The blog of a drunken poet.

gothkat:

When a person dies, hearing is generally the last sense to go. The first sense lost is usually sight. Then follows taste, smell, and touch.

All bodies are taken to the hospital so that a physician can pronounce death. If the person died of known or natural causes, the body is then transported to a funeral home. On the other hand, if the cause is unknown or suspicious, the body is moved to the local medical examiner’s office where an autopsy is performed. The body is checked for bruises, cuts, abrasions, punctures and marks of any kind. During this procedure, the chest cavity is opened and all internal organs are removed. They are then carefully weighed and measured. A long incision is made across the top of the head and the face is peeled down like a mask. An electric saw is used to make a cut around the circumferance of the cranium and the skull cap is removed so that the brain may be excised. It is then weighed and measured as well. If the cause of death is still undetermined, toxicology tests are performed. The chest is sutured or stapled back together. The skull cap is replaced and the face is pulled back up and sewn into place. The body is then sent to a funeral home.

At the funeral home, the body is placed on it’s back on a stainless steel table. The mortician or embalmer inserts tubing into the large vessels on one side of the neck and all bodily fluids are pumped out. Those are replaced with an embalming solution. Some diseases such as tuberculosis may be spread via airborn particles, therefore, all bodily orifices are carefully stuffed with cotton. Plastic cups are placed beneath the lids and lips in order to keep the eyes and mouth closed. Tiny teeth latch onto the interior skin in order to accomplish this. If any facial reconstruction is required it is done at this time. After the body has been prepared, another person is called in to do the make-up. Next, comes the hairdresser. The final step is to dress the body. The suits usually have no back in order to make dressing easier and, I’m sure, to save money on fabric. The pants have no pockets and the body wears no shoes. After this is done, the body is transferred to a casket. 

Now, we discuss the cemetery. Although it is no longer the case, most caskets used to be constructed of wood. Rain would seep into the ground and over a period of time, the wood would rot. When it became brittle enough, the weight of the Earth would crush it and the ground would sink. That is what it means when you hear senior citizens talking about sunken graves. And there are dozens like that here in NC. When that happened, they were usually covered over with more dirt so that the ground would be level. It was more aesthetically pleasing and grounds maintenance was made easier. That doesn’t happen anymore because most caskets are no longer made of wood. Even so, vaults or outer containers are now mandated by law in most, if not all, states. 

Although the body was embalmed, the tissues still contain a great deal of fluid. This is released as decomposition occurs. If a casket is airtight or a ‘sealer’ model, there is no way for this moisture to escape. What is left then is a container full of liquid. In the industry, it’s sometimes referred to as ‘soup’.  Most caskets are not the sealer variety and most vaults are equipped with vents or holes in order to allow drainage. 

That brings us to crypts. These forms of disposition are above ground in buildings known as mausoleums. This is known as a ‘dry burial’. That is because the crypts are vented in the rear in order to allow the evaporation to escape into the outside air. 

(via clarabow)