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 The sixth edition is dedicated in remembrance of
the more than 4.5 million souls worldwide
who lost their lives from complications of SARS-CoV-2.
We honor their memory and console all who mourn them.

An abundance of gratitude to the first responders;

emergency technicians, firefighters, police officers,
health care professionals,
and countless essential frontline workers.

In heartfelt appreciation of the last responders;

embalmers and funeral directors,
organ and tissue recovery teams,
coroners and medical examiners,
cemetery, crematory, and livery personnel,
bereavement care specialists,
and countless essential support staff.
Contents

Editorial Consultants
Contributors
Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments

PART I. The Theory and Practice of Embalming

1. Origins of Embalming and Reverent Care of the Dead
2. Fundamentals of Embalming
3. Personal Health and Regulatory Standards
4. The Preparation Room
5. Death: Agonal and Postmortem Changes
6. Embalming Chemicals
7. Use of Embalming Chemicals
8. Anatomical Considerations
9. Embalming Vessel Sites and Selections
10. Embalming Analysis
11. Preparation of the Body Prior to Arterial Injection
12. Injection and Drainage Techniques
13. Distribution and Diffusion of Arterial Solution
14. Cavity Embalming
15. Treatments after Arterial Injection
16. General Age Considerations
17. Preparation of Autopsied Bodies
18. Preparation of Organ and Tissue Donors
19. Delayed Embalming
20. Discolorations
21. Moisture Considerations
22. Vascular Considerations
23. Effect of Drugs on the Embalming Process
24. Selected Conditions
25. Viewing without Embalming, Delayed Viewing, Re-embalming,
and Human Remains Shipping

PART II. The Origin and History of Embalming

Edward C. Johnson, Gail R. Johnson, and Melissa Johnson

PART III. History of Modern Restorative Art

Edward C. Johnson, Gail R. Johnson, and Melissa J. Williams

PART IV. Selected Readings

1. Summary of Guidelines Submitted to OSHA from the National
Funeral Directors Association Committee on Infectious Disease,
Summer, 1989
2. Mortuary Care of Armed Forces Service Members. From:
Standards for Department of Defense (DOD) Mortuary Facilities
and for Drafting a Performance Work Statement (PWS) for DOD
Contracted Mortuary Services, March 2019
3. Identification: An Essential Part of What We Do
 Michael Kubasak
4. The Mathematics of Embalming Chemistry: Part I. A Critical
Evaluation of “One-Bottle” Embalming Chemical Claims
Jerome F. Frederick, PhD
5. The Measurement of Formaldehyde Retention in the Tissues of
Embalmed Bodies
John Kroshus, Joseph McConnell, and Jay Bardole
6. The Two-Year Fix: Long-Term Preservation for Delayed Viewing
Kerry Don Peterson
7. Occupational Exposure to Formaldehyde in Mortuaries
L. Lamont Moore, CIH, CSP and Eugene C. Ogrodnik, MS
8. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Formaldehyde (Is It Good or
Is It Evil?)
Maureen Robinson
9. The Preparation Room: Ventilation
Jack Adams, CFSP
10. Risk of Infection and Tracking of Work-related Infectious
Diseases in the Funeral Industry
Susan Salter Davidson, MS, MT (ASCP) and William H. Benjamin,
Jr., PhD
11. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: A Comprehensive Guide for
Healthcare Personnel, Section 3: Information for Embalmers
Curtis D. Rostad, CFSP
12. Hepatitis from A to G
Kim Collison
13. The Increase in MRSA and VRE
Mike Cloud, Jr.
14. The Antimicrobial Activity of Embalming Chemicals and Topical
Disinfectants on the Microbial Flora of Human Remains
Peter A. Burke and A. L. Sheffner
15. The Microbiologic Evaluation and Enumeration of Postmortem
Specimens from Human Remains
Gordon W. Rose, PhD and Robert N. Hockett, MS
16. Professional Hair Care for Human Remains
Darla A. Tripoli, CO, LFD, CFSP
17. Restricted Cervical Injection as a Primary Injection Method
Ben Whitworth
18. Enhance Emaciated Features Arterially Using Split Injection and
Restricted Drainage
Sharon L. Gee
19. Embalming—United Kingdom and European
Peter J. Ball, FBIE
20. The Art of Embalming and its Purpose
Ron Hast
21. Embalming COVID-19: Infection Control and Storage
Jzyk S. Ennis, PhD
22. Cosmetic Airbrushing of Un-embalmed Decedents
Daryl M. Hammond

Glossary
Index
Editorial Consultants

Jeffrey P. Bellefleur, MD
Attending Physician
William Beaumont Hospital
Royal Oak, Michigan

Gary J. Brown, MA, LFD

Instructor, Funeral Services Program
St. Petersburg College
Pinellas Park, Florida

Duff D. Chamberlain
Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director
Taylor, Michigan

Jzyk S. Ennis, PhD

Instructor, Funeral Service Education
Jefferson State Community College
Birmingham, Alabama

Dedrick A. Gantt, CFSP

Instructor, Funeral Service Education
Piedmont Technical College
Greenwood, South Carolina

Roger Husband, CFSP

Licensed Embalmer and Funeral Director
Husband Family Funeral Home
Westland, Michigan
Barry T. Lease, PhD
Program Director
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Stephanie Bookout Sommer

Funeral Director and Medical Examiner Liaison
Gift of Life Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Contributors

Brytany Bailey, RN, BSN

Tissue Recovery Manager
Gift of Life Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan

Thomas J. Buist, MBIE

Mortuary Science Licensee
The Dodge Company
USA

Mike Cloud, CFSP

Licensed Embalmer
Cloud Mortuary Services
Whitesburg, Georgia

Melissa A. Cyfers, BS, MS, MA

Program Director
Fine Mortuary College
Norwood, Massachusetts

Christopher L. Donhost
Donor Recovery Liaison
Sierra Donor Services
Sacramento, California

Kevin A. Drobish, BS, CFC

Administrative Coordinator
Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jzyk S. Ennis, PhD
Instructor, Funeral Service Education
Jefferson State Community College
Birmingham, Alabama

Dave Gifford
Licensed Funeral Director - Class 1
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada

Daryl M. Hammond
Licensed Funeral Director and Embalmer
Jefferson, GA

Kendra E. Harris
Funeral Home/Medical Examiner Liaison
The Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland
Baltimore, Maryland

Christina Tursi Holmes, CFSP

Clinical Instructor, Piedmont Technical College
Greenwood, South Carolina
Funeral Home Liaison, We Are Sharing Hope SC
Charleston, South Carolina

Edward Karber
General Manager
Denver Personal Care Center
Denver, Colorado

Alain Koninckx, MBIE, CFSP

Licensed Embalmer
Namur, Belgium
Haley Linklater
Body Bequeathal Coordinator/Lab Supervisor
Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology
Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
The University of Western Ontario
London, Ontario, Canada

Cody L. Lopasky, MA, CFSP

Associate Dean of Academics and Distance Education Coordinator
Commonwealth Institute of Funeral Service
Houston, Texas

Andrew Palombella
Prosector and Lab Demonstrator
Education Program in Anatomy
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Jasmine Rockarts
Prosector and Lab Demonstrator
Education Program in Anatomy
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Shawna R. Rodabaugh, MBA

Program Coordinator of Embalming and Anatomical Laboratories
Fayetteville Technical Community College
Fayetteville, North Carolina

Curpri Sanders, MPH, CTBS

Referral Intake Manager
Funeral Director and Medical Examiner Liaison
Gift of Life Michigan
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Gabriel Schauf
Program Coordinator and Instructor
Milwaukee Area Technical College
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Ben Whitworth, CFSP, Dip FD, LMBIFD, MBIE, MEAE, MNZEA

Education & Technical Support
The MazWell Group Ltd
Whitchurch, Hampshire, United Kingdom

Rickey Williams II, BSEE, MBA

Instructor and Clinical Coordinator
Gupton-Jones College of Funeral Service
Decatur, Georgia
Past Contributors, 1990-2012

The following individuals contributed to the development of this

textbook, either at its inception or throughout the five editions.

John Alsobrooks, MS
R. Stanley Barnes
Daniel Buchanan, MA
Jeff Chancellor
Paul Cimiluca, BS, MA
William Counce, PhD
Emmet Crahan
Kenneth Curl, PhD
James M. Dorn, MS
Donald E. Douthit, MS
Dan Flory, PhD
Vernie R. Fountain
Jerome F. Fredrick, PhD
Sharon L. Gee, BS
Arthur Grabowski
Marvin E. Grant, Med
David G. Hicks, MSEd
Barbara M. Hopkins, PhD
Patty S. Hutcheson
Edward C. Johnson
Gail R. Johnson
Melissa Johnson, CFSP
Ralph Klicker, MSEd
John M. Kroshus, PhD
Michael Kubasak
Michael Landon
Daniel Lawlor
Terry McEnany, MA
Michael C. Mathews, MA
Robert G. Mayer, CFSP, FBIE
Nathan Minnich
Louis Misantone
Stuart E. Moen, MA
Frank P. Nagy, PhD
Shun Newbern
Robert W. Ninker
Eugene C. Ogrodnik
John B. Pludeman
George H. Poston, PhD
Leandro Rendon, MS
N. Thomas Rogness, MA
Gordon W. Rose, PhD
Curtis D. Rostad
Shelly J. Roy
C. Richard Sanders
Donald W. Sawyer
Dale E. Stroud
Brenda L. Tersine, MA
John R. Trout
Todd W. Van Beck, MA
Michael Weakland
Karl Wenzel
Larry Whitaker
Kenneth R. Whittaker
Alta Williams
Foreword

“You must express your grief at the death of a loved one,

and then you must move on. The eyes of the dead must be
gently closed and the eyes of the living must be gently
opened.”

