The Red Cloud chief., 1888-07-13

burial, and on occasions Of festivity were
introduced into the scenes Of Gaycty t.
strike an average and remind the rcvelers
of the transient lot OF man.
The elaborate process outlined above Cos,
q silver talent, or about Se.Nl and was
available only to the wealthy. Cheaper
methods in vogue among the poor are re-
coc,ici ~ Herodo;as, in wlich kCdrlOD, or
cellar oil. was injected into the ~viscera, the
body washed in Iayrrh, soaked in a solution
of natroH or salt peter for the usual seventy
days. smeared with gums and bound up.
In ONE instances the soleS of Inc feet
Were removed ard placed upon the breast.
This was done that the sacred halls of the
Judgment temple might not be defiled when
the deceased was called before Osiris. AS
the custom of profusc fcct-wasEing was
not practiced in Palestine. this perhaps, was
not altogether = superstition.
The origin Of the art ~antedates historical
record. MLT:mies are referred 10 In the
Eicrosiyps by The word "SahU." The
bodies Of Cheops. MycsricUs and others of
the Fourth Dynasty. and ii is recorded that
the. body OF the patriarch Jacob was thus
prepared.
Emoalming WIS also prIcticcd by the an
Gent Pcrsians. who used wax; by the As
syrians, who employed honey, and by the
Jews, with whom spices seemed the pOpu
lar method. the body OF JESUS being so
treated before barial.
Although the art OF thus preserving the
dead Wa known to the early Christians
VINO emba!Mcd the bodies of some of the
martyrs. and even latCS to the people Of the
Canary Isles. after the dissolution OF the
Egyptian dynasty and the dccaaence of tho
Aryan religions, it gradually faded from
the knowledge C the new civilization and
fOundp place among the lost arts.
Through the ensuing ages it remained
in comparative oblivion until the nineteenth
century. when. in 1854, Gannal discovered
the prescrvative properties of equal parts
OF acetate and alunina. and the later devel-
opmeut of arsenic by Tranchini revived the
practice of cmbaln;ng bodies requiring to
be kept for short periods.
Tho recognition of the sanitary advan-
tages derived from the efTectual destruc-
ton Of the disease germs gave it favor un-
til. with the introduction Of the chlorides of
zinc. mercury, aluminium and other salts of
antisepic nature, together with solutions of
%crcOsOte, carbOllc acid and cresylic acid.
compound fluids were formed, and
the practice Of cmbalming bodies for trans
pOrtatiOn came into common favor with the
more reputable undertakers, ard to-day is
favor as u general substitute for
the former method of freezing.
The modern embalming methods have lit
tie in common with the ancient processes,
which imposed SO much mutilation OF the
body. Now. with instruments of modern
surgery, it is comparatively simple and
process. a SIMPLE puncturc. su6i-
:ient to admit the nozzle Of q small injector,
5 made above sOClcOf the principal arteries,
the fetrOral, aud q quantity Of fluid |
according to the length Of time it
8 desired to preserve the body, is in
ec:ed. The fluid enters into the circula-
,ory system and penetratcs the minutest |
l~rtcr:al raniiticat:Ons, forming with the It's
'Ccs new chemical compounds which are
mputrca.i5ic. The effects are immediate; !
lecoiIpo, itiOn is arrested and the Germs ..
destroyed, and rot temporarily
as is the case when freezing is
Employed.
The processes Of to-day do not preserve
he body indefinitely. a5 the ancient meth
'ds did, bat as this is not required by mod
IN sentiment it meets al the requirements,
nd its sanitary 4 -cantagcs place it in the
ic,d as a rival to rcma:,on for the future
of dispos:.I s Of the dead.
As the modcr' method preserves IN the
'oLy all the so; SIS and flush Of life, scicn-
tic enterprise, if turned toward the sub
cc:, might effect IA compromise between the
and past by which our dead might
Ne forever preserved with all Of hfe's APP
10 ornament the halls of their for
ner residences and to replace the present
automatic figures with ones which have q
and once more make objects, ghast-
y to our forciathers. the p~!ay.hings of their
hilGrcn. Will this be the seed of this flow
r which b!oomcd before the Christian era
nd has been transDla.tcd in the present Gen.
ury to the soil of modern science!