For special cases it would be well to have on hand the following articles:—
1 small can plaster of paris. 1 tube lip cement. 2 rubber bandages. 1 can hardening compound. 1 bottle Platt's chlorides or any other good deodorant. 1 outfit of formalin and permanganate of potash, or any other standard gaseous germicide preparation for fumigating. 1 small bottle of tincture of iodine as a preventive to infection should you cut yourself.
After the outfit has been found correct for the case at hand, place everything in the conveyance, and leave for the house. Upon arriving at the house, enter alone and meet the member or members of the family who have been delegated to talk to you. At this time it will be well to ascertain the position of the body, the wishes of the family in reference to where the body is to be placed after embalming and to where the body is to rest in the casket until the time of the funeral.
If you meet with any objection as to embalming, it will be well for you to consider the sanitary aspect of the case in speaking to those interested. In this case the sanitary aspect should always take precedence over the preservative aspect, since you can count on the assistance of the physicians in supporting embalming on that account. Should your wishes be overruled after you have presented the facts in the matter, it would be well for you to place the entire responsibility for the condition of the body upon the family, since without embalming you are unable to know the final condition of the body, and should not be held responsible for it regardless of what the condition may be in that case.
After this short talk with the family, return to your conveyance and carry your outfit to the room of death. Everything that you carry should be properly covered, as there is nothing quite as indecorous as the display of an embalming board without a cover. When you have placed the outfit in the room, call for everything that you will need from the family, which will include such things as a pail, warm water, soap, towels, etc. Do all of this before touching the body; and after securing all the necessary items, close the door, and do not open it again until the work has been completed.