194 



A HISTORY OF 



Diodprus Siculus also makes mention of the 

 manner in which these embalmings are per- 

 formed. According to him, there were seve- 

 ral officers appointed for this purpose; the 

 first of them, who was called the scribe, mark- 

 ed those parts of the body, on the left side, 

 which were to be opened ; the cutter made 

 the incision; and one of those that were to 

 salt it drew out all the bowels, except the 

 heart and the kidneys ; another washed them 

 in palm wine and odoriferous liquors; after- 

 wards they anointed for above thirty days 

 with cedar, gum, myrrh, cinnamon, and other 

 perfumes. These aromatics preserved the 

 body entire for a long time, and gave a very 

 agreeable odour. It was not in the least dis- 

 figured by this preparation; after which it 

 was returned to the relations, who kept it in 

 a coffin, placed upright against a wall. 



Most of the modern writers who have treat- 

 ed on this subject, have merely repeated what 

 has been said by Herodotus ; and if they add 

 any thing of their own, it is but merely from 

 conjecture. Dumont observes, that it is very 

 probable, that aloes, bitumen, and cinnamon, 

 make a principal part of the composition 

 which is used on this occasion : he adds, that, 

 after embalming, the body is put into a coffin, 

 made of the sycamore-tree, which is almost 

 incorruptible. Mr. Grew remarks, that in an 

 Egyptian mummy, in the possession of the 

 Royal Society, the preparation was so pene- 

 trating as to enter into the very substance of 

 the bones, and rendered them so black, that 

 they seemed to have been burnt. From this 

 he is induced to believe, that the Egyptians 

 had a custom of embalming their dead, by 

 boiling them in a kind of liquid preparation, 

 until all the aqueous parts of the body were 

 exhaled away ; and until the oily or gummy 

 matter had penetrated throughout. He pro- 

 poses, in consequence of this, a method of 

 macerating, and afterwards of boiling, the 

 body in oil of walnut. 



I am, for my own part, of opinion, that there 

 were several ways of preserving dead bodies 

 from putrefaction; and that this would be 

 no difficult matter, since different nations 

 have all succeeded in the attempt. We have 

 an example of this kind among the Guanches, 

 the ancient inhabitants of the island of Te- 

 neriffi Those who survived the general de- 



struction of this people by the Spaniards, 

 when they conquered this island, informed 

 them, that the art of embalming was still pre- 

 served there ; and that there was a tribe of 

 priests among them possessed of the secret, 

 which they kept concealed as a sacred mys- 

 tery. As the greatest part of the nation was 

 destroyed, the Spaniards could not arrive at 

 a complete knowledge of this art; they only 

 found out a few of the particulars. Having 

 taken out the bowels, they washed the body 

 several times in a lee, made of the dried bark 

 of the pine-tree, warmed, during the summer, 

 by the sun, or by a stove in the winter. They 

 afterwards anointed it with butter, or the fat 

 of bears, which they had previously boiled 

 with odoriferous herbs, such as sage and la- 

 vender. After this unction, they suffered the 

 body to dry ; and then repeated the operati- 

 on as often as it was necessary, until the whole 

 substance was impregnated with the prepa- 

 ration. When it was become very light, it 

 was then a certain sign that it was fit and pro- 

 perly prepared. They then rolled it up in 

 the dried skins of goats ; which, when they 

 had a mind to save expense, they suffered to 

 remain with the hair still growing upon them. 

 Purchas assures us, that he has seen mummies 

 of this kind in London; and mentions the 

 name of a gentleman who had seen several 

 of them in the island of TeneriffJ which were 

 supposed to have been two thousand years 

 old ; but without any certain proofs of such 

 great antiquity. This people, who probably 

 came first from the coasts of Africa, might 

 have learned this art from the Egyptians, as 

 there was a traffic carried on from thence into 

 the most internal parts of Africa. 



Father Acosta and Garcilasso de la Vega 

 make no doubt but that the Peruvians under- 

 stood the art of preserving their dead for a 

 very long space of time. They assert their 

 having seen ihe bodies of several incas, that 

 were perfectly preserved. They still preserv- 

 ed their hair and their eye-brows; but they 

 had eyes made of gold, put in the places of 

 those taken out. They were clothed in their 

 usualliabits, and seated in the manner of the 

 Indians, their arms placed on their breasts. 

 Garcilasso touched one of their fingers, and 

 found it apparently as hard as wood ; and the 

 whole body was not heavy enough to over 



