Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 20th Sept., 1887
Specification Accepted, 21st Oct., 1887
I, JOSÉ DE NUEDA, of Madrid, Spain do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
One of the most important questions from the point of view of public health, and
one which has occupied public attention for a number of years in all countries, is
without contradiction the burial of corpses.
As actually performed the burial of the dead in cemeteries situated near or in
towns has fatal consequences which have been often proved, under the influences of
the changes of temperature, of wet, of acids contained in the ground and of the gases
which are given off from the corpses, the zinc, and the rotting wood of the coffins, at
the same time the decomposition of the corpses causes an effluvium to come from the
ground that constitutes a permanent danger to the health of the living.
For a long time a remedy has been sought for this state of things. The best
solution would be evidently the preservation of corpses, as practised in ancient times
by the Egyptians, who by the process to which they submitted their dead, prevented
all unhealthy exhalations.
Embalming would give the same results, but as it is executed at the present day it
is too long and too expensive a method, to be practically employed in the generality
of cases.
Another ancient method of performing obsequies, that consisted in burning the dead
has been suggested, but cremation has numerous adversaries, in medical men who
contend that this method renders the investigation of cases of poisoning impossible,
and also in the feelings of a great number of people, who are unable to see without
repugnance so fundamental a change in the usual mode of conducting funerals.

page_text: The process that forms the subject of the present application, has for its object the
avoiding of the disastrous consequences to public health caused by the actual method
of burial as now performed, and at the same time replaces with advantage the two
systems above described.
The present invention comprises the rapid preservation and imummification of
corpses by means of a relative vacuum in an appropriate metal coffin.
By placing a corpse in a space closed hermetically and extracting the gas and the
moisture that it contains, all causes of decomposition are removed; the corpse becomes
mummified rapidly and the coffin remains intact instead of being destroyed in a short
time like the coffins now used.
The form of coffin to which I give preference for putting my process in practice is
a metal coffin, of galvanized sheet iron; this will resist decomposition; but to further
add to its durability it is covered on the. exterior with several coats of paint or of
varnish.
The lid of the coffin is closed in a perfectly hermetical manner, either by means of
soldering or by cement of some suitable description; it is fitted on the surface with a
number of panes of glass, which permit the interior of the coffin to be seen. The
sides of the coffin are coated on the interior with a thick layer of tar and the corpse
rests upon a bed of charcoal destined principally, owing to the chemical reactions
that are produced between this charcoal and the gases that are disengaged from the
corpse to constitute round the corpse a constant source of carbonic acid.
At some suitable part of the coffin is placed an automatic valve with or without a
stop cock, to this valve is attached a pipe communicating with an air pump.
The extraction of the gases and of the moisture. can be performed either in one
or several operations and these gases can be conducted to a hearth and there
consumed.
$6
The accompanying drawings show a type of coffin that I propose to call an
Egyptian Coffin" figures 1, 2, 3 and 4.
But I reserve the right to use any appropriate shape and material for coffins in
carrying out my invention.
The coffins must be however so constructed as to resist the pressure of the
atmosphere; for this purpose amongst the different forms I employ coffins of a tubular
shape, which offer a greater resistance, thus allowing their thickness to be reduced
and consequently their price. These coffins may be made of galvanized sheet-iron as
already described, of sandstone or of any other suitable material, with or without
ornaments. A door with an air tight joint, provided at one of the extremities of the
tube, permits the introduction of the corpse.
In the accompanying drawings:-
Figure 1 represents the exterior lid of the coffin.
Figure 2 represents the coffin furnished with lid complete, upon which are shown
the
panes of glass and the automatic valve.
Figures 3 and 4 are separate views of the lid and of the coffin.
Figure 5 represents a type of tubular coffin, it is mounted in a metal stand or
support that partly conceals by its ornaments the round form of the coffin. A door
provided at the extremity of this support permits the introduction of the corpse.
I will conclude by saying that my process can be equally well applied to burial in
common. For this purpose I employ large hermetically closed rooms or chambers
either formed of metal or otherwise; in these rooms or chambers the corpses are
placed, immediately, the rooms or chambers being in communication with a suitable
air pump:
To avoid the entrance of air, the aforesaid rooms or chambers can be provided with
anti chambers in which the operation of mummification can be effected, before the
corpses are collected in the common room or chamber.
Lastly my process can also be employed to preserve anatomical subjects, such as
corpses intended subsequently to be submitted to legal proceedings, as well as to those
intended to be exposed to public view for purposes of identification.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
The above described process of preservation and mummification of corpses by means
of a relative vacuum in an hermetically closed coffin having at the bottom a layer of
charcoal and provided with panes of glass and with an automatic valve (with or
without a safety cock) by which the extraction of the gases is effected.
Dated this 20th day of September 1887.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London,
Agents for the Applicant.