180 



Philosophical^ Chemical, and Scientific Miscellanies. 



[Feb. 



poise of distilled water at 60°) afforded, on 

 «'vai)oi'ation, 88 grains of dry saline residue. 

 As the contents of these waters almost 

 exactly resemble each other in quality, it 

 will only be necessary to specify the sub- 

 stances present in a pint of the stronger 

 water, viz. 



Grains. Grains. 



Sulphuric acid Xi-m I Soda 10-52 



Muriatic acid 21'II0 | Lime 1'25 



Carbonic acid ■■■■W!IH\ 



Magnesia 21-23 | 88*0 



From the successive separation of the sa- 

 line contents during the evaporation of the 

 water, they appear to be arranged as fol- 

 lows, forming the solid contents of a pint of 

 water, viz. 



Grains. Crains. 



SulphateofmagncsiaSS.d I Sulphate of lime- ■ 3-t) 

 Muriate of magnesia 24v'i I Carbonate of soda 2'4 



Common salt <)•.■)] 



Sulphate of soda lO-e | 83-0 



Mummies. — From a most ingenious in- 

 vestigation of an Egyptian mummy. Dr. 

 Granville has elucidated the processes em- 

 ployed by the ancient embalmers; and in 

 his work on the subject they are stated 

 as follows : — ■ 



" A. Immediately after death the body 

 was committed to the care of the em- 

 balmers, when, in the majority of cases, 

 the viscera of the abdomen, either wholly 

 or partially, were forthwith removed ; in 

 some cases through an incision on the one 

 side of the abdomen, as stated by He- 

 rodotus, and as jjroved by some of the 

 mummies examined ; and in otliers through 

 the anus. 



" B. The liead was emptied, in all in- 

 stances, of its contents, either through the 

 nostrils, by breaking through the superior 

 nasal bones, or through one of tne orbits, 

 the eyes being previously taken out, and 

 artificial ones substituted in their place 

 after the operation. The cavity of the 

 cranium was repeatedly washed out by in- 

 jections with some fluid, which had not 

 only the power of bringing away every 

 vestige of the substance of the brain, but 

 even of the enveloping membranes of it. 

 Yet the liquid could not have been of a 

 corrosive nature, else the tentorium, or 

 that membranous floor which supports the 

 brain, must have disappeared with the 



meninges ; whereas it is still in existence, 

 and does not appear to have been in the 

 least injured. A small quantity of hot 

 liquid resin was then injected into the 

 cranium. 



" C. The next step taken in the embalming 

 process was to cover the body with quick- 

 lime for a few hours, and after to rub the 

 surface of it with a blunt knife, or some 

 such instrument as woidd most effectually 

 assist in removing the cuticle. The scalp, 

 however, does not appear to have been 

 touched ; and care was taken, also, not to 

 expose the root of the nails to the action of 

 the alkali, as it was intended that these 

 should remain in all cases. 



" D. The operation of removing the 

 cuticle being accomplished, the body was 

 immersed in a capacious vessel, contain- 

 ing a liquefied mixture of wax and resin, the 

 former predominating; and some sort of 

 bituminous substance being added, not, V, 

 however, essential to the process. In this 

 situation the body was suffered to remain 

 a certain number of days over a gentle fire, 

 with the avowed intention of allowing the 

 liquefied mixture to penetrate the inner- 

 most and minutest structure ; nor can there 

 exist any doubt but that on this part of the 

 embalming process depended not only its 

 great preservative power, but also its va- 

 rious degrees of perfection. 



" E. When the body was taken out of 

 the warm li(juid mixture, every part of it 

 must have been in a very soft and supple 

 condition, wholly unsusceptible of putre- 

 faction. The next steps, therefore, to be 

 taken, with a view to convert it into a per- 

 fect mummy, must have been those which, 

 had they been taken before that part of the 

 process which has been just described, 

 would have exposed the body to inevitable 

 putrefaction, in a climate like that of 

 Egypt, namely, the tanning of the integu- 

 ments, and the exposing of their surface to 

 the preservative action of certain salts (na- 

 tron in particulai'). The body was then 

 partially dried, and lastly the bandages, 

 previously steeped in a solution of tannin, 

 were applied, some lumps of myrrh, resin, 

 and bitumen having been previously tluust 

 into the abdomen." 



PROCEEDINGS OF LEARNED SOCIETIES. 



DOMESTIC. 

 ROYAL SOCIETY. 



At the anniversary meeting, held on St. 

 Andrew's Day, Sir H. Davy was elected 

 P.'-esident ; Messrs. Brande and Herschell, 

 Secretaries ; and Mr. D. Gilbert, Trea- 

 surer (these elections were not mentioned 

 in our last report). The president then, 

 upon the occasion of announcing the award 

 of the Copley medals to Messrs. Arago and 

 Barlow, for their discoveries in magnetism, 



delivered an eloquent address, in which he 

 gave an historical sketch of the progress of 

 the science of magnetism, from the earliest 

 periods to the present time. 



Dec. 8. — A paper was read entitled. Ad- 

 ditional Proofs of Source of Animal Heat 

 being in the Nerves; by Sir E- Home; 

 and on the 1 5th, was read the Croonian 

 Lecture, On the Structure of Muscular 

 Fibre. On the 22d, two papers, by Dr. , 

 J. Davy, F. R. s. were read : On the Poi- I 

 son of the Common Toad ; and on the i 



\mi 



