The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-06-04
by la NrARau1sE DE FONTENOY.
n RINCE ARTHUR. 1t Is now de-
- cided. will proceed TO the Cape

by la NrARaUIsE DE FONTENOY.
~ RINCE ARTHUR. It is now de-
- cided. will proceed to the Cape
of Good Hope In the fall. for the
purpose of inaugurating the first
Federal Parliament of the Union of
South Africa. in the name of King
George. The latter 1t may be re-
called. would have gone himself. with
his consort and his daughter, to fulfil
this duty. had 1t not been for the death
of his father. and his own success
sion TO the throne. In fact. all the
arrangements had already been made
for the trip, and an ocean liner char
tered for the occasion and transform
ed into royal yacht. Prince Arthur.
before proceeding to South Africa, is
TO receive an advance in military rank
and also dukedom. 1t Is anticipated
Kent or Duke OF SUSSEX. titles which
were last held by Queen Victorias
father and uncle.
It seems difficult to realize that as
late as 100 years ago, that is TO say.
in 1910. some of the leading physicians
in England. in attendance upon Queen
Charlotte and holding Office at court
as her medical advisers. were prescrib-
Ing extract of mummy. that is to say.
drugs IN which the powdered remains
OF the Egyptian Pharaohs constituted
the chief ingredient. Half century
later, that Is to say, as recently as IN
1860. powders obtained through the
crushing of mummies were still sold
as medicine by the principal pharma-
ceutical chemists of Austria and Hun
gary.
In order TO account for this employ
ment of Egyptian mummies for the
preparation of drugs 1t must be ex-
planned that great therapeutical viz
tues We're ascribed to tho ingredienl
employed by the ancient Egyptians in
| mummifyinS their rulers. their high
priests and priestasses. and their
| Queens. There was in particular a
certain sort of asphalt. which was con-
sidered as nnrivaled in Its curative
powers. for cases of influenza. eczema,
! commissions and epilepsy. In the eigh-
teenth century. in fact until NAPOLEON
| l. virtually opened UP the Land OF
the Nile to scientific and archaeoloEi-
cal exploration. Egypt was more or
| less unknown, and mummies difficult
| to obtain. And thus one finds his
| tory recording Louis XIV. of France
and Empress Catherine the Great. re-
ceving as highly priced gifts gold ana
silver boxes containing either entire
mummies or else fragments thereof.
/ Nowadays so many of the ancient
acropoli of Egypt and of the Soudan
/ have been discovered and opened ur
4 that tho crop Of ancient mummies has
become almost larger than the de-
/ mand They have become. in the diff.
/ ferent and moro metaphorical sense. q
veritable drug on the market. and no,
| long ago were being shipped to this
country in quantities for use IN thu
! fertilization of the onion beds of New
Jersey. While this is. of course. cal
| culated to offend ones sense of pro
| priety, and of the respect that is due
/ 10 the departed, even If they have beer
dead for 1000 or 5000 years. still II
lis. after all. less repellant than the
| almost canniballstic idea of moderr
kings and queens taking their brothel
monarchs of Mosaical times internally
\ az, med icinc.