— 10 — 
Effect of the 
saline tjath. 
Character of 
the natron bath. 
tlie liver, tho hawkheaded Khebsennuf with the intestines, the apeheaded Api is usually 
associated with the left lung, and the jackal Tuamautef with the stomach. 
Flowers and other vegetables substances, especially onions, are often found 
among the wrappings, on the surface of the body or inside the mummy. 
Elliot Smith says that the saline bath toughened the skin and the lining of the 
cavity, but the underlying tissues in the limbs, back, or neck were not exposed to the 
action of the preservative agent, and were soon reduced to a soft pulpy mass, of fluid or 
semi-fluid consistency. It was the custom to stuff into this pulpy mass large quantities 
of foreign material, so as to restoi'e to the collapsed and shrunken members some 
semblance of the form and consistency they possessed during life. The foreign material 
varied a good deal, the ingredients chiefly used being mud, linen bandages, a mixture 
of mud and sawdust, or a mixture of soda and butter. The ways in which this material 
was introduced and the body packed have been fully described in Prof. Elliot Smith's 
paper. 
The description of the packing is of course perfectly correct, but I must point out 
that there is no proof that the tissues were changed into a soft, pulpy mass. I have 
examined several mummies, the limbs of which had not been packed by the embalmer, 
and I found the muscles, nerves, arteries, etc., in a very good state of preservation. 
Indeed most of the histological details were plainly visible. 
A good deal of interest attaches to the « natron » bath in which the bodies were 
immersed for 70 days, and some controversy has taken place with regard to its che- 
mical constitution. Analyses of the mineral salts from mummies have given but doubtful 
results. 
According to Mr. A. Lucas, the inorganic substances used by embalmers were 
essentially of two kinds: namely « Natron » and common salt. Natron is the natural 
soda found in Egypt, chiefly in the wady Natroun, and is essentially a mixture of sodium 
carbonate, sodium chloride and sodium sulphate in varying proportions. It contains also 
a certain amount of clay and calcium carbonate. Mr. Lucas found that of two samples 
of natron discovered in Canopic jars in the tomb of laa at Thebes, one Avas crude natron 
of pure quality, such as occurs in many parts of Egypt and the other a mixture of 
crude natron and coarse sawdust. Several other observers have found natron in the 
bodies or wrappings of mummies. The resinous material from mummies also contains 
a large amount of natron. 
On the other hand. Prof. Schmidt of Cairo is of opinion that tlie inorganic material 
used for packing was not natron but common salt. His results may be summed up as 
follows : 
Mummies contain volatile and nonvolatile fatty acids, albuminous substances, 
cholesterin and tiaces of unaltered fat. Specific human anti-sera (whether obtained by 
the injection of blood or nmscular tissue) produce no precipitate in mummy tissue. The 
presence of luumogluldii can not be demonstrated by any method. 
