
the remains will keep for great many
years. Before chlorate of Zinc came into
use we kept subjects in barrels filled
with alcohol, but there is considerable
wasted in this which Is entirely avoided
by the use of the chlorate, while 1t IS
also the only thing that will destroy the
poison of a dead body. There Is one
drawback to it, however, in that it des-
trovs the color of the muscles, giving the
b. DIV putty tint, and makes the flesh
tough and leathery. Some physicians
on these accounts, prefer hydratc OF
chloral. but IT neither preserves the body
etiectually nor destroys the fatal poison.
DIR. w. W. Keene once came to me and
borrowed the body Of Heidenblut, who
was hung for murder some years ago.
DIR. kecnc used the hydrate Of chloral
on the subject, but when it was returned
TO me about five weeks afJerward, de-
composition had already set in.
The chlorate of zinc saturates the
body so completely that, after an injcc-
ton, should toe be cut off, the solution
would rush out of it as from a sponge.
SUP. .ects for the dissecting table are first