Decomposition of the human body. What happens to the human body after death. Another way - mummification or saponification
Decay is a complex set of processes of decay of tissues of a corpse, occurring as a result of the vital activity of microorganisms that multiply intensively after the death of a person, when all the protective-immune barriers that restrain this reproduction during life disappear. Rotting mainly comes from the action of aerobic bacteria that live in the human body during his lifetime: Escherichia coli, Proteus group, hay bacillus group, cocci. Anaerobic microorganisms have less effect. The specific putrefactive odor is mainly due to hydrogen sulfide and its derivatives mercaptans formed during the breakdown of proteins.
The first distinct signs of rotting of a corpse may appear within a day after death. They are expressed in a dirty green coloration of the skin of the iliac regions due to the formation of sulfhemoglobin in the vessels of the abdominal wall (a product of the combination of hemoglobin with hydrogen sulfide). Further, at an ambient temperature of + 20 - + 35 ° C, rotting usually develops as follows. Dirty green coloration extends to the trunk, head and limbs and covers the skin of the entire corpse by the end of the second week. Against this background, brown stripes of a tree-like branching subcutaneous venous network often appear.
As a result of the formation of a large amount of putrefactive gases, the corpse swells, its facial features change. All corpses in this stage of decay acquire almost the same appearance, which makes it difficult to identify them (Fig. 89). When feeling the corpse, a crunch is felt from the developed subcutaneous putrefactive emphysema. Because of the extravasation of the fluid, approximately 4-6 days after death, blisters filled with fetid contents begin to form.
A sharp swelling of the corpse can lead to tears in clothing, in some places the skin of the corpse also bursts, sometimes simulating damage. An increase in intra-abdominal pressure can cause post-mortem "delivery" in dead pregnant women and post-mortem "vomiting" from squeezing food masses out of the stomach. Hair, nails and epidermis are separated from rotten corpses with a slight mechanical impact. Simultaneously with the external manifestations of decay, the disintegration of internal organs occurs. The brain decomposes faster than others, it turns into a greenish structureless mushy mass.
Due to destruction skin and muscle tissue, gases are released from the corpse into the environment, it gradually decreases in size, and ongoing decay processes lead to the complete destruction of soft tissues. What remains is a skeleton covered in a dirty, sticky mass. Cartilage and ligamentous apparatus are destroyed last of all, and bones can be preserved for many years. Under favorable conditions, the soft tissues of a corpse located on the surface of the earth can completely decompose within 3-4 summer months. Slightly slower is rotting in water and even more slowly in corpses buried in the ground. The soft tissues of a corpse in a wooden coffin are completely destroyed in 2-3 years.
The rate of decomposition of a corpse is affected by a large number of endo- and exogenous factors, so it is almost impossible to judge the severity of decay on the prescription of death. The optimal conditions for the vital activity of bacteria and, accordingly, for the development of decay are in a certain ratio of temperature and humidity. Rotting develops most quickly at an ambient temperature of about + 30 -4 - + 40 ° C and moderate humidity. It completely stops at temperatures of about 0 °С and above + 55 °С and sharply slows down in the temperature range from 0 °С to + 10 °С. AT winter time corpses can stay in cold rooms for several weeks without signs of decay.
During decay, significant changes in the concentration of alcohol in the tissues and fluids of the corpse occur, and this is associated not only with post-mortem diffusion of alcohol from the stomach, but also with its post-mortem formation and destruction in decaying tissues. Therefore, when examining alcohol intoxication in cases of examining corpses in a state of pronounced putrefactive decomposition, only one question can be resolved - did the deceased take alcohol shortly before death [Novikov P.I., 1967]. For forensic chemical research in these cases, the muscles of the limbs, the stomach with its contents and urine are removed.
When corpses are buried in dry sandy soil and in crypts, when they are in attics under iron roofs in summer and in other similar conditions with sufficient ventilation in the presence of dry warm air, the processes of decay quickly stop and the corpse becomes mummified. At
mummification, the corpse dries up, its soft tissues become hard, the skin becomes brownish-brown, sometimes almost black
Color, its mass decreases sharply.
The corpses of children and malnourished persons undergo mummification faster. Distinguish artificial and natural mummification. An example of the first is not only the mummies of the ancient Egyptians, but also the mummification that occurs after the modern preservation of the corpse.
The forensic significance of mummification lies primarily in the fact that it preserves to some extent the appearance of the corpse, and this allows you to determine its gender, height, age, identify injuries and individual anatomical features, and in some cases identify.
The significance of mummification in determining the prescription of death is small, since the rate of drying depends on a combination of many factors that are difficult to account for. It is believed that complete mummification of an adult corpse occurs in 6-12 months, but it can occur even faster, even in 30-35 days.
If the corpse falls into cold water or into moist clay soil, then decay also soon stops, and after a while the soft tissues of the corpse turn into fat wax.
The process of formation of fat wax consists in the decomposition of fats into glycerol and fatty acids (oleic, palmitic, stearic), and the latter, reacting with calcium and magnesium salts contained in water or soil, form solid and water-insoluble soaps. Therefore, the fat wax is, in its chemical composition, a mixture of solid fatty acids and their salts (soaps).
The tissues of a corpse, which are in the state of a fat wax, appear as a dense homogeneous amorphous mass, in which only in places can one identify single elements of their histological structure. Externally, the fat wax has the appearance of a gray-pink or gray-yellow mass of a rather dense consistency, crumbling in places and emitting an unpleasant rancid odor. The formation of fat wax begins already 2-3 months after the corpse enters the appropriate conditions, and for the complete transformation of all tissues and organs into fat wax, a period of about 1 year is needed. Children's corpses turn into adiposity faster - after 4-5 months.
Due to the absence of any regularities in the rate of formation of fat wax, this phenomenon can be used to determine the prescription of death with great care. The forensic meaning of adiposity is similar to that of mummification. Zhirosk to some extent preserves the appearance of the corpse and the damage it has. In a forensic chemical study, poisons, in particular alcohol, can be detected.
Peat tanning
This type of late conservation change occurs when a corpse enters a peat bog. In the water of such swamps, a large amount of humic acids and other tannins found in peat are dissolved. The corpse under their action seems to be tanned, the skin integuments become denser and acquire a dark brown color, internal organs sharply decrease in size, the bones become soft. The corpse, which is in a state of peat tanning, is preserved for many years.
