Transcriber’s Note:

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

The Explanation of the Frontispiece.

Reader thou in this Frontispiece may’st see

How mortal Man seeks Immortalitie;

His beauteous Frame he sees with speed decline,

And soon dissolv’d by Death, tho’ form’d by Hands Divine.

Sadness in Widows Robes deplores his State,

While the Young Brood inspect the Book of Fate;

Pensive they view the Rise and Fall of Man,

With Tears survey his Transitory Span.

But his great Soul, full of Cœlestial Flame,

Disdaining Death, strives to extend his Name;

And conscious of our too too fickle State,

Would fain elude the Force of Time and Fate:

The narrow Boundaries of Life would pass,

By Statues, Pillars, Monumental Brass,

Aspiring Pyramids, that lift on high

Their spiral Heads to reach his kindred Skie,

Which in their dark Repositories keep

The Bodies safe in their Immortal Sleep;

While healing Balm and Aromatic Spice,

Death’s odious Dissipation to their Form denies.

Death baffl’d thus by wise Chyrurgic Art,

Wounds Mortals there but with a blunted Dart;

And half the Terror of the Griesly Fiend

Is lost, when Mortal Bodies know no end.

The Bodies thus Preserv’d, the thinking Part

Men strive to keep alive by various Art,

And fine wrought Medals and Inscriptions use,

But above all the bright recording Muse;

Thro’ Time’s revolving Tide the faithful Page

Conveys their earliest Rise to the remotest Age,

While Death and Time oppose their Force in vain,

Superior Men above their Force remain;

Temples and Fanes they to the Godhead raise,

To bribe the only Power, that can destroy, with Praise.

Jove pleas’d, in Pity of the pious Race,

Two Messengers sends down the Airy space,

To raise Man’s Ashes from the silent Urn,

Which touch’d by Hermes wand resume their pristine Form.

Jove’s Royal Bird attends to bear on high

Th’ Immortal Soul up to its Native Skie,

While Fame aloud her Silver Trumpet sounds,

And with the Lawrel Wreath the Victor Crowns.

And thus Eternal lives the deathless Mind,

Which, here on Earth, no setled State could find.

ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑ:
OR, THE
Art of Embalming;
Wherein is shewn
The Right of Burial,
THE
FUNERAL CEREMONIES,
And the several Ways of
Preserving Dead Bodies
IN
Most Nations of the WORLD.
With an Account of
The particular Opinions, Experiments and Inventions of modern Physicians, Surgeons, Chymists and Anatomists.
ALSO
Some new Matter propos’d concerning a better Method of Embalming than hath hitherto been discover’d.
AND
A Pharmacopœia Galeno-Chymica, Anatomia sicca sive incruenta, &c.

In Three PARTS.

The whole Work adorn’d with variety of Sculptures.

By Thomas Greenhill, Surgeon.

LONDON: Printed for the Author.

ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑ:

OR, THE

Art of Embalming;

Wherein is shewn

The Right of Burial,

AND

FUNERAL CEREMONIES,

Especially that of

Preserving Bodies

After the EGYPTIAN Method.

TOGETHER WITH

An Account of the Egyptian Mummies, Pyramids, Subterranean Vaults and Lamps, and their Opinion of the Metempsychosis, the Cause of their Embalming.

AS ALSO

A Geographical Description of Egypt, the Rise and Course of the Nile, the Temper, Constitution and Physic of the Inhabitants, their Inventions, Arts, Sciences, Stupendous Works and Sepulchres, and other curious Observations any ways relating to the Physiology and Knowledge of this Art.

PART I.

Illustrated with a Map and Fourteen Sculptures.

By Thomas Greenhill, Surgeon.

LONDON: Printed for the Author, M DCC V.

[To the Right Honourable THOMAS Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery]

[THE PREFACE].

[A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage this Work with Sculptures].

[A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage this Work by Subscriptions].

[Amico admodum colendo D. THOMÆ GREENHILL eximiam suam ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ edenti χαίρειν καὶ εὐπραγεῖν.]

