Bibliography. 195 



of dissection, and avoiding the miasmata incident to the decomposition 

 of animal matter; and not unfrequently affection seeks to prolong the 

 period between the death and burial of some relative or friend, espe- 

 cially when this event has occurred at a distance from the residence 

 of the deceased. 



This desideratum is fulfilled by the process of M. Gannal, which 

 has received the sanction of the Academy of Sciences of Paris, and 

 the Royal Academy of Medicine, whose commissioners have satis- 

 factorily demonstrated the great utility and novelty of this mode of 

 preserving dead bodies for dissection, without materially altering the 

 organic tissues, or offering any injury to the instruments of the ope- 

 rator. 



M. Gannal's plan is to inject through the carotid artery, upwards 

 and downwards, a solution of acetate of alumina in water. The ace- 

 tate of alumina is prepared by the acetate of lead and the sulphate of 

 alumina and potass. This acetate of alumina, at 18° of Baume's 

 areometer, and in the quantity of five or six quarts, is sufficient to 

 preserve a body for five or six months, with scarce any alteration in 

 color or appearance ; after which time it desiccates, and the body 

 becomes mummified and stiff. During this time putrefaction is com- 

 pletely arrested, and it is the testimony of M. Serres, of the School 

 of Practical Medicine, that by means of M. Gannal's process they are 

 enabled to prosecute anatomical demonstrations during the summer 

 months the same as in winter, and that with thirty bodies at a time on 

 the tables, no unpleasant odors arose, and seventy pupils could go 

 through with all the operations in August and September, a thing be- 

 fore quite impossible. 



The powerful preservative properties of aluminous salts, have been 

 long known, and were not unfrequently resorted to by the ancients. 

 Some remarkable instances of preservation by such a medium have 

 accidentally occurred in our own country. That distinguished officer 

 of the American revolution, General Wayne, died thirty or forty years 

 ago, at Erie, Pa., and was buried in the vicinity of the lake ; the body 

 was not long since disinterred and removed by his son, who was as- 

 tonished to find it in so perfect a state of preservation, and on exami- 

 nation it was discovered to have been deposited in argillaceous soil 

 strongly impregnated with a solution of alum.* 



The translator. Dr. Harlan, has done a service to the medical pro- 

 fession, and to all naturalists engaged in zoological investigations and 

 collections, in placing this book before them. Whoever reads it can- 

 not fail to observe that M. Gannal has made a great advance in this 

 branch of knowledge beyond the unmeaning empirical balms of his 



* The features were recognized by those who had known Gen. Wayne. 



