Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-04-06
FAIBAEMING.

The oripin Of this art is not PreclseIy A"o"''
Ii is supposed, however, that 'ne Ely p''"ns
were the inventors Of it, though 1t was 1"'%n
al an early period among diferen' nauohs' l"
its amDlest form, embalming was merely open
inc the dead body, taxing away 'he ih'es,'heS'
and filing their Places win oeSiceau.T u'us
.s.n;d ,sIices 10 prevent its purifying. he an
c;sn, manner of ernbalming dead bodies, and oil
,,,es,r,ing them for ages, is said to be LOST
For,yd DAYS were spent by the Egyptians IN com
rIriiny The oDeration, and the moderns, II Is
said. have not been able 10 discover the ingre'
dienls .r which their mummies were compos-
ed. Some learned physicians, however, nave
thought, that a, very early period tae ESyP,
tians boiled the bodies in large cauldron, win
kind Of LIQUID balsam, and that their manner
os rmbalming was thus:-They scooped the
brains with an iron scoop out at the nostriiS,
and threw in medicaments to fill up the vacuum;
they also took out the entrails, and having hlied
the body wi h myrrh, cassia, and other spices,
excep, frankincense, proper TO dry up tue hu-
mors they picked il In nItre, where II lay soak
ing many days The body was then wrapped
up in bandages OF fine linen and gums 10 make
it stick like glue; and'so was delivered TO the
kindred of the deceased, entire in all its features,
the very hairs Of the eyelids being preserved
They used 10 keep the bodies of their ancestors
thus eusalmed, IN lutte houses magnfcently
adorned, aud took great pleasure IN beholGlnS
them, as il were, withouJ any change IN their
size. features, or complexion. The method OF
conducting the process OF embalming, could
not fail TO excite the most painful emotions
Dio,lovus Siculus informs US, that among the
Epyptiaus, The person 40 performed the act
of making the iscisions and other anatomical
oDerations, fled as soon as he had discharged
his offce; and all who were present pursued
him with stones, as one who had incurred the
public rnalcdiction, for they regarded with hor-
ror eveay ole who had offered any violence to
a human, sod Ihs EgyPtlsns also sneaimed
out they VITO had not wherewithal 10 answer
this expense COMMENTED themselves with an
internal infusion Of liquor extracted from the
cedar; and, leaving II there, wrapped up the bo-
DIV in salt Of nitre. The oil thus preyed upon
the injesuines, SO that when they took it out,
the inlestInes Came away with IL, dried and
not in the least purrefed; the body being in
closed in nitre, grew dry; and nothing renamed
besides the skin glued upon the bones Tue
method OF embaiming, used by the modern l.
gyptians, according Maillet, "is TO wash the
body several times with rose-water,' which, he
elsewhere observes, is mole fragrant in that
country than with US; they afterwards perfume
it with incense, aloes, and quantity Of other
odours, Of which they are by no means sparing,
and then they bury the body in winding sheet,
made partly Of silk and partly Of cotton, and
moistened, as is supposed, with some sweet
scented water or liquid perfume, though Mail
kt uses only the term moistened; this they cover
with another cloth Of unmixed cotton. to which
they add ONE Of III richest suits Of Clothes o!
the deceased; the "expense," he says, con these
occasions, is very great, though nothing like
what the genuine em5a Inning cost in former
times"
DIR. Ward, celebrated Commentator on the
Scriptures, supposes that the Jewish method Of
embaiming was very ditiernt from the Egyptian
Both, as he concel S, swatbed up their dead;
but instead Of the Egyptian emboweling, he
supposes The Jews conten,ed themselves with
an external unc,,on, ana that instead OF myrrh
and cassa, they used myrrh and aoes.
The art ot embalming is now unknown to
the Egyptians; but they still practise mode Of
cleansing dead bodies; and seeming them with
odoriferous waters and Arabian perfumes.
What Uerodotus relates Of certain procedures
in this art has beenp proved impracticable in the
Memoirs Of the Academy of Inscriptions. In
these latter days, however, dead bodies have
been preserved for a considerable length of
time. Brydono describes Convent of Capu-
chins near Palermo, in which there is "a vast
subterrancous apartment, divided into large
commodious galleries, the walls on each side OF
which are followed into variety Of inches, as
if intended for great COLLECTION OF statues
These inches, instead Of statues, are all filled
with dead bodies, set upright on their legs, and
fixed by the back 10 the inside OF the niche
Their number is about three hundred; they are
all dressed in the clothes they usually wore, *
form most respectable and venerable assem-
bly,. The skin aud muscles, by certain prep
aration, become as dry and as hard as piece of
stock fish; and although many Of them have
been here upwarcs OF Two hundred and fifty |
years, yet none are reduced to skeletons. The
muscles, indeed; in some appear 10 be good
deal more shrunk than in others, probably be-
cause these persons had been more attenuated,
at the time of their death. Here the people o.
Palermo pay daily visits to their deceased
friends, and recall with pleasure and regret the
scenes of their past life: here they familiarise
themselves with future state, and choose the
company they would wish 10 keep in the other