Liberty advocate. [volume] (Liberty, Miss.) 1835-1866, 1839-01-17
VOL. mo. 8.

! filled with myrrh and other aromatlcsj this
done, the body was laid in nitro during seventy
days, at the end Of which was taken out, cleans
ed, swathed in fine linen, which was gummed
and ornamented with various painted hierogly-
phcs expressive of the deceascd's character
and rank. When this process was completed,
the body was deposited in narrow coffin en-
closed in an outer case, and placed upright
against the wall Of the mausoleum fthe family.
Ii was in this manner that the mummes which
have been preserved but it was only employed
for persons of the highest distinction Anoth-
Ter less expensive method was by injecting
dissolvent into all the cavities Of the body this,
after short time, carried off, in liquid state,
whatever it contained, and the body, thus puri-
fed, being dried by the nitrous process, was
then swathed in the manner alrendy mentioned;
the poor merely drenched the body with injec-
tions, and a(terward dried it in nitre.
This invention is universally ascrbed to the
Egyptians; and the account communicated to
us in the Mosaic writings Of the embalming oil
the patriarch Jacob, sufficiently proves the an
tiouity of the custom, and confirms the common
opinion: but the period Of the operation is there
limited to forty days, while the mourningls
said to last seventy.
Among the nations Of the east, dead bodies
were sometimes covered over with wax; and
this practice, which was early introduced into
Europe, gave rise 10 that Of wrapping the re-
mains Of persons of distinction in waxed cloth,
which has been continued down even TO the
present day. Ofths the annals Of Europe pre-
sent numerous instances. In that ancient err
cord, the Hber RECALLS, we find directions, SHAT
the remains of the kings of England shall be
lenfolded in waxed linen; but in such manner
as that the face and beard may be discernable,
and that each finger be separately covered"
Accordingly, when the tomb Of Edward the
First, who died in 1907, was opened in 1774,
the body was found thus enveloped, and the
form Of the features and the hands were still
clearly distingushable. The body Of Johanna,
mother Of Edward the Black Prince, was also,
us we are told" wrapped in cere-cioh;" and that
of Elizabeth Tudor second daughter Of Henry
! VII "caS cered By the war-chaadter." Among
the funeral charges Of George II. is one for
common recollection.
| However these various modes OF conservation
may have been applied to scientific purposes
during the reign Of the Roman emperors, no
trace of such an application can be discovered
in the darkness oil the middle ages; but in the
treasures Of princes there were sometimes
found, among antiquities and curiosities of art,
a few specimens of the dried and stuffed re-
mains OF uncommon animals. When commerce
had extended the intercourse between nations,
|, these collections were enlarged: menageries
were also formed to add to the splendor Of
courts; and while these diffused knowledge Of
foreign pr oductions, they also excited curiosity,
and q taste for more minute inquiry into the
peculiar qualities oftheir various contents As
Il Iitar,turo rauivad nuhIc lhra u,ar., astoh
Ilished, and became receptaccs for such natural
curiosities as were occasionally presented to
them; and in universities, the faculty of medi-
cine collected, for dissection, various objects
from the animal kingdom, as well as human
bodies, and preserved the parts in spirits of
wine. At still later period, wealthey ndivid-
uals began to form collections of curiosties, at
first, probably, more calculated to please the
eye than TO crafty the understanding; but
these, as science became at once more extended
, and more defined, were c.assed in distinct de-
partments, and hence have arisen the various
cabinets Of natural curosities now to be found
in every part ofthe cvlised world. The ear
lest Of these private collections, however, is
not supposed to date farther back than some
time in the sixteenth century; and the Oldest
known catalogue, upon any systematic plan, il
that Of John Kentmann, learned physician Of
Torgau, in Saxony, which was published in
1865. 1t consisted chiefly of minerals and
i, other fossil productions; sand although, it only
contained about sixteen hundred articles, it was
then esteemed considerable, and cost, as tho
lIcolIector tells US, 'sums which few could afford
to expend."
The first museum in England was formed to-
ward the middle of the seventeenth century, by
John Tradescant, who procured the objects Of
+ which it was composed, in many parts Of
Europe, America, and the Levant. His collec-
ton Of coins and medals appears to have becn
valuable; but among the natural curioslties mem
toned in the catalogue, which has been pub
t Ilished under the title Of Museum Tradescan-
,hum," are some that are not calculated to afford
"a very high idea Of the science or the discern
9 ment Of the collectors for we find an egg Of a
q griffin, and another Of dragon; some feathers
: from the tail Of phoenir; and the claw of a
t ruck, ia bird able to truSSe an eiephdHt together
5 with others OF similar nature. After Trad
e escant's death, which occurred in 1862, this
4 cabinet was presented, by his son, to tho celc-
: brated Elias Ashmole, who removed il TO Ok
o ford, where it forms part Of the Ashmolean
$ Museum .
The next in order oftime was Kemp's Mo-
: scum, which was open to public inspection, in
l. the Haymarket, in the beginning Of the last
0 century 1t was originally founded by Mr..
| John Conyers, we'll known antiquary; and
9 among a great variety ofEgyptian, Greek, and
L. - 49, - O.. n