Other types of natural preservation of corpses
Corpses are well preserved at low ambient temperatures, when they get into water with a high concentration of salts, into oil and other liquids with preservative properties. Frozen corpses persist indefinitely.
Not so long ago, in the immediate circles, there was talk about the specifics of the decomposition of mortal bodies. I sum up. For the info, thanks to Wikipedia and textbooks on forensic medicine.
NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THE WEAK!
Personally, the variety of late cadaveric phenomena seems to me the most interesting, but for the sake of completeness, I have published everything.
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Corpse phenomena - changes that the organs and tissues of a corpse undergo after the onset of biological death. Cadaveric phenomena are divided into early and late. The early ones include cooling of the corpse, cadaveric spots, rigor mortis, desiccation and autolysis; to the later ones - rotting, skeletonization, mummification, fat wax and peat tanning.
Early cadaveric phenomena
Early cadaveric phenomena are characterized by the appearance a few hours after the onset of biological death, and they usually gradually disappear after a few days, giving way to late cadaveric changes.
cadaveric desiccation
Cadaverous desiccation captures mainly those parts of the human body that were moistened during life - the mucous membrane of the lips, the cornea and white membranes of the eyes, the scrotum, the labia minora, as well as areas of the skin devoid of the epidermis - abrasions (including post-mortem), edges of wounds, strangulation furrow and the like.
The time of appearance and the rate of development largely depend on the state of the environment. The higher the temperature and humidity, the faster and more pronounced the drying of the corpse. Already after 2-3 hours, under normal conditions, clouding of the corneas is observed, yellow-brown areas appear on the white membranes of the eye, which are called "Larcher spots". During resuscitation, or if the epidermis is damaged after the onset of biological death, post-mortem abrasions may occur, in the process of drying they may take the form of a “parchment stain”. By the end of the first day, the dried areas become dense to the touch, acquire a yellow-brown or red-brown color. However, they can be mistaken for intravital injuries. This should be especially remembered when examining the transitional border of the lips, reflexogenic zones - the scrotum, labia and other areas of the skin.
Posthumous cooling
The cooling of the corpse is due to the cessation of endogenous heat production, due to the cessation of metabolic processes after the onset of biological death. The first signs of corpse cooling to the touch are determined 1-2 hours after death. Under normal conditions (at a temperature of 18 ° C), a corpse in clothing cools by approximately 1 degree Celsius per hour, so after 17-18 hours the body temperature will become equal to the ambient temperature.
Rigor mortis (Rigor Mortis)
Represents an abbreviation muscle fibers and the specific changes that follow. The external manifestations of this process can be divided into groups, depending on the type of muscles in which stiffness occurs.
In the striated muscles, the external signs of stiffness are manifested in the form of its rigidity, outline and relief. The flexor muscles are more powerful than the extensor muscles, and therefore the upper limbs are flexed at the elbow and hand joints, the lower limbs are bent at the hip and knee joints. With fully developed rigor mortis, the corpses assume a position resembling the posture of a wrestler or boxer (the upper limbs are half-bent at the elbow joints, slightly raised and adducted, the hands are half-compressed, the lower limbs are half-bent at the hip and knee joints). This posture is most pronounced under the action of high temperature, when the muscular rigor of the corpse is combined with thermal destruction of muscle tissue.
Rigor rigor of smooth muscles is manifested by the so-called "goosebumps", contraction of the nipples, sphincters, which leads to the release of excretions. At death, the heart is in diastole.
Subsequently, stiffness of the myocardium develops, which leads to post-mortem systole and extrusion of blood from the ventricles of the heart. Due to the fact that the left half of the heart is more powerful than the right, more blood remains in the right ventricle than in the left. After rigor mortis resolves, the heart returns to diastole.
Rigor rigor of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract forms pronounced, accentuated folds of the mucous membrane, which can lead to the movement of contents.
Corpse spots (Livores)
Cadaveric spots (hypostatici, livores cadaverici, vibices) are perhaps the most famous sign of the onset of biological death. They are, as a rule, patches of skin of a bluish-violet color. Cadaverous spots arise due to the fact that after the cessation of cardiac activity and the loss of tone of the vascular wall, passive movement of blood through the vessels occurs under the influence of gravity and its concentration in the lower parts of the body. The first cadaveric spots appear in acute death after 1-2 hours, in agonal death - 3-4 hours after the onset of biological death, in the form of pale areas of skin staining. Cadaveric spots reach the maximum color intensity by the end of the first half of the day. During the first 10-12 hours, there is a slow redistribution of blood in the corpse under the influence of gravity.
Autolysis
Cadaveric autolysis, that is, tissue self-digestion, is associated with the destruction of enzyme systems involved in cell metabolism. Disorganization and disintegration of enzyme systems occurs in the process of dying of various body tissues. At the same time, enzyme systems, spreading uncontrollably, affect their own cellular structures, causing their rapid decay.
Late cadaveric phenomena and conservation processes
rotting
Decay is the decomposition of complex organic compounds under the influence of microorganisms to simpler ones. In the end, as a result of decay, complete decomposition of proteins, fats, carbohydrates and other biological substances occurs with the formation of water, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide, ammonia, methane and other compounds.
Mummification
Mummification refers to late cadaveric phenomena of a preserving nature. The origin of the term "mummification" is associated with Egyptian mummies and means the drying of a corpse under natural conditions or using special methods. For the development of natural mummification, a combination of several prerequisites is necessary: dry air, good ventilation and elevated temperature. As a rule, corpses with mild subcutaneous fat, corpses of newborns are subjected to mummification ...
Peat tanning
Being in peaty soil, corpses can be subjected to peat tanning. Peat tanning develops under the influence of humic (sometimes called humic) acids. Under the influence of humic acids, the skin undergoes “tanning”, thickens, acquires a brown-brown color, internal organs decrease in volume. Significant changes occur in the bones. Humic acids contribute to the leaching of the mineral basis of bone tissue, dissolving it. At the same time, the bones in their consistency become similar to cartilage, are easily cut with a knife, and are quite flexible. An example of peat tanning is the so-called "bog people".
