The Salafia method rediscovered

Abstract

Keywords Embalming.Formaldehyde.History.Italy.19thcentury.20thcenturySir,Embalming has played an essential role in human culturefor much of history. While religious and cultural beliefswere the main motivators throughout antiquity, ModernAge advances in anatomy, pathology, and chemistry havecaused body preservation to become an important tool forfunerary purposes and educational and scientific practice[1]. In recent years, the authors have investigated the lifeand preparation techniques of Professor Alfredo Salafia(1869–1933), a Sicilian embalmer who devised a method ofpermanent preservation of soft tissue for dissection andfuneral preparation (Fig. 1a).Having started his experiments with animals, Salafiaachieved unexpectedly satisfactory results in the early1900s, after he was granted permission to apply hisprocedure to unclaimed human bodies, which remained inan excellent state of preservation after arterial injection of aspecial fluid [2]. From 1902 forward, he was responsible forthe embalming of many prominent citizens of Palermo,including Cardinal Michelangelo Celesia (1904), SenatorGiacomo Armo (1909), Vice-consul Giovanni Paterniti(1911), and ethnologist Giuseppe Pitre (1916). Additionally,in 1910, Salafia became established in New York City, wherehe created a company providing embalming services and fluidmanufacturing, and successfully demonstrated his procedureto the public at the Eclectic Me dical College. However, hismost notable case is undoubtedly Rosalia Lombardo (1920), a2-year-old child who died of pneumonia, whose body is stillexhibited in the Capuchin Catacombs at Palermo (Fig. 1b).Although Rosalia’s head is the only exposed area, a recentassessment of her preservation status through conventional X-ray revealed a remarkable preservation of the remainder of thecorpse, with only minor deterioration (Fig. 1c).Salafia never divulged the details of his chemical prior tohis death, and the compound of his preservative hasremained shrouded in mystery until today. In 2007, after adetailed archival research and the subsequent interview ofsome living relatives, we were fortunate enough to be ableto inspect some relevant material which belonged to thisembalmer. Among his notes and papers was an unpub-lished, beautifully handwritten manuscript, entitled “Newspecial method for the preservation of an entire humancadaver in a permanently fresh state” (Fig. 1d) [3].Interestingly, this document describes the ingredients ofhis unknown preservative, namely one part glycerin, onepart formalin saturated with both zinc sulfate and chloride,and one part of an alcohol solution saturated with salicylicacid. As far as the embalming procedure is concerned, thiswas characterized by a great simplicity, consisting of asingle-point injection, preferably into the femoral artery viaa gravity injector. No other procedures normally adopted in