Recently I acquired a very intricate and very old medical chart of the circulatory system, illustrated by Dr. G.H. Michel. Soon after that I was at an antiques show and recognized a turn-of-the-century glass bottle with the very same name. Who was this Dr. Michel?

I ran a search online for his name and came up with a company that makes an embalming fluid called RestorSkin. They have a small biography page for him. According to their website, Gustave H. Michel was a doctor in the French foreign legion, stationed in Africa. When a soldier lost his life abroad, particularly in hot climates, there was always the issue of preserving the bodies so that they could be returned to their families for burial. He developed an alcohol-based embalming fluid that he called Regina. His fomula also worked well for preserving bodies for anatomical study, which was later useful for the production of his charts.

Dr. Michel later moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he founded the Dr. G.H. Michel company in 1902. Here he went on to produce Regina, Ozoform, and many elaborate anatomical charts. He also authored a book by the title of “The Scientific Embalmer” in 1913. It’s very hard to find, but occasionally they appear on Abebooks. There is also a free version available here. His company continues to produce products for the funeral industry today, including RestorSkin embalming fluid. Their website is: www.ghmichel.com