Zhirovovsk
Fat wax (saponification or saponification) also refers to late cadaveric changes. Necessary conditions Fat wax formations are high humidity and lack of oxygen, which are most often found during burials in moist clay soils, when a corpse is in water, and under other similar conditions. Under conditions of high humidity and lack of oxygen, putrefactive processes that have begun gradually stop, tissues and organs are saturated with water.
skeletonization
It is the process of the final disintegration of the corpse into the bones of the skeleton, as a result of decay, soft tissues are destroyed, then ligaments. The corpse breaks up into separate bones.
Mineralization
Mineralization is the process of decomposition of a corpse into separate chemical elements and simple chemical compounds. For classical types of burials (in a wooden coffin, in a soil grave), the period of mineralization is, depending on the soil and climatic conditions of the region, from 10 to 30 years. When a corpse is burned in a crematorium (cremation temperature +1100 - +1200 °C), the mineralization period is about 2 hours. At the end of the mineralization process, only the skeleton remains from the corpse, which breaks up into separate bones and, in this form, can exist in the soil for hundreds and thousands of years.
In any profession there is a basic ethic of paramount importance. Medicine, for example, bases its professional practice on the Hippocratic Oath, which articulates the ethics of healing. The law bases its practice on legal ethics. The highest ethics for the funeral service profession is known to be based on respect for the deceased. The ethical question "What should be done with the dead?" can be understood ambiguously. Some people believe that the deceased should be buried in the ground. Others are in favor of cremation. Still others believe that the bodies of the dead should be transferred to medical educational institutions. Fourth support the idea of freezing the dead, and the fifth are in favor of drowning. Sixth - for sending into space ...
ETHICAL ATTITUDE TO A DEAD BODY
One way or another, but the main result in the history of mankind is that in all ages people tried to get rid of the dead body as soon as possible. Firstly, people were driven by a sense of their own security - even in ancient times it became clear that a dead body could be dangerous for the living. Secondly, people could not afford, did not want to watch the rapid decay that destroyed the dead body of a loved and dear person. The transformation of a loved one into a formless rotten biomass is the highest test for anyone. Although history knows many examples when loving husband, the wife or mother did not want to part with the dear deceased, they delayed the burial for a month or more. But the stench, the unsightly sight, common sense urged to perform the deplorable act of burial.
In Western culture, there is an attitude of denial and neglect in relation to dying and death. In particular, modern culture highly values new, shiny, and useful things, while devaluing old, worn, and unusable things. And therefore, the value of a human corpse is often low, because the corpse symbolizes death, which disgusts our materialistically superficial culture, which tries to avoid any vision and knowledge of it. In addition, the body of a dead person is a psychological and ethical paradox for people, since the living is always attractive, and the sight of a dead body is repulsive. The dead symbolize destruction and despair, and since living people do not want to deal with destruction and despair, we have come up with a carefully crafted system of protective measures to help us deal with this situation.
However, respect for the dead is deeply rooted in human nature, no matter how much we show our disdain, apathy, or even disgust. We call for ethical or respectful treatment of the dead. This attitude was even among our distant ancestors - the Neanderthals.
Anthropological studies prove that the burial of human bodies is more ancient than all religious rites, a practice that was used about 60 thousand years BC. In the Shandiar cave in Iraq, researchers found corpses adorned with elk antlers and shoulder blades. Flower pollen was found, which was probably used as an offering to the deceased and concealed an unpleasant odor during the funeral ritual. Primary behavioral characteristics of our natural and instinctive urge to treat the dead with great reverence have been found among Neanderthals. This genetically and instinctively conditioned tradition continues to this day, ennobled by our modern culture and intellect.
From a review of the history of mankind, it becomes clear that the neglect of the dead is clearly the fundamental cause of the decline of the state and social order. History shows us that the eventual disappearance of many civilizations was foreshadowed by an increase in indifference to caring for their dead. Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece and Nazi Germany are examples of such civilizations. When examining the fall of these mighty empires, it is found that the lack of due regard for the dead was widespread. Historical chronicles show that the observance of rites, rituals and mourning ceremonies for the dead serves as a wonderful example of the perfection of some past cultures.
The eminent British Prime Minister William E. Gladstone (1809-1898) spoke succinctly about the ethical, moral and sociological consequences of neglecting the care of the dead:
“Show me the way in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical precision the degree of mercy of this people, their attitude to the laws of the state and their devotion to the highest ideals.”
This eloquent quote contains a deep moral truth, and funeral service professionals often cite it as a quote. But no matter how many times these words are mentioned, their impact on our profession, society and humanity as a whole will never dry up.
A common type of burial in the islands of colonial England. The messenger of the world of the dead is dressed in a shroud of a half-monk - the vestment of a half-pharaoh. A young man climbed a tree in fear, giving way to an agent of death
INFECTIOUS HAZARD
The rotting of the body begins immediately after death. The body becomes the host of many organisms. The tissues and fluids inside the body change color and texture, and separate from the bones over time. Although putrefaction is a natural process, decomposition produces odors that cause general disgust and fear of infection. The body must return to the ground or burn in the fire. Today, more than half of humanity prefers the fiery method of getting rid of a dead body. In some cultures, death is not considered final until the body is completely gone. Disintegration time depends on internal factors such as weight, embalming procedures, and external conditions such as exposure to moisture and oxygen. In some cases, the corpses dry out or undergo chemical changes that cause partial, temporary or complete preservation. However, in most cases, only intentional mummification will save human remains from turning to dust.
The fear of being infected by the dead is as strong today as it was in ancient Greece. The miasma emitted by a decaying corpse is believed to pollute the earth and air. The ancient Romans and nineteenth-century graveyard reformers advocated that the dead should be buried outside the city to protect people from dangerous fumes rising from graves.
Planting trees in the cemetery was supposed to reduce the amount of toxic fumes in the air. Despite this, gravediggers often fell ill and died as a result of contact with the dead. Hughes Marais describes the following incident in 1773: “On the fifteenth of January of this year, a gravedigger who was digging a grave in the cemetery of Montmorency touched with his shovel a corpse buried a year ago. Foul-smelling vapors rose from the grave, inhaling which, he shuddered ... When he leaned on a shovel to fill the hole he had just dug, he fell dead.
