Dead bodies

Necropsy—The gross examination of the organs and tissues of a dead body to determine the cause of death or pathological conditions. 

Dead bodies can be naturally mummified under a variety of environmental conditions, such as (1) at extremely low temperatures, about and below the freezing point of water, in extremely cold regions of the world (2) in very dry and hot environments, as in desert areas and in some caves and rock shelters or (3) under anaerobic (oxygen-free) conditions, as in bogs (see Chapter 8). 

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. 

The half-life of the process in Equation (8.32) is 5570 years. Following death, flora and fauna alike cease to breathe and eat, so the only 14C in a dead body will be the 14C it died with. And because the amounts of 14C decrease owing to radioactive decay, the amount of the 14C in a dead plant or person decreases whereas the amounts of the 12C and 13C isotopes do not. We see why the proportion of 14C decreases steadily as a function of time following the instant of death. 

Amines with low molecular masses have a distinctive fishy smell. Also, many offensive odours of decay and decomposition are caused by amines. For example, cadavarine, H2NCH2CH2CH2CH2CH2NH2, contributes to the odour of decaying flesh. This compound gets its common name from the word cadaver, meaning dead body. ... 

Wow factor This is such a fascinating This would be OK - I would OMDB Over my dead body... 

Obviously, blood does not circulate through a dead body. In rare instances so much gas builds up inside a corpse that the... 

Flannagan, L.M., Butts, J.D., and Anderson, W.H., Fentanyl patches left on dead bodies — potential source of drug for abusers, J. Forensic Set, 41, 320, 1996. 

---