New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-02-28
Professor Gliddon's Eleventh Lecture.


UNRoII.ING OF THE MUMMY J!
Such a crowd as has not often met in the Ly-
ceum Hall, assembled last night to witness Pro-
fessor Gliddon's long heralded performance of
sc unrolling the Mummy
The members of the Medical Faculty were
present, together with the Hon. Theodore H. Nc
Caleb, of the United States District Court, Gee.
c. Lawrason, Collector of the Port, Col Vim.
Christy, Surveyor, and a crowd of the sapaps
too numerous to mention.
Many ladies were among the audience, and
the anxiety they exhibited to witness the per-
formance was immense!
AT precisely halfpast7 o'clock the Professor
mounted the rostrum amidst lound applause
The Mummy was laid in state on a table fronting
the audience, and looked very much like an
overgrown wasp in chrysals state. A large
number of carcasses of young alligators were
strewn around, much like picked behring's laid
out to dry.
The Professor prefaced by saying that mummy
fication antedated the Mummy exhibited many
thousand years--that embalming was a religious
art and as essential to the salvation of an Egyp-
tan, as baptism is at the present day to Chris
tan.
This mummy had been buried two or three
thousand years, and after dwelling so long in
darkness he would proceed to assist it to see the
light NIummies, he said, were first put in
pickle for forty years; then baked, in order to
be properly cooked for the feast of DEATH and
wrapped in linen, preparatory to being blum
A.
The outer castings were marked with certain
figures and hieroglyphics whereby it was easy
to read the name, age, sex and quality of the
individual. The mummy on exhibition came
into his possession without the outer castings,
and for that reason he would not inform the
audience of its sex, as he otherwise might have
been enabled to do This subject had hero
glyphics on the linen swathing, but it was so
abraided as to be illegible. The subject was
from Thebes, ON the Nile, where the custom of
embalming had accumulated about five hundred
millions of mummies. After much learned
disquistion the Professor proceeded to
THE CNEOLI.INGl
About a half dozen of the Medical Faculty
now assembled the platform, to play the part of
undertakers to the defunct They commenced
by rolling the mummy to position nearer the
audience The Professor, in the meanwhile.
proposed to unroll some animal mummies: and
commencing with the Ibis, went through an or
astrological list, embracing the hawk, the owl
etc. These specimens of antique poultry elected
no little attention.
After the birds were disposed of. the medical
gentlemen proececed to unroll the human num-
nv. They commenced by sRinning off d great
variety of bark, and went through the process
much after the manner Of pealing a potato
When they had done with the outer coating or
epideyn,is, and otherwise handled it very ire
verently, the Professor walked it out, in an up
right position, facing the audience, He then
said two sets of bandages were yet to be taken
off, which he would proceed to do in the tender
est manner possible In doing this he showed
the manner of rolling up the subject, which
was exactly the bandaging process used by sur
geons of the present day. As much as forty
pounds of linen had been taken off one mummy,
which, to the poor Egyptians, was great waste
of cloth While these explanations were making,
the Faculty tugged most industriously at the
subject, and in a manner which showed that
they were old resurrectionits.
After much trial of patience and tribulation
of the spirit, the mummy was finally unrolled
The only thing remarkable about it was, that
it had very lean and dried aspect. and emitted
II fragrance much like ancient cow-skin, spoiled
in the drying
This was but the first phase in the unroling
of the mummy The last will be given on Tues
day next.