On another occasion, in 1773, a grave was being dug in the nave of the church of Sainte-Saturnin in Saly. During earthworks, a pre-existing grave was opened, from which such a vile stench escaped that everyone who was at that time in the church was forced to leave it. One hundred and fourteen of the 120 children preparing for the first communion became seriously ill, and 18 of those present, including the priest and vicar, died. Gravedigger Thomas Oakes died while digging a grave at Aldgate Church in 1838, Edward Luddett died instantly when he tried to get Oakes out of the pit.
As people began to better understand the disease, deaths began to be attributed to cholera or plague, which were transmitted from the dead. Those who worked with corpses soon learned to take precautions, and embalming, as a sanitary measure, became increasingly popular. When Tom Dudley, Captain Mignonette, died of the plague in Sydney, Australia in the early 20th century, his body was wrapped in sheets soaked in disinfectant and placed in a coffin. The coffin was filled with sulfuric acid and mercury perchloride, lowered down the river and buried in a very deep grave.
There are thousands of such fatal examples, they are found in all countries, described on all continents. While embalmers still protect themselves and the public from infectious corpses, the fumes of the dead continue to haunt the living.
Type of burial among the natives of Australia - a typical Asian way of leaving a corpse to be eaten by birds - vultures in the Towers of Silence (India) and on trees (Australia)
PHASES OF DECOMPOSITION
The smells emitted by a dead body are very unpleasant, they cannot be compared with anything and cannot be erased from memory: It is a smell from which people instinctively recoil, as from a slap in the face. The smell of human remains is more repulsive than any other sensory experience. People who have met him for the first time say that their nose stopped smelling only after a few weeks and even years later, just remembering this smell causes him to smell in full force. Pathologist F. Gonzales-Crussi remarks: "Wash a decaying corpse in sweet-smelling perfume, but it will still stink of rotten carrion even on a bed strewn with roses." Some try to mask the smell with cigars, coffee, or menthol ointment, which they apply under their noses.
Those who work in the emergency room, like pathologists, are well acquainted with the smells of death and classify the dead into three categories: fresh, mature and overripe. All medical students in anatomy theater know that the smell of death is very difficult to get rid of, but out of context it is sometimes difficult to recognize. The 21-year-old woman, whose apartment was a floor above serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer's, told reporters that she often complained to the manager about the smell: "It soaked my clothes and I couldn't get rid of it, even after a bath. How could we assume that these were dead people?
The natural decomposition of the body is accompanied by the formation of large amounts of hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, methane and ammonia, which create enormous pressure inside the body and inside the coffin. The gas generated inside the body gradually causes the drowned body to float, even if a weight is attached to it. When the flesh has decomposed enough and the gas has room to escape, the body floating on the surface can sink again and become a skeleton over time. Numerous chemical changes take place inside a dead body, one of which is the hydrolysis and hydrogenation of fats, a process by which muscles, viscera, and fatty tissues are replaced by a light, soapy, waxy substance called fat wax. The smell of this substance has a special power.
Funeral chulpa (chulpa) had the shape of a triangular pyramid. They assembled a pyramid of unfired bricks. Sometimes the chulpa was built in the form of an obelisk. It was widespread among the peoples of South America, in Mexico, and especially among the American Indians. The bodies, previously embalmed in a special South American way, were wrapped in their own clothes, over which they put on a funeral vestment with a cap and a hole for the face and legs. The dead were buried sitting in a family circle, "looking" at each other. It was these family crypts that were discovered by the first Spanish conquerors of South America.
PHYSICAL FATE OF THE BODY
Several factors influence the putrefaction of bodies, which can be divided into four stages according to the state of the corpse: fresh, bloated, decomposing, and dry. From practice it is known that one week in the air is equal to two weeks in the water and eight weeks in the ground. The fastest way to decompose remains is cremation, which reduces tissue decay to one hour.
If the body is exposed to heat, or if the person had an elevated temperature at the time of death, decomposition will proceed more rapidly. High temperatures speed up autolysis - the destruction of tissues by the body's natural enzymes. A body left to the elements in winter decomposes more quickly from the inside, and there is a greater chance of spots, mold, and discoloration on the skin because the skin does not separate from the body as quickly. Clothes or shrouds speed up the decay process. Thin people and those who die suddenly in full health decompose more slowly than others. Deep burial also inhibits decomposition. Bodies buried at a depth of one and a half meters take many years to turn into a skeleton. Embalmed bodies may decompose more slowly during the first six months, depending on the amount of adipose tissue. Embalming can slow down the activity of the larvae and the disintegration of the body into pieces.
Two graves of Mr. Bech and Captain Inn in the English colony in Malaysia. Trying to imitate the burial tradition of England, the aborigines wove tomb baskets symbolizing the universe and laid out a tombstone from bamboo
ASSOCIATED FACTORS
Like embalming, quicklime (which many say shrinks the body even faster) is a preservative. The lime reacts with body fat to form a hard soap that is resistant to insects and bacteria and slows down decay. Different parts of the body can decompose at different rates. In soil with high natural acidity, bones are poorly preserved, but some organic remains may be preserved. In basic soils, organic remains decompose quickly, but bones are preserved. Body parts that are more resistant to decay than other parts include bones, teeth, cartilage, hair, and nails. The female uterus, a very hard and compact muscular organ, is considered the most resistant organ of the human body to decay.
In hot, dry climates, the body may mummify in some places and decompose in others, especially where its parts are pressed against each other or located in a cramped place from which the liquid cannot easily evaporate.
The decay of the body is often aided by insects if they have access to it. Folklore abounds with descriptions of worms devouring our earthly remains, as in the following two versions of a popular English ditty:
1. When a coffin is being driven down the street towards
Don't you think that kaput will come to me too?
Put on a wooden shirt
They will lower it into a hole and fall asleep to the eyeballs.
And in the skull countless worms will live
And they will roam back and forth -
Fuit-fuit-fuit.
2. When a dead person is being carried along the street
You think, alas, kaput will come to me
Covered with a shroud and buried deep
And I will become food for worms and a hole.
