470 THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS. CHAP. XVI. 



duced, giving out a strong aromatic smell. Mum- 

 mies of this kind are dry, light, and easily broken ; 

 with the teeth, hair of the head, and eyebrows well 

 preserved. Some of them are gilt on the surface of 

 the body ; others only on the face, or the sexual 

 parts, or on the head and feet. 



The mummies filled with bitumen are black ; 

 the skin hard and shining, and as if coloured with 

 varnish ; the features perfect ; the belly, chest, 

 and head filled with resin, black, and hard, and 

 having a little odour. Upon being examined they 

 are found to yield the same results as the Jews* 

 pitch met with in commerce. These mummies are 

 dry and heavy. They have no smell, and are diffi- 

 cult to develop or break. They have been prepared 

 with great care, and are very little susceptible of 

 decomposition from exposure to the air. 



2. The mummies with ventral incisions prepared 

 by natron, are likewise filled with resinous sub- 

 stances, and also asphaltum. The skin is hard and 

 elastic : it resembles parchment, and does not ad- 

 here to the bones. The resins and bitumen injected 

 into these mummies are little friable, and give out 

 no odour. The countenance of the body is little 

 altered, but the hair is badly preserved : what re- 

 mains usually falls ofll^' upon being touched. These 

 mummies are very numerous, and if exposed to the 

 air they become 'covered with an efiiorescence of 

 suli)hate of soda. They readily absorb humidity 

 from the atmospluM-e. 



Such arc the characteristic marks of the first 

 quality of mummies, according to the mode of em- 



