Chapter IV

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.

CHAPTER V.

OF EMBALMING, FROM THE TIME OF THE EGYPTIANS DOWN TO OUR DAYS,
p. 89.--Honours of embalming, conferred by other nations
on distinguished men only--Doubts on the efficacy of this
operation--Example of Alexander, and of Ptolemy--Embalming
among the Jews--Embalming of Jesus Christ--Employment of
wax among the Persians--Methods of De Bils, of Ruysch, of
Swammerdam, of Clauderus--Description of the cabinet of
Sieur Desenclosses--Silence regarding the processes of
preservation employed by these authors--Composition of the
balsam given by Penicher--Salt of Clauderus--Brine of Charles
de Maétz--Preservation of the body of Saint Thomas--Formulæ:
balsamic wines, compound brandy, vinegar, cere-cloth--Mixtures
for soaking the linens: liniment, balsamic powders--Various
methods of embalming, to the number of four--Embalming of the
heart--Preservation of the heart of an Abbe--Embalming of Madame
the Dauphine--Reflections.

CHAPTER VI.

ART OF EMBALMING IN OUR DAY, PREVIOUS TO MY DISCOVERIES,
p. 118.--Opinion of M. Pelletan upon the imperfect state of this
art--Dispute among the physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries,
upon the question of precedence--Embalming the senators of the
empire--Improvements proposed by M. Pelletan--Application of the
discoveries of Chaussier upon the preservative properties of the
deuto-chloride of mercury to the art of embalming--Embalming,
as practised by Béclard--Preservation of the body of Colonel
Morland, by M. Larrey--Remarks--Preservation of the body of a
young girl of ten years, by M. Boudet--Reflections on these
facts--Embalming of Louis XVIII., King of France--Fifteenth
observation--Criticism--Empyricism in this art--Exact appreciation
of the preservative properties of the deuto-chloride of
mercury--Superiority of the means which I propose.