11. Waiting for the Body to Rot
Of all of the 18th-century death tests, this is undoubtedly the simplest and shows an abundance of common sense. Not sure if someone is dead? Just wait a couple of days, especially in summer! While it seems crass, given the lack of technology and medical knowledge at the time, just waiting a few days before burial was the most credible and specific way to ensure death. If a body showed no signs of rotting, which are unpleasantly noticeable, especially in a warm place, then there was a good reason to believe the person wasn’t dead.
This practical idea led to the establishment of waiting mortuaries in Germany, where a nurse would watch over an entire ward of corpses to make sure they rotted as they should. While this was effective, it was not terribly popular as nurses didn’t much care for watching over an entire room of slowly decaying bodies. Despite packing the waiting mortuaries full of flowers in an attempt to mask the smell, it wasn’t beneficial. Loved ones and mourners also didn’t care for funerals featuring rank bodies that had been left out untended for several days. So, while sensible and practical, the practice of waiting mortuaries still left a great deal to be desired for mourners in the 19th century.