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To: Ian@SI who wrote (20686)	9/30/2001 12:46:14 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Respond to of 62565

Strange but not an urban legend Medical researchers use CT scan to study mummy whose body turned to soap MICHAEL RUBINKAM, Associated Press Writer Friday, September 28, 2001 Breaking News Sections Sometime in the 19th century, a fat woman died and her body changed almost entirely into soap. It may sound like an urban legend, but researchers are serious. On Thursday, they performed a CT scan on the woman's mummified body hoping to learn more about the process that turns some corpses into a waxy, soap-like substance called adipocere. The body, dubbed "Soap Lady," has been on display for more than a century at the Mutter Museum, a former haven for medical students but now a Philadelphia tourist attraction featuring thousands of medical oddities. The CT scan unexpectedly revealed some organ tissue, raising hope that researchers might be able to learn how the woman died. "There's tons of stuff in there," said Gerald Conlogue, a Quinnipiac University professor of diagnostic imaging. "What we may be looking at is a shell or casing made out of this soapy substance sealing out the outside environment." Conlogue said the results will give researchers greater understanding of saponification, the chemical conversion of fat into adipocere. Saponification is an unusual occurrence, dependent on factors such as humidity, temperature, the presence of clothing and bacterial activity. The fatter the person, the greater the chance saponification will occur. The Mutter was founded in 1849 by the Philadelphia College of Physicians, which still operates it. Its exhibits include malformed skeletons, a 27-foot-long human colon and a plaster cast of the famous Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker