Lincoln's embalmment

[Houmes]

(12-27-2014 06:04 PM)loetar44 Wrote:  what Dr. Curtis wrote:
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"...Dr. Woodward and I proceeded to open the head and remove the brain down to the track of the ball....Not finding it readily, we proceeded to remove the entire brain..."
But I am not seeing anything specific about what happened to the brain

I just found this:

The New York Tribune, April 27, 1865 gives a contemporary account of the funeral train trip from Albany to Buffalo and the arrival at Buffalo. In a second dispatch is said the following:

“As erroneous statements have been in the press, it is necessary to say on the authority of the embalmer and undertaker, that no perceptible change has taken place in the body of the late President since we left Washington. The Washington physicians removed a part of the brain only for the autopsy BUT THIS WAS REPLACED, so that no part of the body whatever is now deficient."

The New York Tribune reports "part of the brain" was removed, although Dr. Curtis wrote that the entire brain was ultimately taken out. In a proper forensic exam of the brain (even in 1865), the entire brain would be removed and sliced in thin sections like a deck of cards. The doctors wouldn't have been able to see all the fractures in the bones around the eyes if the entire brain hadn't been removed. Perhaps they dissected only part of the brain once it was out and left the rest after what they thought was the the bullet track had been identified--the observers in the room included politicians and friends of the president, and this was meant to be a limited autopsy out of respect. When a complete autopsy has been finished, all organs (including the brain) are placed back in the abdominal cavity at the end of procedure. I'm betting they didn't completely section the brain, as it would have been a real feat trying to put a swollen brain (let alone a thinly sliced one) back inside the skull, replace the top of the skull, and sew the scalp back together with a nice appearance. That's why they add the brain in with the abdominal organs--so the top of the skull doesn't start to slide out of place.