Dumb chemistry question

[Jack the Bodiless]

I suppose it would work as a drying agent if placed in a coffin.

But, if a corpse is actually buried in the stuff, it would react with the water in the flesh, and the resultant alkali helps to dissolve more of the flesh into the quicklime (and the heat could also boil out more of the water).

[CyberGnu]

Calcium carbonate cannot be vaporised by heating it. It breaks up long before that, releasing CO2 and becoming calcium oxide (quicklime).

oooh, good point!