Jan Brugler, 1973

October 1990, the National Funeral Directors Association 109th

convention was held in Louisville, Kentucky. On the opening day, a
book signing was held for three primary authors/editors who had
published new books relevant to funeral service. Included was
Howard C. Raether, Michael Kubasak, and myself, Robert Mayer. As
the line formed in front of me by persons who had purchased,
Embalming: History, Theory and Practice, the thought suddenly
struck me, What is appropriate to write as greeting in a book whose
subject is embalming?
Dr. Gordon Bigelow, Executive Director of the American Board of
Funeral Service Education, had agreed, at my insisting, to place the
Jan Brugler quote above in his foreword in that first 1990 edition. At
the signings what to say was simple . . . .it was merely a matter of
drawing the purchaser’s attention to the quote, for indeed, it states
the purpose and mission of funeral service. That Brugler quote was
later included in all four editions that would follow during my time as
primary author/editor. In addition, I usually added the statement
“the learning never ends!”
This sixth edition of Embalming: History, Theory and Practice, is
the culmination of a joint project first begun by the American Board
of Funeral Service Education and the National Funeral Directors
Association in 1984. These groups identified the need for a
completely new instructional and reference work on embalming.
Start-up seed monies were provided by the Heritage Club of the
NFDA. Three dozen funeral service educators, practitioners and
suppliers made an early draft of twenty-five chapters, portions of
which were later incorporated in the final 1990 first edition. In 2012,
the fifth edition contained the names of over fifty contributors! The
text has grown from a national to an internationally recognized
definitive teaching and reference work.
Dr. Bigelow’s foreword in that first edition also stated, “This book
covers embalming as no other book ever has . . . useful as a
teaching text, historical or technical reference for the funeral service
practitioner or the lay reader.” All six editions have contained the
core curriculum and glossary of the subject of embalming, drafted by
the American Board of Funeral Service Education. Course content is
reviewed on a set cycle of every seven years. Initial drafts of this
uniform curriculum originated as early as the Second Teachers
Institute held in 1947 in Pittsburgh. This latest edition continues to
include the histories of embalming and restorative arts written and
updated over the years by Edward and Gail Johnson and their
daughter Melissa Johnson-Williams. Each edition has included a
library of Selected Readings - current topics and in-depth studies
with relevance to embalming and the mortuary arts and sciences
representing a diverse group of authors.
This edition returns to the original format of the first two editions
which covered only the topic of embalming. Both sections on
restorative art treatments and mortuary cosmetology have been
removed. These subjects are best covered in greater depth within
available texts related directly to these topics.
Those who are familiar with previous editions of this textbook will
find a new look in many respects. A fresh new look begins with all
new color photographs. This is the first full color edition. The first
four editions contained only black-and-white photographs, the fifth
edition had simply a color center insert of ten pages. The chapter
objectives have been revised. Additional questions and terminology
have been added to Concepts for Study in each chapter.
Instrumentation and OSHA materials have been updated. A greater
emphasis has been placed on the use of personal protective
equipment. Alternative methods of body disposition are presented.
Finally, a completely new chapter on the preparation of organ and
tissue donors.
The preparation of this sixth edition has been in the capable
hands of Sharon Gee-Mascarello, licensed embalmer and funeral
director in Michigan for 35 years, and instructor for nearly a quarter
of a century with Wayne State University Mortuary Science Program;
teaching embalming theory and practice her entire tenure. She has
also taught in the areas of mortuary cosmetology and presentation
of the body, world religions and coordinated student practicum
rotations. Numerous times Professor Gee-Mascarello has received
the Part-Time Faculty Award, nominated by her students as their
outstanding instructor and by the University. Her classroom
experience makes her thoroughly familiar with the American Board
embalming syllabus and curriculum and current literature in the
funeral service profession.
Since 1985, she has been associated with several Michigan
funeral homes serving in the capacity of funeral director, manager,
and OSHA compliance officer. She continues in the capacity of
consultant, funeral director and embalmer for several funeral
establishments. This allows her contact with families, firm
employees, and student interns, as well as hundreds of former
students.
She is a recognized name in funeral service continuing education
circles being called for presentations by a diverse number of funeral
organizations in a number of states. She is an engaging and
informative presenter and a skilled writer, having contributed
technical articles to a variety of professional journals. She served on
the editorial committee for the fourth and fifth editions of this
textbook. Most recently, she produced and was principal
demonstrator for video materials used for the distance learning
program at Wayne State, including a 15-minute “Introduction to
Embalming” video.
 Her curriculum vitae lists memberships in local, state, national
and international funeral service organizations; including
membership in the nationally recognized Academy of Professional
Funeral Service Practitioners (APFSP), carrying the recognized status
acronym CFSP (Certified Funeral Service Professional).
Education is obtained by various disciplines, those who practice
the mortuary art and science of embalming and its related subjects
become educated and skilled by a variety of sources – classroom
instruction – mentors – practical experience – seminars – internet
discussion groups – virtual seminars – written journal articles –
tutors – preceptor/intern/apprentice relationships and of course
textbooks. Education is a shared experience, as each of the
aforesaid demonstrate. Textbooks contain the principles and
standards of a particular subject. This revised sixth edition of
Embalming: History, Theory and Practice, under the authorship and
editorial direction of Sharon Gee-Mascarello gives funeral service
practitioners and future funeral service practitioners a valuable tool
in the mortuary art and science in the care of the deceased human
body as practiced in the early years of the twenty-first century.

Robert G. Mayer
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
February 2021
Preface

Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice is considered the gold

standard in embalming education. The previous five volumes of work
by Robert G. Mayer formed an indelible impression upon generations
of embalmers, myself included. I am honored to serve as primary
author and editor of this sixth edition by appointment of the
American Board of Funeral Service Education.
Preparation for the sixth edition of this textbook began pre-
pandemic, a phrase now deeply rooted in our collective experience.
Before any of us could fathom the devastating impact of the novel
coronavirus, we planned for future events and lived our daily lives in
the usual fashion. When death occurred, we engaged the funeral
home, planned the memorial event, and invited the attendance of
family and friends. But COVID-19 upended plans for honoring our
dead and derailed timelines for fulfilling final disposition. Public
health concerns questioned the feasibility of indoor public gatherings
and imposed attendance limitations for funerals and homegoing
celebrations. Physical distancing measures further restricted human
contact. All gestures of consolation were discouraged in favor of
contactless greetings. The hand shaking and hand holding, extended
bear hugs, and tearful embraces reduced to a swift bump of an
elbow or fist. Touch became something to avoid. The lowering of
heads and closing of eyes conveyed healing emotions that defied
being stifled.
Initially, even the embalming of the dead seemed taboo. As we
yearned for physical connection with the ones we love, we also
longed to be present with the ones we had lost. Adaptation and
resilience in the face of adversity prevails. The funeral professionals
found a way. The embalmers understand how embalming chemistry
supports the inactivation of viral pathogens and slows the
progression of natural postmortem changes. Personal protective
equipment coupled with infectious embalming protocols provided
safeguards. Embalming paused time so that necessary decisions
could be made for the dead. Poet W.H. Auden ordered, “stop all the
clocks...bring out the coffin, let the mourners come”. Perhaps
Auden’s lament to pause time and gather together for one final
moment with the deceased punctuates this significant benefit of
embalming. Time is an elusive commodity in ordinary times. During
a pandemic, time shared for any reason is priceless. Gathering for
somber or celebratory farewells and time afforded for one last look
upon the faces of the beloved is both priceless and essential.
Completion of this manuscript surpassed two years. During the
sanctioned quarantine I consumed the daily barrage of virus
updates. There were few opportunities to leave the house. Sporadic
getaways were confined to the essential work of directing funerals,
embalming, and periodic quests to find needed provisions. A self-
imposed sequestering followed the quarantine. I reviewed all five
previous editions of this textbook, poured over curriculum outlines,
read countless journal articles, attended webinars, and kept contact
with colleagues. Total immersion in matters of death care definitively
set my belief in the merits of embalming and in the significance of
ceremony.
Pandemic aftershocks appear inexhaustible. Global mourning is
palpable. Life and death rituals may be altered indefinitely. Yet, allied
death care professionals continue to honor those lives lived and
function with resilience beyond the challenges. The embalmers
continue to care for the dead; to bathe and groom them, provide
minimal care and embalming care, and restore a comforting
expression to each of the quieted faces. The funeral directors
continue to facilitate the final events of memorialization and
faithfully lay the dead to rest. I have never been so proud of Funeral
Service.