[Viro Admodùm Erudito Thomæ Greenhill, Chirurgo in ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ, sive Artem Pollincturæ, ab illo editam.]

[TO HIS Ingenious Friend Mr. Thomas Greenhill.]

[To his Friend the Author.]

[A CATALOGUE OF Authors quoted in this Book.]

[THE TABLE]

To the Right Honourable
THOMAS

Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery; Baron Herbert of Caerdiff; Lord Rosse, Par, Marmion, St. Quintin and Shurland; Lord Lieutenant of the County of Wilts and South-Wales; Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter, and President of Her Majesties most Honourable Privy Council.

My Lord,

I count it no small Happiness, in an Age so Censorious as this, to have found a Patron so universally admir’d, that I am under no apprehension of being thought a Flatterer, should I make use of and indulge all the Liberty of a profest Panegyrist; but that is what a sense of my own Inability and Your Lordship’s Modesty forbids: It is sufficient for me, that, under Your Lordship’s known Learning in Antiquity and History, both Antient and Modern, my weak Endeavours at restoring a lost Science may be secure from the Assaults of the Envious or the Ignorant.

I have nothing to fear from the Animosities of Parties, since how inveterate soever they may be against each other, yet they all agree in this one Point, to Esteem and Honour Your Lordship, who are the Atticus of the Times, by Your Virtues endear’d to all sides, and each believing that not to Value Your Lordship, would be to discover such an aversion to Honour and Virtue as the worst of Men would abhor.

Your Virtues, my Lord, are so conspicuous, that they give you that Natural and Rational Right to true Nobility, which the Roman Satyrist so justly exprest:

——Nobilitas sola est atq; unica Virtus.

I will not dispute whether or no there be any Intrinsic Value in a long Descent, or whether that be deriv’d from the necessity of a Subordination essential to Government, or else from the just Reward of Virtue, which ennobles all the Posterity of the Possessors of it, it being here a very useless Disquisition since Your Lordship’s Family is of so very high an Original that none can boast a greater Antiquity, and that Your Lordship is possest of all that Merit which first distinguish’d Man from Man, and gave a Preeminence to the Deserving. Among all the Excellencies which thus dignifie Your Lordship’s Character, perhaps there is none more eminent than Your Protection and Encouragement of Arts and Sciences, to which the English World owe the incomparable Mr. Lock’s Essays on Human Understanding, and other Works extreamly beneficial to the Public. Neither do I in the least question but Your Lordship’s Protection of so excellent and useful an Art as Surgery, will render it as flourishing here in England as it is in any other part of the World. ’Tis true we are not wanting of some extraordinary Professors of that Art, but I could also heartily wish we had not a greater number of Bad, and yet perhaps the chief occasion of this may be the want of a due Method of Encouragement, by which the modest Endeavours of young Proficients are eclips’d, and which (to make a Comparison) like tender Plants, are nipp’d in the Bud and perish for want of Watering.

Now as the want of Opportunity has been in some respect a prejudice to my Business, so also the want of Encouragement has in a great measure been a hindrance to this Work: For what regret of Mind must it needs occasion, to find none esteem’d but such as speak Experience in their Looks, and that Youth should be despis’d tho’ never so hopeful and industrious, meerly because of a particular number of Years, and what an interruption must it be to our painful Studies, to think that even the best Performances of this kind are contemn’d because they are chiefly a Collection, when on the contrary it is receiv’d as an establish’d Maxim, that such as Travel into Foreign Countries, are not only the most capable to describe them, but also whatsoever they relate is look’d upon as the sole matter of Fact and Truth, when many times Business is better transacted by Correspondence, and those that have been at the trouble, expence and danger of Travelling have come home no more improv’d than they went out, except in the Fashions and Levities of the Age, yet are we commonly so imprudent as to value Things meerly for their coming from a far and at a great deal of Expence; but whilst we admire those Novelties, we are often misled and deceiv’d by meer Fables and imaginary Stories of such Things as neither are, nor ever have been.

