New-York tribune., 1903-04-13
GETS GIFT OF MUMMIES
Chronological Society Obtains An
cient Bodies of Incas.

Two niummies of the incas were recently put IN
the fifth floor of the Academy OF Medi-
cine No II West Forty-third-st They are owned
by the New-York Genealogical Society. being pre-
sented to that organization by DR.. j. H. Hanning
In giving them to the society Dr. Hanning said
that he gave permission to have the bodies dis
membered under the charge of a committee for the
purpose of examination of the teeth or jaws
I'VE must be careful of damp air, said Dr. Han
ming. IF they get wet they will melt away /
present them with the idea of comparing the denu-
ton of that age with this The giver received
the munmies from a DR. Finney- dentist, now In
Peru. From what was learned yesterday about
the murnmies member of the society has yet
made examination of them for the purpose Of
learning if the Incas held any secrets about the
of teeth.
In many ways the Incas. who were tribe Of
Indians living in Peru. formed a wonderful gov
ernment, according to tradition. Their ruler was
called the Inca, and he was more powerful than
many rulers of ancient times In fact, he was
considered to be divinity itself The Inca and his
people were at the height of their greatness when
Pizarro set foot in Peru in 1888 to conquer the
people there. 1t is said that they excelled as
masons. weavers. dyers. potters. were good farm
and were much given to holding Imposing cere-
monies in the presence of their dead The bodies
Of the dead were embamed and then dried by ex-
posure for some days TO the air. Then the bodies
were in a mummified condition. and if il was the
body of the supreme Inca it placed in the great
Temple Of the Sun at CUzeo. sitting upon a
golden throne on pedestals of gold. The great In
cas- were ranged each side OF the CEN
tral image of the sun Golden decorations
were to be seen on every side. All around the
outside of the building, at the top or the walls
cOronal of gold about three feet deep On
we're carried abroad from settlement to settle
ment. so that all the children OF the sun might
see the great fathers OF the Inca then ruling
1t is said that the two mumHl1es given 10 , tns
society were than q thousand years ago rulers
of this remarkable tribe of Indians, and were
therefore considered sacred by the people over
whom they held sway. DR.. Hannlng did not say
that the mummies were once rulers in the valley
OF CuZco, Peru, where this peculiar tribe nFed
but he read a letter from DR.. Finney, in making
the presentation from which II is inferred t1St
the r1ummies were Of the royal line of Incas. Dr.
Finney said that the mumInies were found IN or
near the great Temple of the Sun at Cuzco- II IS
thought that another letter from Cf Ffnney about
they were of the ruling house OF IncaS or not. II
* be proved that they were found IN the
Temple there will be little room TO doubt tnar tney
were once looked upon sacred, unless the ira
ditiou about their race is thought TO be far from
the truth
DR.. Finney may also tell in another letter what
mics to dentists 1t is a well known fact that the
Incas skilled in the preservation OF dead
bodies. and maybe they knew many valuable things
about the care of teeth and that their knowledge
of such subjects has been discovered And just
what is the value of the mummieS to the society
cannot now be said. until the mummieS have been
capable of being studied. made Several members
of the society said last night that they would be
greatly surprised if any teeth were found in the
jaws of the mummies-
Teeth which constantly exposed to light and
air. said member last night. become brittle in
a few years and easily broken by a slight jar
If such teeth undergo such changes in few years
what would remain OF them after a thousand
years? Why in my opinion. there would not be
any part of the teeth left for the purpose of any
kind of examination"