The secret formulas of Paolo Gorini (Back to the section: Petrifaction)

Introduction

Paolo Gorini was an extremely empirical scientist. It would be wrong to think that he used the same solutions for all his anatomic preparations; quite the opposite, actually. It's very probable that, in his numerous attempts, the solutions injected differed from case to case, in the effort to produce better and better specimens. This has been verified not only by the autographed evidences left by Gorini himself, but also through the analysis of the various specimens here exhibited; some of which show differences in terms of colour and compactness, being based, for example, on alcohol and diluted sulphuric acid, or on mercury bichloride, or even on zinc bichloride, less toxic and more effective than the others.

The techniques for bodies preparation

The techniques used by many anatomic prepares came from the need to arrest the process of decomposition caused by organic liquids, and therefore replace them with a preserving substance. Essentially, after death, enzymes come out of the nucleus of the cells and set off the process of decomposition. In a short period of time, intestinal bacteria produce other enzymes that start to devour the body from the inside, spreading along the venous system. The process can be arrested by inhibiting the enzymes. In the 1800s there were three different ways to block the enzymes. The first one consisted of extracting as much of the water that the enzymes need for their chemical reactions as possible; the second one by injecting solutions like the ones used by Paolo Gorini (after draining the blood with aspirations or other methods) that mineralized the body's structures; or the third one by destroying the environment that the enzymes need, eviscerating the body and replacing its organs with other substances. The first method is called "exsiccation", the second one "preparation", the third one "embalmment".

Gorini's formulas

The documents autographed by Paolo Gorini, found and published in 2005, concern some of the most effective formulas that he implemented. One of the autographed papers stands out particularly, textually stating:

Sulphuric acid solution in the proportion of 10 percent.

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Saturated alcoholic solution of mercury bichloride and muriate of lime in volume proportions of ten to one.

The preparation of the writer Giuseppe Rovani's body

A spurious document describing the preparation of Giuseppe Rovani's body is likewise very interesting. The dating of this document supports its own validity. In fact Gorini himself specifies that the observations in the document, probably copied by someone else, dates back to January 30th 1874. Since Giuseppe Rovani died on the 27th of January 1874, we can quite safely assume that the preparation reported in the document regards the remains of the famous novelist, "father" of the "Scapigliatura", Boheme movement in Milan.