This I speak not in prejudice to Travelling it self, which, if rightly understood, is certainly the greatest Improvement in the World, and I could heartily wish I had had the opportunity of its Advantage, but on the contrary I do it chiefly to show that it is not impossible to give a tolerable, if not the best Account of the Ancients without it; for what can any one, who now travels into Egypt, learn or see but such a ruin’d Country, that the very Place is hardly known where those wonderful Cities Thebes and Memphis stood, except what is Traditional or extracted from the Writings of the Ancients. ’Tis true, the learn’d and accurate Mr. Greaves has given us the best Description of the Pyramids, but then this was both because they are at this Day in being, and to be view’d by Travellers, as also that he carry’d along with him the best contriv’d Instruments for taking their exact Altitudes and Dimensions, which few besides that see them trouble themselves with, but are content to say, they have seen them; nevertheless Greaves can neither give us the Names of the right Founders of them, nor any certainty whether there were perpetual burning Lamps in them, or a Colossus or Statue on the top of the bigger Pyramid, or, in a word, by whom and to what end the monstrous Figure of the Sphinx was built.

But however the aforesaid Reflections are not the only Discouragements to Industry and Study; to see our Profession over-run by Quacks and Mountebanks, and that Valet de Chambres are suffer’d to Bleed, dress Wounds, cut Fontanells, and perform the like Operations, is what has reduc’d Surgery to so low an ebb. In like manner the noble Art of Embalming has been intirely ruin’d by the Undertakers, as also the Court of Honour much prejudic’d, of which Your Lordship has been twice Supreme Judge; from whence it is the Balsamic Art is now-a-days look’d upon as a very insignificant Thing, and not a little despis’d, whereas the Knowledge and Practise of that Art is both useful in Natural Phylosophy, Physiology, Physic, Surgery and Anatomy, as I hope I have fully prov’d in the body of my Book, over and above that the History thereof leads us into the first and best Antiquities of the World. Your Lordship therefore being both a great Admirer and Encourager of Things of this nature, I hope, thro’ Your generous Protection, not only to secure my self against the contempt of all Critics, but also to be enabl’d to continue and complete my intended Work, and this has also been one Reason why I have thus vindicated Surgery, the Art of Embalming and my own Collection; in which, altho’ I am not thoroughly satisfy’d that there is any thing worthy Your Lordship’s perusal, yet this I am sure of, that Your Candour will appear the greater, by condescending to accept my mean Performance.

And here, my Lord, I have the temptation to loose my self in the Field of Your Praises, but that I know both my Patron and my self too well to indulge the agreeable Contemplation. Were Your Lordship like common Patrons, I should do like common Dedicators, speak of the admirable Temperance of Your Life, Your Moderation, the Wonders of Your Conduct when You were Lord High Admiral, which Office was Administer’d by Your Lordship to the Universal Content and Satisfaction, both of the Merchant, the Officers and Sailers; Your Lordship’s Prudence, Judgment and Sincerity in Your high Post of President of Her Majesties most Honourable Privy Council: And I might extend my Considerations even to the great Happiness such a Person must possess, who is so generally valu’d and esteem’d both by his Queen and Country; but what is so well known I shall leave as wanting not the help of any Panegyric to make it more evident, and content my self with the Honour and Satisfaction of being permitted to Subscribe my self, My Lord,

Your Lordship’s most Humble

And most Obedient Servant,

Thomas Greenhill.

THE
PREFACE.

It is not only the Authority of King Solomon, the greatest, richest and wisest of Men, that convinces us There is nothing new under the Sun, but also common Observation daily shews us the Truth hereof; for whether we respect Kingdoms and Monarchies, Cities or Villages, with their Civil, Military and Rural Transactions; whether we consider the Ambition of Kings and Princes, or the Captivity and Subjection of the Common People; or if we look into the various Sects, Religions, Habits, Customs, Manners, Arts and Sciences that are in the World, we shall in all things find we are but Imitators of our Fore-Fathers, and tread only in their Footsteps.

The same Thing is acted to Day which was done a Thousand Years ago, and this, after a Vicissitude of fantastic Alterations, will in another Century come into Fashion again; so that we move like the Cœlestial Orbs, in the same Circumvolutions, and our whole Life is but

Actum agere, & Penelopes telam retexere.

