NoVEMuER I". 1898] 



NATURE 



51 



_\mong the mummies belonging to the early period 

 ,; two of peculiar interest, which we believe are recent 

 ,ditions to the collection. These are the skeletons of 

 ,0 Egyptian officials, Khati and Heni, which are ex- 

 ,)ited in the First Egyptian Room in cases E and F 

 ;ove the rectangular wooden coffins in which they were 

 ind. These two skeletons date from about 2600 B.C., 

 ;d represent a peculiar method of burial, unlike the 

 ual Egyptian custom of mummifying the body. In 

 e case of Khati and Heni the flesh was removed from 

 f: bones before burial by means of muriate of soda or 

 kron, and the bones were then treated with bitumen, 

 'lich has tinted them a light yellow ; they were then 

 rapped in linen, a layer of which may be seen in case 

 :' under Khati's skeleton. Khati's skull is peculiarly j 

 [ erestmg on account of the two indentations in the 

 f'rietal bones ; these, Dr. Budge remarks, " must have 

 I en made artificially in early childhood because the 

 'rface of the bones is not broken." Heni's bones have 

 I'en articulated, and the skeleton is about 5 feet 6 inches 

 [ig ; it is a very fine specimen of this method of 

 ammifying as carried on under the eleventh dynasty. 

 •lis method of mummifying the dead, by treating the 

 ynes with bitumen after removing the flesh, goes back 

 ifiny thousands of years, and was probably the earliest 

 ethod of preserving their dead employed by the in- 

 bitants of Egypt ; for many of the skeletons from 

 .ehistoric sites that have been recently found by M. de 

 organ have been treated with bitumen in a similar 

 I'^nner. 



ilTurning to the later portion of the collection, among the 

 Host noteworthy e.xhibits are three painted cartonnage- 

 f'.ses of a Graeco-Roman official (Plate xxiii.) and his 

 ivo wives, one of whom is figured on Plate xxiv. These 

 le fancy are also recent additions to the collection, and 

 je probably the best e.xamples of their kind in Europe. 

 \he modelling is good, so that the cases are remarkably 

 je-like and give a good idea of the dress worn at the 

 priod, about 200 a.d. 



'We have not done more than give a passing reference 

 1 three or four out of this unique series of mummies 

 jd mummy-cases. Beginning in the First Egyptian 



1)om with the mummy-case of Mycerini:s, the builder of 

 : fourth pyramid at Gizeh in the fourth millenium B.C., 

 d ending with the wooden coffin of the Greek or Roman 

 Idy, who lies with her three children at the end of the 

 Econd Egyptian Room, we can trace upon the mummies 

 (id their cases the religious beliefs of the ancient 

 Jgyptians as they developed through a period of some 

 ^ur thousand years. To the student of religions a com- 

 ^rative study of this nature presents considerable at- 

 ;actions, and he will welcome Dr. Budge's guide, which 

 applies him with concise though detailed information on 

 l/ery exhibit in the two galleries. The Trustees, with a 

 (lew to enhancing the value of the guide for educational 

 jurposes, have issued it in two forms, Le. with and with- 

 lUt plates ; the former is published at the ridiculously 

 jiw price of one shilling, and the latter at sixpence. 

 aper and printing leave nothing to be desired. 

 NO. I 5 16, VOL. 59] 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



An Introduction to Practical Physics for Use in Schools. 



By D. Rintoul, M.A. Pp. xx + 166. (London : 



Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 189S.) 

 So many volumes containing courses of work in prac- 

 tical physics have lately appeared, that it would hardly 

 seem necessary to increase their number. But a critical 

 examination of the present volume is sufficient to afford 

 justification for addmg the book to those previously 

 available. The author succeeded Prof Worthington at 

 Clifton College, and has carried on the work commenced 

 there of making practical physics a subject practicable 

 for junior students. The experiments described are thus 

 not of the kind invented by the arm-chair philosopher — 

 now happily becorhing extinct — but those which have 

 stood the test of experience, and have proved to be 

 suitable for the class of students expected to perform 

 them. 



The book does not provide a complete course of prac- 

 tical work in physics, but only on some branches of 

 physical measurement. Experiments on mensuration 

 and hydrostatics occupy fifty-four pages, heat is dealt 

 with in fifty-seven pages, and the third part on dynamics 

 fills fifty-three pages. Light, sound, electricity, and 

 magnetism are not touched upon, but presumably they 

 will form the subject of a second volume. There can, 

 however, be no doubt that the subjects included in the 

 present volume are fundamental for students of physics, 

 and form the best basis for future work. 



The plan adopted by Mr. Rintoul, and proved by him 

 to be suited to the mental capacity of boys of thirteen or 

 fourteen, is a compromise between the .Socratic and 

 didactic methods of teaching. Sufficient explanation is 

 given to enable the young experimenter to proceed with 

 his work intelligently, and to grasp the significance of 

 the results. He is then in a position to understand the 

 efi'ects produced by different conditions ; and Mr. 

 Rintoul provides him with many ciuestions upon which 

 he can usefully exercise his mind. 



The book is especially suitable for the modern sides of 

 public schools. As a physical laboratory manual for 

 use in schools of this character it can be highly com 

 mended. 



A Text-book of Special Pathological Anatomy. By Prof. 

 Ernst Ziegler. Translated and edited from the eighth 

 German edition by Donald Macalister, M.A., M.D., 

 and Henry W. Cattell, M.A., M.D. Sections i.-viii., 

 and i.\.-xv., in two vols. (London : Macmillan and 

 Co., Ltd., 1897. New York : The Macmillan Company.) 



The first English edition of Ziegler's " Pathological 

 Anatomy" was published in 1S84, and at once achieved 

 the success in this country which the original work had 

 already attained in Germany. It is without doubt the 

 best work in pathological anatomy in English. The 

 present edition, translated and edited from the eighth 

 German edition, brings the ever-increasing subject of 

 pathological anatomy up to date, and it may be said at 

 once that the editors have done their work in an ex- 

 cellent and lucid manner. The two volumes under 

 review deal with the pathological changes occurring in 

 particular parts of the body ; and with an aspect of the 

 subject which is of great importance to the practitioner, 

 and of great value to the professed pathologist. The 

 latter will find in the work copious references to the 

 literature of each special part of the subject, arranged in 

 a very useful manner. The ordinary medical student 

 will perhaps find the present work (which will be followed 

 by a third volume) too large for his purpose, but for the 

 student for a university degree, and for the working 

 pathologist, Ziegler's "Pathological Anatomy" is a 

 necessity. 



