The Albany register. [volume] (Albany, Or.) 1868-18??, 1874-10-16
EmbalmIng among the Eeyptians.

Embalming among the Egyptians.
The Egyptians, however, carried
their process to perfection by introduc-
ing antiseptics into the vacated interiors
of their dead, thus embalming III their
catacombs, it is estimated, not less than
400, 900, 900 perso MS. Herodotus and
Diodorus Siculus, especially the former,
have minutely explained the method of
preservation. and from them we learn
It was a regular trade, The embalmers
removed the brain and intestines, sup
plying the emptiness with myrrh, cassia
and other spices, and then placed the
body in natron for seventy days. Sub
seouently it was carefully laved and
wrapped with bandages of fine linen
smeared with gum, and put IN a wooden
case shaped after the human hgure
There were other modes OF embalmlng
less expensive, the rate varying from
81. 800 to S4OO in our currency, which
was SO much money IN these days that
we cannot now see how Egyptians of
the ordinary class could possibly afford
to die. They doubtless lived longer
than they would have done otherwise,
prompted by q prudent economy to
avoid the extravaganza Of burial as long
as possible.
The cheapest way of embalm1ng,
adopted usually by the poor, was to free
the abdomen of the intestines by means
of a clyster- the oil of the
cedar -tree-and let the body lie in ma
tron until the flesh was impregnated.
Recent Investigations indicate that heat
must have been applied to the corpses
after they had been filed with some
bituminous substance, and creosote
generated and diffused through all the
tissues. The reason that heat was not
mentioned by the ancient authorities is
supposed TO be their desire to keep
the process secret, and enhance the dig
nifty and mystery of the art.
Embalming is still employed. The
means adopted by Chaussier and others
have been to eviscerate the body and
keep it constantly saturated with pro-
tochloride of mercury. The salt, COM
bining with the flesh, not only gives it
firmness, but renders it incorruptible
either by internal or external agencies.
The injection into the veins of concen-
trated solution of sulphate of alumina.
or of chloride of mercury and wood-vin-
egar, or of sulphate of zinc, has been
found very effective not only for ana
tomica1 purpose, but also for embalm-
ing.-Junaats Henri BroaO9ae, in Harp
er's Magazine.
Bridges OF the Thames.
The bridges across the Thames are
eleven in number, and over them go
more people in a year than across any
bridges in the world. They are fine
specimens of architecture, made either
of stone or iron, and some of them cost
huge sums of money. The cost of Lon
Over this bridge 1850 vehicles and
LOT, 600 persons on foot pass daily.
Waterloo bridge, which IS the finest Of
them all, is said to have cost So, 000,-
000. It is $3.50 feet long, and consists
of nine elliptical arches, 120 feet span,
and 35 feet high, supper ed on piers 20
feet wide at the springing OF the arches.
In six months there passed over it
9, ,244, go persons, which would be at
the rate of nearly 5000, 900 per year
The toll each way is half-penny. Be
meath all these bridges is q constant
stream of boats plying upon the water.
They go and come, up and down
stream, and across in every direction,
and in such numbers and confusion
that the stranger cannot see how they
escape running into and over one
another. And such noise as the steam
whistles and the oarsnen and those
connected with the boats keep up was
never heard anywhere else. In add
ton to all these bridges and boats,
there is another mode Of crossing the
Thames. 1t is the tunnel, two miles
below London bridge. This stupen-
J dous work extends beneath the bed o1
the river, and connects Mapping on the
left bank with Redrif on the right. II
! was begun in 1925 under the directions
of Brunei, the architect, and finished
: by him in 1S43. It consists of two
arched passages 200 feet long, IA feet
wide and Is feet high, all below the
bed of the river. Whoever walks Oh
rides through the tunnel goes under the
River Thames, and nowadays it is usee
by the East London Railway Company,
whose locomotives thunder along will
ships and fishes swimming over them.
1 Defrauding Life Insurance Companies
; The Cincinnati Commercial has beer
hunting up frauds in life insurance
business, and in the course of its In
vestigation has unearthed a conspiracy
. for defrauding insurance companies
widely extended and carefully organ
lied. It is composed mainly of conf
: dental agents of companies and their
l tools. The method employed is to pro.
cure policy in the name of third
party, who is kept in ignorance of the
: fact, and collect the insurance at his
|
!, have no trouble in obtaining certificates
of death satisfactory to themselves,
e and are enabled to make money with
great rapidity. One Cincinnatian re-
J. turned to his native city from st. Louis
a few months ago to learn that his death
had been widely circulated, report
9 having been set afoat that he was
9 frowned in the Mississippi. He after,
r ward learned that his life was insured
that his wife had been Influenced by
: one of the conspirators to procure 6
policy and that this money had actually
!; been collected, his wife getting small
It share commensurate with her connec
ton with the fraud. Other cases have
o come to light in which healthy persons
y were insured through agents, in th'
!. name of confirmed invalids, while {
; hint is thrown out of murder by tht
t ring. It would be interesting to policy
4 holders to know precisely what allow
: ance is made by the companies for los
q by fraud in estimating rates OF IN
u surance.