ANIMALS. 12-5 



alteration of the temperature of the air; and 

 still more, if a body thus prepared be placed in 

 a dry or burning sand, the most powerful means 

 will be united for its preservation. We are not 

 to be surprised, therefore, at what we are told by 

 Chardin, of the country of Chorosan in Persia. 

 The bodies which have been previously embalm- 

 ed, and buried in the sands of that country, as 

 he assures us, are found to petrify, or, in other 

 words, to become extremely hard, and are pre- 

 served for several ages. It is asserted, that some 

 of them have continued for a thousand years. 



The Egyptians, as has been mentioned above, 

 swathed the body with linen bands, and enclosed 

 it in a coffin ; however, it is probable that, with 

 all these precautions, they would not have con- 

 tinued till now, if the tombs*- or pits, in which 

 they were placed had not been dug in a dry 

 chalky soil, which was not susceptible of humi- 

 dity, and which was, besides, covered over with 

 a dry sand of several feet in thickness. 



The sepulchres of the ancient Egyptians sub- 

 sist to this day. Most travellers who have been 

 in Egypt have described those of ancient Mem- 

 phis, and have seen the mummies interred there. 

 These catacombs are within two leagues of the 

 ruins of this city, nine leagues from Grand 

 Cairo, and about two miles from the village of 

 Zaccara. They extend from thence to the py- 

 ramids of Pharaoh, which are about eight miles 

 distant. These sepulchres lie in a field, covered 

 with a fine running sand of a yellowish colour. 

 The country is dry and hilly; the entrance of 



