315 
Egyptian mummies. 
In order to appreciate properly' the durability of the 
bodies prepared by the Egyptian process, it is essential to 
observe, that the mummy I have described with so much 
minuteness, after having resisted putrefaction for above three 
thousand years, covered by bandages, inclosed in a thick 
wooden case, and placed in recesses, far from the external 
influence of atmospheric vicissitudes, has since withstood the 
inclemency and variations of an English climate, without any 
of those protecting circumstances ; nay, exposed purposely, 
but ineffectually, for four years, to the various causes that 
are known to favour putrefaction.* 
The deep feelings of interest that have of late been excited 
respecting the Egyptians, have induced me to extend my 
present inquiry to a greater length, than I should have done 
under less inviting circumstances. It was impossible not to 
feel extremely interested in the subject ; and when I beheld 
before me the heart of an Egyptian female, whom imagina- 
tion, aided by historical records, may fancy to have been ■ 
cotemporary with the great Sesostris, I could not help ex- 
periencing a degree of enthusiasm, a portion of which, me- 
thought, I could impart to others. 
I recollect with pleasure the sensation which the demon- 
• A singular contrast this, with what has since happened to one of the nates 
alluded to in a previous note. Being divested of the protecting and embalming 
ingredient, by the process I there alluded to, this part has partially run into putre- 
faction, and emits the peculiar smell of animal substances, placed under similar cir- 
cumstances. Nay, in the case of one of the large muscles of the thigh, and a large 
portion of the integument, which I similarly deprived of their protecting ingredi- 
ents, such has been the rapidity with which putrefaction has followed, that although 
well covered, the vessels containing those parts emitted the most insufferable smell, 
and the parts themselves were found infested with myriads of large maggots. 
Tt 
MDCCCXXV. 