Sharon L. Gee-Mascarello
Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
April 2021
Acknowledgments

I am indebted to so many people who have given valued counsel

and made worthy recommendations during the preparation of the
sixth edition of Embalming: History, Theory, and Practice. Without
your input and unwavering support of this project, the final outcome
would not have been possible. Accepting the role of editor for a
textbook that is revered by embalmers around the globe is a
daunting task that has proven more rewarding than I could have
ever imagined. I am honored to follow in the footsteps of Robert G.
Mayer who is widely admired and considered a legendary figure in
embalming education. Bob, the privilege of stewarding your
collection of work means more to me than I can properly express.
To the members of the American Board of Funeral Service
Education who granted me this unparalleled career opportunity, I am
grateful to each of you. A special mention to Mark Evely for
encouraging me to apply for the position. My sincerest thanks to
Robert C. Smith, III for your unwavering patience when a number of
unexpected curveballs temporarily affected the book’s progress.
Special appreciation to Deb Tolboom who fielded my phone calls and
emails and forwarded updates to the membership. With utmost
admiration I recognize the members of the Editorial Committee: Jzyk
S. Ennis, Gary J. Brown, Dedrick A. Gantt, and Barry T. Lease. These
fine educators volunteered countless hours to review the final
manuscript. Your comments were helpful and your contributions
enhance the overall narrative.
My heartfelt thank you to Melissa Johnson Williams for adding
new content to The Origin and History of Embalming and History of
Modern Restorative Art chapters. These historical accounts were
written in collaboration with Melissa’s parents, Edward C. and Gail R.
Johnson, both former educators. These works have continued as a
mainstay of the book since the second edition.
 I am indebted to Dr. Jeffrey Bellefleur for his medical perspective
and for climbing aboard and staying for the duration of this wild ride.
Dr. Jeff’s deep appreciation of funeral directors and embalmers
prompted him to read the fifth edition cover to cover. Many engaging
conversations ultimately shaped some areas of the narrative to
better suit student readers.
Special thanks to the following individuals who made worthwhile
suggestions: James Omar Clea, James Norris, and Sandra Zampogna
of Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science (Class of 2019); Emily
Allera, Skyler Barnett, Jessica Hoover, Andrew “Owen” Lorence,
Geoffrey Muir, Kayden Nachtyr, Haley Simpson, and Jillian Thompson
of Wayne State University Mortuary Science Program (Class of
2019); and Amanda Chanske, Kylie Strong, and Paige Williams (Class
of 2020).
I am very appreciative of the following individuals who created
original artwork for this edition: Tim Lawlis for the outstanding cover
design, Kristine Miller for color renditions of various suturing
methods, Darryl G. Shreve for updating the body outline in the
decedent care report, and Cherie Mascarello for illustrating the
longitudinal vessel incision. Adding a full complement of new color
photographs involved an enormous collaborative effort. Abundant
thanks to Kevin A. Drobish and Barry T. Lease of Pittsburgh Institute
of Mortuary Science; to Kevin for supplying needed photos on
demand and to Dr. Lease for sharing your library of images. Photos
of the Denver Personal Care Center were made possible by Vern
Pixley and Edward Karber of Dignity Memorial. Thank you to Chris
Janowiak, Fred Voran, Jr., and the late Dick Kaatz for allowing me
access to photograph your newly-appointed preparation rooms.
Thank you to Tim Collison of the Dodge Company and Alicia Carr
of Kelco Supply Company for supplying the embalming instrument
images. And to the following companies for providing images of the
various embalming machines: the Dodge Company, Frigid Fluid
Company, Pierce Chemical/The Wilbert Group, The Embalmers
Supply Company (ESCO), NoAyr Funeral Supply, Inc., and Radical
Scientific Pvt. Ltd.
 A warm expression of gratitude to the individuals who invited us
to share in their personal loss through the images appearing in the
first chapter: Roger Husband, Keith Humes, ShaQuita Johnson, and
Chris Belcher; Duff Chamberlain in memory of his wife, Roxane
Benavides; Dr. Jeff Wilner in memory of his mother, Marjorie Wilner;
and Aftyn (D’Anthony) Carroll in memory of her father, Charles
Vallette.
A very special thank you to Stephanie Sommer and Curpri
Sanders of Gift of Life Michigan. Many of the organ and tissue
recovery photos are credited to Curpri. Stephanie contributed
updated information regarding the donation process, reviewed
seemingly endless drafts of the chapter, and regularly checked in
with me for progress updates. I am also grateful for contributions
from Duff D. Chamberlain, Christopher L. Donhost, Kendra E. Harris,
and Christina Tursi Holmes.
I am grateful to the Ohio Embalmers Association for supporting
my trip to Chicago for the 2019 National Funeral Directors
Association International Convention and Expo. I attended every
technical seminar and engaged in conversation with each of the
presenters. Listening to colleagues share experiences and offer best
practices has yielded great benefit in the preparation of this sixth
edition.
The team at McGraw Hill deserves accolades. Thank you to my
editors, Michael Weitz, Kim Davis, and Sydney Keen for expertly
navigating a first-timer through the textbook publishing process. And
to Becky Hainz-Baxter for securing permissions from a myriad of
contributors and serving as yet another pair of eyes to review this
manuscript. I am grateful to Warishree Pant for endless patience
during the compositing amidst numerous edits.
I am blessed with the truest friends. Thank you for an endless
supply of encouragement and inspiration. Your words nourished me.
I crossed the finish line in large part because of my wife, Cherie. I
am so fortunate to share my life with the person I adore and admire
most. And I feel so proud to share this significant accomplishment
with you.
Sharon L. Gee-Mascarello
Saint Clair Shores, Michigan
May 2021
 PART I

The Theory and Practice of Embalming

 CHAPTER 1

Origins of Embalming and Reverent

Care of the Dead

CHAPTER OVERVIEW
■ Definition of Embalming
■ Origins of Burial and Embalming
■ Reverent Care of the Dead
■ Universal Customs and Rituals
■ Viewing of the Body
■ Ethical Performance Standards

EMBALMING DEFINED
Embalming is defined by the American Board of Funeral Service
Education (ABFSE) as:
“the chemical treatment of the dead human body to reduce
the presence and growth of microorganisms, to temporarily
inhibit organic decomposition, and to restore the dead human
body to an acceptable physical appearance.”
Embalming suspends the natural decomposition processes in the
deceased human body by creating a temporary state of preservation.
Embalming also suspends time for completion of the necessary and
numerous details that follow a death. Author and Editor Ron Hast
stated, “Embalming is the best-known method of presenting the
decedent well through the memorial event.”
BURIAL AND EMBALMING
Anthropological studies demonstrate that burial of the dead is the
oldest of all religious customs.
According to Edward C. Johnson, embalming and funeral practice
historian, “Embalming as a means of artificially preserving the dead
human body is one of humankind’s longest practiced arts.”1
Reverence for the dead is deeply ingrained in human nature and is
the basic ethical axiom of the funeral service profession. Current
mourning customs, cultural practices, and religious ceremonies
observe varying forms of preparation and presentation of the dead
body.
The earliest known Homo sapiens performed deliberate, ritualistic
burials. Reverent care is suggested in the practices of Homo
sapiens neanderthalensis. Researchers discovered the remains of
eight adult and two infant Neanderthals in the Shanidar Cave of
northern Iraq. Some of the dead were adorned with elk antlers and
shoulder blades. Whole clumps of flower pollen found in the cave
suggest the placement of entire flowering plants. Flowers likely
served two purposes: as medicinal offerings and to mask unpleasant
corpse odors. Stone tools were also discovered. Neanderthal behavior
is linked to an instinctual drive to provide care for the dead.
In ancient Egypt, the dead were embalmed according to religious
custom. An exhibit at the National Archeological Museum in Athens,
Greece, describes the care of the dead: “The ancient Egyptians did
not regard death as the end of life, but as an intermediary stage
towards a better eternal life. Eternity was achieved by those who had
lived a virtuous life and were able to furnish their tombs and receive
funerary offerings from their relatives. The poor attained immortality
through the mercy of the gods. Released after death, the spiritual
elements continued to exist so long as the body remained in a
recognizable state, hence the development of mummification.”
Resting within those ancient tombs of stone, the embalmed and
mummified dead, just as old as the pyramids themselves, await
eternal life. From ancient Arab proverb, “All the world fears Time, but
Time fears the Pyramids.”
 The funeral has always been an essential ritual of world religions.
Specific references to embalming appear twice in the Old Testament
of the Christian Bible. Genesis 50:2–3 recounts the death of Jacob
(also known as Israel): “And Joseph commanded his servants the
physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel.”
Genesis 50:26 refers to the embalming of Joseph: “So Joseph died,
being one hundred and ten years old and they embalmed him, and
he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” References to the reverent care of
the dead are also found in the New Testament. John 11:44 describes
burial preparations for Lazarus: the use of grave straps to bind the
arms, feet, and chin. Similarity is drawn to modern methods of mouth
closure and positioning devices used to create natural appearance.
The funerary preparations of Jesus describe the binding of his body,
dressing in fine white linens, and anointing with spices, fragrant oils,
and myrrh. Numerous cultures in the transcontinental region of the
Middle East practice ceremonial bathing and shrouding.
Dr. Thomas G. Long, Professor Emeritus, writes, “Rituals of death
rest on the basic need, recognized by all societies, to remove the
bodies of the dead from among the living. A corpse must be taken
fairly quickly from here, the place of death, to somewhere else. But
no healthy society has ever treated this as a perfunctory task, a
matter of mere disposal. Indeed, from the beginning, humans have
used poetry, song, and prayer to describe the journey of the dead
from ‘here’ to ‘there’ in symbolic, even sacred, terms. The dead are
not simply being carted to the pit, the fire, or the river; they are
traveling toward the next world or the Mystery or the Great Beyond
or heaven or the communion of the saints. And we are accompanying
them the last mile of the way. Every generation reimagines these
images of what lies beyond this life, but what persists is the
conviction that the dead are not refuse to be discarded; they are
human treasures traveling somewhere and it is our holy responsibility
to go with them all the way to the place of farewell.”
The tradition of treating the dead with great reverence and
respect is an age-old custom, as old as humanity itself. Funeral
service professionals maintain the dignity of all decedents in their
care through the consistent application and practice of showing
respect and honor for the dead.

