28 i 
Egyptia7i mummies, 
size, it is impossible not to be struck with the likeness it bears 
to the skull of the Georgian female represented in the “ D^- 
cas tertia Craniorumi* of Blumenbach's very instructive col- 
lection. In both we have the facial angle approaching nearly 
to a right angle : and the configuration of the vertex and 
occiput in each is such, as must attract attention for its ele- 
gance, and the, indication of a something more important 
than mere beauty. 
It may be affirmed then, that Cuvier's opinion respect- 
ing the Caucasian origin of the Egyptians, founded on his 
examination of upwards of fifty heads of mummies, is corro- 
borated by the preceding observations ; and that the systems 
which were founded on the Negro form, are destroyed by 
almost all the recent, and certainly the most accurate inves- 
tigations of this interesting subject. It is a curious fact, which 
has been noticed by more than one traveller, that whole 
families are to be found in Upper Egypt, in whom the gene- 
ral character of the head and face strongly resembles that of 
the best mummies discovered in the hypogei of Thebes ; 
and not less so, the human figures represented in the ancient 
monuments of that country. 
Having proceeded thus far in my inquiry into the state of 
preservation of the mummy before me, I determined, perfect, 
and beautiful as it was, to make it the object of further re- 
search by subjecting it to the anatomical knife, and thus to 
sacrifice a most complete specimen of the Egyptian art of 
embalming, in hopes of eliciting some new facts illustrative 
of so curious and interesting a subject ; for it is to be observed, 
that the deficiency of our knowledge on the art of preparing 
mummies by the ancient Egyptians, both as to the mode of 
