— 16 — 
agaiii there was no linen. I have found a like variabitity in the 
packing material of the crania of the royal mummies of the New 
Empire, 
In mummies of the Graeco Roman period the cranium is often 
filled with pitch. 
The Treatment of the Body Cavity. 
Herodotus has told us that after the brain had been removed, an 
incision was made in the flank with a sharp Egyptian stone and 
through the opening the body cavity was emptied of its contents, 
then cleansed and rinsed with palm -wine, scoured out again with 
pounded aromatics, and the belly having been filled with pure 
myrrh, cinnamon and all other perfumes except frankincense, the 
opening was sewn up again. According to Herodotus it was 
customary "to steep the body in natrum, keeping it covered 
seventy days" after it was packed with the aromatic substances; 
but Pettigrew has clearly demonstrated the improbability of this 
order of procedure and shown that the body was soaked in the 
" natrum " first and packed afterward. Diodorus Siculus mentions 
that the embalming incision was made in the left flank and the 
examination of mummies in modern times has demonstrated the 
accuracy of his account in respect of this matter. 
The embalming incision usually consists of a large vertical 
fusiform gaping wound in the left lumbar region extending 
from the iliac crest, about 2 or 3 cm. behind the anterior superior 
spine, to the costal margin. It may be further forward or extend 
further down in front of the iliac spine. In one case (PI. XY, 
figure 1)1 have seen it in the front of the body (in the umbilical 
region) and in two children it was placed obliquely above and 
parallel to Poupart's ligament. 
As a rule no attempt has been made to close the wound, which 
