Meet Philippe Charlier, The Forensic Scientist Who Thinks A Medieval Cadaver Smells Good
Remains of the heart of Richard the Lionheart Philippe CharlierCharlier recently analyzed Richard the Lionheart's heart and an anonymous 13th-century cadaver, saying of the latter that it "was smoked, like salmon or like pork." Nom? The 13th-century cadaver, says Philippe Charlier, actually smells good. That's because its veins have been filled with a mixture of mercury and beeswax, preserving the body. "Also it was smoked, like salmon or like pork," he says. So even after 800 years, it's in pretty good shape. Charlier is a physician and forensic scientist at the University Hospital Richard Poincaré in France. He spends most of his time performing modern autopsies there, but he has also made a name for himself in France analyzing the bodies-and body parts-of European historical figures. He's examined the head of Henry IV, the hair and bones of French noblewoman Diane de Poitiers, and bone fragments, accepted by the Roman...