Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lix. (191 5), No. 10. 91 



Islands, where mummification is practised. In Saghalien, 

 according to St. John (" The Ainos," Journ. Anthropol. 

 Inst., Vol. II., 1873, P- 2 53)> "when the chief of a tribe or 

 village died, his body was laid out on a table close to the 

 door of his hut ; his entrails were then removed, and 

 daily for twelve months his wife and daughters wash him 

 thoroughly. He is allowed .... to dry in the sun." 



In a recent article on the customs of the people of 

 Laos (G. Maupetit, " Moeurs laotiennes," Bull, et Mem. de 

 la Soc. d? Anthropol. de Paris, 191 3), an account is given 

 of the practice of mummification in this far south-eastern 

 corner of the Asiatic mainland. Cremation is the regular 

 means adopted for disposal of the dead : but it is also 

 " the Laotian's ideal to be able to preserve the corpse in 

 his house, for as long a time as possible, before incinerating 

 it : in the same way the Siamese and Chinese keep their 

 dead in the house for several months, often for several 

 years " (p. 549). 



According to Maupetit the method of preservation 

 is a most remarkable one. They pour from 75 to 300 

 grammes of mercury into the mouth ! "It passes along 

 the alimentary canal and suffices to produce mummifica- 

 tion, the rapid desiccation of the organic tissues." Then 

 the body was stretched upon a thick bed of melted wax, 

 wood ashes, cloth and cushions. 



The great stream of " heliolithic" culture exerted a 

 profound influence upon and played a large part in 

 shaping the peculiar civilizations of China, Corea, and 

 Japan. As the practice of embalming does not play an 

 obtrusive part 15 in this influence, I do not propose (in 

 the present communication) to enter upon the discussion 



16 Reutter (63) quotes the statement from Tschirch lhat Neuhof has 

 described the embalming of bodies in Asia. In Borneo camphor, areca nut 

 and the wood of aloes and musk are used ; and in China camphor and 

 sandalwood. 