They will eat and spit out my insides
And they will roam back and forth - hoho-hoho-hoho.
The physical fate of the body after death is a very good reason for lifetime modesty, since flies are not very picky about the bodies in which they lay their eggs. Outdoors, they lay thousands of eggs in the nose, mouth, ears, and any damaged areas. In hot climates, the larvae can strip a corpse to the bone in about 10 days to two weeks. Even in cold climates, the larvae can survive in the heat generated by the decomposition of a corpse.
William "Tender" Russ, a 61-year-old gravedigger, complained to an interviewer that the modern funeral service omits the Bible verse from the Book of Job that talks about worms eating the human body. "They say such things sound disgusting. They really are disgusting. But people need it when they look down at the grave ground."
Worms serve as a reminder of the mortality of our kind, and both help and hinder forensic anthropologists who study them to determine the time of death and then have to search around for its cause. For serial killer Dennis Nilson, the flies served as a reminder of the victims he placed under the floorboards. Twice a day he sprayed his apartment to kill the flies that flew out of the decaying flesh of the dead. Although screwworm larvae are most often associated with the dead, the Wall Street Journal writes that the humpback fly (humpback) is most often found in mausoleums and crypts. Such flies lay their eggs on the body before burial or inside the coffin. If adults cannot squeeze into the coffin through a hermetically sealed gap, they lay their eggs along the cracks so that the offspring can enter through it after hatching from the eggs. There is evidence that one pair of humpback flies in a grave can produce 55 million adult flies in just two months.
Bodies left unburied can become prey for even more types of insects, including several types of flies and beetles.
The Mummies Museum in Guanajuato, which has more than a hundred mummified bodies in its collection, clearly testifies to the unusual attitude of local residents to death. The mummies exhibited in the glass cases of the museum are quite well preserved. Unlike the Egyptian mummies, the Mexican mummies were the result of severe dehydration of the bodies, rather than intentional embalming. This is due to the fact that the soil in Mexico is rich in minerals and the atmosphere is very dry.
Photo: poetry.rotten.com. All rights reserved.
CORSE RECYCLING
Despite its extreme unattractiveness, being eaten by insects is just one way to recycle corpses. The corpse as fertilizer is a topic that many poems are devoted to and which was put into practice in the collection of human remains. In England in the 1830s and 1840s, tons of human bones were ground up in mills and used as fertilizer. In China, bones for this purpose were collected in necropolises. Nineteenth century economists saw more value in cremation than in burial, knowing that ashes were excellent fertilizer.
Others demanded that cemeteries be turned into crop farms. "The wonderful flowers that bloom here / fertilized by Gerty Grier" - this is the most common epitaph. Many people asked to be buried in their own gardens, but the idea that the body should turn into part of the vegetables we eat was accused of cannibalism, although the charge was later dropped: "After death, undergoing various transformations during decomposition, the human body converted into other organic substances. These substances can be absorbed by plants, and people can eat these plants or their fruits. Thus, the atomic elements that make up a dead person may eventually end up in other people. " The reality of the phenomenon "From earth to earth" is not as tempting as poets try to present it. "From dust to dust, they say. It's funny to me. From dirt to dirt, more like the truth," said William Russ, nicknamed "Gentle."
While Omar Khayyam writes about grass growing from unfamiliar but wonderful lips, poets use the image of collapsing female forms to lament human vanity. "Hey, lady - false breasts, managed to deceive men - worms can not be deceived!" writes Cyril Tournure in The Shell of Death. Even the most beautiful and richest men must swell and rot in the grave. The decay of the flesh erases all signs of individuality, except for the difference in bone size and structure.
The English Puritans of the seventeenth century preached that a body without a soul would be a nightmare to those who behold it. Epitaphs from the early eighteenth century compare the decomposed body to the resurrected dead and existence in human memory. Corpses are put away because they are unpleasant to the senses and also because they become useless. Mummy author Georges McHag writes that bodies that don't naturally decompose would be troublesome to have around, like old tin cans. Plastic surgeon Robert M. Goldwyn, on the other hand, laments that "My human canvases must dry out with me." This is also vanity, but despite all the lamentations, the flesh will dissolve.
Self-mummification of a corpse under the action of sunlight
BELIEF AND SUPERSTITION
For some people, death means the complete disintegration of the body. In such cases, mourning for the deceased, apparently, continues in parallel with the decomposition of the corpse, until its complete disintegration. AT Ancient Greece believed that the rate of decomposition is directly proportional to the social status of the deceased.
The Greek Orthodox Church has stated that only the bodies of the excommunicated do not decompose. Therefore, among the Greek curses there are such as "So that the earth does not take you" and "So that you do not rot." Roman Catholics believe that only the corpses of saints do not rot.
Scientifically, mummification can occur naturally under the right conditions, but the basic rule is decomposition. And in the coffin, and in the same shroud, the bodies always become food for worms. Many people order the cremation of their bodies to avoid the usual course of things, while others simply try not to think about it, and still, the rotting of the body after death, as the poets passionately argue, is a challenge to our earthly vanity.
"A dead butterfly on a living flower." Even a butterfly chooses a place for its eternal rest.
A photo
CONCLUSION
So, death is not a popular, widely discussed issue, a topic that people are used to thinking about every day. The very subject of death has an initial uncertainty. As for the human remains, the public status of this phenomenon in all civilized countries belongs to the shameful taboos of society. In 1975, noted death psychologist Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote that death is a "terrible and terrible subject" that people avoid by all means possible.
But the last decade has revealed a greater emancipation of death. The skull became a fashionable attribute in clothes, the planetary youth movement "Emo" appeared, inspired by the symbolism of death. Death has become the new radical and fashionable topic of the media, fodder for endless TV programs and newspaper articles.
At the same time, if bereavement, euthanasia, hospices, murders, suicides have firmly occupied the niches of the most discussed information blogs, then human remains, which are the essence, the material content of the grateful memory of descendants, are still taken out of the public interest and nothing but disgust , hostility, feelings of dirt, something disgusting in most people do not cause.
