70 Opening of a Mummy. — Earthquake. 



OPENING OF A MUMMY. 



On Thursday evening, 9th Dec, was unwrapped at the Bris- 

 tol Institution the body of an Egyptian mummy, which it is 

 understood was removed by Mr. Salt from a catacomb in the 

 Thebais, and sent down the Nile to Alexandria, and thence 

 to Bristol. The case, which was beautifully covered with 

 hieroglyphics, exhibited rather the copper-coloured counte- 

 nance of a Nubian, than the expanded forehead and wide eyeT 

 sockets of an Ethiopian. The upper part of the shell being 

 removed, thei'e arose a peculiar, but not unpleasant, odour. 

 The body was remarkably light, and wrapped up in a multi- 

 tude of folds of cotton cloth, which was stained of a yellowish 

 brown colour. Upon the removal of the circular bandages, 

 there appeared a long wi'apper fi'om the chin to the toes, with 

 a double border of blue stripes in front. The innermost layer 

 of cloth was soaked in naphtha, asphaltum, or some bitumi- 

 nous substance, combined probably with natron. The skhi 

 was blackened, and the neck and one of the hands had been 

 attacked by a peculiar sort of coleopterous insect, apparently 

 a dermestes. In other respects, this curious specimen of anti- 

 quity was very perfect, indeed much more so than usually hap- 

 pens. It was the body of (probably) a young female. The hands 

 were placed straight upon the thighs, and not, as most fre- 

 quently happens, across the bosom. The hair upon the head 

 was perfect, of a brownish auburn colour, short, but not at all 

 wearing the character of a negro's. The contour of the coun- 

 tenance strengthened the opinion that the subject belonged to 

 a province closely bordering upon the confines of Egypt. The 

 coverings of the chest and stomach being removed, exhibited, 

 in high preservation, the heart and lungs, and all the intestines: 

 indeed it did not appear that any part had been removed. 

 Whether the brain had been extracted was not ascertained ; 

 neither were the teeth examined, as it was thought advisable 

 to subject the head altogether to a more leisurely and minute 

 observation. 



EARTH^UAKK IN SUSSEX. 



On the 6th of Dec, a few minutes before two o'clock in the 

 afternoon, a shock of an earthquake was very generally felt at 

 Portsmouth and its neighbourhood, also at Havant, Emsworth, 

 and Chichester. The shock, although it was not accompanied 

 by any report, put both light and heavy furniture in a ti'emor 

 for about four seconds of time. The floors seemed to heave 

 up a little, the windows in consequence .^liook as they do by 

 means of heavy gusts of wind ; and suspended articles, as bird- 

 cages, 



