situated will appear very improbable to scientific men, for there is
nothing to account for the separation of the salt from the borates, or
for the accumulation of salt above the level of other crystalline
deposits. We have Mr. Robottom for authority, and the country is open
for those who wish to examine for themselves. The place can easily be
found. It is known as the Borax Fields in the Slate Range, and will be
examined carefully by many competent men, since the tincal--a crude
borate of soda--is a valuable mineral, and can be separated, at little
expense, from the sulphate of soda."]

The next chemical agent we have to notice (which should, however, have
appeared prior to natron), is palm wine, used in the first process of
cleansing the intestines; this would doubtless act as an astringent,
and would, of course, tend to coagulate the liquid albumen contained
in the body (in a similar manner to our ordinary spirits of wine),
which, if followed by a caustic alkali (such as natron may have been),
to dissolve the solid albumen, fibrin and gelatine, ought certainly to
have exercised a decidedly tanning influence.

Following this is oil of cedar. The present oil of cedar (ol cedrat of
commerce) cannot be intended, as that is made from the citron, and
being merely an essential oil can have little of the antiseptic or
corrosive qualities imputed to the ancient oil of cedars. May it not
have been a product distilled from the actual cedar tree (one of the
coniferae) similar to our oil or spirit of turpentine? I have,
however, been unable to discover any writings in certain support of
this theory; "Encyclopaedia Britannica" merely mentions it as "a
certain oily liquor extracted from the cedar;" while Boitard boldly
says, "... Sans doute l'essence de terebenthine." [Footnote: The
Detroit Review of Medicine and Pharmacy for July, 1876. gives a report
of a case of poisoning through an overdose of oil of red cedar (oleum
juniper virginianae) which supports my theory as to there being
extracted an oil from the Lebanon (or other) cedars partaking of the
nature of turpentine and totally distinct from ol cedrat.]

Whatever may have been the composition of--and manner of applying--the
foregoing agents, it is certain that they had the effect intended, for
Diodorus writes fully within bounds when mentioning the life-like
appearance of the features in mummies, as we know by later
discoveries, for there are some well-known specimens still