I want to hope that intellectuals, highly spiritual, moral people nevertheless, they will loudly declare that the denial of death is far from a harmless phenomenon. After all, it's like denying the very fact of the existence of the universe. The Englishman John McMapperson said: “The attitude of people towards the remains of their relatives is of decisive importance for understanding their own destiny on earth, for realizing that each of us must die. Indeed, human destiny is something more than the coming of death and the prolongation of life. After all, the one who came into the world and began to live, he began to die.
How I would like to quote here a simple rule of ethics: "Give way to others just as others have done for you." I am for humanized death. But, apparently, the vulgar perception of death will live forever. Those who do good to death have the same chances. I wish there were more of the latter. While some cynically argue that the worms that eat the corpses of a loved one will be full, let others find solace in gaining eternal life.
GLOSSARY TANATOPRACTICS
ABSORPTION - absorption of a gas or solute by a liquid or solid.
AUTOLYSIS (self-destruction) - self-digestion - the breakdown of cells and tissues of the body under the influence of the hydrolytic enzymes contained in them. Postmortem autolysis - occurs without the participation of microorganisms and is due to the activation of hydrolytic enzymes under conditions of a shift in the reaction of the environment to the acid side; refers to early cadaveric phenomena.
AEROBES are microorganisms that can live and develop only in the presence of free oxygen. Some of them are actively involved in the process of putrefaction of a corpse (more complete decomposition of protein molecules and less formation of malodorous substances).
WHITE-EYED SIGN (the phenomenon of "cat's eye") - one of the signs indicating the onset of death. When squeezed from the sides of the eyeball, the pupil takes the form of a narrow vertical slit, and when pressure is applied from top to bottom, it becomes horizontally elongated. This sign is observed already 10-15 minutes after the onset of death.
HEMATOMA (blood tumor) - a limited accumulation of blood in tissues with the formation of a cavity in them containing liquid blood.
HEMOLYSIS (erythrocytolysis) - the destruction of red blood cells with the release of hemoglobin into the plasma.
Hemopericardium - accumulation of blood in the cavity of the heart sac (pericardium).
hemopneumopericardium - accumulation of blood and air in the cavity of the heart sac.
HYPEREMIA - an increase in blood supply to any part of the peripheral vascular system(for example, on the skin in the form of redness).
HYPERCAPNIA - an increased amount of carbon dioxide in the blood or other tissues.
HYPERTROPHY - an increase in an organ or part of it due to an increase in the volume or number of cells.
HYPOSTASIS - stagnation of blood in the underlying parts of the body and individual organs. There are intravital hypostasis, agonal and postmortem hypostasis. In forensic medicine - the first stage of the formation of cadaveric spots, due to the flow of blood down, due to gravity, with overflow of blood vessels, especially capillaries. At this stage, the cadaveric stain turns pale when pressed due to the expulsion of blood from the vessels, then re-stains. Corpse spots appear 1.5-2 hours after death, the stage of hypostasis lasts 8-15 hours.
ROTTENING - the process of splitting organic, nitrogen-containing, mainly protein, substances as a result of the vital activity of microorganisms. In forensic medicine, cadaveric decay refers to late cadaveric phenomena that destroy a dead body. Optimal conditions for rotting a corpse are created at an ambient temperature of 30-40°C and a humidity of 60-70%; the soft tissues of a corpse can collapse in 1-1.5 months.
Putrid gases - substances formed during the decay of organs and tissues, containing methane, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, ethyl and methyl mercaptan.
RECEPTION OF THE BURNING OF THE CORSE - the period of time that has elapsed from the moment of burial of the corpse to the moment of its examination.
TIME OF DEATH - the period of time elapsed from the moment of cardiac arrest until the moment of examination of the corpse at the place of its discovery or until the moment of research. The prescription of the onset of death is determined by the severity of cadaveric changes, with the help of supravital reactions, morphological, histochemical, biochemical, biophysical methods for examining the organs and tissues of the corpse.
DEFORMATION - a change in the size and shape of a body under the influence of an external force (without a change in mass); elastic - if it disappears after the cessation of exposure, plastic - if it does not completely disappear. During deformation, a special state occurs in the body, called stress. The highest stress at which the deformation remains elastic is called the elastic limit. The stress at which the body collapses is called the tensile strength. The simplest types of body deformation: tension, compression, shear, bending or torsion. In most cases, the deformation is a combination of several types of deformations at the same time. At the same time, any deformation can be reduced to the two simplest ones - tension (or compression) and shear. Deformation is examined using strain gauges, as well as resistance strain gauges, X-ray structural analysis, and other methods.
PEAT TANNING - a type of natural preservation of a corpse that occurs when the body of a corpse is in peat soil for a long time, where, under the influence of humic (humic) acids, soft tissues and organs are compacted and stained brown. The skin of the corpse becomes dense, brittle, acquires a dark brown color. Mineral salts dissolve in the bones, as a result of which the latter become soft, resemble cartilage, and are easily cut with a knife.
FATWAX (corpse wax) - a type of natural preservation of a corpse; a substance into which the tissues of a corpse turn under conditions of high humidity in the absence or insufficient air content, which is a compound of fatty acids (palmitic and stearic) with salts of alkali and alkaline earth metals (soap).
RETROPERITONEAL HEMATOMA - hemorrhage with the formation of accumulation of blood in the tissue of the retroperitoneal space (in the posterior abdominal cavity).
ZONE OF PRIMARY NECROSIS - the central (close to the wound channel) part of the zone of contusion of tissues that die at the time of injury in direct contact with a wounding projectile or related components of a shot.
IMBIBITION (absorption, soaking) - the third stage of the formation of cadaveric spots, developing on the second day. In this stage, cadaveric spots do not turn pale when pressed and do not move. When the tissue is cut, cadaveric spots are evenly colored in light purple and lilac colors, no drops of blood stand out from the vessels.
CORSE PRESERVATION (preservation) - natural (mummification, peat tanning, fat wax, freezing) or artificial factors (chemical - formalin, alcohol) that prevent the putrefactive decay of organs and tissues of the corpse.
HEMORRHAGE (hemorrhage, extravasation) - the accumulation of blood that has poured out of the vessels in the tissues and cavities of the body.
