295 
Egyptian mummies. 
as much more of the contents of that cavity as the embalmers 
could get at, by the very clumsy process which appears to 
have been employed in this case, for the extraction of those 
parts through the anus. This orifice was cut in various direc- 
tions, probably with the intention of enlarging it ; but, more 
likely, in consequence of the forcible introduction of the in- 
strument employed in extracting some of the viscera. No 
traces of the right kidney could be found, nor of the liver 
or minor glands of the abdomen ; although, among the many 
fragments of membranes and other soft parts which lay in 
confusion, and were removed for better inspection, the late 
Dr. Baillie, who was present at one of the demonstrations, 
detected the 'gall-bladder slightly lacerated, but in other 
respects perfect, retaining a small portion of the peritoneal 
covering of the liver attached to it, as well as considerable 
remains of its own ducts. 
The cavity of the abdomen being emptied of all its con- 
tents, I continued the circular incision back to the spine, which 
I divided at the first lumbar vertebra. I next sawed off the 
thighs a few inches from the hip, and dissected carefully all 
the soft parts from the pelvis, so as to ascertain the condition 
and dimensions of this important part of the female skeleton. 
In performing this last operation, which occupied me two 
hours a day for nearly a week, (some medical or scientific 
friends being present at each sitting), we could not help be- 
ing struck with the remarkable degree of preservation of the 
muscles, such as had never before been noticed in Egyptian 
mummies, and such as to admit of their being separated 
from one another, as readily as in the dissection of a recent 
subject. Nor was the perfect condition of the articulatory 