It is the same with Books and Writings; for tho’ public Advertisements do daily inform us, that some Work or other is continually on the Stocks, yet is it but the same Story inculcated over again, in another Language, different Volume, larger Print, additional Sculptures, and some new Alterations; or else it is but a Translation, with Annotations, Comments, and a Table annex’d, which serve for new Amusements and the Maintenance of the Booksellers. Others which bear a greater Repute in the World, as being penn’d by the more Learned and Ingenious Persons, in a very Concise and Elegant Stile, are generally nothing but some new fine-spun Virtuosi Suggestions, extracted from an almost forgotten and out-of-fashion Hypothesis, and each Improvement in Modern Arts, has undoubtedly ow’d its Original to somewhat hinted to us by the Ancients.

All this I freely acknowledge to be my own Case, with this difference only, that I know my self deficient in that solid Learning and admirable Stile they were wont to use; yet for your encouragement to peruse this Treatise, I can assure you, you shall hardly find any other Book which so generally, particularly and completely handles this Subject: Besides, I can justly aver that I devis’d and compil’d the greatest part thereof before I met with any Author that gave me so much Satisfaction as I have since had; and notwithstanding my Notions were in a great measure agreeable to theirs, tho’ unknown to me, yet will I modestly submit and attribute the Invention thereof to them, First, As being my Seniors, and who Wrote before me, and, Secondly, as infinitely the more Learn’d and better Qualify’d Writers. Nor does this Submission detract the least from my Labour, it having been to me the same thing as a lost Art: And I would gladly be inform’d, by any one at this Day, of the true Method of the antient Egyptian Embalming; nay, would be content only to know the more Modern, tho’ more excellent Way, that of Bilsius.

We must therefore grant that the Ancients knew many Things, which in process of Time, either thro’ Fire, Inundations, hostile Invasions, or other Accidents and Devastations, have intirely perish’d, and still remain so, as Pancirollus fully shews; or if we have any superficial Knowledge of them, as is somewhat apparent from our Modern Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, &c. yet are we even at this present so vastly deficient in the very best of our Imitations, that none have ever hitherto arriv’d to any tolerable Perfection; nevertheless should any one so perfectly apply himself to the Study of one of those lost Arts, as to make a new Discovery therein, I hope you would allow him the same Praise as if he had been the first Inventor; and, for my part, however I should fail in answering your Expectation, of what is seemingly promis’d in the Title-Page; yet, thus far I am pretty sure, that I have given more light into the Matter, than has been done by any of those imperfect Accounts of Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, &c. And tho’ some Things that I say may seem to want Authority, yet for the most part, should I have made all the Quotations I could have brought to prove my Assertions, it would have extended this Volume to a much larger size than I intended; wherefore I have in a great measure designedly omitted them, to the end I might avoid Prolixity as much as possible, and in other places I have us’d their Words expresly as my own, not to detract from them, but to be more concise, and have in several places not mention’d their Names, for the aforesaid Reasons: So I do here, once for all, with submission, Apologize for my self, that the censorious World may not repute me an ungrateful Plagiary.

I acknowledge therefore this my Labour, in one respect to be a Collection, in all to be still deficient of that Perfection which so noble an Art deserves; yet in some Things I have improv’d it, and in others apply’d it to those Uses which have scarce before been thought of. But all the Satisfaction I have herein, is to think that I have perform’d my Duty, in exerting my small Talent, with the utmost Care and Diligence, for the Benefit of our Company; and if my Work does not perform what is intended and desir’d, it will nevertheless be Useful, Pleasant, and serve to Divert you, which Horace says is the Perfection and Chief end of all Writing:

Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit Utile Dulci.

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage this Work with Sculptures.

His Grace Wriothesly Duke of Bedford
The Honourable James Saunderson, Esq;
Nathaniel Long, Esq;
Mr. James Pettiver, Apothecary, F. R. S.
Charles Bernard, Esq; Serjeant Surgeon
John Lawson, M. D.
Hans Sloane, M. D.
William Gibbons, M. D.
Mr. Francis Moult, Chymist
His Grace Thomas Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury
John Thorpe, A. M.
Mr. Joseph Whiston, Druggist
Robert Nelson, Esq;
Mr. George Rolfe, Surgeon

A List of such Noblemen and Gentlemen as have been pleas’d to Encourage this Work by Subscriptions.

