Egyptian mummies. 297 
thus opened, it was ascertained that the brain had been 
removed through the nostrils ; the plates of the inner 
nasal bones having been destroyed in the operation by the 
instrument employed, as evidenced by the state of those parts. 
It is a matter of no little surprise how, under circumstances 
of so much difficulty, the operators could have contrived to 
remove every vestige of the membranes investing the brain, 
one of which is known to adhere firmly in most subjects to 
the inner surface of the superior cranial bones. There can 
scarcely be a doubt but that some injection had been thrown 
into the cavity in question, to clear it out in so perfect a 
manner ; for no instrument could have effected such a pur- 
pose. A black resinous substance, but in a small quantity, 
was found adhering to the inner surface of the occipital bone, 
which mus^t have been thrown in quite hot, as it had pene- 
trated through, and burnt partially, the superior part of the 
lambdoidal suture through which the liquid escaped, so as to 
be now seen extravasated under the scalp. But how this 
liquid resin was thrown in, and for what purpose, it is not 
easy to conjecture. It could only have been made to pene- 
trate through the opening which had previously been made 
in the ethmoid bone, to extract the brain ; and if so, it is dif- 
ficult to conceive in what manner it was made to reach the^ 
spot it now occupies without having adhered to any other 
intermediate portion of the cranium. It was remarked, at the 
time of opening the head, that its inner surface was studded 
with small crystals of what appeared to be an animal sub-’ 
stance, resembling steatine. 
The last observation I have to make on the structural 
condition of this mummy, refers to the state of the eyes, 
