1895.] Observations on æ So-called Petrified Man. 329 
portion was then lifted up and turned back, thus exposing the 
viscera beneath. The intestines, and in fact all the viscera, 
were only partially preserved. They had become more or less 
decomposed, and had then been checked in their decomposi- 
tion and preserved in that state from further change. There 
was no particular smell from the abdominal cavity, and no 
decomposition was in progress. The intestines were moist, . 
loose and pliable, and the fceces still preserved in them. All 
the viscera were light in color, due to the partial deposition in 
them of the finely-suspended, and perhaps more or less solu- 
ble, mineral matter in the water that filled and covered the 
body. The deposit of this mineral matter was not in sufficient 
quantity to give the tissue much firmness. 
The abdominal wall which was cut through in order to ex- 
amine the viscera, was 30 mm. thick, and owed its dense, 
cheese-like consistency and firmness to the deposition in it of the 
finely suspended mineral matter contained in the water that 
constantly saturated the body. The abdominal wall was practic- 
ally completely charged with the mineral matter, while the 
process of filling the viscera had but nicely commenced. The 
mineral matter was extremely fine and of a light or almost 
white color, and thus it was that the body appeared light. So 
far as I was able to determine, this mineral matter in the tis- 
sues of the body is the same as that held in suspension in the 
water, and which gave it the milky appearance; and also that 
which in the soil or sand gave it the appearance of mortar, 
and that when dry, looked and felt exactly like powdered tale. 
With the exception of the fat, the tissues of the abdominal wall 
were practically intact, the mineral matter simply saturating 
them and filling up all thespaces; in the fatty tissue, however, 
which composed a large part of the abdominal wall at this 
point, there had been more or less substitution of the mineral 
matter for the fat. This substitution was, roughly speaking, 
about half and half. Hence it was that where the skin was 
wanting, there appeared a grain, due to the connective tissue 
remaining, while the fat was partially substituted. Wherever 
the skin was preserved, the black pigment could be distinctly 
seen in a cross-section. 
