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Speaker 1: brain Stuff today for details. High and Marshall brain a
Speaker 1: listener wrote in with a question this week, and it's
Speaker 1: perfect for Halloween. The question is what happens to a
Speaker 1: person's blood when they are embalmed, which gets into the
Speaker 1: whole topic of embalming in general and how it works. Now,
Speaker 1: this is not the subject for the week of stomach
Speaker 1: and if you're weak of stomach, please stop listening now
Speaker 1: and avoid the upcoming grossness. If you don't mind it.
Speaker 1: Here we go. The general idea behind embalming is pretty simple.
Speaker 1: You want to fill a body with enough preservatives so
Speaker 1: that it doesn't start rotting or bloating or smelling before
Speaker 1: the funeral. There are two steps to the process. The
Speaker 1: first step is to pump embalming fluid through the circulatory
Speaker 1: system of the body. The embalming fluid is normally formaldehyde
Speaker 1: with some dyes and perfumes added. There's an embalming machine
Speaker 1: that pumps the fluid in. The mortician will cut open
Speaker 1: one of the major arteries to run a tube from
Speaker 1: the embalming machine into the artery. The mortician will also
Speaker 1: attach a tube to one of the major veins to
Speaker 1: let blood and embalming fluid run out. All the blood
Speaker 1: flushed out during this process goes into the sewer system.
Speaker 1: There's nothing special done with it. Embalming fluid preserves the
Speaker 1: skin in the muscles. So the second part of the
Speaker 1: embolming process is major organs like the stomach and testines, etcetera,
Speaker 1: in the abdomen and the thorax. They have to be
Speaker 1: handled separately because they're filled with partly digested food and bacteria,
Speaker 1: and if they're left by themselves they'll bloat. The basic
Speaker 1: idea is to use a section to fitted with blades
Speaker 1: to cut open the organs and suck everything out. Then
Speaker 1: the abdomen is filled with embolming fluid. Once this process
Speaker 1: is complete, the body will last. It's dressed quoift, made
Speaker 1: up to look realistic, and arranged in the casket for
Speaker 1: presentation at the funeral. Do you have any ideas or
Speaker 1: suggestions for this podcast? If so, please send me an
Speaker 1: email at podcast at how stuff works dot com. For
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics, go to
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is sponsored by
Speaker 1: Harry's dot com. Get a great shaving experience for a
Speaker 1: fraction of the price. The quality of the shave is
Speaker 1: so important that Harry's purchase the factory that makes their
Speaker 1: blades fifteen dollars gets you a set that includes a handle,
Speaker 1: three blades, and shave cream. Go to Harry's dot com
Speaker 1: use the code brain stuff to save five dollars off
Speaker 1: your first purchase.