REVERENT CARE OF THE DEAD

Care of the dead is both privilege and responsibility. All who care for
the dead are charged with the maintenance of moral and ethical duty.
Every profession has a primary and supreme ethic in the discharge of
its duties. Medicine, for example, bases professional practice on the
Hippocratic Oath, which articulates the ethic of healing. Law bases its
practice on the ethic of justice. The supreme ethic for the funeral
service profession has come to be known as reverence for the dead.
Former British Prime Minister William Evart Gladstone (1809–
1898) is cited extensively in funeral service publications. A great
ethical truth about reverence for the dead is revealed in his timeless
words. Repetition does not lessen the impact.
“Show me the manner in which a nation or community cares
for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness
the tender sympathies of its people, their respect for the laws
of the land, and their loyalty to high ideals.”
History suggests that the decline of governmental and sociological
order can be partly attributed to neglect of the dead. A common
denominator in the collapse of powerful regimes and the downfall of
civilizations is the rise in apathy toward reverent care of their dead.
Ancient Rome, Greece, and the Nazi Germany serve as examples.
The lack of proper care for the dead was commonplace. The annals
of history depict how the rites, rituals, and ceremonies for mourning
the dead serve as barometers to measure the tender sympathies of
its people.
In her book, Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love
Them), Sallie Tisdale shares enlightenment she received as a student
of anatomy, “Working with cadavers makes it clear what death is. A
subject becomes an object. A person becomes a body. And,
miraculously, turns back: this body, this firm, immobile object, is,
was, a person, a warm, breathing person. A body is not an ordinary
object—can never be an ordinary object. This particular object had
once been awake.”

UNIVERSAL CUSTOMS AND RITUALS

Customs and rituals concerning care and commemoration of the dead
are widely diverse. The world over, all cultures attend to some form
of care for their dead. Each has developed unique rituals to
implement this care. Anthropological, archaeological, and religious
literature describes the importance of honoring, mourning, even
celebrating the dead. The significance of having the dead present for
the memorial event demonstrates a need to maintain a connection
with the dead body. The Neanderthals made memorials with elk
antlers and shoulder blades; today, we use granite and marble. The
ethic is the same; the materials are different. We have an innate
ethical drive to care for the dead.
Studies of past civilizations have yielded discoveries of sacred
locations where bodies and relics of the dead were placed. Ancient
cemeteries, mausoleums, and columbaria suggest a need to maintain
a connection with the dead. Present cultures observe sacred resting
places and, like their predecessors, erect monuments, and memorials
to honor and remember the dead. Through the ages the dead have
been commemorated with the creation of art, music, and literature,
requiem masses and funeral hymns, and biographies and elegies.
This universal ethic of reverence for the dead is ingrained in the
human psyche. Different cultures manifest this reverence in widely
varying ways. Reverence for the dead is a basic thread binding all of
humanity.

Events That Shaped Public Sentiment

Viewing the dead body is one way of confronting the stark reality of
death. Seeing and touching the deceased for one last time can bring
comfort. Being physically present with them can foster acceptance of
the otherwise unimaginable.
 The year was 1955, and the brutal murder of a 14-year-old boy
exposed deeply rooted racial injustices and tensions in the American
South. The young man’s grief-stricken mother defied an order
forbidding the casket to be opened. Mamie Till-Mobley insisted that
her son’s mutilated body be publicly viewed so that everyone could
see what his attackers had done. Fifty thousand people in Chicago
viewed the lifeless body of Emmett Till. Witnessing the unthinkable
can profoundly shape societal views and attitudes.
In 1963, Jessica Mitford published The American Way of Death, a
relentless attack on the funeral profession. The book caused an
immediate uproar among funeral directors. Within months of the
book’s release, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The
shocking murder of a beloved president was an event that rocked the
entire nation. The funeral of the president was a public event viewed
worldwide through media outlets. Over the span of 18 hours, nearly
250,000 people personally paid their respects as former President
Kennedy’s body lay in state; some are waiting for as long as 10 hours
in a line that stretched 40 blocks. Universal grief was palpable.
Mourners did not feel comfortable criticizing funeral directors,
symbols of compassionate and dignified care when the nation was in
the throes of mourning a slain President. To refer to President
Kennedy’s body merely as dead tissue, as Mitford described a dead
body, was blasphemous. To dispose of his body without ceremony
would have been morally irresponsible.
When a body is missing or unrecovered during military conflict or
war, enormous effort and cost go into search and recovery efforts.
Anxiety and remorse result when these efforts fail. Without the body,
an essential element to the grieving process is missing.

Psychosocial Model
Human beings are basically social creatures. We talk, live, work, and
play with other people. Our social interactions take on many different
dimensions. We can have shallow or very deep interactions; we can
act with indifference or with profound sympathy. In the course of a
single day, we may exhibit these and a thousand other
characteristics. It is through this complex web of daily interactions
that we experience life and creates attachments to others. The
quality of these attachments varies from one relationship to another;
some are deep, some shallow, others indifferent, joyful, or painful.
Here, we shall explore the role that embalming plays in the process
of helping us separate from these attached relationships in a healthy
manner.
Within the realm of attachments between people are attachments
known as deep links. Deep-link attachments are strong and
profoundly interwoven psychological bonds that are extremely
powerful. In these circumstances, our needs for security and devotion
are satisfied, and virtually every part of the human psyche is
involved. Through daily visual and interactive reinforcement of these
deep attachments, our relationships with significant persons undergo
a kind of layering process in our brains. The thoughts and feelings
create perceptual patterns of recognition. These patterns of
recognition that develop between people become so familiar that
there are instances in which the individual involved is frequently
unaware of the depth of these attachments until the relationship is
terminated through separation by death, or physical, or emotional
distance.
The how and why of attachments are baffling. Attachments are
among our most rudimentary attributes, they flourish throughout our
lives, and they can be so powerful as to continue even beyond the
grave. The magnitude of these attachments are often unrealized by
the person, and individuals are often unaware of how deeply their
behaviors and attitudes are affected. Attachments arise from
countless life experiences. They are created by the sound of a voice,
the color of someone’s eyes, the texture of someone’s hair, and in
their style and manner of dress and movement. It is fortunate indeed
that humans have the capacity to develop these attachments because
they often culminate in deeply cherished, singular relationships with
others; feelings of love. It is from this type of deep relationship that
we experience the joy of love, but it is equally true that from these
same deep attachments, we also experience the inevitable anguish of
separation and loss. As painful as it is at times, a fact of human
existence is that attachments cannot exist without grief.
It is through continual life experiences shared with significant
others that our attachments become rooted. As the theories of
attachment demonstrate, our ability to connect with our fellow
humans goes very deep. Through this process, familiarity with the
characteristics of the significant other is imprinted in our minds. This
imprinting is caused by constant exposure to the attached person,
and a mental photograph develops in our hearts and minds. In
funeral service, this mental photograph is referred to as the body
image.
The body image that develops is reinforced unconsciously and
consciously through our personal interactions with the attached
person; we relate and respond to their created sensory image. The
sightless is particularly talented at creating a body image using
sensory data derived from the senses other than sight, and their
verbal descriptions of what they imagine with their mind’s eye are
remarkably accurate.
We habitually relate to, recognize, and identify our significant
others based on the familiar body image to which our perceptions
have become attached. Due to this constant exposure to the body
image, people often form an unrealistic expectation of permanency in
the attached relationship.
It becomes simple for individuals who are profoundly attached to
one another to feel confident that the relationship will last forever,
irrational as this may seem. Although we know subconsciously that
such permanence in even the strongest relationship is simply not
possible, many prefer to live under the blissful misconception that
death will not end the attachment. Human relationships, however, are
not limitless; they too must die, either through physical or
psychological separation or ultimately, through death.
It is crucial that the funeral service practitioner appreciates the
complex processes behind the separation of human attachment. It is
these psychological processes on which the ethic of reverence for the
dead is based and which necessitate the need for ceremony. Without
human attachments, there would be little, if any, need for funerals. A
funeral is, in its most elementary form, a social function that reflects
the reality of our capacity to form deep attachments and serves to
reinforce that most human beings need to grieve and mourn the
dead. Types of memorial events are as diverse as the people who
practice them (Fig. 1–1 A–D).

Figure 1–1. A. Friends embrace at first viewing. B. A horse-drawn carriage silently

waits before the last ride. C. A family member reads at a graveside committal. D. A
daughter hugs her father’s headstone. (Photo contributors are listed in the
Acknowledgements section.)

Death brings with it a finality that challenges our coping skills.

The realization that life once thought to be permanent and
everlasting is, in truth, temporary and finite. The bereaved are
challenged to divest themselves of their close attachments to the
deceased person and redirect emotional energy into relationships
with others. This begins the long and often painful process of grief
and mourning.
Grieving begins in the bereaved psyche by sensory confrontation
with the dead person’s retained body image. It is often said that it is
better to remember the dead as they were when they were alive. The
comment, I would rather remember them alive, is a coping
mechanism triggered by an inability to accept death. In its purest
form, it is a denial of death. For honest confrontation of the reality of
death, it is necessary for the mourners to see the deceased person,
or a symbol of the deceased person, to fully accept the reality of
death. Through the actions of seeing or touching the deceased, the
mourners have a visual and physical opportunity to verify the stark
reality of death. When the body of the deceased is unrecoverable, no
chance exists to establish the reality of death. There is a risk that
mourners will experience complicated grief that lacks resolution.

