There are many methods of embalming. The first, which is derived from the sacred scriptures, did not prevent the body from soon undergoing a change, since they neglected to remove the viscera, which cause corruption.
The second is that in which they confined their operations to emptying and cleaning the cavities which contain the intestines, the brain, and other noble parts, filling them afterwards with powdered aromatics, with tow and cotton.
The most common, and the most perfect which was practised, is the third; which consists in making incisions in all parts of the body, as we shall treat of further in the sequel.
We may add here a fourth mode, which regards only thin and fleshless bodies; it requires that the fat and flesh be removed, so that the skin and bones only remain. This method was not unknown to the Egyptians; and I have several times practised it, but the operation is laborious, and requires a skilful surgeon.
And finally, there is a last method of embalming the body, which is performed by making small openings in several parts of the body, under the armpits, the groins, and the anus, according to the ancient usage of the Egyptians. In order to commence this important operation, it is necessary, in the first place, that the surgeon who has the honour to be employed to embalm a king or some sovereign prince, under the orders of his first physician, in the presence of the crown officers, makes with a bistoury several gashes in the soles of the feet, in order to prove, by this operation, that the subject whose body he is about to open is really dead; which is a much more certain method than the unctions formerly used in similar cases, to recall the animal spirits, which they suspected of being only stupified. He will afterwards make a long incision, from the superior part of the sternum, to facilitate the examination of the contents of the chest, and to investigate the cause of disease and death, in order that a faithful written report may be made in concert with the physicians and surgeons of the king. All the parts contained in this cavity must be removed; he will afterwards descend to the lower belly and examine all their contents, which he will remove for that purpose, taking away every thing disposed to corruption. The parts which ought to be removed, are, among others, the throat, comprehending the trachea and œsophagus, the tongue, the eyes, the lungs, the heart, which will be divested of its pericardium, to be embalmed separately, as in ordinary cases; the stomach, the liver, the spleen, the kidneys, the intestines, the brain, the membranes, the fat, the blood, the serum, the sponges, and other matters which have served during the operation; put all these things in a barrel, to be carried to the place of destination. I know that some authors recommend the extirpation of the sexual organs of both sexes; but, besides that this would be to disfigure the body of a man, these parts may be preserved as well as others, and we owe respect to the instruments which have given us being. The surgeon having emptied these cavities, ought to work at the head, of which he will saw the cranium in the same manner as for anatomical demonstrations; and after he shall have examined and taken out the brain, the apothecary must carefully wash the cavity with aromatic wine and alcohol, and then fill it with the powder he will have prepared, and with cotton and tow soaked in some fluid balsam, in such a manner that there will be several layers of these stoupes and powder applied one above the other; after which replace the bones of the cranium and sew up the skin. He will then rub the head all over with one of the liquid balms, and bathe the face frequently with the same; envelope the head in a deep cap, which must be waxed; and after having insinuated into the nose, the mouth, the orbits of the eyes, and into the ears, cotton, soaked in liquid balm, the oils of nutmeg and cloves, he will labour at the abdomen, which must be washed in the same aromatic wine and alcohol, and rubbed with some of the aforesaid balms, and, finally, stuffed abundantly with powder and tow, until all these matters, distributed one above the other, will form the natural size and appearance of the abdomen, which must be sown up.