124 HISTORY OF 



dern, make mention of such mummies as these ; 

 and Shaw says, that he has been assured that 

 numbers of men, as well as other animals, have 

 been thus preserved, for times immemorial, in the 

 burning sands of Saibah, which is a place, he 

 supposes, situate between Rasem and Egypt. 



The corruption of dead bodies being entirely 

 caused by the fermentation of the humours, 

 whatever is capable of hindering or retarding 

 this fermentation will contribute to their preser- 

 vation. Both heat and cold, though so contrary 

 in themselves, produce similar effects in this par- 

 ticular, by drying up the humours. The cold, in 

 condensing and thickening them, and the heat, in 

 evaporating them before they have time to act 

 upon the solids. But it is necessary that these 

 extremes should be constant; for if they sue- 

 ceed each other, so as that cold should follow 

 heat, or dryness humidity, it must then necessa- 

 rily happen, that corruption must ensue. How- 

 ever, in temperate climates there are natural 

 causes capable of preserving dead bodies ; among 

 which we may reckon the qualities of the earth 

 in which they are buried. If the earth be dry- 

 ing and astringent, it will imbibe the humidity of 

 the body ; and it may be probably for this reason 

 that the bodies buried in the monastery of the 

 Cordeliers at Thoulouse, do not putrefy, but dry 

 in such a manner that they may be lifted up by 

 one arm. 



The gums, resins, and bitumens, with which 

 dead bodies are embalmed, keep off the impres- 

 sions which they would else receive from the 



