1895.] Observations on a So-called Petrified Man. 331 
tion of the histological structures. I found that the skin was 
nearly substituted by mineral matter in most places, and in 
some wholly substituted. The fatty tissue was also substituted 
by mineral matter to the extent of about 50%. The muscular 
tissue, where the deposit of mineral matter was greatest, did 
not seem to have been replaced to any considerable extent, but 
was simply saturated with the deposit. Where the muscles 
were still soft, the fasciculi, and even the fiber cells with their 
striæ, were remarkably well preserved and easily demonstrated. 
The perimyseum and tendons were practically perfect. The 
connective tissue was surprisingly perfect, the only change 
being the loss of the connective tissue corpuscles in many 
places; but even these were found in the better preserved soft 
muscular tissue. The nerves were not well preserved histo- 
logically. The blood-vessels in the soft muscles were fairly 
well preserved ; the blood-corpuscles were not to be found. The 
periosteum and the bone was perfect, except in those regions 
like the head and ankles where decomposition had taken 
place. 
I then examined, by the agar-agar plate culture method, 
the muscular tissue for bacteria, and found none. The water 
taken from the hole, left by the removal of the coffin, also 
failed to reveal the presence of bacteria on an agar-agar plate 
culture of 1 ec. of the water. 
A piece of the soft muscular tissue from the thigh was then 
placed in a museum jar of water from the grave. This jar was 
opened every few days for more than a month, and the muscle 
taken out to show it to visitors. The water, jar or muscle had 
not been sterilized ; no caution was taken, in opening the jar, 
to close it for some minutes, nor to protect the piece of flesh. 
I did this in order to determine how long it would keep under 
those conditions, and I therefore watched it and made exami- 
nations from time to time. To my surprise, the piece of mus- 
cle is this day, the 15th of December, 1894, of a reddish color 
and looks quite natural, but I now find, on examination, that 
it is becoming softer, and that bacteria have made their ap- 
