Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-10-31
EXPERIMENTS WITH LIQUID AIR.

present method Of embalming DR.. Char
les L. Pearce. a member of the medical
staff of the Cincinnati College of Medi-
cine and Surgery, and DR.. A. Campbe0
White, of New York. have been conduc.
ting a series of experiments, just COM
pleted, which. although unsuccessful in
one direction, have demonstrated that
a new process can be used for the dis
posal of the dead.
Embalming among the ancients was a
science, and for ages since the art has
been lost medical men have experiment.
ed in vain to rediScover the secret. While
practiced by many ancient nations, the
Egyptians alone adopted it as a neces-
sary part Of the duty to the dead. Ma
tons widely separated geographically in
the old world attempted to preserve the
bodies Of the dead. The appearance of
the royal mummies found in Peru makes
1T probable that no resinous or other sub
stance was employed by the Incas to
preserve the body from decomposition.
These We're simply exposed to
the action of the cold, exceedingly dry
n highly rarefied air Of the mountains.
The Egyptians carried the art of en-
balmins to the highest point of perfec-
ton known.
Concerning the method practiced by the
Egyptians there are discrepancies be-
tween the accounts of Herodotus and~Di-
odorus. and these two writer's do not
agree in all respects with the statements
made by the modern mummy pathOlu-
gists shows that it was not until the lat
ter part of her existence that Egypt prac-
ticed the elaborate manner of embalm-
ing her dead.
Herodotus and Diodorus agree that
there were three grades Of embalming.
The first grade cost about 81 ,275, accord
ing to our money, and the second grade
about 1926. The third was very cheap.
According to the best authorities the
process of preparing a mummy Of the
firSt-class was as follows: The brain
was first removed parity by a hook in
serted through the nose, causing de-
struction of the ethmoid bone, and partly
by subsequent injections 6; water. The
removal in this manner of the entire
brain and spinal cord would be very diff
cult, and it is probable that some alkaline
fluid was injected and after a time pump
ed out. The organs of the abdomen
and breast We're removed through an
opening about two and three-fourths in
ches long in the left hypogastrium made
Hcance The organs, after being ,hor-
Oughly cleanscd, were Washet. witt palm
wine and treated with some aromatic
substances. after which they We're put In
four vases. The thoracic and abdominal
cavities We're filled with purest bruised
myrrh, cassia and eve"y other variety
of spiccry except frankllcense. The
body was then put in natrum, which is
not, as at first thought, our nitre, but
subcarbnnate of soda, and left from 30
to 20 days. The body, after the rcmov-
al from natrum, was carefully washed
and cnvnloped in bandages of fine linen
cloth held together by gum. The face
was protected by a mask made from linen
cloth: over this mask the bandages as
over the body. The body thus prepar-
ed was returned to the family.
The process Of embalming the bodies
of the second class was much simpler.
A substance obtained by distilling cedar
wood containing. among other things,
carbolic acid. was injected into the body
and allowed to remain there while it lay
i'm natrum. At the end OF 80 DAYS the
organs hecalne liquihdd II escaped
when the injected fluid was allowed to
run out Of the body. The third method,
although little is known about it, must
have been exceedingly simple.
Since tilese methods Of preserving
bodies have been lost a host of expert
menters have unsuccessfully tried
through many ages to find a suitable
substitute, ana the unsatisfactory pro-
Gees in use at the present day is the best
result that has been obtained. BY +. the
body is only preserved for a brief period.
and decomposition follows almost i'm
mediat"ly after it has been consigned to
the earth.
With the discovery of liquifed air men
of scienc" interested in its use came to
the concluSio II that in this direction it
cDulu DF t'llployei 10 great advantage
They argued that under the excessive
cold bacteria might be destroyed, and de-
composition arrested for an indefinite
period. and along this line Drs. Pearce
and White have been laboring.
An ltrtuirer representative called on
DR.. Pearca yesterday, and although he
was reluctant to discuss the subject, he
said:
"Our experiment has not been a sue
cess in the lines along which we worked.
Liquid air will never be used in the pro-
cess Of embalming. While it is true
that with it the body can re quickly fro
zen. yet it would be necessary to keep
it frozen to attain the object. A perfect
method of embalming must necessarily
be one that will absolutely destroy the
bacteria which are responsible for the
rapid decomposition of the body. Our
experiments demonstrated cOnclusively
that LIQUID air does not destroy the life
or prevent the growth OF disease germs.
Tests of the effect of liquid air on germ
life were made by inserting sealed tubes
containing the bacilli of anthrax, typhoid
ana diphtheria into liquid air for periods
varying from 30 to 80 minutes. After
the tubes were removed from the LIQUID
air their contents We're placed in differ
ert culture mediums, and prompts de-
veloped colonies of the different germs,
The extreme cold had no effect on them.
This seems to prove corclusively that
liquid air ear not be used for embalming
purposes.
"Thasg experiments, however, as I
have said before, although unsuccessful
with this object IN view, have opened up
another field as important. The burial
of the dead has iOng been opposed by sci
eatiiic men, who see and can demon
strate conciusfyely that by placing dead
bodies under the ground we simply plant
a source of disease which has again and
, again developed epidemics that have de-