The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-08-20
4HARK, FROM THE T0MBSv'
4 RELIC FROM EGfPT-THREE
 THOUSAND YEARS OLD.

RELIC FROM EGYPr-THREE
 THOUSAND YEARS OLD. .--
 Unvrappinx n Mummy by the Scientific
 society- Recently Came From Egypt and
 Wss the Gift of Mrs. P. T. Barnum.
 Bridgeport standardl
 The art of embalming the bodies oi the dead in the Egyptian fashion per ished over 1,5oo years ago. It had been in practice among the Egyptians fol more than three thousands years prev ious to that time and was carried to a very high point of perfection. Of late years "the spelling of the Egyptians has been prevented by the government of that country as much as possible and 1t has been constantly more and and more difficult to procure for scien- tifc purposes specimens of the ancient Egyptian embalming art, and therefore the presentation to the scientific so- ciety of this city of very fine mummy from. Egypt, by Mrs. P. T. Barnum' was an event not to be lightly passed over. How Mrs. Barnum procured 1t IS not known exactly, but through some office of the American consul at Cairo or Alexandria, doubtless 1t was done. The officers of the scientific, historicai and medical societies, which occupy the Barnum institute, met together last evening, with few members Of the press, and in, their presence the num- my was unrolled and prepared for ex- hibition.
 The outer covering or case, cores bonding to the coffin of the present day, Is of the conventional Egyptian type of 2,500 or 5000 years ago. us composition is probably wood, although 50 old that its grain is largely lost. The decoration on the outside IS Tn brilliant colors, many of them fresh and bright as when first put on, and the paintings on it represent the soul of the dead man in its course after death to the final destination. From the chin of the noble Egyptian head, which forms the top of the case, de- Q line, denoting the sex of the occupant of the coffin. In this case the mummy is that of priest of the great temple of Luxor. Opening the coffin and un- rolling the outer coverings of linen, a painted record of the man is found, also on linen, lying nearly the length of the body and about four inches wide. This and the outer coverings were care fully preserved. The wrappings, all of linen, are well kept, many of them still strong, although yellowed by age, and not until they reach close to the body, and have become embedded in the gums and other preservatives used,. do they require force to remove them.
 The body was nearly all uncovered, a portion of the wrappigs having been left to indicate. how they were origin ally used, and the black but well pre- yerved skeleton, for that 1t is practical ly, is left bare. .,
 The, removal of the wrappings was done by Dr. c. c. Godfrey, assisted by pr. T. W. Van Yorx, MT. c. K. Averill, IT,, and others. Dr. Porter uncovered the head, which in the journey across the Atlantic had become detached. The tongue and teeth were found well pre- served. the latter indicating by their worn and polished grinding surfaces that their owner was an,old man.
 The arms were crossed upon the breast and the hands and feet are small and slender, the height of the man not being being much above five feet two inches. As the figure lies in its glass case in the rooms of the so- ciety there is a remarkable resem- blance between the head and the photo graph of Rameses II, which is hang ing in the same room.
 Holes in the side of the. body show where the viscera were removed, and the brain was taken out through the nose. The body was then, probably, boiled in bitumen, resins, gums or some other composition which shrunk the flesh upon the bones, filled the vacant spaces and insured the preservation of the remains. There were no scarabaei found with this mummy, nor any other things which were, sometimes buried with the bodies of Egyptians of the higher class. Specimens of the cloth wrappings were secured by those pres ent, and they are certainly very wonder fully preserved for textile fabrics of from two thousand to three thousand years old. The. outer case or coffin is probably of wood, although it Is so old as to make it difficult to determine that fact, but by the practice in Egypt at about the time when this mummy is supposed to have been buried, it was customary to deposit the body, after it had been prepared, in a wooden case made from one tree, and consisting of two parts only, a cover and case. This was lined in the inside with cloth and prepared by treatment to resist the natural. processes of decay. The up- per part was carved in the shape of an Egyptian face and colored, while the whole was covered with hieroglyphics appropriate to the dead This case is one of that character and date, which is from the, eleventh to the thirteenth dynasty. A faint aromatic odor was perceptible from the body, and al- though the unwrapping and exposure of this wonderful relic of the past was not without it's grewsome features. ytill the scientific and historical inter- est which it excited overbore all other feelings. This addition to the valuable collec- lions of the scientific society will be appreciated more and more for years to come, and is another of the many practical evidences which Mrs. Barnum has given of her interest in the value |