BRUISED - hemorrhage and translucence of accumulated blood in the skin, mucous membrane and underlying tissues due to rupture of blood vessels from the impact of a blunt object. Depending on the period of formation, the bruise has a different color, which makes it possible to judge the prescription of its formation. Its shape indicates the features of the surface of the traumatic object.
MACERATION (softening, soaking) - swelling, softening and loosening of tissues as a result of prolonged exposure to liquids, maceration of the skin of a corpse is formed under the action of a liquid, often water. First, the stratum corneum of the epidermis is loosened in the form of swelling and wrinkling of the skin and its pearly white coloration. With prolonged exposure to water, the macerated layers are torn off from the dermis with nails in the form of "gloves of death".
MUMIFICATION (make a mummy) - drying of the tissues of a corpse, creating the possibility of its long-term preservation. The m arises only at air dryness, sufficient ventilation and the increased temperature; It is formed in the open air, in a ventilated room and during the burial of corpses in dry, coarse-grained and sandy soils. M.'s intensity also depends on body weight. This process is more susceptible to corpses that have a weakly expressed subcutaneous fat layer. With M., the corpse loses all the liquid, its mass is 1/10 of the original.
ossification - the stage of osteogenesis, in which mineralization (calcification) of the intercellular substance occurs. In the development of the skeleton, three stages are observed: connective tissue, cartilage and bone. Almost all bones go through these stages, with the exception of the bones of the cranial vault, most of the bones of the face, etc. The following types of ossification are distinguished: endesmal, perichondral, periosteal, endochondral.
Endesmal - occurs in the connective tissue of the primary bones with the appearance of an island of bone substance (ossification nucleus) and radial spread (for example, the formation of the parietal bone).
Perichondral - occurs along the outer surface of the cartilaginous bone rudiments with the participation of the perichondrium. Further deposition of bone tissue is due to the periosteum - periosteal ossification.
Endochondral - takes place inside the cartilaginous rudiments with the participation of the perichondrium, which releases processes containing vessels into the cartilage. Bone-forming tissue destroys cartilage and forms an island - the core of ossification.
The vertebrae, sternum, epiphyses of the long tubular bones of the extremities ossify enchondrally; perichondral - the base of the skull, the diaphysis of the long bones of the limbs, etc.
Rigor mortis is an absolute early sign of death, it is a peculiar state of muscle tissue in the form of compaction and shortening of muscles, fixing the corpse in a certain position. It manifests itself in the first 2-4 hours after death simultaneously in all muscle groups, however, as a rule, in a descending type: first of all, the masticatory muscles stiffen, then the muscles of the neck, trunk and upper limbs, and lastly, the lower limbs. It is determined in all muscle groups 12-18 hours after death, reaching a maximum after 20-24 hours, and is retained for several days, after which it is resolved. It also develops in smooth muscles. Cathaleptic rigor mortis occurs at the time of death and retains the original posture of the corpse (for example, during the destruction of the medulla oblongata). Rigor mortis allows one to judge the prescription of death, fixes the posthumous posture of the deceased, makes it possible to decide on the movement of the corpse and changing its posture.
BONE REMAINS - bones of a corpse left after complete or partial decay of soft tissues and organs under the influence of natural processes (decay, destruction by insects and their larvae, small rodents and large animals, predatory fish, arthropods, birds, etc.). Can be preserved for centuries, are the object of forensic research.
Upon detection of O. to. affiliation to a missing person is established, i.e. the identity of the deceased is established. For this purpose, the anatomical features of the bone remains, their species affiliation, gender, age, race, height, structural features of the body according to the bones, etc. are determined. Sex, age, race are determined by the bones of the skull, pelvis, condition of the teeth, other bones, height - by long tubular bones, and it is possible to determine the growth from bone fragments. A specific personality is established on the basis of particular signs - anomalies of the anatomical structure, features of the teeth, traces of injuries and diseases, etc. The examined injuries on the bones can indicate the cause of death. Existing methods for the study of bone remains make it possible to determine the age of burial of a corpse.
A forensic medical examination of bone remains is carried out in the medical forensic department of the Bureau of Forensic Medical Examination.
PNEUMOTHORAX (air in the chest) - the penetration of air through the damaged chest wall or from the damaged lung and its accumulation between the pulmonary and parietal pleura, one of the formidable complications and manifestations of chest trauma. In this case, the lung collapses, the interpleural gap turns into a cavity.
Distinguish P. complete and partial, one- and two-sided; traumatic, surgical, spontaneous and artificial. Traumatic P. happens open, closed and valve. When P. is closed, the air that has entered the pleural cavity soon resolves (300-500 ml of air resolves within 2-3 weeks). With open and valvular P., a severe symptom complex of cardiovascular and respiratory disorders develops, a picture of pleuropulmonary shock, leading in the next few hours after the wound to the death of the wounded person, if he is not provided with medical care.
PTOMAINS (dead body, corpse) - cadaveric poisons, alkaloid-like substances formed in the process of decay of protein substances. These include: choline, neuridin, trimethylamine, cadaverine, putrescine, sarpin, midalein, midin, midatoxin. It is believed that various P. appear in the corpse during its decay not simultaneously, but in a certain sequence, which requires the expert to be careful when examining corpses.
STAFF SPOT - an absolute sign of death. They are accumulations of blood in the underlying parts of the body, arising due to gravity, with overflow of small vessels, capillaries and translucence of blood through the skin, bluish-gray or bluish-purple in color. They usually appear 1.5-2 hours after death.
In its development, P.t. go through three stages: hypostasis, stasis and imbibition, which makes it possible to determine the prescription of the onset of death. In addition, P.t. indicate the position of the body after death, the amount of blood in the corpse; their coloration makes it possible to put forward a certain version of death (for example, carbon monoxide poisoning is indicated by the bright red color of P.T.); allow to establish the fact of the movement of the corpse, sometimes to solve other issues important for the investigation.
POST-MORTAL BIRTH - squeezing the fetus through the birth canal from the uterus of the corpse of a pregnant woman with gases formed during decay.
TANATOLOGY (the doctrine of death) is a science that studies the process of dying, death, its causes and manifestations. Judicial T. - a section of thanatology that falls within the competence of forensic doctors - studies all types of violent death and sudden death.
