Literary notes about putrefaction (AI summary)
Writers and intellectuals employ "putrefaction" to evoke not only the literal process of decay but also a broader sense of moral or social deterioration. In medical or scientific contexts, it describes the natural, often dreaded progression from life to rotting death—as seen in discussions of infection, surgical caution, or the rapid decomposition of corpses ([1], [2], [3]). At the same time, some authors harness its visceral imagery to symbolize societal or ethical decline, using it as a metaphorical instrument to critique corruption and degradation ([4], [5]). This dual usage enriches literary works by blending tangible physical processes with abstract, unsettling implications about the human condition.
- One died before the other, and the second "succumbed to infection from putrefaction" a few days later.
— from Essays In Pastoral Medicine by James J. (James Joseph) Walsh - Antiseptics , substances used, particularly in surgery, to prevent or arrest putrefaction.
— from The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by P. Austin Nuttall - In the second case, it is understood that one could not keep longer, without danger to the public health, a corpse in complete putrefaction.
— from Premature Burial and How It May Be Prevented by William Tebb - Admiration is the only road to excellence; and the critical spirit kills, but envy and injustice are putrefaction on its feet.
— from The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson - No nation ever fell into decay till ripe in sin and ready for moral putrefaction.
— from Curiosities of Heat by Lyman Beecher Tefft
