It is not to be wondered at, therefore, if some associate this repulsive image with the idea of modern embalming. Our present object in preparing bodies is two-fold: In the first place we desire to keep perfect for a certain length of time the remains of those who have been dear to us while living; but when desiccation has begun, when the roundness of the lines loses itself into the more angular shrinkage of the tissues, then we may take, and without any feeling of horror, a last look at the body, and consign it, not to slow, foul corruption, but to the gradual drying of the organic substances, without the horrible accessions of decay and putrefaction. In view of all this, and with the help of modern chemistry, it is not singular that the art of embalming should have received a new impetus in this country and Europe, especially here, where it is customary to send back and over long distances the bodies of those that have died far from home. This usage has already brought about some astonishing results. The large majority of our first-class undertakers have taken the matter in hand; they vie with each other in trying to perfect themselves in an art which is daily growing into favor. Almost every day a new antiseptic is, if not discovered, at least brought to exercise its functions in the preservation of organic substances. Of late, new methods have been inaugurated on all sides, and among the number there are certainly some which are deserving all the merits claimed for them. It behooves all professionals to exert their ingenuity to bring this science to a satisfactory issue. Many of the preparations sold under the name of preserving liquid are good; others are not. How then are undertakers to discriminate? By what means can the merits of the one, and the utter worthlessness of the other, be determined? There is but one way, and that is an infallible one, of finding out the best method and preparation, and that is simply by experimenting, until the real means, which is the only true one, has been hit upon.