The Washington bee., 1895-10-05
DISSECTING A MUMMY.
The Surgeon Worked Hard, But Had 20
Give Up the Job.

The Surgeon Worked Hard, But Had 20
Give Up the Job.
When Rev. DR.. John T. Goucher, OF
the Woman's College, was in Egypt
last winter he secured a number OF
relics in the way Of antiquities tnat
have reached this city in several ship
ments. Among the most valued OF these
are two mummies that DR.. Goucher Sc
cured in Cairo at the National Museum.
which is in charge of Brysch Bey, VINO
has manifested a great interest in Am
erican institutions of learning. When
he learned that Dr. Goucher was In
search of Egyptian antiquities, ne
helped him materially in securing Iot
of valuable relics. that are now all
stored in the Woman's College. IL mas
been DR.. Goucher's intention for some
time to make an anatomical exam1na-
ton of the mummies. and recently ne
made the attempt, but it was not pro-
nounced success. Both Of the mummies
are bodies of women. The larger of the
two Is of the Ptolemaic period, or, IN
other words. the woman lived in Egypt
about 1000 years ago. The other Is ap-
parently that of girl. and from the
elaborate decoration of the outer case,
1t is presumed she was of royal blood,
so says DR.. Goucher. There is no in
scription on the outside TO mark the
period of her life, but from the manner
in which the outside wrappings are
placed, it is very evident that the
mummy Is of the twenty-first dynas-
ty. DR.. Goucher was very fortunate
in securing this mummy, as all or
like character are carefully preserved
by the National Museum. Brysch Bey,
however, succeeded in getting this val
| ueble trophy for the doctor.
1t was the larger mummy that DR..
Goucher attempted to open and exam
| inc. It was in the wooden case that
| held the mummy when it was taken
| from the catacombs, and down the CEN
| ter of 1t ran an inscription from the
Book Of the Dead" that clearly ind1-
Gated that the mummy was of the Ptol-
| emaic period.
| When the mummy proper was hrteo
| from the case 1t did not look unlike b
large sack covered with pitch. Dr.
| Goucher went to work on the outside
| covering with a pair of shears, but ne
found his task a harder one than ne
had contracted for. The pitch layer
was finally pierced: and to- a COPE 81
/ newspaper men, one armec. ,n : pe1al
Of tin-cutting shears, and the other
with screwdriver and hammer. as
sisted the doctor In tearing away the
next covering. This covering was OF
linen, and If the bands had not parted
from the raYages of twenty centuries
it would have come off in rolls. Most
Of the upper covering consisted of pads
Of linen that were placed in various po-
sitions to give shape to the body. whtcn
is an evidence that the Egyptians were
as vain about the beauty Of contour III
death as their American sisters are IN
life. After these pads were removed.
more wrappings were reached They
were wound with great uniformity
and at one place they covered the
breast like a pair OF suspenders crossed
On the back. Under this were broan
strips of linen running longitud1naly.
| All this was removed with compara-
tive ease Finally layer OF pitch was
reached that looked as IL the emoalmer
had poured a great quantity of 1t on
the body before commencing the pro-
cess of winding 1t up with liner. The
substance was as hard as cement. ana.
after working diligently on 1t for half
an hour. tie doctor and his assistants
managed to expose the left elbow ana
also to remove enough Of the deposit
to show the contour of the right hand
The arms were crossed over the breast
The bone Of the elbow glisteneo Wnlte
In comparison with the deposit tnat
covered the body. and If there was any
skin it had become hardened and was
broken off with" pitch. Around the
neck were a great number Of linen BAN
dages. and. although DIR. G"-'"7er cut
away a great portion. he only succeeded
T., showing the contour of the head
Neither bone nor skin was reached.
When the examination had reached
this point Dr. Goucher discovered the
fact that he had but a few minutes
TO catch a train for his home in Pixies
| Vile. so the examination was brought
to an abrupt end. DR.. Goucher mas
now gone away, and the examination
of the mummies will be indefinitely
| postponed d.-Baltimore American.