572 



EMBALMING. 



' i ^ 



Model of 

 embalming 

 adopted in 

 the middle 



reign* to well prr.wvetl by a certain kind of rosin, at, 

 be 8jr, that it wvmed nl re farther informed, 



that ("um-ilaasa de la Vega, previotin to goinc ti> >|>ain 

 in J..78, wu permitted to see his deceased ancestors, 

 whom he found as when alive in it sitting posture, their 

 hand* crod on their breasts. In thi* state they had 

 continued 200 yean ; but the mode of accomplishing 

 their preservation U not explained. 



On descending to more modern history, we find that 

 in the art of emludming has been customary throughout 

 Europe, though fur the most part restricted only : 

 traordinary occasions; hut with rocpect to the exact 

 process observed, history is in general silent, ncverthe- 

 less it was probably different from the method followed 

 by the I '_-\ ptiaua, as the preservation of the body was 

 not designed to be equally permanent. The following 

 mortifying picture of the mortality of the great, is tbund 

 in the older chroniclers regarding the embahneiit of 

 Henry I. of England, who died in the year 1 \:>~> at C'ha- 

 teau-LyOn, in France: He wan removed to Mary's 

 Abliey at Rmien, where next niulit his swollen carcase 

 was opened by a skilful person, and embalmed. His 

 brain, eyes, tongue, and intestines, were taken out and 

 deposited in an urn, in a church which had begun to 

 be erected by his mother, but was completed by him- 

 self. The body being washed with wines, and copious- 

 ly sprinkled with salt, was sewed up in a bull's hide to 

 confine the smell, which was now so intolerable as to 

 affect the assistants ; and one who had been hired for a 

 great reward to cleave the king's head with an axe, in 

 order to extract the putrid brain, died from the horrible 

 stench, though his own head was well wrapped round 

 with linen cloths. His body was then brought to Caen, 

 and placet! in the church, where that of his father was 

 deposited. Yet notwithstanding the quantity of salt. 

 and the successive hides enveloping it, a black and fetid 

 matter exuded, which was received in vessels beneath 

 the bier, and thrown away by the attendants in disgust." 

 The body was afterwards brought to England, and en- 

 tombed in Reading Abbey, where it was discovered a 

 few years ago. 



It has been conjectured, that during the middle ages, 

 or somewhat later, two modes of embalming were adopt- 

 ed. The one consisted chiefly in making deep gashes 

 in the body, preceded or followed by lotions of spirits, 

 wines, or vinegar, and the application of a great quan- 

 tity of salt. In the other, the body was simply immer- 

 sed in some balsamic solution, entirely excluding the 

 access of air. We can easily credit the former, but 

 there is greater difficulty in believing the latter. It is 

 true, that tombs are sometimes opened, wherein bodies 

 are found partly surrounded by a fluid. Such was the 

 case in 1683, when the l>ody of King James V. of Scot- 

 land, who died in 15-12, being inspected in the 

 vaults of Holyrood Chapel, is descriln-d to have been 

 " coloured black, with the balsom that preserved 

 it, which was lyke melted pitch." The body of Hum- 

 phrey Duke of ( i loucestcr, more recently discover- 

 ed, exhibited a similar appearance, conjectured to 

 be from immersion in some solution. Stdl later, the 

 coffin of Edward IV. of England, who died in 1 !>- J 

 was discovered containing the skeleton entire in the 

 year 1789. Some long brown hair lay near the scull, 

 and some of the same colour but shorter, was on the 

 neck. In the bottom of the coffin was a liquid about 

 three inches deep, wherein the feet and part of the leg 

 bones were immersed, as had been seen in other instan- 

 ces. Some of this liquid was analysed, in expectation 

 of finding the ingredient*, but it proved to be no kind 



of pickle as commonly credited, in which the body had 

 been immersed for preservation ; -md, on the whole, it 

 wan concluded to have, been produced by the dissolution 

 of the body it-elf. The fact, however, is not clearly pio- 

 .iiul a singular discovery was made about the mid- 

 dle of the preceding century at Kiom, in Auvcrgr.. 

 a body swathed in tine linen, externally imbued with a 

 thick balsam. The extremities were swathed up separate- 

 ly, and the hands and feet inserted into small cases tilled 

 with balsam. As the body wa.s quite entire, this balsa- 

 mic substance, which WHS extremely fragrant, could 

 not have been produced by any deliquescence of the 

 parts Whether the European* could actually embalm 

 IxMlics in equal perfection with the ancient Egyptians. 

 seems to have been a point of controversy in the begin- 

 ning of the preceding century ; but it has, been conclu- 

 ded in the affirmative, and different receipt* are given, 

 consisting principally in emptying the cavities, in copious 

 lotion--, in partial desiccation, anil in the abundant use of 

 aromatic and balsamic substances. We do not here speak 

 of anatomical preparations, for these are uf a different 

 kind from what is understood by cniKilment. and in- 

 jecting wax into the veins, so successfully practised since 

 the time of Ruysch, the reputed inventor, seems to- 

 tally unknown to earlier ages. But either by the mean- 

 of art, or by that aberration which sometimes occur* 

 from the ordinary course of nature, the conservation of 

 human bodies has been complete after the departure of 

 animation The approaches of death are not always an- 

 nounced by convulsions, nor does a distortion of the fca- 

 turesnecessarily follow. Examplesarescen, where nothing 

 but placid quiescence proves the transition from life, while 

 the mortal remains are preserved from decay. Thus 

 St Jerome says of I'auliin, a noble Roman lady, ' Quorf- 

 que minim fit, mikUfaUtr "in uieni jaciem, srd ila dig* 

 nitas tjutcdam ontnin co-npleverat ul future* non mortiiam 

 sed dormienlrm." " What is surprising, l^-r countenance, 

 not in the least changed by paleness, prc>er\ed its dig- 

 nity, so that she might rattier have been thought asleep 

 than dead." In the pontificate of innocent VII 1. about 

 tile year 14r54r, the body of a female was found in a 

 marble farcophagus at Rome, which must have reposed 

 there for ages, yet the joints were flexible, the flesh was 

 pitted by the touch, and resumed its figure when the pree 

 sure was withdrawn. This is not confined to the warm- 

 er climates, as repeated examples have proved in these 

 kingdoms. In the year 14W, while some workmen 

 were digging the foundation of a wall within a church 

 of London, they found a coffin of rotten timber, wherein 

 lay the body of a woman " whole of skynne, and of 

 bones undissevcred ; and the joyntes of her armes ply- 

 able without breaking of the skynne." An inscription 

 denoted, that it must have lain there above 170 years. 

 In the same city, about the year l?:(7, three coffins 

 were accidentally laid open at the depth of 18 feet from 

 the surface. One dated Hi(iY>, contained the body of a 

 man perfect and soft, ju^t as if breath had departed ; 

 another, the coq>se of a female, in a similar condition ; 

 and the third, that of a child, entire and beautiful as 

 wax-work, the eyes beiug open i;nd clear. But within 

 twelve hours after their exposure, all these bodies be> 

 gan to decompose, which is an invariable consequence 

 if not counteracted by desiccation. We cannot atlirm, 

 that artificial means had been employed in preserving 

 the semblance of life in any of these instances. But in 

 others it lias not been wanting. Thus a few years ago, 

 the decay of a wooden coffin at Kilsvth in Scotland, 

 having laid open a leaden one to view, some sacrile- 

 gious individuals, in tearing up the latter, removed the 