A.
Mr. Benjamin Adams
John Allen, Esq;
Mr. Richard Alsop
Mr. Thomas Ashly
William Ashmole, M. D.
Philip Ayres, Esq;
B.
Mr. William Bacon, Surgeon
William Baddiford, M. D.
Nicholas Battersby, Esq;
Mr. Nicholas Batt
Mr. Robert Baylies
Wriothesly Duke of Bedford
Mr. William Bedford
Charles Bernard, Esq; Serj. Surg.
Mr. Henry Bernard, Apothecary
Mrs. Jane Bernard
Dr. William Benson
Joseph Birch, M. B.
Mr. John Blomfield
Mr. James Booth, Surgeon
Mr. John Bound
Mr. John Bornhold
George Bramston, L. L. D. Master of Trinity-Hall in Cambridge.
Samuel Brewster, Esq;
Mr. George Brewster
William Bridge, M. D.
Mr. Samuel Bridge, for 6 Books
Mr. Jeremiah Bright
Mr. Thomas Briscoe
Mr. Barton Bromly
Humphry Brooks, M. D.
John Brown, Esq;
Thomas Brown, M. D.
Mr. Richard Brown
Mr. Albert Bryan
Mr. Richard Bull, Druggist
Richard Butler, Esq;
Mr. John Byard, Surgeon
Mr. Christopher Byland
Mr. Francis Bythel
C.
Thomas Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, for 3.
Mr. Thomas Cawthorpe, Apoth.
Mr. John Chamberlain
Mr. Lawrence de la Chambre
Thomas Chambers, Esq;
Hans Peter Charriere, M. D.
Mr. Thomas Child, for 3.
Mr. Thomas Cholmley
Mr. John Chrichloe
The Right Honourable the Earl of Clarendon
Mr. Joseph Clench, Apothecary
William Cockburn, M. D.
William Cole, M. D.
Mr. William Cole, Surgeon
Mr. George Collinson
Mr. Andrew Cooper, Surgeon
Sir Godfry Copley
Thomas Cotton, Esq;
Mr. William Cowper, Surgeon
Mr. Brian Cozens
Monsieur Le Croix, Surgeon to the Sick and Wounded of Kingsale in Ireland
D.
Sir William Dawes, Bar^t. D. D.
Mr. Philip Dewert
Mrs. Elizabeth Dillingham
Mr. Francis Douce, Surgeon
Capt. Joseph Drake, Clerk of the Admiralty
James Drake, M. D.
Mr. Charles Draper
Mr. Samuel Dudly
E.
Henry Edmunds, M. A.
The Reverend Charles Elstob, D. D.
Anthony Erby, Esq;
F.
Dr. William Forward
Sir Andrew Fountain
G.
Samuel Garth, M. D. for 4.
Mr. Christopher Gately, Apoth.
Mr. Robert Gay, Surgeon
Mr. Alexander Geekie, Surgeon
William Gibbons, M. D.
The Reverend Edmund Gibson, D. D.
Mr. Charles Gildon
Mr. Francis Glascock
Mr. Thomas Granger
Mr. Edward Green }
Mr. Joseph Green } Surgeons
Mr. John Green }
William Greenhill, Esq; for 3.
Mr. John Greenhill
Mr. William Grigson
Mr. William Grimes
H.
The Right Honourable the Lord Halifax
Mr. Stephen Hall, Surgeon
The Reverend William Hanbury, M. A.
John Hare, Esq;
Mr. Charles Hargrave
Mr. Charles Harman
Mr. John Harris
John Harrison, Esq;
Mr. John Hartley
Mr. Richard Harvey, Surgeon
Mr. Joshua Hatfield
The Honourable Charles Hatton, Esq;
Mr. Henry Hazzard
George Hepburn, M. D.
Mr. John Hesket
Thomas Hesket, A. M.
Thomas Hewett, M. A. and Fellow of Clare-Hall in Cambridge
