EMBALMING AMONG THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, p. 54.--What comprises the
labour of embalming--Disposition--Thermometrical and hygrometrical
state of the caverns in which the bodies were deposited; what
advantages for preservation resulted from these--Recital of
Herodotus--Of Diodorus Sicculus--Orpheus transposes these
usages into Grecian mythology--Judgment of the dead--The place
where they are deposited--Models of embalmings presented to
relatives--Three kinds of embalmings; description of each by
Herodotus--Horror existing for those charged with making the
incisions--Invocation to the sun, previous to casting away the
intestines--Precautions taken for the preservation of the bodies
of young females, or those of high rank--Commentaries on the
narratives of the ancients--Succession of means discussed--Opinion
of Rouelle concerning natrum--Examination of the linen bandages
in which the mummies are enveloped--Analysis of the embalming
material by Rouelle; explanation of several passages--Exhibition
of models--Price--New details furnished by Diodorus--Quantity
of bandages found around a single mummy--Embalming of bodies
without sepulture--drowned persons for example--Mummy of a
prince of Memphis--Examination of this mummy by Rouelle, and the
Count de Caylus--Extracts from the work of M. Rouyer, (great
work upon Egypt;) the details which he furnishes complete our
knowledge of Egyptian embalming; how many kinds of mummies he
acknowledges--Mummies having an incision on the left side--Mummies
without any incision--Exploration and description of the plain of
Saggârah, by De Maillet--Visit to the subterranean chambers--Mummy,
near which was found a symbolical statue--Description of an antique
found in a tomb--Mummies preserved upon beds of carbon--Conclusion
drawn from facts contained in this chapter.