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MULTIPLE MUMMIES. 



fishes were served up : there was a vessel of water, 

 in which tin- li>lies wore alive, in the eating room, 

 whence it was conveyed immediately to the lire, and 

 dressed in the same apartment. It was even cus- 

 tomary to place them in glass vases, that the guests 

 might be gratified by observing the changes of colour 

 wliidi they underwent in expiring. Apicius, that 

 prince of epicures, " nepotum omnium altissiiuiis 

 gurges," hit upon a mode of suffocating them in a 

 rertain pickle, which heightened their flavour. In 

 modern times, they are but little esteemed, though 

 their flesh is white, fat, and well tasted. The roes 

 are known in Italy, under the name of botargo : they 

 are prepared in a peculiar manner, and air highly 

 prized. 



MULTIPLE, in arithmetic, is a number which 

 contains another number a certain number of times. 

 Thus eighteen is a multiple of six, or of three, or of 

 nine, &c. Common multiple of two or more numbers 

 is that which contains those numbers a certain num- 

 ber of times. Thus thirty-six is a common multiple 

 of four and nine, being equal to nine times the first, 

 and four times the second. To find the least common 

 multiple of several numbers : reduce them all to their 

 prime factors, then the product of the greatest 

 powers of those prime factors is the least common 

 multiple required. Let it be proposed to find the 

 least common multiple of twelve, twenty-five, and 

 thirty-five, or the least number that will divide by 

 each of them without a remainder. Here 



12=3x2 2 ; 25=5 2 ; and 35 5x7; therefore 

 3 x2 s x5 8 x 7=2100, the least common multiple re- 

 quired. 



MULTIPLYING GLASS, in optics; one wherein 

 objects appear increased in number. It is otherwise 

 called a polyhedron, being ground into several planes 

 that make angles with each other, through which the 

 rays of light, issuing from the same point, undergo 

 different refractions, so as to enter the eye from every 

 surface in a different direction. 



MULTIVALVES, in natural history; the name of 

 a general class of shell-fish, consisting of three or 

 more shells. 



MULTNOMAH ; a river of the Oregon Territory, 

 which rises in about lat. 40, among the Rocky 

 mountains, runs about 500 miles through a country 

 of extreme fertility, and unites with the Columbia, 

 opposite Wappatoo island. The first part of the 

 country through which it flows is level and open, but 

 the remainder, and much the larger part, is covered 

 with a forest, which is probably not exceeded by any 

 on the globe for the size of its trees and the excel- 

 lence of their timber. The Multnomah is 500 yards 

 wide at its mouth, and has five or six fathoms of 

 water. There is a sand-bar at its mouth, but it is 

 otherwise free from all obstructions to navigation for 

 seventy miles. 



MUM ; a malt liquor, which derives its name from 

 the inventor, Mumme, a German. It was formerly 

 exported from Germany in large quantities, but is 

 now less used. 



MUMMIES (by some derived from the Arabic 

 momia, or the Coptic mum, bitumen or wax) ; the 

 dead bodies of the Egyptians, which were preserved 

 by embalming. Owing either to the religious opin- 

 ions of the Egyptians, or to the nature of the country, 

 which rendered interment inconvenient, or the want 

 of fuel, which rendered burning difficult, they em- 

 balmed all their dead, and deposited them in subter- 

 raneous chambers, or in grottoes excavated in the 

 mountains. An immense number of them has been 

 found in the plain of Saccara, near Memphis ; hence 

 called the plum of the mummfrs, consisting not only 

 of human bodies, but of various animals, or heads of 

 animals, bulls, apes, ibises, crocodiles, fish,, &c. 



Numerous caves or grutloe*, with contents of the 

 same kind, are found in the two mountainous ridges 

 which run nearly parallel with the Nile from Cairo to 

 Syene. Some of the most remarkable of these tombs 

 are those in the vicinity of ancient Thebes, in the 

 Lybian mountains, many of which were examined by 

 15e,lzoni, and those near Eleithias (described !>y 

 Hamilton), farther up the river, which, though less 

 splendid than the Theban sepulchres, contain more 

 illustrations of the private life of the Egyptians. The 

 sepulchral chambers are almost entirely covered with 

 fresco paintings and bass-reliefs, and frequently con- 

 tain statues, vases. &c. Some of them (the royal 

 sepulchres) consist of suites of spacious halls and long 

 galleries of magnificent workmanship. Those of 

 private individuals vary according to the wealth of 

 the deceased, but are often very richly ornamented. 

 Many of these tombs have been ransacked by Arabs 

 for the purpose of plunder, and great numbers of the 

 mummies destroyed for the resin or asphaltum they 

 contain, which is sold to advantage in Cairo. The 

 tombs and mummies are, many of them, two or three 

 thousand years old, and are, in part, indebted for 

 their preservation to the dry ness of the soil and the 

 mildness of the climate. The processes for the pre- 

 servation of the body were very various. Those of 

 the poorer classes were merely dried by salt or natron, 

 and wrapped up in coarse cloths, and deposited in 

 the catacombs. The bodies of the rich and the great 

 underwent the most complicated operations, and were 

 laboriously adorned with all kinds of ornaments. 

 Embalmers of different ranks and duties extracted tlie 

 brain through the nostrils, and the entrails through an 

 incision in the side; the body was then shaved, 

 washed, and salted, and, after a certain perum, !:< 

 process of embalming (q. v.), properly speaking, be- 

 gan. The whole body was then steeped in balsair, 

 and wrapped up in linen bandages ; each finger and toe 

 was separately enveloped, or sometimes sheathed in 

 a gold case, and the nails were often gilded. The 

 bandages were then folded round each of the limbs, 

 and finally round the whole body, to the number of 

 fifteen to twenty thicknesses. The head was the ob- 

 ject of particular 'attention ; it was sometimes en- 

 veloped in several folds of fine muslin ; the first was 

 glued to the skin, and the others to the first; the 

 whole was then coated with a fine plaster. A collar 

 of cylindrical glass beads of different colours, is at- 

 tached to the masks which cover the head, and with 

 it is connected a tunic of the same material. The 

 beads, both in the collar and tunic, are so arranged 

 as to form images of divinities, of the scarabseus, the 

 winged globe, &c. Instead of this, the mummy is 

 sometimes contained in a sort of sheath, made of paper 

 or linen, and coated with a layer of plaster, on which 

 are paintings and gilding. These paintings represent 

 subjects relating to the duties of the soul, its presen- 

 tation to the different divinities ; and a perpendicular 

 hieroglyphical inscription in the centre gives the 

 name of the deceased, and of his relations, his titles, 

 &c. The whole is then placed in the coffin. Those 

 mummies which have been examined present very 

 different appearances. One class has an opening in 

 the left side, under the arm-pit, and in another the 

 body is whole. Some of those which have been 

 opened have been dried by vegetable and balsamic 

 substances, others by salt. In the former case, aro- 

 matic gums or asphaltum were used (the gums, when 

 thrown into the fire, gave out an aromatic odour); in 

 these the teeth and hair are generally preserved ; but 

 if exposed to the air, they are soon affected. Those 

 prepared with asphalt are of a reddish colour, and 

 are in good preservation. Those dried with saline 

 substances are of a black, hard, smooth appearance. 

 On 'exposure to the air, they attract moisture, and 