The Reverend George Hicks, D. D.
Mr. Bevill Higgons
Mr. Thomas Hill
Mr. John Hill, Apothecary
Mr. George Hinckster, Surgeon
Mr. George Hockenhull
Mr. Thomas Hodgson
Henry Hoghton, Esq;
Philip Horneck, L. L. B.
Mr. Benjamin Howell
Mr. Hungerford Hoskins
J.
Mr. Stephen Jermyn
K.
Mr. William Keith
Mr. John Kersey, Sen.
Capt. John Kerton
Capt. John Key
Mr. Thomas King, Apothecary
L.
Mrs. Catharine Lacy
Mr. Samuel Lane, Apothecary
John Lawson, M. D.
Nathaniel Long, Esq;
Mr. Josias Long
Mr. Mordecai Lyde, Surgeon
M.
Mr. John Mackie, Surgeon
Mr. John Magill, Surgeon
Sir George Markham, Baronet
Mr. Samuel Marwood
Mr. Nathaniel Mezy, Apoth.
Dr. Richard Middleton Massey
Mr. Charles Mathar
Mr. Charles Midgley, Chymist
Mr. John Mills, Surgeon
Dr. More, Lord Bishop of Norwich
Mr. Peter Motteux
Mr. George Moult, Chymist
Mr. Francis Moult, Chymist
Mr. Thomas Murray
N.
Robert Nelson, Esq;
Dr. William Nicholson, Lord Bishop of Carlisle
Denton Nicholas, M. D.
Mr. Vincent St. Nicholas, Surgeon
Mr. Marmaduke Norcliff, Surgeon
Mr. Joseph Nutting, for 2.
O.
Mr. John Oldmixon
P.
Mr. John Padmore, Apothecary
Richard Page, Esq;
Mr. John Partridge, Apothecary
Mr. John Peat
Mr. James Pettiver, Apothecary
Mr. William Philips
The Honourable William Pierpoint, Esq;
Mr. Thomas Pierce, Surgeon
The Reverend Mr. George Plaxton
Mr. William Plaxton
Mr. Jacob Pullen
Mr. Nathan Putt
R.
Mrs. Grace Rackstraugh
John Rathborn, M. D.
Mr. George Richardson, Apoth.
Mr. Jonas Rolse
Mr. George Rolfe, Surgeon
Mr. Abel Roper
S.
Mr. Samuel Sault
Mr. John Salter, Surgeon
Mr. John Salter, Apothecary
Mr. John Savage
Mr. Richard Savery
The Honourable James Saunderson, Esq; for 2.
Mr. Joshua Sharpe
John Shadwell, M. D.
Hans Sloane, M. D.
Mr. William Sloper, Surgeon
The Reverend Thomas Smith, D.D.
Mr. George Smith
Mr. John Smith
Mr. Nathaniel Smith, Surgeon
Mr. Francis Snape
Mr. Joshua Spencer, Chymist
Mr. Thomas Spurway
Samuel Stebbins, Esq;
Mr. Thomas Stollord, Surgeon
Mr. Samuel Storer
Mr. John Sturmy
Mr. John Sturt
T.
Mr. William Talman
Mr. Christopher Talman, Surgeon
Dr. Thomas Tomlinson
The Honourable Coll. Thompson
John Thorpe, M. A.
Edward Tidcomb, Esq;
Mr. Thomas Tucker, Surgeon
Mr. James Tully
W.
Mr. Charles Wadcock, Surgeon
Mr. Lyonel Wafer, Surgeon
Mr. Henry Walker, Surgeon
Robert Walpool, Esq; Councellor of the Admiralty
Mr. Samuel Walton, Chymist
The Reverend Richard Ward, M.A.
Capt. —— Watkins
Abraham Weeks, M. A. of Maudlin College in Oxford
Thomas West, M. D.
Mr. John West
Mr. Joseph Whiston, for 6.
Mr. Ayliff White
Mr. George Wilson, Chymist
Mr. John Wilson, Surgeon
Mr. James Wiltshire
Henry Worsley, Esq;
Mr. John Wyat, for 6.
Y.
Mr. John Yates, Surgeon

