the cremation process - the science....
WARNING: This page presents a very explicit view of the cremation process, it may not be suitable for everyone. If you have just suffered a bereavement or you have a nervous disposition you might like to give this page a miss.
Hollie has gone to the crematorium in her black silk knickers and bra, in fact that is all she is wearing. But not to worry because she is in a wicker coffin on the altar at the front of the crematorium chapel.
"I want to be in silk for my final, one-way trip to the furnace - I've often had comments on my "smouldering" looks, so I should smoulder nicely."
"Wicker or other "eco-friendly" coffins are the way to go. It's only got to last until I go into the retort, so why do I want a fancy wooden box with all the trimmings, it also means more to burn. A simple wicker coffin will take just a couple of minutes to be reduced to ash and my body is exposed to burn quicker. As I want to be wearing my best silk undies when I go in as well, I don't think there'll be too many emissions as I burn, possibly only the mercury from my fillings?"
Picture the nice, red/white hot glowing hearth and walls and white hot flames; waiting as the portal opens and Hollie's coffin slides in head first, time to say goodbye to Hollie as the portal closes behind her and she begins her demise alone in the retort.
"I like the idea of finality, and it doesn't get much more final than burning away in a furnace and being ground down into a fine ash!"
Hollie is not the first cremation of the day, so the previous occupant will have pre heated the retort for her and likewise she willl keep the retort warm for the next occupant.
(Burning bodies in batches is more economical because they don't have to keep heating the retort up every time they want to put another body in)
By having a pre-heated chamber ignition is pretty instant. Hollie's coffin bulges and warps, its sides collapse. Likewise once exposed Hollie ignites pretty much spontaneously as her hair, skin and clothing char.
Hollie is around 60% water, so will require a lot of heat, a steady supply of air and a longish time to reduce to ashes. Although once her body has dried out, she burns up fairly quickly. Also, Hollie is at least 20% fat, and this makes her much more flammable.
Hollie is cremated at the end of her funeral service, so as the mourners leave she is already starting to burn, they might catch a few wisps of her as she goes out of the chimney.
(Although with modern crematoria you rarely see anything at all coming out of the chimney)
Cremation times are between 45 and 90 minutes. Hollie takes about 70 minutes to reduce to ashes. Those who are obese, cremate more slowly because although they contain more fat they also contain more water.
The heat coagulates Hollies' muscle protein causing her muscles to slowly contract. Her thighs spread apart and her arms and legs gradually bend. (Those of more muscular frame curl up more during the early stages of cremation).
The story goes around that early on in cremation the heat causes the body's trunk to violently flex forwards. So perhaps Hollie will sit up and burst out of the lid of her coffin.
Steam forms in Hollie's guts and the gases they contain expand. So her abdomen first swells, next her stomach muscles char and split, and then she "relaxes" again as the gases escape. From now on Hollie lies there providing her own fuel.
So Hollie's waistline expands somewhat with steam and gasses until her stomach splits open - very Alien.
Destruction of Hollie's flesh gradularly reveals parts of her skeleton. Hollie's skull is soon stripped of skin, and then, starting at the ends of her limbs which have little muscle or fat covering, the bones of her arms and legs begin to appear. The small bones of Hollie's fingers, toes, wrists and ankles remain held together by their ligaments for a while, and they remain together even after Hollie's hands and feet fall away from her arms and legs.
Once Hollie is down to her fatty bits her incineration is far more rapid and intense - she really burns fast and furious once most of her external stuff has gone. Hollie eventually becomes an inferno. Her tits blaze like fiery volcanos.
"I just like the thought of my almost total destruction in the retort, and as fire is one of the most powerful natural forces what better way to go than having my body consumed by fire. All my skin, fat, muscle and bones reduced to their basic chemical elements. Cool indeed. The flames will start licking around my toes, but when I get going it'll be burn, burn, burn and Hollie will be no more."
Some bits of Hollie do put up quite a lot of resistance but she all goes eventually. The contents of Hollie's guts burn fairly slowly, and her lungs more slowly still. When Hollie's breast tissue, muscle and rib cage have burnt away her lungs are still fairly visible. Hollie's brain is especially resistant to complete combustion. Even after the top of her skull has broken and fallen away, Hollie's brain can be seen as a dark fused mass with a rather sticky consistency. Her brain survives in this form for most of her cremation. Remains of the contents of Hollie's chest and brain may last until near the end of her cremation.
Eventually Hollie's spine becomes visible as her organs disappear. After about 50 minutes in the cremator Hollie's arms are gone and her thigh bones reduced to calcined stumps. The base of her skull is visible. Except for Hollie's liver, her organs are unrecognizable. Hollie's bones glow white in the flames and her skeleton falls apart. Some of her bones fragment into pieces while others remain whole. Hollie has collapsed into a pile of bits and pieces.
Hollie's hot ashes are raked out so that the next coffin may be placed in the cremator without loss of too much heat.
95% of Hollie has gone up the chimney. She has been reduced to around 6 pounds of ashes.
"It is quite awesome to see how little of us will remain after our three score years and ten + 2 hrs in the retort"
"You never know whether 'eternal peace' really is that, if in 100 years or so someone digs you up and either just dumps your bones in a big pile or puts someone else in your grave. At least once you've been burned and your ashes are scattered you'll remain around for ever."
