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XVIII. Some Account of two Mummies of the Egyptian Ibis, one 
of which was in a remarkably perfect State . By John Pearson, 
Esq. F.R.S. 
* ; ; •-? ; , '■ ; r ' . ; , ■ ; '■ . * \ - . • • • 
Read June 13, 1805. 
The ancient Egyptians were not more remarkable for their 
attainments in science, than for the extraordinary attention 
they paid to the bodies of their deceased relatives, preserving 
their remains by arts which are now either unknown, or 
imperfectly recorded, and depositing them in subterranean 
structures, which to this day excite the curiosity and wonder 
of the philosophic traveller. The practice of embalming was 
not confined, as is well known, to the conservation of human 
bodies exclusively ; it was likewise employed to protect the 
remains of several of their sacred animals from that decay and 
dissolution which usually ensues, on the exposure of animal 
substances to the action of the earth, or of the atmosphere. 
We learn from Herodotus,* that among the different animals 
which the Egyptians honoured with this peculiar mode of 
sepulture, were the cat, the ichneumon, the mus araneus ter- 
restris, the ibis, and the hawk ; but, whether this be a complete 
enumeration or not, it is almost impossible, at this period of 
time, to determine. Mummies of the hawk and of the ibis 
have been often drawn out of the catacombs ; and Olivier 
asserts, that he has not only met with the bones of the mus 
* Euterpe. 
