— 19 — 
In transverse sections, the perimysium stains readily and deeply, and its prolonga- 
tions between the fasciculi are easily demonstrated. The endomysium is visible if the 
section is deeply stained and shows as thin, dark strands, so fine and sharp that they 
look as if they had been painted in with a pen dipped in the darkest blue ink. On the 
whole, although sections of muscles both longitudinal and transverse give excellent 
pictures of peri and endomysium, yet the teasing method is to be preferred when the 
object in view is to demonstrate the traverse striation. 
I may mention that I found striated muscular fibres in the contents of the intes- 
tinal canal of a mummy of the XXIst dynasty. It is not a little astonishing that these 
muscular fibres, which had probably undergone a certain amount of digestion, should 
have kept their structure for over 3000 years. 
The muscles of the limbs of Greek and Roman mummies are hard, fibrous and by 
no means brittle. They can be teased out almost as easily as fresh muscles. A large 
amount of colouring matter dissolves out in the softening solution and the tissue becomes 
soft and pliable. The striation is then easily demonstrated. On the whole, these muscles 
are as perfect as those of the XXIst dynasty, although no preservatives whatever appear 
to have been used for the muscles of the Imibs of these Greek and Roman mummies. 
Similarly I found that the muscles of Egyptian mummies of the XVIIIth and XXth 
dynasties, which had been simply dried, gave beautiful histological pictures. 
Muscles 
of Greek and 
Roman 
mummies. 
NERVES. 
Excellent results were obtained by making transverse sections through the finger. Mummies 
The whole finger was macerated for a fortnight in 90f/o of alcohol containing 3 f/^ of pure ^'y^^^^^^ 
nitric acid, then transferred to pure alcohol, which was repeatedly changed until all the 
acid was washed out. 
The digital nerves are in a very fine state of preservation and easily identified, 
not only by their position with regard to the digital arteries and other structures, but 
also by their characteristic histological appearances. The funiculi have a wavy aspect, 
which is less marked than in fresh tissue, and as the connective tissue always swells 
up rather unequally under the influence of the softening solution, blank spaces are often 
left between the connecting fibres. Similarly, owing to shrinkage, the funiculi do not 
always fill up the spaces between the septa formed by the epineurium (see Plate VI. 
Fig. 1). In some cases, however, the sections are perfect, and no blank spaces are left. 
The endoneurium, on the other hand, is excellently preserved, and in consecutive 
serial sections not a fibre is missing, and the bloodvessels even are unaltered. The outer 
or primitive sheath of the nerve fibre is so closely applied to the endoneurium that it 
can not be separately demonstrated. 
