Page:Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Vol 1.djvu/222

was rendered firm and coherent; when the bandage was removed, the bird appeared to be covered with the same kind of bituminous substance that had cemented the strips of cloth. As much of this substance as could be removed without injuring the bird was now carefully taken off; and after the labour of several hours, Mr. Pearson succeeded in displaying the whole bird as it had been originally deposited by the embalmer.

The neck of the bird was twisted, so that the vertex of the head lay a little to the left of the sternum. The bill descended between the feet, and reached to the extremity of the tail. The feet were bent upwards, and placed one on each side of the head. The wings were brought close to the sides of the body. The feathers of the back and wings were white, tipped at their extremities with dark brown. The tail feathers could not be sufficiently cleared from the bituminous substance, to determine their colour. From the state of the quills of the wing feathers, it appeared that the bird had attained its full growth.

The dimensions of this bird were as follows: inches. From the termination of the neck to the extremity of thetail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12%

Length of the neck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6;

-— head and hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

sternum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

metatarsal bone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3%

Longest toe . . . . . . . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3%

Width at the shoulders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Circumference of the body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13%

Weight of the whole, 16% ounces, Troy.

No particular marks of decay can be perceived in this mummy, although it is probable, Mr. Pearson says, that the greater part of 3000 years has elapsed since it was embalmed. It was, he thinks, immersed in the bituminous matter, while that matter was in a liquid state; but that it was not boiled therein, as Grew supposed, is evi- dent, from the feathers not being corrugated, or otherwise materially changed from their natural state.

Mr. Pearson unrolled another mummy of an Ibis, also sent from Thebes by Major Hayes, which appeared to have been embalmed in a different manner. The cloth of this latter was of a coarser texture; it had not been so thoroughly imbued with bitumen, nor were the circular bands continued to the body of the bird, which was merely wrapped in several pieces of cloth. This mummy was in such a state of decay, that no remains of the head or bill could be discovered. The exterior layer of feathers was in general of a dark colour, some of them tipped with white. The plumage of the neck and tail was white; the latter had a tufted appearance.

Whether the two birds here described were what authors have called the white and the black Ibis, Mr. Pearson cannot, he says, presume to determine. With respect to the mode in which such. birds were embalmed, it appears, he thinks, contrary to what is