The Sun.
London, England, 1830-12-22 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF ARIS'S GAZETTE.

Silt,—Your insertion of the following remarks,
which I have thrown into the shape of a Itail-road
con versation, will oblige
Your most obedient bervant,
Birmingham, Dec. 18, 1830. CIVIS.

Qurs,rtox.—What is the nature of the Parliamentary Deed ?
A NMI R. —By the Parliamentary Deed each subscriber
binds himself to the other to pay the amount of his or
her subscription in ouch way as it shall be required by
the Committee, and any party neglecting to pay is liable
to be sued by another.
QUESTION.-Does not the liability under the Parliamen-
tary Deed cease when the Act of Parliament has passed?
ANSWER.-Certainly not—the Act of Parliament creates
an additional liability to action by the Company against
any defaulters, in the name of the Company, and instead
of the Act of Parliament rendering ♦oid the deed, you
will find on examination of Acts for similar purposes,
a clause is always introduced by the House of Lords,
stating the amount of subscription previou►ly made by
signatures to the deed, and requiring the amount of ca-
pital to be fully secured by the deed before any works

shall be commenced.
QuEsnox.—Will not a transfer of shares get rid of per-
sonal liability under the deed ?
Attswnt.—Certainly not—the circumstances of one re-
spectable person having signed the deed, induces others
to sign, and each being bound personally to the other•,

no tiansfer under the Act of l'arliamint can alholre

the liability between individuals.
QuYsTioN.—ln case of death, would a Pulmcriber's pro.
perty he liable to pay these subscriptions?
Atssw ER. —Certainly—the subscription constitutes a debt
under seal, and is of the nature in Inv of a specialty

. .
debt, and it does not require much knowledge of law to
be satisfied, that in the event of a subscriber's death
after signing the deed, hie executors or administrators
would not be at liberty to pay his simple contract debts
until the rail-road subscriptiou list was fully satisfied
and paid up, and any rail-road subscriber, as a spe.
cialty creditor, may throw the affairs of a deceased sub•
scriber into Chancery, in order to secure payment.

QUXSTION.—WouId not the landed property of each sub—
scriber be also liable to these payments ?

ANSlVER.—Certainly—the Parliamentary deed extend. to
heirs, and binds the land as much as any other specialty
debt.

QUESTION.—Does not the same liability apply to all other
concerns of a like nature?

Awswm—.Certainly—bnt I do not think that in any other
concern• individuals venture to put down tht ir names for
such serious amounts as must be requisite to provide the
many millions required as a capital for all the projected
rail-roads.

ROYAL INSTITUTION-OPENING OF A

M UM M Y.

Sir JOHN OUSELEY, Bart. in the Chair.

Sir John Malcolm, Governor of Bombay, had sent
to him some time ago a mummy, obtained from the
Catacombs at Thebes, which he considered, judg-
ing from the external appearances of the outer case
or coffin, to be in a remarkably fine state of preserva-
tion, and to contain the remains of some ancient
Egyptian of quality. Accompanying the mummy
were certain documents, shewing that it must have
remained in the Catacombs for a period of at least
three thousand years. With a view to throw some
additional light upon the history of these remark-
able and ancient remains, his Excellency presented
the mummy to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great
Britain and Ireland, and the Council of that body
considered that they could not adopt a more effec-
tual means or promoting the views of the donor than
by submitting it to the knife of the anatomist. Dr.
Granville, the author of " St. Petersburgh," and
other works, was selected for this purpose, lie
having in a former instance, in the case of a female
mummy, performed the same operation to the satis-
faction of a circle of scientific individuals.
On the present occasion the large theatre of the
Institution was crowded, and amongst those present
we noticed Count Munster, Lord Nugent, and a
long list of others, distinguished by rank and science.
In front of the lecture table was placed the
coffin containing the mummy ; the outer cover-
ing was of sycamore wood, about three inches
thick, and of exceeding strong workmanship. On
this being removed by the lecturer's . assistant,
a second case presented itself, of the same material
with the former, but of finer workmanship;
within this, again, was another case, composed
of thin layers of cloth glued together, and ad-
hering so closely as to have the appearance of a solid
substance; this inner, or third care, was covered
with hieroglyphics, painted in an exceedingly beau-
tiful manner, at the foot of it was a representation of
the Egyptian god Apis, from which circumstance
Doctor Granville inferred that the subject within
WAS a male. On this also being removed, the body
carefully bandaged presented itself. The bandages
were composed of the same material as that at present
used for clothing amongst the Egyptians, and cast
forth a strong, disagreeable odour, which filled the
theatre. These bandages were removed piecemeal
with considerable difficulty; finally, the body itself
became apparent; it was thickly encrusted with
asphalte or bitumen. The legs and arms were in-
flexible, in consequence of the body after death hav•
ing been subjected to a short and cheap process,
namely, that of plunging it into bitumen in a state
of bullition, which completely burnt the flesh to the
bones. This was a practice sometimes adopted by
the ancient Egyptians with their dead, a circum-
stance in the present instance to be lamented, inas-
much as anatomical inquiry was thereby rendered
partially impossible. The operator proceeded to
make an incision in the sternum through which por-
tions of the liver, spleen, and other parts of the vis-
cera were obtained ; these were all in an exceedingly
dry state. Proceeding downwards with the inquiry,
inconteetible proofs were obtained that the subject
was a male, but whether the ceremony of circum-
cision had been performed, the action of the asphalte
or bitumen rendered it impossible to state.
On the motion of Mr. Pettigrew, Librarian to
the Duke of Sussex, the operator commenced pro-
ceedings on the head, which, in like manner, was