Amico admodum colendo D. THOMÆ GREENHILL eximiam suam ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ edenti χαίρειν καὶ εὐπραγεῖν.

Quodcunq; ex Terris volitat medicamen Eois,

Et quas commistas India præbet Opes;

Quotquot Persiacis glomerantur Aromata in Arvis,

Atq; Sabæorum Balsama prompta Solo;

Quascunq; auratas Arabum Campestria Merces,

Pharmaca vel quotquot Turcica Mecca, locant;

Fervidus exustas peragrans Mercator Arenas,

Quæcunq; asportat Magmata odorifera;

Quæq; Palæstinis stillant Opobalsama Plantis,

Et quæ Nilois consita sparsa Jugis;

Thaumata Memphiticis quæcunq; videntur in Antris,

Et quæ Pyramidum claustra stupenda tenent;

Tradidit arcano quodcunq; Volumine Mystes

Ter Magnus, vel quæ dogmata Aristoteles;

Cuncta hæc dignatur nobis Greenhillius ardens

Ecce salutifera suppeditare Manu.

Esse quid hoc dicam, novus hic divinus Apollo

Quod subito Arctois Alpibus exoritur!

Cedite, Romani Medicastri, cedite Graii,

Abdicet atq; Artes [^[1]]Anglica Turba novas.

Nullus adest Squalor, Fætorve, aut dira Mephitis,

Sed redolent succis Atria thuriferis;

Mirifico incisæ stipantur Pulvere Venæ,

Atq; Artus laxos Unguina mista fovent.

Volvas, Mysta sagax, Vita Ceromate functa

Corpora, & intingas Bammate perpetuo:

Præclara socios pergas sanare Medela,

Atq; Orci rabidis Faucibus eripere;

Donec succinea sero sis clausus in Arca,

Dumq; Animus propere tendat ad Astra Viam.

Joan. Kersey, Sen.

[1]. Undertakers.

Viro Admodùm Erudito Thomæ Greenhill, Chirurgo in ΝΕΚΡΟΚΗΔΕΙΑΝ, sive Artem Pollincturæ, ab illo editam.

Miramur Phariis nutantia Pondera Saxis,

Et minùs Hospitibus firma Sepulchra suis.

Quod dare debuerant, Ævo Monumenta carerent,

Sæcula ni functis sumeret ipse Lapis.

Arguit elapsam, quâ Mumia duruit, Artem,

Orbatumq; dolet Matre superstes Opus.

At tua Niliaci referent Arcana Laboris

Scripta, nec ignotis jam fluet Amnis Aquis.

Arabiæ Fœlicis Opes, Miracula Memphis,

Isiacos Mores, Justa, Sepulchra, Faces,

Quicquid Arabs novit, Pharii docuere Sophistæ

Indicibus Chartis pandet amica Manus.

Pollinctura tibi reduces debebit Honores,

Arteq; Apollineâ Structa perennis erit.

Corpora quâ nobis servas, tibi nomen in Ævum

Servabis; quâ nos Fama manebit, ope.

Quid dissolvendum restat, Mors irrita? Servat

Corpora Greenhillus salva, Animasq; DEUS.

G. R.

TO HIS
Ingenious Friend Mr. Thomas Greenhill.

’Tis great and worthy of our Praise to lead

The Living thro’ the Dwellings of the Dead;

Death’s grisly Terrours by your Skill to Charm,

And his fell Furies of their Stings disarm:

The Mighty Maker has on you bestow’d

The wond’rous Science for a general Good.

The Labours of your Studies he has crown’d

With Art, alike Important and Profound;

With Death and Time he’s taught you to engage,

And save his best Creation from their Rage.

