MUMPS 



4002 



MUNCIE 



of the wealthy received greater attention than 

 the bodies of the poor. Embalmers were em- 

 ployed in various capacities to operate upon 

 the bodies of the rich. The brain and bowels 

 were removed, the body was washed and salted, 

 and after certain other processes not now 



EGYPTIAN MUMMIES 



known was steeped for seventy days in a solu- 

 tion of natron (sodium carbonate). It was then 

 washed, and each member of the body was 

 wrapped separately in linen. The head received 

 special attention, having several folds of mus- 

 lin glued to the skin, and the whole head was 

 enveloped in fine plaster. The bodies of the 

 poorer classes were merely dried with salt or 

 natron and wrapped in coarse cloths. 



This process of embalming is now lost to the 

 world, but the state of preservation in which 

 these bodies are found after several thousand 

 years shows that the Egyptians were masters of 

 this profession. In some countries the condi- 

 tions of soil and atmosphere are alone sufficient 

 to preserve a body with the general appearance 

 of a mummy. A large number of mummies, 

 not only of human bodies, but of animals and 

 of fish, have been found in Egypt, and many 

 have also been discovered in Peru and Mexico. 

 See PYRAMIDS; EGYPT, subhead Ancient Egypt. 



MUMPS, a contagious disease occurring at 

 any age except babyhood and old age, and 

 manifested principally by swelling of the gland 

 below and in front of the ear. About one to 

 two weeks elapse after exposure, and then a 

 pain is felt below and in front of the ear; there 

 is also difficulty in swallowing. Swelling of the 

 painful region comes on rapidly; the disease 

 may involve one side only or both. This swell- 

 ing makes it difficult to open the mouth or to 

 chew. The swelling begins to subside at the 

 end of four or five days, and if both sides of 



the throat have been affected, the patient never 

 has a second attack. Rest in bed until the pa- 

 tient is entirely well will usually ward off com- 

 plications, and should be insisted on. Warmth 

 applied to the swelling, and medicine to relieve 

 fever, prescribed by a physician, are measures 

 it is well to carry out. These cases always get 

 well. W.A.E. 



MUNCHHAUSEN, munK'houzen, HIERONY- 

 MUS KARL FRIEDRICH, Baron (1720-1797), a Ger- 

 man soldier and cavalry officer, who holds the 

 unique reputation of being one of the greatest 

 exaggerators that ever lived. He was born in 

 Bodenwerder, Hanover, and in his youth served 

 as a cavalry officer in the Russian army. His 

 spirit was adventurous and his imagination un- 

 limited, and he gave a ridiculously exaggerated 

 account of his remarkable adventures and ex- 

 ploits in the Turkish campaign of 1737-1739. 

 These tales were gathered by Rudolph Erich 

 Raspe, a German exile, who published the first 

 English edition in 1785, naming it Baron 

 Munchhausen's Narrative of His Marvelous 

 Travels and Campaigns in Russia. Another 

 standard English edition was published by 

 Shore in 1872, with illustrations by Dore and 

 Gautier. On account of their humor, the stories 

 have been very popular. 



MUNCIE, mun'si, IND., the county seat of 

 Delaware County, is situated in the east-cen- 

 tral part of the state, sixty miles south of Fort 

 Wayne and fifty-four miles northeast of Indian- 

 apolis. It is on the west fork of the White 

 River and on the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chi- 

 cago & Saint Louis, the Lake Erie & Western, 

 the Chesapeake & Ohio of Indiana, the Fort 

 Wayne, Cincinnati & Louisville, the Pittsburgh, 

 Cincinnati, Chicago & Saint Louis, and the 

 Central Indiana railroads. Five interurban lines 

 extend to Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and other 

 cities. The area of the city exceeds four square 

 miles. In 1910 the population was 24,005; in 

 1916 it was 25,424 (Federal estimate). 



Muncie has McCullough and Heekin parks, 

 a courthouse, Federal building, Carnegie Li- 

 brary and three hospitals, and is the seat of the 

 Muncie Normal Institute. The development 

 of the city as an important manufacturing cen- 

 ter is due to its location in the gas belt of the 

 state and near convenient coal fields. Glass and 

 fruit jars, iron and steel, automobiles, silver and 

 silver-plate goods, underwear and clothing, lawn 

 mowers, caskets, wheels and carriage woodwork, 

 iron bedsteads, steam boilers, gas engines and 

 supplies are extensively manufactured. There 

 are also several canneries. 