Viewing the Body

Emotional confrontation of the reality of death can be achieved when
mourners can physically approach the deceased or a symbol of the
deceased. Viewing and touching a dead human body is an effective
way for the bereaved to accept the finality of death. Grief studies
observe the process of complicated grief and find that bereaved
persons will deny the significance of the death of someone to whom
they were strongly attached. The process of denial takes many forms.
American fiction writer Madeleine L’Engle remarked, “I rebel against
death, yet I know that it is how I respond to death’s inevitability that
is going to make me less or more fully alive.”
Denial can manifest as avoidance of contact with the reality of
death, namely, the dead person’s body. At first glance, this avoidance
may appear as the bereaved trying to simply maintain composure.
Bereavement is not a simple process that can be managed by rational
thought alone. Grief is an emotional, not a rational, process.
 The comprehension of human separation can never fully be
accomplished through intellectual rationalizations. Often, those who
are most aggrieved by the death are the ones who would most
benefit from accepting the reality of the death.
Dr. Erich Lindemann, a pioneer in the study of grief management,
has suggested that there is really no escaping the slow wisdom of
grief. Lindemann postulates that avoidance of the dead body is
always done at the psychological peril of the aggrieved and that this
avoidance may appear at first to be consoling in the initial phase of
acute grief. But in truth, consolation is just an illusion. In time, the
necessity to view the body becomes a major issue in
postbereavement care.
Lindemann offers that a common characteristic in persons
experiencing complicated bereavement is an inability to recall a clear
mental image of the body in death. Establishment of this mental
image is an essential ingredient in creating a strong foundation for
subsequent steps in the grieving process. An unclear image of the
deceased person or no image at all fosters a lack of full acceptance of
the reality of death.
Lindemann believed that the most significant benefit of the
funeral and embalming is achieved at that moment when the finality
of the death is fully comprehended by the bereaved person. It is this
moment of truth, this awareness of the reality of death that serves as
the psychological framework for the validation of embalming. The
embalmed body is a stark confrontation; nevertheless, there is no
denying the finality of death.
Author, Poet, and Funeral Director, Thomas Lynch, in his book
Bodies in Motion and at Rest, “…‘but remembering him the way he
was,’ I say, slowly, deliberately, as if the listener were breakable,
‘begins by denying the way he is.’ I’m an apostle of the present
tense. After years and years of directing funerals, I’ve come to the
conclusion that seeing is the hardest and most helpful part. The
truth, even when it hurts, has a healing in it, better than fiction or
fantasy. When someone dies, it is not them we fear seeing, it is
them dead. It is the death. We fear that seeing will be believing.”
 Reverend Paul Irion believes that the function of embalming is to
make the body presentable for viewing. This is expressed in other life
situations. For example, a person prepares for social activity by
performing grooming rituals, bathing, and combing the hair before
greeting people in public. The ethical concepts of reverence for the
dead require the same considerations during care of the dead body
for viewing. In this way, the dignity of the deceased is also preserved
after death.

RITUALS AND CEREMONIES

We see the need to be social in order to live a happy, balanced life in
the rituals and rites performed by human beings. Entrenched in the
makeup of humankind is a ritualistic behavior that a breakdown or
corruption of these life rituals may result in a human cataclysm.
Dr. Carl Jung, a pioneer in psychology, saw human psychological
life as a universal phenomenon whereby identification with what he
termed the collective unconscious linked all humanity together.
Collectively, we differ by ethnicity, culture, religion, social attitudes,
and so on, yet some shared constants exist that we can all identify
with and understand. An archetype of our collective unconscious is
the funeral event.

Practical Model of Embalming

The practical purpose of embalming is to slow the degenerative
changes that occur naturally after death. This allows the bereaved
the time to make important decisions. Embalming permits time for
family and friends to engage in the emotionally healing process of
leave-taking. To fully implement the ethical, psychological, and
sociological benefits of the funeral, people require time for
assimilation. People need time to organize funerals, think about
them, participate in them, and make decisions about how they should
be carried out. Time is also required for the bereaved to assimilate all
that has happened, and acknowledge the ramifications in their own
lives.
 Lynda Cheldelin Fell, the author of the award-winning Grief Diaries
series, speaks in support of healthy grieving, “The bereaved need
more than just space to grieve the loss. They also need the space to
grieve the transition.”

THE ETHICAL PERFORMANCE STANDARD

Ethics is the science of rectitude and duty. Its subject is morality, and
its sphere is virtuous conduct. It is concerned with the various
aspects of rights and obligations. In essence, ethics is a set of
principles that governs conduct for the purpose of establishing
harmony in all human relations. For practical purposes, ethics is fair
play. Ethical practice serves as a guide in promoting professional
attitudes and ensuring ethical conduct. Sound and practical judgment
are exercised in all professional interactions. This may be called
judicious counsel. Funeral service professionals maintain a neutral
position in serving the public at large. Courtesy, tact, and discretion
should characterize all of the embalmer’s professional actions.

Misrepresentation
When the performance of duty requires licensure, the embalmer must
never aid or abet an unlicensed person who engages in the
unlicensed activity.

Confidentiality
All personal information must be regarded as confidential. The
embalmer is privy to information that must never be shared outside
of the performance of duty. For example, the cause and manner of
death and condition of the body are strictly confidential.

Defamation of Character
Insinuations, nonfactual statements, or overplay of facts that have
the intent or effect of harming another professional are unethical and
must be avoided.
Identification
The embalmer is responsible for maintaining the proper identification
of the body throughout the various stages of preparation and until
the time of final disposition. (see Selected Readings, Identification:
An Essential Part of What We Do, by Michael Kubasak).

Observing Laws, Rules, and Regulations

The embalmer must observe all legal and regulatory requirements;
federal, state, or local governments and municipalities.

Maintaining Competence in Professional

Practice
The embalmer has a moral and ethical duty to maintain skills
commensurate with professional practice. Opportunities for
continuing education are numerous and readily accessible both in-
person and remotely. Many states require a minimum number of
continuing education credits or hours to maintain licensure.

Health and Sanitation

It is the ethical responsibility to maintain a clean and sanitary work
environment, offer personal protective equipment to any person
allowed access to the preparation room, restrict entry to
unauthorized persons, and maintain coverage of sheltered human
remains.

Documentation
Embalming must be authorized by expressed or written permission
prior to the performance of the procedure. An Embalming and
Decedent Care Report should be completed for every decedent.
Personal effects should be documented and securely maintained.

Photographs
Photographs may only be taken in the performance of duty.
Authorized photographs must be safeguarded, both digitally and
physically, to ensure confidentiality. It is wise and prudent for the
embalmer to secure permission from the authorizing agent prior to
taking photographs.

Handling Human Remains

Funeral practitioners must ensure the dignity of human remains at all
times. Transferring practices from the place of death are
accomplished in a manner that is respectful and involves the same
level of care afforded a living patient. All mortuary equipment is
maintained in a clean and sanitary condition. The modesty of the
deceased person is maintained while coverings are removed.
Universal precautions are strictly observed.

Professional Embalming Standards

The Chicago-based American Society for Embalmers created a
document of best practices to support the exemplary practice of
embalming.

American Society of Embalmers

Best Practice Embalming Tenets©

■ Treat all deceased human remains with thoughtful care, maintain

dignity, and show respect at all times.
■ Be knowledgeable of and in compliance with all regulatory
authorities (federal, state, and local) that govern the preparation
and disposition of deceased human remain.
■ Prioritize the use of excellent communications among all funeral
professionals involved with the decedent and family.
• Authorizations for embalming and restorative art procedures must
be shared with the embalmer, preferably in writing.
• Confirm the identity of the deceased prior to the commencement
of any procedures.
 • The Preparation Room should be kept private, and all local, state
and federal laws should be observed as to its use.
• Share information regarding the care of the deceased between
the director and embalmer.
- Obtain information about the overall condition of the remains.
- Obtain information about the cause or nature of death.
- Obtain the time of services to optimize the best presentation.
• Ensure that adequate time is given to the embalming process.
• Address and remedy problem embalming and shipping
situations immediately.
■ All documents, photographs, and personal information about the
deceased must be kept in strict confidence and under secure
storage.
• Only those persons designated and authorized by the funeral
establishment or family may be allowed attendance during the
preparation of remains.
• Photographs of deceased remains must never be placed on social
media sites or shown in public places to nonfuneral professionals
outside the educational setting.
■ Respect and comply, without comment, with the wishes of the
family or the deceased requesting organ/tissue donation, hospital
or forensic autopsy, or full body donation to science.
■ Professional conduct will ensure that embalmers will not knowingly
allow nonlicensed embalmers (except students or apprentices,
under supervision) to practice embalming and that they will not
participate in derogatory public comments about other embalmers.
■ Pursue ongoing and continuing education opportunities for the
embalmer.
■ Practice thorough and complete preservation of the entire remains.
• Use all available embalming methods necessary: arterial,
hypodermic, surface.
■ Document all remains to enter the funeral facility on a Preparation
Care Form.
• Include remains for: identification only, storage, embalming,
shipped-in, or shipped-out.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
truth of the statement. Lord Raglan in one of his dispatches to the
Duke of Newcastle said, “Lord William [Paulet] like Brown [Sir
George Brown] speaks loudly in praise of Miss Nightingale,” adding
that he was confident that she had “done great good.” As the weeks
passed by, Lord Raglan grew to consider the Lady-in-Chief a most
efficient auxiliary “general.”
 CHAPTER XIII
AT WORK IN THE BARRACK HOSPITAL

An Appalling Task—Stories of Florence Nightingale’s interest

in the Soldiers—Lack of Necessaries for the Wounded
—Establishes an Invalids’ Kitchen and a Laundry—
Cares for the Soldiers’ Wives—Religious Fanatics—
Letter from Queen Victoria—Christmas at Scutari.

Neglected, dying in despair,

They lay till woman came,
To soothe them with her gentle care,
And feed life’s flickering flame.
When wounded sore, on fever’s rack,
Or cast away as slain,
She called their fluttering spirits back,
And gave them strength again.
Francis Bennoch.

