ADIPOCIRE. 



of the Materia Meclica. It lias, however, 

 fallen into disrepute. 



ADIPOCIRE, is a term formed of udeps, 

 fat, and cera, wax, and denotes a sub- 

 stance, the nature and origin of which are 

 thus explained. The changes which ani- 

 mal matter undergoes in its progress to- 

 wards total decomposition have been^ for 

 many obvious reasons, but little attended 

 to. But an opportunity of this kind was 

 offered at Paris in 1786 and 1787, when 

 the old burial ground of the Innocens 

 was laid out for building upon, in conse- 

 quence of which, the surface soil, and the 

 animal remains contained therein, were 

 removed. The cemetry, having been 

 for ages appropriated to the reception of 

 the dead, in one of the most populous 

 districts of Paris, was eminently well 

 calculated to exhibit the various process- 

 es of animal decomposition ; another fa- 

 vourable circumstance was, that it con- 

 tained several of those large pits (fosses 

 communes) in which the bodies of the 

 poor are deposited by hundreds. These 

 pits are cavities 30 feet deep, with an area 

 of 20 feet square, in which the shells con- 

 taining the bodies are closely packed in 

 rows over each other, without any inter- 

 mediate earth, and with only a slight su- 

 perficial covering of soil, not more than a 

 foot thick : each pit contained from 1200 

 to 1500 bodies, and may be considered as 

 amass of animal matter of the dimensions 

 above mentioned. M. M. Foucroy and 

 Thouret were present at the opening of 

 several of these receptacles , and it is 

 from a memoir by the former of these, 

 that the principal part of this article is 

 composed. The first pit that was exam- 

 ined had been filled and closed up fifteen 

 years before ; on opening some of the 

 coffins (for the wood was still quite sound, 

 only tinged of a yellow colour) the bodies 

 were found within shrunk, so as to leave 

 a considerable vacant space in the upper 

 part of the coffin, and flattened, as if they 

 had been subject to a strong compression; 

 the linen which covered them adhered 

 firmly; and upon being removed, present- 

 ed to view only irregular masses of a 

 soft, ductile, greyish-white matter, appa- 

 rently intermediate between fat and wax; 

 the bones were enveloped in this, and 

 were found to be very brittle. The bo- 

 dies, thus changed, being but little offen- 

 sive to the smell, a great number were 

 dug up and minutely examined : in some 

 this alteration had, as yet, only partially 

 taken place, the remains of muscular fi- 

 bres being still visible; but where the 



VOL. I. 



conversion had been complete, the bones 

 throughout the whole body were found co- 

 vered with this grey substance, generally 

 soft and ductile, sometimes dry, but always 

 readily separating into porous cavernous 

 fragments, without the slightest trace of 

 muscles, membranes, vessels, tendons, or 

 nerves: the ligaments of the articulations 

 had been in like manner changed : the 

 connexion between the bones was destroy- 

 ed, and these last had become so yielding, 

 that the grave-diggers, in order to remove 

 the bodies more conveniently, rolled each 

 upon itself from head to heels, without 

 any difficulty. According to the testi- 

 mony of these men, to whom the facts 

 just mentioned had been long familiar, 

 this conversion of animal matter is never 

 observed in those bodies that are interred 

 singly, but always takes place in the fos- 

 ses communes: to effect this change, 

 nearly three years are required. The 

 soapy matter of latest formation is soft, 

 very ductile, light, and spongy, and con- 

 tains water; in 30 or 40 years it becomes 

 much drier, more brittle, and assumes 

 the appearance of dense laminae; and 

 where the surrounding earth has been 

 drier than usual, it is sometimes semi- 

 transparent, of a granulated texture, 

 brittle, and bears a considerable resem- 

 blance to wax. Animal matter, having- 

 once passed into this stage of decomposi- 

 tion, appears to resist for a long time any 

 further alteration: some of these pits 

 that had been closed above 40 years were, 

 upon examination, found to be little else 

 than a solid mass of soapy matter ; nor 

 is it yet ascertained, how long in common 

 circumstances it would continue unchang- 

 ed, the burial ground of the Inndcens be. 

 ing so small in comparison to the popula- 

 tion of the district, as to require each pit 

 in 30 or 40 years to be emptied of its 

 contents, in order to receive a new suc- 

 cession of bodies : it appears, however, 

 that the ulterior changes depend in a 

 great measure on the quantity of moisture 

 draining through the mass. From the 

 history of this singular substance, we 

 proceed to an examination of its chemical 

 properties. It was first, however, puri- 

 fied by gently heating in an earthen ves- 

 sel, till it became of a pasty consistence, 

 and then rubbed through a fine hair 

 sieve, by which means the hair, small 

 bones, and remains of the muscular fibre, 

 were separated with tolerable exactness. 

 It this state, being exposed in an earthen 

 vessel to the naked fire, it readily became 

 soft, but did not liquify without consider.- 

 D 



