Preservation Glossary Terms

Cooling board

portable table in which the deceased was placed and used in conjunction with the corpse cooler; later became the embalming table when embalming was done in the home of the deceased

Corpse cooler

type of ice chest placed over the torso of the deceased in order to slow down the process of decomposition prior to the funeral. It was typically the undertaker’s responsibility to provide ice and change the ice when it melted.

Gravity injector

apparatus used to inject arterial fluid during the vascular (arterial) phase of the embalming process; relies on gravity to create pressure required to deliver fluid (0.43lbs of pressure per foot of elevation)

Hand pump

method to apply a continuous flow of embalming fluid via manual manipulation of a handheld mechanism; historical instrument resembling a large hypodermic syringe attached to a bottle apparatus; used to create pressure for injection or vacuum for aspiration

Trocar

long hollow tube patented in 1868 by Samuel Rogers of Philadelphia; used by embalmers to inject fluids into cavities and remove excess liquids