Corpses

In Christian iconography the grave was pictured as a devouring mouth, an image that was kin to the mouth of Hell. In another emblem from Mylius Philosophia RJbrmata (1622) corpses are shown dispersed over the surface of the earth. Their graves have been opened and carrion birds hover around, picking the flesh oflf the... 

Columbo s De Re Anatomica Libri XV (Venice, 1559). In both of these pictures, the anatomical theatre and its magisterial lector has been abandoned in favour of private study of the corpse by a small peer-group of learned medics. 

C06-0109. When a corpse decomposes, much of the phosphoms in the body is converted to phosphine, PH3, a colorless gas with the odor of rotting fish. Phosphine is a highly reactive molecule that ignites spontaneously in air. Li the graveyard, phosphine that escapes from the ground ignites in air, giving small flashes of flame. These flashes are sometimes attributed to supernatural causes, such as a... 

Musculoskeletal Effects. Information regarding musculoskeletal effects in humans is limited to the findings of bone marrow peritrabecular fibrosis and decreased cellularity in bone samples taken from the corpse of a 64-year-old man who had been exposed to 241 Am (11 years earlier) when an ion-exchange column containing about 100 g of241 Am exploded in his face (Priest et al. 1995). The explosion resulted in... 

Grave wax" is a term for a crumbly, waxy substance called adipocere. Adipocere starts to form on the human body about a month after it is buried. It forms easily on the fatty parts of the body such as the cheeks, abdomen, and buttocks. The waxy adipocere protects the body from further decomposition and has even been found on 10O-year-old exhumed corpses. This buildup occurs when a body is buried in highly basic (alkaline) soil. The waxy substance is produced by a chemical reaction between the basic soil and fats in the body in a process called saponification. Saponification is also the process used in the manufacture of soap. 

On the morrow, it was given out that Henry had died of despair at the loss of his cause. His corpse was shown at Paul s, his face uncovered, that the commons would see and know it to be true. If they ran forward with kerchiefs to soak them in his blood for a holy relic, that did less harm to the realm than if the blood had stayed in his living body. 

Waite, Gary K. Talking animals, preserved corpses and Venusberg the sixteenth-century magical world view and popular conceptions of the spiritualist David Joris (c.1501- 56). Social History (London) 20, no. 2 (May 1995) 137-156. 

In ancient times the Chinese buried jade with their dead in the belief that the stone would prevent decomposition of the corpse. During the Han Dynasty (third century b.c.e. - third century c.e.), for example, pieces of jade were placed in each of the body orifices to ward off decay. It is ironic, there-... 

Beeswax. The most widely used type of wax practically throughout the world has been beeswax in matter of fact, when the word wax is used without further designation, it is generally accepted that it refers to beeswax. Since remote times humans have known the properties of beeswax and have used it for numerous and varied applications. The ancient Egyptians, for example, used beeswax over 6000 years ago to preserve mummies, embedding in wax the wrappings that encased embalmed corpses. They also coated and sealed... 

One of the natural forms of preservation of dead remains is mummification a mummy is simply the body of a dead animal whose tissues have been diage-netically altered but whose morphology and structure have been preserved. Although the term mummification is generally used in relation to the purposeful preservation of dead humans and animals, it actually has a wider meaning - it also refers to the natural preservation of dead corpses (see Fig. 81). 

The terms embalming and mummification are often employed as synonyms to refer to the deliberate preservation of corpses so that they keep, as much as possible, their lifelike appearance. To embalm or mummify a dead body is to preserve it by artificial, chemical means. Dehydratation, the removal of water, for example, provides suitable conditions for the preservation of organic mater in general and of corpses in particular many ancient corpses have been mummified by dehydration. In some ancient societies, after the corpse was dry it was impregnated or filled with aromatic substances, usually known as balms, such as molten resin, pitch, or tar, preventing it from becoming unsightly. 

Millions of corpses, of humans as well as of pet animals, were embalmed and mummified in the period between 4000 b.c.e. and the present time, not only in Egypt but in other parts of the world as well. Ancient Ethiopian tribes mummified their dead in a manner similar to that of the Egyptians. So did the indigenous inhabitants of the Canary Islands, about 900 b.c.e. The ancient Persians and the people of Mesopotamia, on the other hand, preserved corpses by placing them in jars filled with honey or wax to prevent air, and therefore oxygen and bacteria, from accessing the corpses, thus preventing their decay. 

A. From the main road leading from the entrance to the concentration camp, I saw a curious small, rounded, hut-like structure. Since it looked very peculiar, I asked what it was. I was told that it served to cremate the corpses in the case of deaths that had arisen. 

A. Methanol is a product which was planned at Auschwitz. I don t know what year any more. To what extent it is suitable for the burning of corpses is hard to answer. But in my opinion, it is most unsuitable, because methanol bums at a low temperature and is not suitable for burning difficult combustible materials. 

Q. The prosecution wishes to offer one of these weekly reports — NI 14515 — which states that a chamber for 30 to 40 corpses was constructed for the accommodation of the inmates at Monowitz. Can you explain why a mortuary for 30 to 40 corpses was required at Monowitz ... 

Biosamples, taken from living people (mainly blood and urine) and from corpses during autopsy (blood, urine, vitreous humor, bile, and almost any tissue and organ), are analyzed for substances that are toxicologically relevant. Alternative matrices like hair and saliva are also considered for determination of illicit chugs. 

Rather than carry a corpse, a quite different animal kidnaps a living organism as its chemical defense. This is the strategy of a tiny marine creature called an amphipod, a member of a widespread order (Amphipoda) of small crustaceans. The tens of thousands of their species represent an assortment of types and lifestyles, many looking like tiny shrimp, to which they are related. Marine amphi-pods are one of the invertebrate success stories and can be found in almost all saltwater environments, feeding on plants, animals, or detritus. Many are microscopic or nearly so. Some are at home in... 

---