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LXXIII. Early Egyptian Chemistry. By W. Herapath, Esq. 

 To the Editors of the Philosophical Magazine and Journal. 

 Gentlemen, 



WHILE engaged in unrolling a mummy at the Bristol 

 Philosophical Institution lately, I elicited a few chemical 

 facts which might probably be interesting to some of your 

 readers. On three of the bandages were hieroglyphical charac- 

 ters of a dark colour, as well defined as if written with a modern 

 pen ; wmerc the marking fluid had flowed more copiously than 

 the characters required, the texture of the cloth had become de- 

 composed and small holes had resulted. I have no doubt that 

 the bandages were genuine, and had not been disturbed or un- 

 folded : the colour of the marks were so similar to those of the 

 present " marking-ink," that I was induced to try if they were 

 produced by silver. With the blowpipe I immediately obtained 

 a button of that metal ; the fibre of the linen I proved by the 

 microscope, and by chemical reagents, to be linen ; it is therefore 

 certain that the ancient Egyptians were acquainted with the 

 means of dissolving silver, and of applying it as a permanent 

 ink ; but what was their solvent ? I know of none that would 

 act on the metal and decompose flax fibre but nitric acid, which 

 we have been told was unknown until discovered by the alche- 

 mists in the thirteenth century, which was about 2200 years after 

 the date of this mummy, according as its superscription was 

 read. A very probable speculation might be raised upon this to 

 account for the solution of the golden calf by Moses, who had 

 all his mundane knowledge from the Egyptian priests. It has 

 been supposed that he was acquainted with and used the sul- 

 phuret of potassium for that purpose : how the inference arose 

 I know not ; but if the Egyptians obtained nitric acid, it could 

 only have been by the means of sulphuric acid, through the 

 agency of which, and by the same kind of process, they could 

 have separated hydrochloric acid from common salt : it is there- 

 fore more probable that the priests had taught Moses the use of 

 the mixed nitric and hydrochloric acids with which he could dis- 

 solve the statue, rather than a sulphuret, which we have no evi- 

 dence of their being acquainted with. 



The yellow colour of the fine linen cloths which had not been 

 stained by the embalming materials, I found to be the natural 

 colouring matter of the flax ; they therefore did not, if we judge 

 from this specimen, practise bleaching. There were in some of 

 the bandages near the selvage some twenty or thirty blue threads; 

 these were dyed by indigo, but the tint was not so deep nor so 

 equal as the work of the modern dyers ; the colour had been 

 given it in the skein. 



