Something about Johanna Sophia Schmied

lucasraffablog

Padawan Learner
Remember this case? http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/monster.htm

I have a simple (and maybe stupid) question about that. The article said "The physician witnessed the event and preserved the fetus in formaldehyde".

The problem is that de formaldehyde was discovered 100 years later than this case. So, how could Dr. Gottlieb Friderici preserve the fetus? Where is the fetus?
 
lucasraffablog said:
Remember this case? http://www.cassiopaea.org/cass/monster.htm

I have a simple (and maybe stupid) question about that. The article said "The physician witnessed the event and preserved the fetus in formaldehyde".

The problem is that de formaldehyde was discovered 100 years later than this case. So, how could Dr. Gottlieb Friderici preserve the fetus? Where is the fetus?

Good question. Maybe the physician actually preserved the fetus in alcohol and the journalist who wrote it up, and from whom I cited the info, just assumed it was formaldehyde.
 
Oh, supposedly it's in some medical museum in Germany.
 
Yes, maybe. It may sound like a minor concern, but I find it strange because I didnt read anything about this case before. As a kid I read many UFO magazines (mostly mexicans, chilean and argentines) and magazines like "Conozca más" (misteries, science, etc). Even I read a lot of writers such as Charles Berlitz, and I never read about this story. So I want to know more about it. I will try to contact with the journalist's article. ;)

The original magazine cover:
2000-02.jpg




In the eighteenth century conservation techniques of the human body experienced a significant development due mainly to the following researchers:

William Hunter (1718-1783) uses alcohol as a means of fixation and preservation.

Pierre Dionis used tannic acid to prevent growth of fungi.

Chaussier François (1746-1828) served the sublimate or bichloride of mercury to prevent putrefaction and promote mummification.

Johann Jacob Ritter (1714-1784) used arsenic.

Karl Wilhelm Scheele (1742-1786) apply glycerine to the conservation of bodies.

August Wilhelm V. Hofmann (1818-1892) German chemist, discovered formaldehyde in 1868. With this discovery comes a breakthrough in the techniques of tissue fixation, so that to date has been the basis for setting conservation and anatomical parts in both the dissection room and Veterinary medical schools, as in the preparation of parts for histology studies and in the funeral industry for embalming and temporary storage of corpses.



So, we have 2 questions:
What did Friderici use really?
Where is (or was) the fetus?
 
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