T HE events of the war in the autumn of 1854 will convey some

idea of the number of wounded men crowded into the
hospitals on the Bosphorus when Florence Nightingale entered upon
her duties at Scutari. Balaclava was fought on October 25th, four
days after she left London; the battle of Inkerman followed on
November 5th, the day after she landed. Before the average woman
would have found time to unpack her boxes, Miss Nightingale was
face to face with a task unparalleled in its magnitude and appalling in
its nature.
The wounded arrived by the shipload until every ward, both in
the General and in the Barrack Hospital, was crowded to excess,
and the men lay in double rows down the long corridors, forming
several miles of suffering humanity. During these terrible days
Florence Nightingale was known to stand for twenty hours at a time,
on the arrivals of fresh detachments of sick, apportioning quarters,
directing her nurses and attending at the most painful operations
where her presence might soothe and support. She would spend
hours over men dying of cholera or fever. “Indeed,” wrote one who
watched her work, “the more awful to every sense any particular
case might be, the more certainly might be seen her slight form
bending over him, administering to his ease by every means in her
power and seldom quitting his side until death released him.”
Her womanly heart prompted her to acts of humanity which at
once made her recognised by the men as the soldier’s friend. When
the wounded were brought by hundreds to Scutari after Inkerman,
the first duty of the surgeons was to separate the hopeful cases from
the desperate. On one occasion Miss Nightingale saw five soldiers
set aside in a hopeless condition. She inquired if nothing could be
done for the poor fellows, and the surgeons replied that their first
duty was with those whom there seemed to be more hope of saving.
“Will you give me these five men?” said the Lady-in-Chief.
“Do as you like with them,” replied the surgeons; “we think their
case is hopeless.”
If life could be saved, Florence Nightingale was determined to
save it, and throughout the night, assisted by one of the nurses, she
sat beside the men, feeding them with a spoon until their senses
awakened and their strength began to return. She washed their
wounds, cheered their hearts with kind words, and in the morning
had the satisfaction of finding that they were in a fit condition to be
operated on.
At another time a Highland soldier was about to undergo an
amputation. Miss Nightingale asked that the operation might be
delayed, as she thought that careful nursing might render it
unnecessary. Through her unremitting care the man’s arm was
saved; and when asked what he felt towards his preserver, he said
that the only mode he had of giving vent to his feelings was to kiss
her shadow when it fell on his pillow as she passed through the
wards on her nightly rounds.
When cholera and plague cases came in, foaming at the mouth
and black in the face, none were too bad for Florence Nightingale’s
patient care. Her influence over the men was established from the
first. She was their “good angel” and their confidence in her was
unbounded.
Still, her task was a heavy one in these first days. There was
official prejudice to overcome, and an overwhelming number of
patients to deal with in a huge building devoid of the commonest
hospital accessories and arrangements. The Barrack “Hospital,” so
called, had been designed only for soldiers’ barracks, so that when
suddenly converted into a hospital it lacked almost everything
necessary for the sick, and the supplies forwarded from England had
by a series of misadventures been delayed. A letter sent home by
one of the nurses six days after the arrival of Miss Nightingale and
her band may be quoted as giving a graphic picture of the state of
affairs at this time. She writes:—
“I have come out here as one of the Government nurses, and the
position in which we are placed induces me to write and ask you, at
once, to send out a few dozens of wine, or in short anything which
may be useful for the wounded or dying, hundreds of whom are now
around us, under this roof, filling up even the passages to the very
rooms we occupy. Government is liberal, and for one moment I
would not complain of their desire to meet all our wants, but with
such a number of the wounded coming in from Sebastopol, it does
appear absolutely impossible to meet the wants of those who are
dying of dysentery and exhaustion; out of four wards committed to
my care, eleven men have died in the night, simply from exhaustion,
which, humanly speaking, might have been stopped, could I have
laid my hand at once on such nourishment as I knew they ought to
have had.
“It is necessary to be as near the scene of war as we are, to
know the horrors which we have seen and heard of. I know not
which sight is most heartrending—to witness fine strong men and
youths worn down by exhaustion and sinking under it, or others
coming in fearfully wounded.
“The whole of yesterday was spent, first in sewing the men’s
mattresses together, and then in washing them, and assisting the
surgeons, when we could, in dressing their ghastly wounds, and
seeing the poor fellows made as easy as their circumstances would
admit of, after their five days’ confinement on board ship, during
which space their wounds were not dressed.
“Miss Nightingale, under whom we work, is well fitted in every
way to fill her arduous post, the whole object of her life having
hitherto been the superintendence of hospitals abroad. Wine and
bottles of chicken broth, preserved meat for soups, etc., will be most
acceptable.
“We have not seen a drop of milk, and the bread is extremely
sour. The butter is most filthy—it is Irish butter in a state of
decomposition; and the meat is more like moist leather than food.
Potatoes we are waiting for until they arrive from France.”
 MISS NIGHTINGALE IN THE HOSPITAL AT SCUTARI.
[To face p. 144.

