The preservation of anatomical material by carbolic acid / Robert J. Terry.

  • Terry, Robert J. (Robert James), 1871-1966.
Date:
1905
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The preservation of anatomical material by carbolic acid / Robert J. Terry. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    /3. 3^/ (2) THE PRESERVATION OF ANATOMICAL MATERIAL BY CARBOLIC ACID.* ROBERT J. TERRY, M.D. Recently Professor Mall,t in another of his excellent articles on the preservation of dissecting material, inclines to the use of vats containing a solution of carbolic acid for storage of cadavers. An underground cemented room to hold the bodies is being con- structed at the Johns Hopkins Anatomical Laboratory and the writer says: “In case cadavers can be kept indefinitely in a 3% solution of carbolic acid, I see no reason why our cold- storage apparatus should be replaced when it is worn out.” This means that a body properly embalmed will not be affected by the temperature of the air and if kept moist and the surface aseptic will be suitable for dissection for an indefinite period. Storage in vats instead of in the refrigeration apparatus, I un- derstand from the paper, was largely the outcome of experiments undertaken to preserve the skin, which is indeed a difficult matter. Immei'sion of the body in a 3 per cent carbolic acid solution was found to preserve the skin best just as injections into the vessels of 3 per cent of the acid to the body weight gave the most satis- factory results in the general embalming. “ It was found that cadavers which were evenly embalmed, epidermis included, with a 3% solution of carbolic acid and wrapped with carbolized vase- line could be kept upon an open shelf in a warm room at Balti- more for at least six months and still be perfectly good for dis- * Reprinted from the Quarterly Bulletin Medical Department Wash- ington University, Vol. IV, No. 1. Aug. 1905. t Mall, Franklin P. Anatomical Material — Its Collection and its Pres, ervation at the Johns Hopkins Anatomical Laboratory. Bulletin of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Vol. XVI, Feb. 1906.