of the intestines of the embalmed Egyptians, and
represented the four genii of death, Amset, Hapi, Tuamutef, and
Khebsennuf. Instead of the cover, the head of the genius to which
it was dedicated, was placed on each kanopus. Amset (tinder the
protection of Isis) has a human head, Hapi (protected by Nephthys)
an ape's head, Tuamutef (protected by Neith) a jackal's head, and
Khebsennuf (protected by Selk) a sparrow-hawk's head. In one of the
Christian Coptic Manuscripts, the four archangels are invoked in the
place of these genii.]

lay this heart in it, and take out in its stead the heart of a human
being. No one--no one will notice it. Nor need you do it to-morrow, or
the day after tomorrow even. Your son can buy a ram to kill every day
with my money till the right moment comes. Your granddaughter will soon
grow strong on a good meat-diet. Take courage!"

"I am not afraid of the danger," said the old man, "but how can I
venture to steal from a dead man his life in the other world? And
then--in shame and misery have I lived, and for many a year--no man
has numbered them for me--have I obeyed the commandments, that I may be
found righteous in that world to come, and in the fields of Aalu, and
in the Sun-bark find compensation for all that I have suffered here. You
are good and friendly. Why, for the sake of a whim, should you sacrifice
the future bliss of a man, who in all his long life has never known
happiness, and who has never done you any harm?"

"What I want with the heart," replied the physician, "you cannot
understand, but in procuring it for me, you will be furthering a great
and useful purpose. I have no whims, for I am no idler. And as to what
concerns your salvation, have no anxiety. I am a priest, and take your
deed and its consequences upon myself; upon myself, do you understand?
I tell you, as a priest, that what I demand of you is right, and if the
judge of the dead shall enquire, 'Why didst thou take the heart of a
human being out of the Kanopus?' then reply--reply to him thus, 'Because
Nebsecht, the priest, commanded me, and promised himself to answer for
the deed.'"

The old man gazed thoughtfully on the ground, and the physician
continued still more urgently:

"If you fulfil my wish, then--then I swear to you that, when you die, I
will take care that your mummy is provided with all the amulets, and I
myself will write you a book of the Entrance into Day, and have it wound