393 PRACTICAL ANATOMY. 



of itself ; but in turning about tbe preparation bottle, they will fre- 

 quently twist, and will be with difficulty untwisted, if at all, unless the 

 preparation is heavy. In such cases, therefore, where the threads are 

 long and the preparation light, it will be an advantage to keep the 

 threads asunder midway by a bristle, or some such thing. 



Preparations, when first put into spirits to harden, should be well 

 suspended, so as to keep as much of the form you intend as possible, 

 as this form will not alter afterwards. But there is no occasion to trim 

 the preparation neatly, because this is better done when the preparation 

 is hardened and to be put into fresh spirits ; one can then take off a 

 number of edges, loose parts, and such as have been put out of their 

 place by threads, &c. Preparations being generally taken out of water 

 when put first into spirits, we find that, as the water and spirits 

 do not immediately unite, the loose parts of the preparation chug close 

 to the body of the preparation. If a preparation is put into spirits 

 under such circumstances, it should be moved in the spirit till all these 

 loose, villous or fringy parts hang as they shoidd do. This must be 

 done immediately, because the parts coagulate in their first form, and 

 then it is impossible to make them hang loose afterwards. 



Of Bladders, Sfc. for tying over the Bottle. — The first bladder should 

 be very thin, to allow as little distance as possible between the bottle 

 and the lead, as that is the space through which evaporation passes. 

 It should be a little putrid, so as to have formed a little glue, which 

 allows it to stick much more firmly to the neck of the bottle and to 

 the lead than it otherwise would do. Yery hot water poured upon a 

 bladder will have nearly the same effect. 



Of shifting Preparations. — When preparations are shifted from one 

 spirit to another, they should be first washed in the old spirit to wash 

 away any loose mucus, &c. If the spirit they are taken out of is very 

 dirty and much tinged, the preparations in that case should be steeped 

 in clean spirits for a day or two, till that tinge is taken out, before they 

 are put up in clean spirits. 



Of diseased Parts. — Many diseased parts should not be steeped in 

 water, as the disease is often shown or illustrated by the colour of the 

 part, such as inflamed and mortified parts. These should be put into 

 pretty strong solution of alum, or into pretty strong spirits, to fix and 

 coagulate the juices. 



Of Embalming. 



The embalming a royal personage is done in the following manner. 

 Incisions are made into the thickest part of the thighs, legs, and 

 loins, to allow the fluids to ooze out ; and where the subject is at all 



