LIBRARY 

 NEW YORK 

 J O U E N A L BOTANICAL 



OF THE GARDEN 



ROYAL MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY. 



AUGUST 1887. 



TEANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY. 



IX. — On the Different Tissues found in the Muscle of a Mummy. 

 By E. L. Maddox, M.D., Hon. F.E.M.S. 



(Read Wth May, 1887.) 

 Plate X. 



To some it may be a matter of surprise, to others a question of utility, 

 to have gone back amongst the dead of remote ages in search of a subject 

 for microscopical examination, whilst on every side we are surrounded 

 by living organisms whose structure is unknown. Yet let me venture 

 to hope the result which I now have the honour to bring to the notice 

 of the Fellows may justify the selection. Whatever may be the opinion 

 entertained of this record of the examination, it must be admitted there 

 is one point upon which the dead doth not speak, nor can the living 

 offer more than silence, and that is whether a thousand or two thousand 

 or more cycles have slipped away " with the years beyond the flood " 

 since this muscle-structure possessed life. The time, however, has 

 certainly been beyond a period in which we could fairly hope for the 

 preservation and identification of any part of the minute organic tissues 

 of either the muscular, vascular, or nervous systems. 



It was to satisfy myself upon this point, but more especially as 

 regards the preservation of the striated character of voluntary muscle, 

 that the examination was undertaken. Very possibly others have pre- 

 viously made like researches, but the limited means at my disposal have 

 not enabled me to discover any record of a similar examination. Should 

 such be within the knowledge of some of the Fellows whose opportunities 

 have been greater, it is still hoped this paper may extend our knowledge 

 and dispose of some of the difficulties that attend such studies. 



No doubt, in the present instance, much is due to the very careful 

 way in which the preservation of the dead was carried out, for in two 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE X. 



Fig. 1, FibrillaB in mummy muscle X 200. 

 „ 2. Remains of blood-vessels (?) in mummy muscle X 200. 

 „ 3. Broken blood-vessel in mummy muscle x 200. 

 „ 4. Delicate nerve-fibres in mummy muscle x 200. 

 „ 5. Ditto. 

 „ 6. Ditto. 



(All the figures have been reduced from 400 to 200 diam.) 

 1887. 2 



