112 



DISCOVERY 



goTiia. According to a Reuter's telegram from Buenos 

 Aires, published in The Times of February 28th. Dr. Wolf, 

 m the course of a two years' expedition to Patagonia 

 on behalf of the La Plata Museum, has discovered a 

 fossilised human skull of Tertiary Age. If investigation 

 of the details of discovery and of the geological conditions 

 in which it was found confirm the view that it belongs 

 to the third great geological epoch into which pre-recent 

 geological time is divided, and if an examination of the 

 form of the skull shows that it is really of primitive type, 

 it would mean that the oldest known human remains 

 have been discovered in South America antedating by 

 many thousands of years Pithecanthropus erectwi, the 

 earliest ancestor of man at present known, and the fossil 

 tooth said to be human or sub-human in type and of 

 Pliocene Age recently found in Nebraska. It is hardly 

 necessary, however, to remind our readers that evidence 

 for the existence of man in Tertiar^^ times in South 

 America, which has been brought forward up to the 

 present, has not hitherto withstood criticism, as was shown 

 recently in these columns. 



THE PRESERVATION OF ANTIQUITIES 



The public interest in antiquities, especially Egyptian, 

 has recently been stirred by the discovery of King Tutankh- 

 amon's tomb. The accounts given in the daily Press 

 of the operations at Luxor have stimulated curiosity and 

 interest in a way that is leflected by the attendance at the 

 British Museum ; the collection of Egyptian and Ass>T-ian 

 antiquities in the :Museum is now constantly thronged 

 with visitors. 



Many visitors will have noticed here and elsewhere in 

 the Museum that a number of the specimens show 

 unmistakable signs of decay ; metals appear encrusted 

 and corroded ; wood, rotten and fragile ; earthenware, 

 cracked and broken. This all seems quite natural, but 

 when he is drawn — as he inevitably is — to the Egj'ptian 

 mummies, the visitor sees an arrestment of decay that is 

 startling. Surely, if the human body can be preserved 

 through thousands of years, means can be devised for 

 preventing the deterioration of stone, metals, wood, etc. 

 The corroded and decayed appearance of many museum 

 objects arises from the fact that they were received in 

 this state and that little or no attempt has been made 

 to clean and restore them. Failure to do so is due partly 

 to aesthetic and antiquarian reasons, and partly to lack 

 of knowledge of suitable restorative processes, and partly 

 to fear that irreparable damage to the precious objects 

 may occur. 



The embalmers of Egypt did not attain their object 

 solely by the use of chemicals ; before treatment the body 

 was thoroughly and carefully cleaned. It is interesting 

 to note that this is precisely the line of attack that is being 

 adopted at the British Museum. For some time practical 

 scientific investigations have been conducted in the 

 Museum under the direction of Dr. Alexandei Scott,F.R.S. , 

 with the object of discovering the causes that have led to 

 the deterioration of specimens and of devising suitable 

 methods for arresting the decay. In the majority of 

 cases it has been found that mineral salts are responsible 

 for the damage ; these must be removed if permanent 

 restoration is to be obtained. In other words, the speci- 



men must first be thoroughly cleaned and then treated 

 with preservative reagents. 



Work of this nature obviously involves difficult and 

 delicate operations. The use of an unsuitable method or 

 chemical may destroy the specimen, spoil its appearance, 

 or otherwise diminish its antiquarian value ; both the 

 knowledge of the chemist and the solicitude of the anti- 

 quarian are needed. A single example of the successes 

 achieved will serve to show how true this is. 



Some carved wooden figures, that had been lying for 

 probably two thousand years under guano deposits, 

 were brought to the laboratory in a very dilapidated 

 condition ; the wood was soft and spongy, and could 

 scarcely be touched \\-ithout causing damage. By 

 analysis of a fragment the presence of harmful mineral 

 salts, partly derived from the guano, was detected. But 

 here a difficulty arose ; when immersed i,i water, nearly 

 half of the material of the fragment was removed ; water, 

 consequently, could not be used to wash out the salts 

 from the images. Consideration of the nature of the 

 material removed by water suggested, and experiment 

 confirmed, that dilute acids could safely be used to 

 remove the destructive salts and these alone. After 

 this treatment the figures were still soft and spongy ; 

 some means of strengthening them had to be found, and 

 in solving the problem the faculties of the chemist and 

 antiquarian were employed to ensure that no harmful 

 constituent was introduced and that their appearance 

 was unchanged. The problem was solved ; the deteriora- 

 tion of the wooden figures was arrested, and they can now 

 be handled without danger. 



These and other problems are discussed in a Report ' that 

 has just been published. It is impossible here to do 

 more than indicate some of the results which are described 

 in the pamphlet. Exhibits of metal, such as spear-heads 

 and coins, that were brought to the laboratory corroded 

 and apparently of no use for museum purposes, were 

 restored to their original appearance. Earthenware, 

 previously crumbling at an alarming rate, has been ren- 

 dered quite sound. Paintings in which the high lights 

 had blackened have been restored and, moreover, the 

 treatment is such that there should be no recurrence of 

 darkening. Varied and numerous objects of silver, lead, 

 copper, and bronze which had been seriously corroded 

 have all been successfully restored. 



The appearance of this Report at the present time is 

 most opportune, since the methods described can hardly 

 fail to be applicable to some of the antiquarian treasures 

 now being removed from the tomb at Luxor. 



The Report should be of interest to many besides 

 museum curators and art dealers ; antiquarian, scientist. 

 and private collector alike will find much that is helpful 

 and suggestive in its pages. The text is illustrated by 

 many excellent collotypes arranged to show in a clear 

 way the value of the restorative processes which are 

 described. 



' The Cleaning and Restoration of Miiseiitn Exhibits. Second 

 Report upon Investigations conducted at the British Museum. 

 Published by H.M. Stationery Office, price 2s. net Copies are 

 obtainable directly from H.M. Stationery Office, at the fol- 

 lowing addresses : — London: ImperialHouse, Kingsway, W.C.2; 

 28 Abingdon Street, S.W. i; Manchester: 37 Peter Street; 

 Cardiff: i St. Andrew's Crescent; Edinburgh: 23 Forth Street 

 or through any bookseller. The post-free price is 2S. lid. 



