Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lix. (19 15), No. 10. 113 



nothing to show what position it originally occupied ; and 

 it seemed impossible to explain how it had been possible 

 to twist the vertebral column in the lumbar region as to 

 bring the thorax back to front. In order to solve this 

 mystery I removed the resin-impregnated cloth, which 

 was firmly fixed to the abdominal wound, and found that 

 the body had been cut right across the abdomen and 

 packed with wool after the viscera had been removed. 

 Then the abdomen and thorax had been stuck together 

 by means of the broad strip of cloth with resinous pasto 

 as an adhesive. But for some reason which is not very 

 apparent, or probably through mere carelessness, the 

 thorax had been placed the wrong way round, and it had 

 become necessary, in order to restore some semblance of 

 life-like appearance to the monstrosity, forcibly to twist 

 the arms at the shoulder joints in order to get them into 

 the position above described. [Since this was written I 

 have learned that in certain American tribes it is the 

 custom to dress the corpse with a coat turned back to 

 front. This seems to suggest that the curious procedure 

 just described may have been dictated by the same under- 

 lying idea, whatever it may be.] In the cranium of this case 

 the remains of the desiccated brain were still present, and 

 although there was a quantity of brownish powder along 

 with it, the evidence was not sufficiently definite to say 

 whether or not any foreign material had been introduced 

 into the cranial cavity. In the case of the other three 

 bodies, as I have already mentioned, there was no evidence, 

 apart from the excellent state of preservation, to suggest 

 what measures had been taken to hinder the process of 

 decomposition. 



In his account of the obsequies of the Aztec kings, 

 Bancroft (3, Vol. II., p. 603) tells us that "the body was 

 washed with aromatic water, extracted chiefly from trefoil, 



