It is well enough to say here, that a metallic casket is not required to assist in keeping the body after it has been treated according to the following method. Quite the reverse, a wooden casket will answer the purpose much better, as the body is rendered perfectly inaccessible to the attacks of the ambient atmosphere by the external covering which encases the body, in its transparent and elastic coating, impervious alike to air and moisture. The body should be placed on a table about four feet high, and elevated nearly six inches at the head; it must be here borne in mind that, to perform the following operation successfully, the operator should be left alone to his work, in a room free from intrusion, where idle questioning from standers by, or the talk of the usual routine of business, will not disturb him. And as it may require some time to complete the work, it were better that the remains were brought to the undertaker’s establishment, where there is generally, or ought to be, a room set apart for this branch of the business. The body is first washed clean with soap and tepid water, so as to remove every particle of fat or greasy substance which might obstruct the pores of the skin, and thereby prevent the salts contained in the bathing lotion to penetrate the tissues and produce the desired effect. The body must then be thoroughly dried by means of clean towels, and be well saturated with the following lotion: Acetate of Alumina, 1 pound. Sulphate of Iron, 4 ounces. Corrosive Sublimate, 2 ounces. Water, 1 gallon. The body is to be kept constantly moist with the aforesaid solution, and as soon as evaporation has dried up the surface of the skin, a new application of the solution becomes necessary; in fact, the process should come as near complete immersion as possible. The eyes must be well closed. To avoid the sinking, which after a certain time must inevitably take place, and which will disfigure the best prepared corpse, I would here suggest the use of the wax shells, to be inserted under the eyelids—these shells, as stated in a previous chapter, are manufactured by JOHN C. RULON, of Philadelphia, and can be had by the quantity on very moderate terms—to keep the eyelids in their place; the outside of the shell must be coated with white gum shellac, dissolved in alcohol. After the insertion of the shells thus coated, the lids are brought together and held in place by the fingers. Shelac dries quick, and in about five minutes’ time it will be found that the gum has acquired enough of consistency to hold the lids together. As a matter of course it will get harder in time and prevent the lids from starting apart. The operator will then cut a straight line through the skin with a scalpel, the line to extend from the superior part of the sternum to the umbilical region.