332 The American Naturalist. [April, 
pearance, so that the tissue will ultimately decompose’. It was 
this test that I wished to finish that prevented me from pub- 
lishing this article just as soon as the chemical analysis was 
completed. 
The large piece cut from the thigh was placed in an empty 
museum jar in order to keep it as moist and natural as possi- 
ble, and to observe how long it would thus resist decomposi- 
tion. The piece was frequently taken out of the jar to allow 
visitors to examine it. I found, in about two weeks, that a 
small mould was making its appearance on the surface, and I 
then cut it in halves, and placed one in alcohol and the other 
on my table and allowed it to dry. Of course the specimen 
in alcohol is preserved, although it does not look natural; it 
has become darker colored, and the flesh has shrunken and 
become harder, while the hard external region of greatest 
deposition of mineral matter has become much softer. The 
specimen exposed on the table dried in a few days with the 
usual changes, and is now preserved in that state, and shows 
no signs of moulding or decaying. The entire body is now 
dry, and will keep, no doubt, indefinitely in that condition. 
Of course the greatest interest attaches itself to the question 
of the cause that checked decay and preserved this body for 
57 years, with the certainty, I might say, of doing so indefi- 
nitely, and, perhaps, of ultimately converting it into a hard 
fossil by substitution. It was with this object in view that I 
obtained samples of the water and earth from the grave, and 
gave them to Dr. Anderson for chemical analysis, and also 
portions of the body itself for chemical analysis. And, now 
that the analysis of all these has been made, I must confess 
I do not see my way clear. I cannot understand why decom- 
position should not have continued on the inside until the 
viscera and muscles were obliterated. The body seems to have 
acted like a filter, and to have taken out and held in itself the 
finely suspended, and perhaps also some soluble mineral sub- 
stances in the water. This filtration naturally saturated the 
3 Since writing the above the proof has just reached me (llth of March, 
1895), and as nearly three months have elapsed since the observation was made, 
it may be of interest to note that I have kept the sample of flesh on my desk ever 
since, and that it is to-day only partially decayed. 
