s66 Mr . Pearson’s Account of two Mummies 
assigns it a place among the species of curlew, under the 
name of Numenius Ibis. 
The accounts of the mummy of the ibis which have been 
nitherto made public, were collected from observations made 
on it in a decayed state : I presume, therefore, that a descrip- 
tion of the mummy of an ibis in a condition unusually perfect, 
may not be unacceptable to the curious. Among the curiosities, 
natural and artificial, which were collected by the late Major 
Hayes,* in the years 1802 and 1803, were two small mummies, 
which he took out of the catacombs at Thebes in Upper Egypt. 
They were contained in earthen jars, and were enveloped in 
cloth, similar to those which are brought from Saccara. At the 
request of his family, I first examined the larger of the two, 
and found the covering to consist of bandages of cloth, strong 
and firm, and about three inches broad. The first circumvo- 
lutions of the roller separated easily; but, as I proceeded, 
they adhered more firmly to each other, and were at length 
so closely cemented together by a resinous-like substance, that 
I was obliged to divide the folds of the cloth with a strong 
knife. Each layer of the bandage appeared to have been im- 
bued with some bituminous or resinous substance, in a liquid 
state, and the roller was farther secured by strong pieces of 
thread, so that the whole mass was rendered extremely hard 
and coherent. When I had removed the greater part of the 
covering, I found that it had contained a bird, which was 
thickly covered with the same kind of substance that had 
cemented the different strips of the roller. The examination 
* This accomplished young gentleman, who served during the late campaign in 
Egypt, died July 26, 1803, at Rosetta, aged 25 years. By his premature death, his 
country lost an able officer, and a zealous promoter of the interests of science. 
