A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR PRO- CESSES OF EMBALMING THE DEAD, AND FOR PRESERVING OF CORPSES FOR ANATOMICAL PURPOSES
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEKE
HEBERT, of the Office for obtaining Patents, in the Bristol Road, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, and also at 12, Staples Inn, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixth day of November, One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
eight, in the second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Luke Hebert, Her special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Luke Hebert, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Luke Hebert, my
time to time and at times during the term of years therein expressed, should
exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OR PRO-
CESSES OF EMBALMING THE DEAD, AND FOR PRESERVING OF CORPSES FOR ANATOMICAL
PURPOSES," communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad; in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Luke Hebert, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's

page_text: ale the date of the said in part recited Letters l'atent, as in and by the same,
h Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
reforce being thereauto had, will more fully and at large appear.
Lake Hebert, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the s
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the kid
manner in which is to be performed, are particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
I shall commence with the process for embalming the dead. An opening
is to be made in the side of the neck of the corpse of one and a half or two
inches in length, the muscles are separated, and the caroted artery isolated,
taking great care not to cut or prick the veins, which are very numerous in
this part. The artery being isolated and placed upon some small round sub-
large to admit the introduction of the syphon of an injecting syringe. To pre-
stance, an opening is to be made in it in a downward direction, sufficiently
vent the escape of the liquid which flows into the head by the opposite carotid
artery, a ligature is passed round the artery, which is cut above the syphon,
and by a second ligature the syphon is attached to the same artery. The
corpse being placed horizontally upon a table, with the legs spread out and the
arms extended, a quantity of the acetate of alumine, prepared by the decom-
position of the sulphate of alumine by the acetate of lime, is injected. The
liquil should be of the strength of twenty-eight degrees by Beaume's hydro-
meter, for meagre subjects and those who have died of consumption; but for
all fat subjects or dropsical, the strength of the liquid should be from thirty
tro to thirty-three degrees. To this liquid is added, before injecting it, one
twentieth part of arsenic acid of twenty degrees strength, prepared from
arsenious acid by means of nitric acid. The quantity of liquid necessary fo
preserving a corpse varies according to the strength and size of the corpse, fo
example, a new-born infant may receive or contain in the circulating channe
a quart of liquid, whilst the strongest adult cannot receive more than seve
A thin woman of middle size will not require more than three pints or tw
quarts; a middle-sized man, two to three quarts; a very strong person,
four quarts. The injection must always be made from the head towards t
feet; if there are any sores or ulcers they must not be plugged until after t
injection, and when the injection is completed, a ligature must be passed bel
the syphon, which is then detached, and the artery replaced in its origi
Situation. If the corpse should contain liquids in the stomach, and the
Should be forced out at the mouth by the pressure produced by the injecti
he flow of the liquids may be stopped by plugging the trachea artery w
three

page_text: patrid
properties,
corpse.
are
cotton, introduced at the opening made to find the caroted artery, after which
the wound is closed by the needle. When this first part of the operation is
finished, the animal matter is no longer susceptible of putrefaction, because
the geline, the only animal substance capable of entering spontaneously into the
I fermentation, together with the albumen, which partakes of all these
instantly combined with alumine and form a new substance
called megie; the muscular fibre and the fatty tissue or membrane remain un
touched, because they are bathed in a liquid which contains a tolerably strong
proportion of acetate of lime. In this state the corpse is no longer liable to
the attacks of insects, and if placed in a dry atmosphere it undergoes a des-
sication, more or less rapid, according to the state of the corpse and the
variations of the atmosphere. If the corpse be placed in a damp place, it
collapses, becomes covered with mucors and these fungi or mouldiness, which
begin with the epidermis of the face, at length spread over the whole of the
To obviate these two great evils recourse is had to the following
operations, which, in conjunction with the process of injection already described,
constitutes the process of embalming the dead, which forms a part of the title
of my Invention:-First, the corpse is dressed in stockings, a shirt, and other
under garments, according to the wish of the family, and according to the sex of
the deceased; second, the corpse thus dressed is placed upon folds of oil skin, and
garments are then sprinkled with a mixture of the following substances:-
Firstly, one part of the essence of cloves; secondly, one part of the essence
of citron; thirdly, one part of the essence of cinnamon; fourthly, one part of
the alcholic tincture of muse; fifthly, four parts of the essence of lavender;
sixthly, four parts of spirits of turpentine; seventhly, one part of camphor,
eightly, one part of euphorbium. These eight substances mixed together form
a clear liquid, with which the garments are to be fully saturated. The body
is then wrapped in the oil skin, and according to the wish of the family, may
then either be enveloped in a system of bandages after the manner of the
Egyptian mummies, or the limbs may be kept apart in order to dress the
deceased in other garments. In all cases the bandages for fixing the oilskin
must commence at the nape of the neck, and perfectly cover all parts of the
body, except when it is intended to dress the body, in which case the hands
should be left uncovered; over these bandages is placed a thin sheet of lead,
which in its turn is enveloped in other bandages, and over these is drawn the
the
dress in which the defunct is to appear.
If the body is to be exposed for
some time to public view, it becomes necessary to replace the eyes by glass eyes
which is the only mutilation which the body is subjected to in this new procuss

