Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/566

 558 EMBALMING getting rid of a portion, while the skull is cleared of the rest by rinsing with drugs ; next they make a cut along the flank with a sharp Ethio- pian stone, and take out the whole contents of the abdomen, which they then cleanse, washing it thoroughly with palm wine, and again fre- quently with an infusion of pounded aromatics. After this they fill the cavity with the purest bruised myrrh, with cassia, and every other sort of spicery except frankincense, and sew up the opening. Then the body is placed in natron for 70 days, and covered entirely over. After the expiration of that space of time, which must not be exceeded, the body is washed, and wrapped round from head to foot with bandages of fine linen cloth, smeared over with gum, which is used generally by the Egyptians in the place of glue, and in this state it is given back to the rel- atives, who enclose it in a wooden case which they have had made for the purpose, shaped into the figure of a man. Then fastening the case, they place it in a sepulchral chamber, up- right against the wall. Such is the most costly way of embalming the dead. If persons wish to avoid expense and choose the second pro- cess, the following is the method pursued: Syringes are filled with oil made from the cedar tree, which is then, without any incision or dis- embowelling, injected into the abdomen. The passage by which it might be likely to return is stopped, and the body laid in natron the pre- scribed number of days. At the end of the time the cedar oil is allowed to make its escape ; and such is its power that it brings with it the whole stomach and intestines in a liquid state. The natron meanwhile has dissolved the flesh, and so nothing is left of the dead body but the skin and the bones. It is returned in this con- dition to the relatives, without any further trouble being bestowed upon it. The third method of embalming, which is practised in the case of the poorer classes, is to clean out the in- testines with a clyster, and let the body lie in natron 70 days, after which it is at once given to those who come to fetch it away." Diodo- rus, whose account is similar, also says : " First, one who is termed a scribe marks upon the left side of the body, as it lies on the ground, the extent of the incision which is to be made ; then another, who is the dissector, cuts open as much of the flesh as the law permits with an Ethiopian stone, and immediately runs away, pursued by those who are present, throwing stones at him amidst bitter execra- tions, as if to cast upon him all the odium of this necessary act." Sir Gardner Wilkin- son, in his " Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians," says: "The embalmers were pro- bably members of the medical profession, as well as of the class of priests. Joseph is said to have commanded the physicians to em- balm his father, and Pliny states that during the process certain examinations took place which enabled them to study the disease of which the deceased had died. They appear to have been made in compliance with an order from the government, as he says the kings of Egypt had their bodies opened after death to ascertain the nature of their diseases, by which means alone the remedy for phthisical com- plaints was discovered." Dr. Cormack of London, who has investigated the subject, is of opinion that the essential part of the pro- cess was the application of heat to the bodies, which were filled with some form of bitumen. By this means creosote was generated and diffused throughout all tissues of the body, and this method was never divulged, while the other operations may have been practised the better to conceal this as well as to add dignity and mystery to the art. The substances found in mummies are altogether of a resinous nature, and the tissue is impregnated with resinous matter; but this and the wine said to be em- ployed could not preserve the animal sub- stance. All parts, and the linen used for en- veloping the body in folds sometimes of 1,000 yards, bear the mark of heat ; the bandages are commonly reduced almost to tinder. The ob- ject of the gum with which they were smeared may have been to produce creosote by the calcination to which they were subjected. Bi- tumen also appears to have been employed in a liquid state for filling the cavities of the bodies, though no mention is made of heat being applied to decompose it. The cost of the most expensive method of embalming was a talent of silver. Thenard's " Chemistry " con- tains a description of a method employed in re- cent times by Dr. Chaussier. The body, tho- roughly emptied and washed in water, is kept constantly saturated with corrosive sublimate. The salt gradually combines with the flesh, gives it firmness, and renders it imputrescible and incapable of being injured by insects and worms. The author states that he had seen a head thus prepared, which for several years had been exposed to the alternations of sun and rain without having suffered the slightest change. It was very little deformed, and easily recognized, although the flesh had become as hard as wood. A process has been introduced into France by J. N. Gannal of injecting a con- centrated solution of sulphate of alumina into the veins of the body, which is employed for anatomical preparations as well as for embalm- ing. Dr. Tire states that a solution of chloride of mercury and wood vinegar is most effica- cious for similar uses. He is also of opinion, from the statements of Pliny, that wood vine- gar, the antiseptic virtue of which is in the creosote it contains, was the essential means employed by the ancient Egyptians in prepar- ing their mummies, and that the odoriferous resins were of inferior consequence. M. Fal- coni, in a paper read to the French academy some years ago, stated that after a series of experiments made with different salts, he found that sulphate of zinc, prepared of different de- grees of strength, was the best material which he had used. An injection of about a gallon would perfectly well preserve a dead body, as