Nursing in a hospital which received soldiers straight from the

battlefield, their wounds aggravated by days of neglect, was a
difficult task under the most favourable circumstances, but when
intensified by the lack even of proper food, such as the above letter
discloses, the task was indeed formidable.
There was an organising brain, however, at work in that dreadful
Barrack Hospital now, and within ten days of her arrival, in spite of
the terrible influx of patients which taxed her powers to the utmost,
Miss Nightingale had fitted up an impromptu kitchen, from which
eight hundred men were daily supplied with well-cooked food and
other comforts. It was largely supplied with the invalid food from the
private stores of the Lady-in-Chief, which fortunately she had
brought out with her in the Vectis. Beef-tea, chicken broth, jelly, and
little delicacies unheard of before were now administered to the sick
by the gentle hands of women nurses. Small wonder that the poor
fellows could often only express their gratitude in voices half-choked
with sobs!
One Crimean veteran told the writer that when he received a
basin of arrowroot on his first arrival at the hospital early in the
morning, he said to himself, “Tommy, me boy, that’s all you’ll get into
your inside this blessed day, and think yourself lucky you’ve got that.
But two hours later, if another of them blessed angels didn’t come
entreating of me to have just a little chicken broth! Well, I took that,
thinking maybe it was early dinner, and before I had well done
wondering what would happen next, round the nurse came again
with a bit o’ jelly, and all day long at intervals they kept on bringing
me what they called ‘a little nourishment.’ In the evening, Miss
Nightingale she came and had a look at me, and says she, ‘I hope
you’re feeling better.’ I could have said, ‘Ma’am, I feels as fit as a
fightin’ cock,’ but I managed to git out somethin’ a bit more polite.”
Hitherto, not only had there been a lack of food, but the cooking
had been done by the soldiers themselves in the most free and easy
manner. Meat and vegetables were boiled together in the huge
coppers, of which there were thirteen in the kitchen attached to the
barracks. Separate portions were enclosed in nets, and all plunged
together into the seething coppers, and taken up when occasion
demanded. Some things were served up done to rags, while others
were almost raw. This kind of cooking was bad enough for men in
ordinary health, but for the sick it meant death.
The daily comforts which the nurses’ kitchen afforded received
ample testimony from the witnesses before Mr. Roebuck’s
Commission for inquiry into the conduct of the war. In one day
sometimes thirteen gallons of chicken broth and forty gallons of
arrowroot were distributed amongst the sick. At first nearly all the
invalid food had to come from the private stores brought out by the
Lady-in-Chief, which the charitable at home replenished as the true
state of affairs became known, for not only was there a deficiency in
the Government stores, but the things supplied officially were often
not fit for food. It was the general testimony of witnesses before the
Commission that Miss Nightingale’s services were invaluable in the
hospital as well for what she did herself as for the manner in which
she kept the purveyors to their duties.
The method of distributing the Government stores was as erratic
as the cooking. There appeared to be no regulations as to time.
Things asked for in a morning were probably not forthcoming until
evening, when the cooking fires in the barracks kitchen were all but
out. Nothing could be obtained until various “service rules” had been
observed. An official board must inspect and approve all stores
before they could be distributed. One can think of nothing more
exasperating to the Lady-in-Chief, in her responsible duty towards
the sick, than to see exhausted men dying for want of the proper
nourishment because the board of inspection had not completed its
arrangements. On one recorded occasion she took the law into her
own hands, and insisted that the stores should be given out,
inspected or not. She could not ask under-officials to incur the
penalty of martial law by fulfilling her behests, but she could brave
the authorities herself and did so. The storehouse was opened on
the responsibility of the Lady-in-Chief, and the goods procured for
the languishing soldiery.
Miss Nightingale’s defiance of red-tape made her some enemies,
and the “groove-going men,” as Kinglake calls them, “uttered
touching complaints, declaring that the Lady-in-Chief did not choose
to give them time, and that the moment a want declared itself, she
made haste to supply it herself.”
“This charge,” says the same authority in an appendix note, “was
so utterly without foundation as to be the opposite of truth. The Lady-
in-Chief used neither to issue her stores, nor allow any others to do
so, until the want of them had been evidenced by a duly signed
requisition. Proof of this is complete, and has been furnished even
by adversaries of the Lady-in-Chief.”
After her improvised kitchen was in working order, Miss
Nightingale next set to work to establish a laundry for the hospital
and institute a system for disinfecting the clothes of fever and
cholera patients. Up to the time of her arrival there was practically
little washing done, the “authorities” had only succeeded in getting
seven shirts washed, and no attempt was made to separate the bed-
linen and garments of infectious patients from those suffering only
from wounds. Washing contracts were in existence, but availed little.
At the General Hospital the work was in the hands of a corps of eight
or ten Armenians. There was no fault to be found with the manner in
which they did the work, only they stole so habitually that when a
man sent his shirt to be washed he was never sure that he would get
it back again, and in consequence the sick were unwilling to part with
their garments.
At the Barrack Hospital a Levantine named Uptoni had the
washing contract, but broke it so repeatedly that the sick were
practically without clean linen, except when they were able to get the
soldiers’ wives to do a little washing for them. Such was the state of
affairs in a hospital where two to three thousand men lay wounded
and sick.
Miss Nightingale hired a house close to the hospital and set up
an efficient laundry, partly out of her private funds, and partly out of
money subscribed to The Times fund started for the relief of the
soldiery. She had it fitted up with coppers and regulated under
sanitary conditions, and there five hundred shirts and one hundred
and fifty other articles were washed each week.
There was a further difficulty to meet, and that was to provide the
men with a change of linen while the soiled went to the wash. Many
of the wounded had been obliged to leave their knapsacks behind
and had no clothing save the dirty and dilapidated garments in which
they arrived. In the course of the first three months Miss Nightingale
provided the men with ten thousand shirts from her own private
sources.
There was the same scarcity in surgical dressings, and the
nurses had to employ every minute that could be spared from the
bedside of the sufferers in making lint, bandages, amputation
stumps, and in sewing mattresses and making pillows.
Great confusion existed with regard to the dispensing of drugs.
The apothecaries’ store at Scutari, which supplied the hospitals and
indeed the whole army in the Crimea, was in the same state of
confusion as everything else. The orderlies left to dispense often did
not know what the store contained. On one occasion Mrs.
Bracebridge, Miss Nightingale’s invaluable friend and helper, applied
three times for chloride of lime and was told there was none. Miss
Nightingale insisted on a more thorough search being made, with the
result that 90 lbs. were discovered.
The defective system of orderlies was another evil which the
Lady-in-Chief had to contend with. These men had been taken from
the ranks, most of them were convalescents, and they did not trouble
to understand the duties of an orderly because they were liable to
return and serve in the ranks. The advent of the ladies had an
excellent effect upon the orderlies in arousing their sense of chivalry,
and they soon grew to think it an honour to serve the Lady-in-Chief.
During all that dreadful period, when she had to tax the patience and
devotion of the orderlies and other soldiers attending in the wards to
the utmost, not one of them failed her “in obedience, thoughtful
attention, and considerate delicacy.” For her they toiled and endured
a strain and stress of work which mere officialdom would have failed
to obtain. Yet “never,” Miss Nightingale says, “came from any one of
them one word nor one look which a gentleman would not have
used; and while paying this humble tribute to humble courtesy, the
tears come into my eyes as I think how amidst scenes of loathsome
disease and death there arose above it all the innate dignity,
gentleness, and chivalry of the men (for never surely was chivalry so
strikingly exemplified), shining in the midst of what must be
considered as the lowest sinks of human misery, and preventing
instinctively the use of one expression which could distress a
gentlewoman.”
If such was the chivalrous devotion yielded by the orderlies and
convalescent soldiers, it can readily be understood that the prostrate
sufferers worshipped the Lady-in-Chief. Her presence in the
operating room acted like magic. Case after case became amenable
to the surgeon under the calming influence of her presence. It is not
surprising that men prostrate with weakness and agonised with pain
often rebelled against an operation. Anæsthetics were not
administered as freely then as they are to-day, and many brave
fellows craved death rather than meet the surgeon’s knife. But when
they felt the pitying eyes of the Lady-in-Chief fixed upon them, saw
her gentle face, heard her soothing words of comfort and hope for
the future, and were conscious that she had set herself to bear the
pain of witnessing pain, the men would obey her silent command,
and submit and endure, strengthened by her presence.
Those who at first were inclined to cavil at the power which the
Government had placed in the hands of the Lady-in-Chief speedily
reversed their judgment, as day by day they witnessed her strength
of character and her amazing fortitude and self-control in the midst of
scenes which tried the strongest men.
The magnitude of Miss Nightingale’s work in the hospital wards
has caused historians to overlook the womanly help and sympathy
which she gave to the soldiers’ wives who had come out with their
husbands. Even Kinglake, who is unsurpassed in his admiration for
the Lady-in-Chief, does not mention this side of her work.
When Miss Nightingale arrived at Scutari she found a number of
poor women, the wives or the widows (may be) of soldiers who had
gone to the front, living in a distressing condition, literally in the holes
and corners of the Barrack Hospital. These women, being detached
from their husbands’ regiments, had no claim for rations and
quarters. The colonel of each regiment had power to allow a certain
number of women to accompany their husbands on foreign service.
Each woman belonged to her regiment, and if separated, even
through no choice of her own, there was no provision for her. No
organisation to deal with them existed at this period, because for
forty years there had been no general depôt of an English army. The
widows were by degrees sent home by order of the Commandant,
but the other women, many of them wives of soldiers in the hospital
or of orderlies, refused to return home without their husbands.
Miss Nightingale found these poor creatures, for the most part
respectable women, without decent clothing—their clothes having
worn out—going about bonnetless and shoeless and living as best
they could. After many changes from one “hole” to another the
women were housed by the authorities in three or four dark rooms in
the damp basement of the hospital. The only privacy to be obtained
was by hanging up rags of clothes on lines. There, by the light of a
rushlight, the meals were taken, the sick attended, and there the
babies were born and nourished. There were twenty-two babies born
from November to December, and many more during the winter.
It needs no words to picture the gratitude of the women to the
dear Lady-in-Chief who sought them out in their abject misery, gave
them decent clothing and food from her own stores in the Nurses’s
Tower, and saw that the little lives ushered into the world amid the
horrors and privations of war had at least tender care. At the end of
January, owing to a broken drain in the basement, fever broke out,
and Miss Nightingale now persuaded the Commandant to remove
the women to healthier quarters. A Turkish house was procured by
requisition and Miss Nightingale had it cleaned and furnished out of
her funds. Throughout the winter the women were assisted with
money, food and clothes, and outfits were provided for widows
returning home. Miss Nightingale also organised a plan to give
employment to all the soldiers’ wives who were willing to work in her
laundry at ten shillings to fourteen shillings a week. The upper part of
the wash-house was divided into a sick ward and a laundry, and
offered a refuge for the more respectable women. She obtained
situations for others in families in Constantinople. A school was also
started for the children. Lady Alicia Blackwood, wife of Dr.
Blackwood, an army chaplain, visited the women and helped to care
for them. Through Miss Nightingale’s initiative about five hundred
women were raised from their wretched condition at Scutari and
enabled to earn honest livings. “When,” wrote Miss Nightingale later,
“the improvements in our system which the war must suggest are
discussed, let not the wife and child of the soldier be forgotten.”
While Florence Nightingale was thus heroically grappling with
disease, suffering, and death, and bringing order out of chaos in the
hospitals at Scutari, small-minded fanatics at home were attacking
her religious opinions. Some declared that she had gone to the East
for the purpose of spreading Puseyism amongst the British soldiers,
others that she had become a Roman Catholic, some people were
certain that she was a Unitarian, while others whispered the dreadful
heresy, “Supralapsarian.” A clergyman warned his flock against
subscribing money for the soldiers in the East if it was to pass
through Popish hands. Controversy waxed strong in The Times and
The Standard, and Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Herbert warmly defended
their absent friend.
“It is melancholy to think,” wrote Mrs. Herbert to a lady
parishioner of an attacking clergyman, “that in Christian England no
one can undertake anything without these most uncharitable and
sectarian attacks, and, had you not told me so, I could scarcely
believe that a clergyman of the Established Church could have been
the mouthpiece of such slander. Miss Nightingale is a member of the
Established Church of England, and what is called rather Low
Church, but ever since she went to Scutari her religious opinions and
character have been assailed on all points. It is a cruel return to
make towards one to whom all England owes so much.”
An Irish clergyman, when asked to what sect Miss Nightingale
belonged, made the effective reply: “She belongs to a sect which,
unfortunately, is a very rare one—the sect of the Good Samaritan.”
Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort had from the first taken a
sympathetic interest in Miss Nightingale’s work, and the following
letter from the Queen to Mr. Sidney Herbert did much towards
silencing adverse criticism, as it showed the confidence which her
Majesty had in Miss Nightingale and her nurses:—

“Windsor Castle.
“December 6th, 1854.
“Would you tell Mrs. Herbert,” wrote the Queen to Mr. Sidney
Herbert, “that I beg she would let me see frequently the accounts
she receives from Miss Nightingale or Mrs. Bracebridge, as I
hear no details of the wounded, though I see so many from
officers, etc., about the battlefield, and naturally the former must
interest me more than any one.
“Let Mrs. Herbert also know that I wish Miss Nightingale and
the ladies would tell these poor, noble wounded and sick men
that no one takes a warmer interest or feels more for their
 sufferings or admires their courage and heroism more than their
Queen. Day and night she thinks of her beloved troops. So does
the Prince.
“Beg Mrs. Herbert to communicate these my words to those
ladies, as I know that our sympathy is much valued by these
noble fellows.
“Victoria.”