page_text: To insert the glass eyes the natural eyes are urst extracted, and the internal
parts are slightly pressed to extract the albuminous liquor. A cotton plug is
then introduced into the socket to absorb the remaining portions of the liquid.
tion of perchlorate of mercury (corrosive sublimate) is poured into the cavity.
and when this is effected the plug is withdrawn, and a saturated alcoholic sola-
The alcohol is then absorbed by a fresh plug of cotton, and the cavity dried as
completely as possible, and then powdered all over with calcined alum. The
glass eyes are then inserted, in doing which the greatest care must be taken
not to lay hold of the eyelids with pincers, as the pressure upon the skin will
leave an indelible mark. The eyes may be left open, or the eyelids may be
closed over the artificial eyes as may be desired, When there are sores or
ulcers, it will be necessary after the injection to powder them with calcined
alum, cover them with a plug of cotton steeped in the aromatic mixture above
described, and secure the plug by bandages. The anus, the scrotum, the
verge, and the vulvus should be well powdered with calcined alum; an ordinary
corpse requiring about half a pound. If the body is to remain in the place
where the embalming has been performed, it is sufficient to sprinkle it with a
quart or three pints of the aromatic liquor before mentioned, then placing it
in a coffin, to close the same coffin as hermetically as possible; but if the
corpse has to be transported to a distance, the coffin should be filled either
with tan or with shavings of wood, or other light and elastic substances, but
not with bran, as that is essentially susceptible of putridity. The coffin should
be placed in a vault built of stone or bricks, set in cement.
not be practicable, the coffin should be laid in a layer of plaster and then
covered with another layer of the same substance, and this latter covered with
a coating of bitumen or pitch to protect it from the destructive effects which
would arise from water filtering through it.
If this should
I shall now proceed to describe the second part of the Invention, viz., the
process for preserving bodies for dissection.
All bodies destined for dissection
meter, and the quantity employed should be three to four
quarts.
When the
should be injected with a solution of the simple sulphate of alumine, When S
it is wished to preserve a corpse for a considerable length of time, the solution
should be of the strength of thirty to thirty-two degrees of Beaume's hydro-
body is required to last only from a month to six weeks, the strength of the
solution need not exceed twenty to twenty-four degrees. The chlorure of 3
the purposes of dissection, on account of the strong action of this chemical
aluminium preserves bodies very well, but bodies injected with it are unfit for
agent upon the instruments of dissection, since after working five
or six

page_text: sier has pointed
minates it becomes necessary to change the scalpel. The celebrated Chas
I out the perchlorure of mercury as an agent for preserving
rembalming bodies, but this salt is so little soluble in water, or even in
alcohol, that the small quantity which can be introduced by injection can
5 hardly insure the preservation of the body.
therefore cannot be effected by this agent, which is also as little adapted as the
chlorure of aluminium to the preservation of corpses for dissection, on account
of its action upon the dissecting instruments; and even were it otherwise
efficacious, it is so
Embalming without mutilation
strongly poisonous that it could not be employed without
10 the greatest danger. Doctor Franchnia published recently, at Naples, a
process
s which he represented to be new. This process consists in injecting
by the aorta a solution of two pounds of arsenic in twenty pounds of water.
In the first place, this process is not possible, for it requires sixty pounds of
water to dissolve two pounds of arsenic; secondly, it is very dangerous;
5 thirdly, it is not new, for the bodies of the French senators which were laid
in the Pantheon by order of Napoleon, were embalmed by an injection of
arsenic. To explain more fully the principal points upon which this present
Invention rests, it may be observed, up to the present day embalming has
never been effected without opening the bodies and removing certain por-
tions. The only mummies which have come down to us are the Egyptian
mummies, and all these bear evident marks of mutilation; the brain has always
been extracted, as well as the pectoral and abdominal organs; up to the
time also, all medical substances employed in embalming have been employed
empirically. The present process is founded upon chemical reasonings; the
geline decomposes the acetate of alumine, and thereby forms a new substance
which the Inventor named megie. The acetic acid thus set free combines with
portions of lime existing in the body, and forms acetate of lime, which pre-
serves the muscular fibre. As the albumen partakes of the properties of "geline.
it will be seen that this double chemical reaction renders the mass of the
body inaccessible to putrefaction. In this state the body will either dry or
become moist according as it is kept in a dry or a damp place; and it is to
revent the evils resulting from moisture (already noticed) that recourse is
ad to the operations subsequently detailed.
present
In witness whereof, I, the said Luke Hebert, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand the hundred and thirty-eight
EBERT
plu
ions of the liqu
ed alcoholic so
d into the cavi
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ned alum.
T
must be take
on the skin wi
eyelids may b
e are sores o
1 with calcine
mixture above
scrotum, the
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in the place
nkle it with a
en placing it
e; but if the
filled either
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f this should
er and then
covered with 2
effects which
on, viz., the
or dissection
ne.
When 3
the solution
me's hydro-
When the
gth of the
chlorure of 35
re unfit for
chemical

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixteenth day of November,
the year of our Lord 1838, the aforesaid Luke Hebert came before our s
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification, af
said, and all and everything therein contained and specified, in form ab
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to t
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.