80 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO I764, 



then wrapped together. The filleting had been by some accident rubbed off the 

 toes of the right foot ; and the nail of the great toe was found perfect : the last 

 joints of the bones of the lesser toes had been broken away ; by which it ap- 

 peared that these bones had been penetrated, and their cavities quite filled with 

 pitch. The filleting about the heel had also been broken away, and the bones 

 of the tarsus, and some of the metatarsal bones, had fallen out and were lost ; 

 leaving the remaining filleting like a kind of case. The fillets on the left foot 

 were perfect ; except on the heel, and where they had been divided from those 

 of the leg ; a small portion of the tendo Achillis adhered to the os ailcis ; and 

 some of the ligaments to the astragalus. On cutting into the fillets on the sole 

 of this foot they were found to enclose a bulbous root. The appearance of 

 this was very fresh ; and part of the thin shining skin came off with a flake of 

 the dry brittle filleting, with which it had been bound down ; it seemed to have 

 been in contact with the flesh : the base of the root lay towards the heel. This 

 discovery immediately brought to mind a passage in Prosper Alpinus,* and 

 gave some appearance of probability to a relation which, as he himself insinu- 

 ates, might give great reason to doubt his veracity. Speaking of the stone 

 image of a scarabseus, which was found in the breast of a mummy, he adds, 

 " Incredibile dictu, rami rorismarini qui una cum idolo inventi fuerunt, folia 

 usque adeo viridia et recentia visa fuerunt, ut e^ die a plants decerpti et positi 

 apparuerint." 



The fillets were removed from this foot with great care ; they were much im- 

 pregnated with pitch, excepting about the toes ; where the several folds united 

 into one mass, being cut through, yielded to the knife like a very tough wax. 

 The toes being carefully laid bare, the nails were found perfect on them all ; 

 some of them retaining a reddish hue, as if they had been painted : the skin 

 also, and even the fine spiral lines on it, were still very visible on the under part 

 of the great toe, and of the three next adjoining toes. Where the skin of the 

 toes was destroyed, there appeared a pitchy mass, resembling in form the fleshy 

 substance ; though somewhat shrunk from its original bulk. The natural form 

 of the flesh was preserved also on the under part of the foot ; near the bases of 

 the toes. On the back of the toes appeared several of the extensor tendons. 



The root just mentioned was bound to the foot by the filleting that invested 

 the metatarsal bones ; no more of this filleting was cut away than was just 

 suflRcient to show, without removing from its place, a substance which had 

 been preserved in so extraordinary a manner. On cutting away the fillets which 

 covered the tarsus, the bones adhered strongly together, and were covered with 

 hard pitch; with which they seemed thoroughly impregnated. On cutting 



• Prosper Alpinuj,J^cnW» iEgyptiarum, &c. ; cum notis Veslingii, 1735, pag. 3o.— Orig. 



