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ON THE FORMATION OF ADIPOCERE (?) IN MUMMIFIED ORGANS. 
I attempted to soften entire organs of mummies of tlie XXIst dynasty by placing 
them in a solution of 1" o formol, containing 1 "/q carbonate of soda. Some organs, e. g. 
lungs, swell up considerably, and their characteristic spongy structure becomes evident. 
The liver never swells up to any extent, whereas the kidneys become considerably larger 
and softer. When the carbonate of soda-formol solution extracts no more colouring 
matter, it is replaced by a 5 •'/q solution of formol, in which the organs may remain 
indefinitely. 
Not unfrequently, a curious cliange is observed to have taken place, especially 
in the lungs. After the mud and vegetable matter liave fallen to the bottom or floated 
off, the organ or part of it, is found to be converted into a snow-white, somewhat brittle 
and stiff substance. The pleura and the parts immediately underlying it, appear to be 
specially affected. I presume tliat this white substance is adipocere or some substance 
closely resembhng it. 
I have never seen this change in the liver, and only once in the two kidneys of one 
mummy. One of these showed small patches of adipocere (?), whereas the other was 
almost snow-white. The stomach of one mummy, though it had kept its shape fairly 
well, was completely converted into adipocere. The intestines of another had been al- 
most wholly changed into rigid white strands by the same process. 
I have seen indications of a similar change in Roman and Greek bodies, which 
had been simply buried in sand. In these, the change occurs in the shape of small white 
patches scattered over the intestines, lungs, heart, and kidneys, which have a curious 
resemblance to miliary tuberculosis. 
Microscopically, one sees nothing except an amorphous substance staining faintly 
with haematoxylin. Here and there, however, one finds places where the structure of 
the organ is preserved. 
METHODS OF HISTOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. 
The naked eye appearance of the tissues will be described as we treat of each ; 
for the present it will be sufficient to say that most mummified organs are hard to the 
touch, brownish in colour and often very brittle. 
Even in the damp heat of an Alexandria summer, when the temperature of my 
laboratory seldom fell below SO" C, most of the mummified pieces underwent but little 
change. Some pieces of intestines alone became soft and pliable and gave off a distinct 
musty odour. An exception must also be made for the skin, muscles, and internal 
organs of some mummiesof theXVIIIth-XXth dynasties, which though stiff, had a peculiar 
soft, soapy feel. 
