2 OSHORN, Dozi'ds of some Egyptian Coffins. 



Kendrick's " Ancient Egypt," thoii<^h published some 

 years later than Wilkinson, follows him in his information 

 on this subject. 



The Manchester Museum has recentU- been enriched 

 by the complete set of objects from the tomb of Nekht- 

 Ankh and Khnumu-Nekht, found by Prof W. M. Flinders 

 Petrie at Rifeh. This set is a particularly fine example 

 of Xllth Dynasty work. 



Through the kindness of Dr. W. E. Hoyle, the 

 Director of the Museum, I was afforded the opportunity 

 of examining in detail some chips from the sarcophagi, 

 with a view to determining the species of wood from 

 which they were made. Microscopic sections of the woods 

 were prepared, and from these, with the aid of Nordlinger's 

 " Holzquerschnitte," and the photomicrographs made by 

 Mr. J. A. Weale, of Liverpool, identification was possible. 



Satisfactory sections of reasonable size were difficult 

 to obtain, as softening the wood, which is very hard and 

 brittle, in water led to its crumbling to powder. It was 

 necessary, therefore, to cut the sections without any 

 previous treatment, using a heavy razor or a scalpel. 

 The section thus cut was transferred dry to a slide glass, 

 and then moistened with water for examination under 

 the microscope. There was no difficulty in recognising 

 two types of wood among the fragments. These were 

 eventually determined as — 



Ficus sycomorus. 

 Acacia sp. 



The species of Acacia is, unfortunately, not deter- 

 minable. A. Arabica is the only Egyptian species with 

 which I have been able to compare it in detail. It is not 

 this, but might be any of the others. 



An examination of the sarcophagi shows that they 

 are made of sycamore, while the Acacia was employed for 



