Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-04-23
PRESERVING THE DEAD.
An Explanation of the French system of
EIectrO-PIating Bodies.

An Explanation of the French system of
ElectrO-PIating Bodies
The art of preserving the body after
death was brought to great perfection
by the ancient Egyptians. Their meth
DDS varied according to circumstances
and notions of the operators. Some of
the ghostly relics of the catacombs give
evidence of having been dried by vege-
table and balsamic substances: others
have defied the worm and natural cor
ruption by the aid of salt or natron. Aro-
matte gums or asphaltum were used for
the first class of mummieS, which have
been found in good state of preservation.
Those prepared with salt and natron
have a hard, black and smooth appear
ance: they attract moisture on being eN-
posed to the air. and become covered
with saline substance. The bodies
were rolled up in bandages of silk and
linen, which were sometimes one thou
sand yards in length.
But Egypt was not the only country
in which embalming was practiced sue
cesSfully. 1t appears to have been
dogma among several other nations. in
dictated by their religion, that the soul
continued in the body after death. They
looked upoon it as duty, therefore. to
keep the tabernacle of the soul intact
and hold sacred the resting place of the
dead. In some countries cOrpses We're
exposed to the air certain period, and
became mummies by the operation
of natural causes. Peculiar conditions
of the soil and atmosphere rapidly
dried the animal tissues and prevented
putrefaction. A large number of mum
mics We're found in the environs of
Durango, Mexico. They We're in a sit
ting posture, but had the same kind of
wrappings, bands and ornaments as the
Egyptian.
The modern system of embalming
follows the general plan of that of the
ancient, consisting of filling the place of
the intestines with odoriferous and de-
siccative drugs and spices, but it is not
expected that bodies treated nowadays
will defy the ravages of time as long as
the mummies of Egypt. Thoroughness
was pronounced characteristic of the
Egyptians. They embalmed as they
built-for all time. The thousands of
small bandages which inclosed the body
formed part of their system, and the
whole treatment must have taken a
great deal more time than our under
takers are allowed to prepare a corpse
for burial.
Always foremost in grim and fantastic
notions, the French are engaged in dis
cussing new method of preserving the
dead which has many marked advan-
tages over that OF the Egyptians. Our
museums have familiarized us with
mummies They are shriveled. insight
" cadavers, and emit a sicl>ly, nasty
odor The American cline seems to
have bad effect upon them, for mum
mics that have braved the worms of
Egypt for thousands of years have
crumbled into dust upon the removal OF
their wraps in the United States All
the disagreeable features of the old
time mummy are avoided by the French
plan.
No wraps or desiccating drugs are
needed: there is no danger of the pre-
served body dropping to pieces in any
climate On the contrary, the French
mummy may be made ornamental, If
not useful, and threatens to cause a
revolution in the art of sculpture. 1t
.wIl be neither more nor less than an
electro-plated corpse. coated with gold,
silver. nickel or brass, according to the
taste and fortune of the bereaved