Carla Valentine

Carla Valentine Instagram – I’ve been working in a different gallery for a while (it’s being cleared of hundreds of specimens for refurbishment, but the specimens *won’t* go back into that space unfortunately.) So here’s an oldie but a goodie from the main site:
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I wonder if I can get the phrase “Steve the Beef” into a post? Yes I can indeed! Read on…
Adipocere: This gentleman is from the Forensic Collection at the Pathology Museum, dated around 1960s/70s and was discovered in the septic tank of a housing estate. The pathologists posited that perhaps he was the murder victim of a London gang rivalling The Krays, or The Krays themselves. Another reason for that theory is his teeth were knocked out, thereby making ID very difficult. This is a dry skull but it’s preserved as what we call a ‘wet specimen’ in Kaiserling fluid as it has adipocere clinging to it. Adipocere – which literally translates into ‘fatty wax’ from the Greek ‘adipose’ meaning fat and ‘cera’ meaning wax – is a “soapy, waxy” substance which occurs in the deceased when the fat or adipose tissue of the body undergoes a process called ‘saponification’. That process litterally means ‘to turn into soap’, although you wouldn’t want to wash with it! I’d call it ‘caseous’ really, which means ‘cheesy’) Just as an aside, the actor Micheal Cera translated is Michael Wax, in the same way that Shia LaBeouf can be translated as “Steve the Beef” 😂😂😂 Anyway, this process usually happens if there is a high moisture content in the environment during decomposition, and can be useful to forensic investigators as it can preserve the tissue underneath. #adipocere #forensics #forensicscience #pathology #pathologymuseum #anatomy #anatomicalmuseum #anatomymuseum #histmed #wetspecimen #conservation #pottedspecimen #michaelcera #shialabeouf | Posted on 20/Apr/2023 23:59:05