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Objective: Histopathological investigations with tissues from embalmed cadavers are generally not considered ideal for determining the cause of death at autopsy in forensic medicine. Instead fresh tissue fixed in 10% formalin is usually preferred. The aim of the present study was to compare the histological appearances of samples processed from routine formalin-embalmed cadaver with samples fixed in 10% formalin from a fresh cadaver. Methods: The study was carried out on cadavers received as donation to the department of Anatomy from body donors. Tissue samples of four organs comprising kidney, lung, liver and spleen were obtained from a fresh cadaver (used as control) as well as from embalmed cadavers. The quality of the slides was graded 1 to 3 based on organ microscopic architecture, cell morphology and state of epithelium, as follows: 1 - high degree of cell distortion, 2 -moderately good sections and 3 - near normal. Results: Kidney: Slight architectural distortion, with collapsed convoluted tubules were observed in embalmed tissue sections (grade 2). Lung: The architecture of the embalmed tissue showed alveolar spaces that were cystically dilated, but pneumocytes appeared normal (grade 2). Liver and spleen: The cell morphology and The cell morphology and architecture appeared almost as preserved as in fresh tissue. (grade 3). Conclusion: Of the four organs studied, liver and spleen were well preserved and close to normal, whereas cytoarchitecture of lung and kidney specimens showed slight distortion. However this is a preliminary study and efforts are on to study more number of specimens with varying concentrations of formalin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]