Smoldering - the process of decomposition of proteins with access to air, not in large numbers moisture and the predominance of aerobic bacteria, one of the types of decay. T. is more intense than ordinary putrefaction, with more complete oxidation and is accompanied by a relatively small formation of foul-smelling gases.
Corpse (cadaver) - the dead body of a person (or animal), one of the objects of a forensic medical examination, an autopsy is usually performed no earlier than 12 hours after death.
CYANOSIS (dark blue) - bluish coloration of the skin and mucous membranes, due to the high content of reduced hemoglobin in the blood.
EMPHYSEMA CAPIDA (bloating) - stretching of the organs and tissues of a corpse as a result of the formation and penetration into loose tissues and the subcutaneous base of gases formed as a result of decay. Gas pressure in the abdominal cavity can sometimes reach 2 atm.
Sergey YAKUSHIN, President of the Association of Crematoriums and Manufacturers of Cremation Equipment, publisher of the Funeral Home magazine
The “Friday corpse” section has not been updated for a long time. Today I present to your favorable attention the painter, illustrator and creator of many beautiful engravings - Eitaki Kobayashi. A professional artist, the son of a fishmonger, honored with the dignity of a samurai (albeit nominal), while still a very young man, he became the author of many magnificent caricatures, a series of engravings with spirits, ghosts and children's fun, as well as no less famous series of engravings with completely unchildish fun. After his master was killed, the maestro left his post and went to travel throughout Japan, studying the painting techniques of the Chinese and European schools.
One of the series of engravings widely known on the Internet is the reason for my today's post, this series is called "The body of a beautiful courtesan in 9 stages of decomposition" created by the master in 1870. images from which are provided with my modest comments.
So decomposition is the process by which complexly organized organic matter is converted into simpler substances.
The process of decomposition begins shortly after death and, in general, undergoes a series of more or less consistent and typical processes, the severity and duration of which depend on many different factors related both to the characteristics of the decomposing body itself and to the characteristics of the environment in which this very body resides.
Decomposition begins shortly after the heart stops beating, the blood moves under the influence of gravity to the underlying parts of the body, where it causes the appearance of large areas of red or blue-violet color - the so-called cadaveric spots, the vessels in the overlying parts of the body become empty and the skin becomes dead pallor and waxy appearance. In the period from 3 to 6 hours, the muscles thicken and lose their ability to relax, as if “remembering” the position in which the person was before death, this is called rigor mortis. Also, immediately after death, the body stops producing heat and the body temperature equalizes with the ambient temperature, that is, as a rule, it cools, the water begins to evaporate and the corpse dries up somewhat, especially drying is noticeable on the mucous membranes, for example, the mucous membrane of the oral cavity, conjunctiva and cornea of the eyes , as well as - the skin, especially in places where there is precipitation. The skin of the fingertips also noticeably dries out, which makes the nails appear longer. 
Once the heart has stopped, the body's cells stop receiving oxygen and nutrients, eliminate carbon dioxide and at different intervals (the duration of which depends on the individual sensitivity of the tissue to oxygen starvation) from the moment of circulatory arrest, begin to die. Cells of the cerebral cortex die on average 5 minutes after cardiac arrest, heart muscle - within 1.5-2 hours, kidneys and liver - 3-4 hours, muscle tissue and skin can remain viable up to 6 hours, bone tissue is the most inert to absence oxygen tissue and remains viable for up to several days. After the cell has died, all its contents, including intracellular enzymes, fall out of its cytoplasm, and begin to digest everything around, including the remnants of their former host, this process is called autolysis, that is, self-digestion, those organs and tissues that are engaged in digestion professionally, in their cytoplasm in bulk of enzymes that digest everything in a row, first of all, such organs include the pancreas and stomach. After the remnants of oxygen are “eaten up” by dying cells and oxygen-consuming bacteria, the conditions are simply ideal for bacteria that prefer the absence of oxygen - anaerobic bacteria, there are especially many of them in the large intestine; throughout the body, to burst free deliciousness from self-digested cells, to multiply furiously and emit gases. Instead of oxygen, blood hemoglobin attaches sulfur compounds secreted by bacteria and turns into sulfhemoglobin - a hemoglobin compound that has a dirty green color, which gives the corpse a characteristic zombie color. 
Finally, there are so many gases that the corpse literally begins to swell, the stomach swells first (and in men and the scrotum), in women, uterine inversion can occur and both can experience prolapse of the intestines, the phenomenon of post-mortem childbirth is associated with the same effect. The eyes protrude from the sockets, and the tongue from the mouth. Finally, the swelling reaches the point where the skin begins to burst in some places, and putrefactive gases begin to be released into the environment. Sometimes the pressure of putrefactive gases reaches such significant values that the corpse literally explodes. 
Further, decay proceeds no less actively under favorable conditions in the warm season, the corpse is actively populated by insect larvae, primarily by flies.
Thanks to the efforts of insects, the corpse begins to actively lose its biological mass. First of all, the corpse is populated by larvae in those areas in which it will be easiest for tender larvae to get to tasty food, such sites include the mouth, eyes, and wounds, if present. Owing to more and more increasing defects in the skin, oxygen-loving bacteria come to life again and are also connected to the feast. 
Thus, the putrefactive liquefaction of tissues continues and the corpse releases gaseous decomposition products in large quantities. Usually, this is the most fetid period during this period, the dead are most often found precisely by smell. At one fine moment, the larvae realize that it’s enough to eat, it’s time to pupate, they fall off the table and crawl away from the body to make their paomorphoses of pathomorphoses and equip their cozy puparia. 
Often lovers of carrion and a higher nomenclature order join arthropods, but they do this at various stages and in a completely unorganized way, to the great chagrin of forensic experts. 
Here, active decay stops, and much more protracted processes begin that can only interest a dry, sophisticated brain in the sciences. Flowers and grass under the corpse die without finding enough strength in the depths of their delicate flower soul to endure all this disgrace stretching for months, depending on the conditions. But, the soil in the place where the corpse lies is richly manured with decay products useful for the biosphere, forming the so-called “decomposition island” (cadaver decomposition island, forgive me my clumsy translation) - a kind of fertile oasis, which, after about 80 days, hides with lush vegetation half-decayed corpse signaling the beginning of the "dry" stage of decomposition.
