X-Message-Number: 17480
From: 
Date: Sat, 8 Sep 2001 09:23:08 EDT
Subject: "Earliest suspension," "Rosewater"

Fabio (#17472) writes in part:

> The earliest cryonic suspensions were carried out in the mid sixties.  Dit 
 >it start then because of the impact of The Prospect of Immortality or 
 >because that's  when, for the first time, it became technically doable? I 
 >suspect that the process would have been technically feasible in previous 
 >times, but have no idea how far back that could be.
 
 >In other words, what I'm asking is this: at what point in history did the 
> technology necessary for a half-decent suspension became available?
 
Yes, the suspension of James Bedford was a direct result of the publication 
of The Prospect of Immortality. It was also the first publicized attempt to 
use research-based cryoprotectants, which became available in the late 1940s. 
Of course, various types of embalming and mummification had been used for 
thousands of years.
---------
Clarissa Wells (#17477) asks about a British TV broadcast in which funeral 
director Barry Albin mentioned "rosewater," "natural substances," and 
"prevention of shattering."

Barry expressed himself in a way that allowed misinterpretation--and every 
one of us, who has had substantial TV exposure, has done similarly on 
occasion. As our procedures become more complicated, it will become more and 
more difficult to be both clear and concise.

Albin's funeral home uses the solutions provided by the Cryonics Institute, 
and nothing else. "Rose water," in that context, just meant deionized 
distilled water. "Natural substances" just meant that the solution contains 
certain solutes as found normally in tissues. "Prevention of shattering" 
refers to the fact that the CI procedures result in no observed cracking, 
either macroscopic or microscopic.  

Robert Ettinger
Cryonics Institute
Immortalist Society
www.cryonics.org

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