326 The American Naturalist. [ April, 
OBSERVATIONS ON A SO-CALLED PETRIFIED MAN. 
By J. M. STEDMAN.’ 
Wits A REPORT ON THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS. 
By J. T. ANDERSON.” 
On the 28th day of August, 1894, a human so-called petri- 
fied body was found by some workmen while repairing a pub- 
lic country road about one mile south of Tuskegee, Macon Co., 
Alabama. A few days later I heard of the find, and imme- 
diately proceeded to Tuskegee to make an investigation of the 
body and of the locality where it was found, and to obtain 
samples of the water, earth and body. 
Through the kindness of Mr. J. S. Webb, who had the body 
in charge, I was enabled to make an examination on, and to 
procure portions of the body from the several places as sam- 
ples. As Mr. Webb was trying to sell the body as a curiosity, 
he did not wish me to mutilate it any more than was neces- 
sary. I obtained, however, portions of the intestine, a section 
75 x 25 mm. through the ventral abdominal wall, several 
pieces of muscle with tendon from the ankle, and a section 
100 x 100 mm. was cut out from the dorsal region of the thigh 
and extending to the bone in thickness. Mr. Webb, by the 
way, offered me the body for the college museum for $75, 
but, as I hoped to be able to procure it later as a donation, I 
refused. He sold the body in a few days for $150, and it is 
now being exhibited in the villages and cities of the country, 
much to my regret. 
The body is that of a Negro woman who was evidently 
rather fat. From two elderly gentlemen, who are now hving 
in Tuskegee, and who remember the circumstances of the bur- 
ial, I learned that the body was buried in 1837 in what was 
1 Professor of Biology in Alabama Polytechnic Institute, and Biologist of Ex- 
periment Station. 
? First Assistant Chemist of Experiment Station. 