This kindly letter, coming straight from the good Queen’s heart,
without any official verbiage to smother the personal feeling, was
forwarded to Miss Nightingale, and on its receipt she placed it in the
hands of one of the chaplains, who went from ward to ward reading it
to the men, ending each recital of the letter with “God save the
Queen,” in which the poor sufferers joined with such vigour as they
possessed. Copies of the letter were afterwards posted up on the
walls of the hospital.
Although the Lady-in-Chief’s work and personality had already
overcome much official prejudice, there is no doubt that Queen
Victoria’s letter greatly strengthened her position. It was now evident
that it was to Miss Nightingale that the Sovereign looked for tidings
of the wounded and in her that she trusted for the amelioration of
their terrible sufferings.
When Christmas Day dawned in the great Barrack Hospital in
that terrible war winter of 1854, it at least found its suffering inmates
lying in cleanliness, with comfortable surroundings and supplied with
suitable food. Not a man throughout the huge building but had such
comforts as the willing hands and tender hearts of women could
devise. This change had been brought about in less than two months
by the clear head and managing brain which ruled in the Nurses’
Tower.
The “Merry Christmas” passed from man to man was not a
misnomer, despite the pain and suffering; the men were at least
“merry” that the “nightingales” had come. When the Queen’s health
was drunk, in some cases from medicine glasses, each man in his
heart coupled with the loyal toast the names of the Lady-in-Chief and
her devoted band.
 CHAPTER XIV
GRAPPLING WITH CHOLERA AND FEVER

Florence Nightingale describes the Hardships of the Soldiers—

Arrival of Fifty More Nurses—Memories of Sister Mary Aloysius
—The Cholera Scourge.

So in that house of misery,

A lady with a lamp I see
Pass through the glimmering gloom,
And flit from room to room.
Longfellow.

T HE New Year of 1855 brought no mitigation in Florence

Nightingale’s arduous task. Though there was no longer the
influx of wounded from the battlefields, disease was making fearful
ravages amongst the soldiers now engaged in the prolonged siege
of Sebastopol. Miss Nightingale thus described the hardships
endured by the men in a letter to a friend. “Fancy,” she writes,
“working five nights out of seven in the trenches! Fancy being thirty-
six hours in them at a stretch, as they were all December, lying
down, or half lying down, after forty-eight hours, with no food but raw
salt pork sprinkled with sugar, rum, and biscuit; nothing hot, because
the exhausted soldier could not collect his own fuel, as he was
expected to do, to cook his own rations; and fancy through all this
the army preserving their courage and patience as they have done.
There is something sublime in the spectacle.”
The result of this life of exposure in the trenches during the
rigours of the Crimean winter was terrible suffering amongst the
soldiers from frost-bite and dysentery, and there was a great
increase in cholera and fever, which kept the hospitals more
crowded than ever.
At the beginning of the year a further staff of fifty trained nurses
under Miss Stanley, the sister of the late Dean, arrived at Scutari and
were distributed amongst the various hospitals in the East. Miss
Nightingale had now five thousand sick and wounded under her
supervision, and eleven hundred more were on their way from the
Crimea. Under her immediate personal care in the Barrack Hospital
were more than two thousand wounded, all severe cases. She had
also now established her régime in the General Hospital at Scutari,
and some of the new nurses were installed there under Miss Emily
Anderson, while others went to Kullali Hospital on the other side of
the Bosphorus and worked under Miss Stanley until she returned to
England.
Sisters of mercy from some of the Irish convents were among
the new nurses, and one of the number, Sister Mary Aloysius, is still
at the time of writing living in her convent home at Gort, Co. Galway.
Her “Memories” of the Crimea afford a graphic picture of the state of
the General Hospital at Scutari and of the arduous toil of the nurses.
The aged sister has a keen sense of humour, and in describing
the departure of Miss Stanley’s company from London Bridge for
Scutari, evidently derived some satisfaction that her nun’s garb was
less extraordinary than the dresses provided by the Government for
its nurses. “The ladies and the paid nurses,” she relates, “wore the
same uniform—grey tweed wrappers, worsted jackets, white caps
and short woollen cloaks, and a frightful scarf of brown holland
embroidered in red with the words ‘Scutari Hospital.’ The garments
were contract work and all made the same sizes. In consequence
the tall ladies appeared to be attired in short dresses and the short
ladies in long.” It was a similar evidence of official blundering to that
which sent a cargo of boots for the soldiers in the Crimea all shaped
for the left foot. “That ladies could be found to walk in such a
costume was certainly a triumph of grace over nature,” adds Sister
Aloysius. The fact is interesting as showing the advance made in
modern times in a nurse’s official dress as exemplified in the
charming though useful costumes worn by military nurses in the
South African war.
However, all honour to the noble pioneers who sank personal
considerations and effaced self in a desire to discharge their errand
of mercy.
A powerful sidelight is thrown on the work of the Lady-in-Chief by
the experiences of her subordinates. Sister Mary Aloysius writes:
“Where shall I begin, or how can I ever describe my first day in the
hospital at Scutari? Vessels were arriving and orderlies carrying the
poor fellows, who with their wounds and frost-bites had been tossing
about on the Black Sea for two or three days and sometimes more.
Where were they to go? Not an available bed. They were laid on the
floor one after another, till the beds were emptied of those dying of
cholera and every other disease. Many died immediately after being
brought in—their moans would pierce the heart—and the look of
agony on those poor dying faces will never leave my heart. They
may well be called ‘the martyrs of the Crimea.’
“The cholera was of the very worst type, and the attacked men
lasted only four or five hours. Oh, those dreadful cramps! You might
as well try to bend a piece of iron as to move the joints. The medical
staff did their best, and daily, hourly, risked their own lives with little
or no success. At last every one seemed to be getting paralysed and
the orderlies indifferent as to life or death.... The usual remedies
ordered by the doctors were stuping and poultices of mustard. They
were very anxious to try chloroform, but did not trust any one with it
except the sisters.”
If the Lady-in-Chief and her nurses had been at first rather coldly
welcomed in the surgery wards, their presence when the epidemic of
cholera set in was indeed counted a blessing. These trained and
devoted women could be entrusted with applying the desperate
remedies needed for the disease, which the medical staff would
have felt it useless to leave in the hands of orderlies. The stuping, for
example, required the most careful attention to have any chance of
success. The method of the sisters was to have a large tub of boiling
water, blankets torn in squares, and a piece of canvas with a running
at each end to hold a stick. The blankets were put into the boiling
water, lifted out with tongs and put into the canvas. An orderly at
each end wrung the flannel out so dry that not a drop of moisture
remained. Then chloroform was sprinkled on the hot blanket, which
was then applied to the patient’s stomach. Rubbing with mustard and
even with turpentine followed, until the iron grip which had seized the
body was released or the end had come.
The nurses fought with the dread disease in the most heroic
manner, but the proportion saved among the stricken was small
indeed. The saddest thing was that it was generally the strong and
healthy soldier who was attacked.
“One day,” says Sister Aloysius, “a fine young fellow, the picture
of health and strength, was carried in on a stretcher to my ward. I
said to the orderlies, ‘I hope we shall be able to bring him through.’ I
set to work with the usual remedies; but the doctor shook his head,
and said, ‘I am afraid it’s all no use, sister.’ When the orderlies, poor
fellows, were tired, I set to work myself, and kept it on till nearly the
end—but you might as well rub iron; no heat, no movement from his
joints. He lived about the usual time—four or five hours.”
Week after week the fearful scourge continued, until the avenues
to the wards were never free from the two streams of stretchers, one
bringing in the stricken, the other carrying out the dead. The spread
of the infection was thought to be largely due to the graves not being
deep enough, and the air surrounding the hospitals had become
putrid.
Scarcely less dreadful than the cholera patients were the men
suffering from frost-bite, who arrived in hundreds from the trenches
before Sebastopol. Nothing enables one to realise their terrible
condition like the narrative of one on the spot. Referring to her
experience amongst the frost-bitten patients, Sister Aloysius says:
“The men who came from the ‘Front,’ as they called it, had only thin
linen suits—no other clothing to keep out the severe Crimean frost.
When they were carried in on the stretchers, which conveyed so
many to their last resting-place, their clothes had to be cut off. In
most cases the flesh and clothes were frozen together; and, as for
the feet, the boots had to be cut off bit by bit—the flesh coming off
with them; many pieces of the flesh I have seen remain in the boot.
Poultices were applied with some oil brushed over them. In the
morning, when these were removed—can I ever forget it?—the
sinews and bones were seen to be laid bare. We had surgical
instruments; but in almost every case the doctors or staff-surgeons
were at hand, and removed the diseased flesh as tenderly as they
could. As for the toes, you could not recognise them as such.”
One could multiply these ghastly descriptions if further evidence
was needed to show the terrible sufferings endured by officers and
men alike in the trenches before Sebastopol. Mention the famous
siege to any of the old Crimean veterans as they sit beneath the
trees in the grounds of Chelsea Hospital, and they will tell you stories
of hardships endured which makes one regard their still living bodies
with amazement. And they are not mere soldiers’ tales: the old
heroes could scarcely invent greater horrors than history has
recorded. The weary weeks were passed for the most part by the
men sitting or lying in holes dug in the frozen ground deep enough to
shelter their heads from the flying bullets and bursting bombs. If a
poor fellow decided to stretch his numbed and cramped legs, he was
more than likely to have his head blown off. Lord Wolseley bears to-
day the marks of his experiences as a venturesome young subaltern
in the trenches at Sebastopol, when, riddled with bullets and a part
of his face blown away, he was laid on one side by the surgeons as
a “dead un.” Fortunately he managed to prove that he was yet alive.
The Life of Captain Hedley Vicars reveals also the privations of the
time. He himself lay in the open air on a bed of stones and leaves,
having given up his tent to men who were sick.
The cold was so intense that in a sudden skirmish the men were
often unable to draw their triggers. A frost-bitten soldier lying ill at
Balaclava, when he tried to turn in the night, found that his feet were
frozen to those of another soldier lying opposite.
Hundreds of these poor men, worn out by every imaginable kind
of suffering, were constantly arriving at the already crowded
hospitals at Scutari. As many as sixty men were known to die in a
single night, and for two months the death rate stood at 60 per cent.