— 16 — 
again there was no linen. I have found a like variabitity in the 
packing material of the crania o£ the royal miunmies o£ the New 
Empire. 
In nmmniies o£ the Graeco Roman period the cranium is often 
fi lied with pitch. 
The Treatment of the Body Gavity. 
Herodotus has told ns 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 o£ 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 ail other per£umes except £rankincense, 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 o£ procédure and shown that the body was soaked in the 
" natrum " first and packed a£terward. Diodorus Siculus mentions 
that the embalming incision was made in the le£t flank and the 
examination o£ mummies in modem times has demonstrated the 
accuracy of his account in respect of this matter. 
The embalming incision usually consists of a large vertical 
fusiform gaping wouncl in the left lumbar région extending 
from the iliac crest, about 2 or 3 cm. behind the anterior superior 
spine, to the costal margin. It may be f urther forward or extend 
further dovvn in front of the iliac spine. In one case (Pl. XV, 
figure 1)1 have seen it in the front of the body (in the umbilical 
région) and in two children it Avas placed obliquely above and 
parallel to Poupart's ligament. 
As a rule no attempt has been made to close the wound, which 
