Anatomy and Embalming: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Embalming, the Latest and Most Successful Methods of Treatment and the General Anatomy Relating to this SubjectNunnamaker, Albert John
Science
Anatomy and Embalming: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Embalming, the Latest and Most Successful Methods of Treatment and the General Anatomy Relating to this Subject
Nunnamaker, Albert John
Embalming
If you had not anticipated purging in the beginning, and the body has
been embalmed arterially it will be necessary to stop the purging by
the first method.
A third method of preventing purging from the lungs and stomach is in
the use of plaster of paris. In this method the plaster of paris is
mixed thinly, then by means of a paper funnel, pour the liquid into the
nose and mouth, then plug tightly with absorbent cotton as in method
two. It requires only a short time for the plaster of paris to set and
it has been found quite successful. Probably the only disadvantage
of this method is that it is mussy and because of the rapid drying
qualities of the plaster of paris the operator must work very quickly.
=The Thoracic or Chest Cavity.=—Cavity embalming must be resorted to
frequently in the chest or thoracic cavity for the reason that in
certain diseases, especially tuberculosis, fluids cannot enter the
diseased cavities, as the capillaries and small vessels are destroyed
by the disease and the ends of the arteries securely plugged. If
this were not so, the patient would have died of hemorrhage of those
arteries, a thing which seldom takes place.
Again in certain other diseases, especially pneumonia, the fluid cannot
reach the diseased lung, either through the nutrient arteries or by
the respiratory tract, because of the resistance offered. The nutrient
arteries will be filled with coagulated blood and the bronchi, to a
certain extent, with a bloody mucous.
This being the case, the bacteria of putrefaction will begin to develop
within the diseased portions of the lungs, and will be the cause of the
purging so much dreaded by the embalmer.
The thoracic cavity may be treated by one of several methods.
A first method consists in passing a curved trocar into the trachea
just above the sternum and injecting a strong embalming fluid into
the bronchi. In cases of gangrene of the lung, the sputum has a very
offensive odor, which may be disinfected by this method. But it must
be remembered that the ends of the bronchioles which enter the diseased
parts of lungs will be closed (from the nature of the disease), so that
any fluid injected into the bronchi from the trachea will not reach the
diseased part of the lungs. You will thus see that it is absolutely
necessary to use a method in treating the thoracic cavity, whereby
any mass of rotten tissue, which may be present, may become thoroughly
saturated with the disinfectant.
A second method written about the Robbins, is accomplished by inserting
the trocar on both the right and left sides at the tops of the lungs,
and at the bases. At the top of the lungs the trocar is introduced two
inches outside the sternum just below the clavicle. The trocar may then
be pushed in any direction, except toward the sternum, without injury
to any of the larger vessels.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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