of the ancient Egyptians retained the embalmed
bodies of their relations in their houses, enclosed in coffins, upon
which the face of the deceased was faithfully pourtrayed. Some
specimens of these representations are in the room, and some in the
Egyptian saloon below. The mummies of the poorer classes were not so
well preserved as those of the rich; therefore, remains of the plebs
have crumbled to dust, while those of the sacerdotal class, having
been deprived of the intestines, and the brain having been drawn
through the nose, having been filled with myrrh, cassia, &c., soaked
in natron,[7] and then securely bandaged, have remained in a
comparatively sound state to the present time, and may be found in
every museum of any note.

HUMAN MUMMIES.

The first five cases to which the visitor would do well to direct his
attention are those marked from 46 to 50. In the first division is
deposited the mummy of a female, with a gilt mask over the head and an
oskh or collar about the neck; and mummies of children, and fragments
of coffins, with paintings of Egyptian deities upon them. In the
second division of the cases, lies some of the kingly dust of the
builder of the third pyramid, King Mencheres; also, part of his
coffin; the sides of a coffin decorated with drawings of deities;
clumps of mummied hair; and mummies of children. In the third division
are tesserae from Egyptian mummies of the Grecian period, with various
figures, including one of Anubis, the embalmer of the dead; a mummy of
Amounirion covered with a curious network of bugles in blue porcelain;
the upper part of a coffin with dedications to the Egyptian god
Osiris; a small coffin containing the mummy of a child; the mummy of a
female, Auch-sen-nefer, upon which is a scarabaeus, the sacred beetle
of the Egyptians. In the fourth division the principal object is the
coffin of the last-named mummy, with representations of various
deities, including Nutpe, or the Abyss of Heaven, a female figure with
a vase on her head; and linen wrappers from mummies of the Greek
period. Having examined these human relics of remote antiquity, the
visitor should pass at once to cases 63, 64, leaving the intermediate
cases for future examination, where he will find scraps and fragments
of the coffins, wrappers, and ornaments of various mummies. In the
first division are fragments of the mask of mummy coffins; fragments
from the lower end of coffins with the Egyptian bull Apis carry