On Tissues in Muscle of Mummy. By Dr. R L. Maddox. 541 



seconds witli water and rectified spirit, or when water with nitric acid 

 had been used as the reagent. Every ejBfort to photograph these 

 structures failed, the brown non-actinic colour and density of the substance 

 prevented the necessary differentiation, though perfectly visible under the 

 Microscope with careful focusing. These fine fibres appeared in part 

 as continuous bright lines, in part as grey lines, according to the position 

 of the mirror. Unfortunately the stock of osmic acid was exhausted or it 

 would have been used to try and render these fine fibres yet more apparent. 

 Under none of the reagents used did the muscle structure afibrd any 

 perfect evidence of the peculiar striation belonging to voluntary muscle, 

 but some of the fibrillae appeared to be made up of minute dots united in 

 Une, though how fer this may have been inherent to the structure, or 

 how far due to the general coagulation that was apparent in the highly 

 compressed and softened muscle, is doubtful ; but this much m£iy be noticed, 

 that the purposely softened muscle in which the nerve-fibrils were most 

 visible, presented no trace of perfect muscular fibrillae. 



Although, correctly speaking, not belonging to the microscopical side 

 of this interesting subject, this paper would be much more incomplete 

 without some notice of the acknowledged methods of embalming, for the 

 examination of a specimen kindly sent to me by Prof. Stewart of the 

 Eoyal College of Surgeons proved absolutely useless, the flesh apparently 

 having been placed in a bath of melted bitumen, or something of the 

 kind, by which all structure was lost, and also in another specimen, for 

 which I was indebted to the kindness of Mr. Shore, manager of the 

 Hartley Institution, Southampton, which was somewhat brittle, and 

 though treated with the same reagents, furnished no satisfactory results ; 

 still it is feared, even with this assistance, we shall find no sufficient clue 

 to the method of preservation used in the present case. To enter into 

 all the details would far exceed the limits of this paper, and the subject 

 must, therefore, be but cursorily dealt with. 



"Whatever the origin of embalming, the process was perfected in Egypt. 

 Besides the description given by Herodotus of the difierent methods, 

 some instructions have been found in the Ehind papyrus. All the great 

 cemeteries had their establishments for the reception and embalming of 

 the dead, and it is stated that in those belonging to the necropolis of 

 Memphis, there were always from 500 to 800 corpses passing through 

 the difierent processes. Herodotus explains that the brains were re- 

 moved through the nostrils, the intestines by an incision in the left side 

 of the abdomen, which was then cleaned with palm wine, and afterwards 

 filled with myrrh, cassia, &c., and the body steeped for many days in a 

 solution of natron, an impure soda-salt found in the Natron Lake of the 

 Libyan Desert in Upper Egypt. After the steeping, the body was handed 

 to the swathers and bandaged with gummed cloths, and made ready for 

 the coffin. The cost of the difi'erent methods is given as varying from 

 243Z. to 96Z. — the less costly method. This consisted in filhng the 

 abdomen with cedar- tree pitch or pine pitch, the body being steeped in 

 the natron bath, the contents of the abdomen being allowed to escape or 

 eviscerated by other means. The corpse of the poor was placed in 

 natron for many days (70), after rinsing the abdomen with "syrmaea." 

 Asphalt was said to be used with the more costly methods, and wax but 



