Talk:Embalming

Removed link to "Everything you need to know about embalming" Site hosted by confessed non-embalmer and contains no new information and in fact very scant considering the title.

Removed latest piece to introduction about lack of legal requirement on embalming in North America. Legal necessities of embalming too large a topic for such a simple piece, was poorly written and didn't fit in the opening passage, especially given it's total focus on North America. Also lack of sources...

Embalming is not done with balsam, nor it is particularly allied with taxidermy save in a very broad sense. The "balm" in embalming refers to the unguents used by ancient practioners and not any sort of calming metaphysical experience

Trivia Point

Quoted in this article under Trivia: Easily the most famous embalmed body of the 20th century is Lenin, who continues to draw crowds to see him decades after his death. I disagree. Chairman Mao's embalmed tomb in Tian'an Men Square in Beijing, China is extremely popular as well.

Changed from "Easily" to "Perhaps". Is Mao's actualy body on display?

Casket/Coffin

Casket is merely a euphamism for coffin used by the funeral industry. Whether the container is oblong or hexagonal has no bearing on the correct name.

This is incorrect. All boxes for the dead are technically coffins but is most often used to describe those designed with the tapered human form while a casket is a coffin specifically rectangular or hexagonal. To call them the same is the say that a sedan and stationwagon are the same because the are both cars.

Why was the article on embalming chemicals deleted?

In the United States, within the funeral industry, the word casket is the accepted term. There may be a feeling amongst us (morticians) in which we feel it differentiates us from European practices and their vernacular.

Caskets in the United States do not taper at the feet or head. Most are rectangular in shape, therefore the word casket is most appropriate.

Did someone go at this article with an axe?

There is a copious amount of text missing, including interlanguage links. It seems to me someone took a big hatchet to the page and did it sloppily. --Agamemnon2 03:29, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Fixed. --Agamemnon2 03:33, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Modesty Cloth

Was deleted as "rarely used". Both Mayer and Strubbs' books recommend it, it is taught as a standard is all embalming courses I have had contact with and is used clearly visible in the Dodge Company training videos at semninars. Most embalmers I have spoken with, including people from Australia, Canada, the US and New Zealand use it commonly. Perhaps confusion with an autopsy, where it is not used at all.

I am a funeral directing student and have worked in several different funeral homes over the years and not once have we used a modesty cloth. While it is probably recommended, it is something that is rarely used - despite what the books may say. T. White 07:01, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

The Pope and Myrrh

Where does this rumour come from? It needs a source or must be deleted...

hell no

question about embalming

A few years ago, a friend told me that he once saw a photo of a woman who was lying in her casket with her lips slightly opened but her teeth sealed together, would that ever be possible.

and also as I once saw a film where a woman was lying in her casket in a strapless evening dress therefore the dress covers upto just below her armpit area, although it is a film, as it shows no visible scars, can that ever be true in real life, if so whereabout at her body is she is more likely to be cut at

also who make the decision to dress the deceased and what they are allowed or not allowed to dress the decease in

Answers to Questions

Yes very possible. The mouth is generally closed with either suture or wire that is hidden from view from the opening of the mouth that closes the teeth together. However the lips are most commonly held together from either natural closure lines, kalip or glue with ther teeth not shown although with an overbite or dehydraton the lips may open slightly.

The body is most commonly embalmed via the right common carotid artery (where the vampire bites in movies) but can be done via the axillary artery in the axillary space (armpit) or the femoral artery in the leg. It is a combination of the embalmers preference and training as well as other considerations such as what clothes are to be worn. Most embalmers can cosmetise a incision scar to near invisibility in any case.

The next of kin or enduring power of attorney in Western legal consideration own the body for all purposes and may dress it as they see fit, although most funeral directors will advise families if special consideration needs to be made, such as having the chest area covered in post-mortem cases to hide the very large scars made at autopsy.

–== Test for Death ==

Standard embalming practise emphasises a test for death be performed and it is not merely a historical act. For the most part it is an almost unconcious act, done automatically, but still an intergral part of starting the embalming process, all the more notable as in some countries (such as New Zealand) embalmers will routinely embalm the body before the doctor will write the death certificate. dressing the deceased in some cultures is required to be conducted by family members only and in some religions it has to be the same sex person who dresses the deceased.

the funeral home i worked for is stifling the embalming practice. the embalmer only embalm bodies with quarter of the technique. i want to be somewhere i can explore the embalming process and feel free with the dead.

Article Image

Would just like to point out that the main image used in the 'History of Embalming' section of this article as an example of an embalmed Ancient Egyptian mummy is actually the British Museum's sand-mummy known as 'Ginger'. Ginger's body was mummified through being buried in sand in very dry, arid, desert conditions, and not through any chemical means of embalming or deliberate mummification. Therefore, it doesn't seem to be a very accurate picture to have anywhere in an article primarily about deliberate or chemical methods of corpse preservation. Can anyone come up with a better example to use instead?

Embalmer vs. Funeral Director vs. Mortician

The way that the "Who is an embalmer" reads is actually more correct than the one that keeps being put back up. I know this because I am a licensed Funeral Director AND Embalmer and have been so for 11 years. All I did was add one line. The verbage that was being used was clumsy and somewhat vague. It also was put in a header line that made the statement run to the right for about two pages instead of actually following the format of the article.

Cleanup Clothing Section

Cleaned up the section on clothing. It was written as an opinion piece and not so much as an article. Feel free to add anything involving the customs of various countries. The way I edited was based on what happens in the United States and I tried to keep it geographically neutral. Any further additions should probably be sub-headed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Syncav (talk • contribs) 13:59, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Jacob

Jacob was embalmed while he died in Egypt. JeromeNelson 05:57, 25 October 2007 (UTC)

"Faisal should be murdered"

The third last sentence in the "History" section contains the following dubious sentence: "Faisal should be murdered by arsenic poisoning could claim that the levels of poison in the deceased's body were a result of embalming post mortem rather than evidence of homicide."

75.152.153.169 (talk) 20:11, 23 November 2007 (UTC)