MAN, the true Image of his heav’nly Form,

Was a rich Prey to the devouring Worm;

Scarce had his Breath it’s Vital Seat forsook

But frozen were his Limbs, and frightful was his Look,

Livid his Lips, his whole Complexion wan,

And Nature loath’d to view the lifeless Man;

A poor Precarious Being he enjoy’d,

And soon the Grave his beauteous Frame destroy’d,

Till you had learn’d by equal Thought and Care

To keep him, as he was created, Fair;

To heal the ghastly Wounds that Death had made,

And give new Beauties which shall never fade:

Heav’n has to you the Sacred Art reveal’d,

Which had for twice ten Ages been conceal’d;

From common Ruine you the Body keep,

And turn the filthiness of Death to Sleep;

Fair as the Slumbers of a Virgin seem,

Who dreams of Joy, and blushes at her Dream,

Youth you preserve, and by your Science save

The living Graces in the rotting Grave.

Sooner the Egyptian King’s aspiring Tomb

May fall, the Marble waste, the Brass consume,

Old Time may sooner run his destin’d Race,

Than the new Wonders of your Art deface:

The Balm and Eastern Odours you employ,

The Noxious Vapours of the Vault destroy;

You reconcile us to the Things we loath,

We feel the Flesh is firm, the Features smooth;

We see, we smell, by e’ry Sense we try

Your Skill, and are no more afraid to Die.

Go on——And may you equal Favour find,

With the vast Service you have done Mankind:

May the vile Quacks, who Heav’ns high Form prophane,

With Practices as infamous as vain.

The base Impostors of the Funeral Trade,

Who cheat at once the Living and the Dead,

Be punish’d and expos’d, and Art restor’d

To her old Honours, and her due Reward:

So late Posterity shall sing your Praise,

And Fame bright Statues to your Glory raise.

J. Oldmixon.

To his Friend the Author.

Fragrant Arabian Gums, employ’d with Art,

From Worms and Dust preserve our meaner Part;

But Labours, such as yours, enliven Fame,

And with due Elogies preserve a Name;

They’ll make the Worthies of the Age to come

Just Homage pay, and venerate your Tomb.

Greenhill, proceed in Learning’s Paths to tread,

And make your self Immortal by the Dead;

Be this your Praise, with equal Skill you strive

To Embalm the Dead, and keep your Friends alive.

B. B.

ERRATA.

Page [24]. Line 24. for Jujiæ read Injice, p. [31]. l. 9. for Nolanus r. Santorellus, p. [111]. l. 31. for on r. in, p. [127]. l. 29. for Marenuna r. Maremnia, p. [230]. l. 12. for Romans r. Grecians, p. [330]. l. 26. for Scardonius r. Scardeonius.

THE

Art of Embalming.

LETTER I.

To Charles Bernard, Esq; Sergeant-Surgeon to Her MAJESTY, Present Master of the Surgeons Company, and one of the Surgeons of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

SIR,

Surgery the Chief of Art

If the Excellency of any Art consist only in its Usefulness, or if it derive its Preeminence from the Object, with which it converses, it necessarily must follow, That the Profession of Surgery is the Chief of Arts, since it is employ’d about so noble a Subject as Man; and therefore the Greeks have thought fit to call such manual Operations The Art of Surgery, which otherwise might as well have been apply’d to any Mechanick Trade.

Has two useful Branches;

Thence it is Anatomy and Embalming are also equally to be esteem’d, since they are not only Branches of this Art, but likewise absolutely necessary to be known by its Professors; the one informing us of the constituent Parts of the Body, and the other preserving it for ever in our Memories.

One Taught in our Theatre, and the other to be wish’d there, yet Embalming practis’d only by Undertakers.

The first has been Learnedly Treated of by our own Countrymen, as well as Foreigners, and is admirably perform’d even at this Day in our Anatomical Theatre; whereas the last, I know not by what Fate, is surreptitiously cut off from Surgery, and chiefly practis’d by ignorant Undertakers.

The Author vindicates the Right of it.

For the Honour therefore of our Profession, I have undertaken to vindicate The Art of Embalming, and will prove it to be no less antient and noble than Surgery it self. In order to this, I will first shew both the antient and modern Methods of Embalming, as practis’d by the most learned and expert Physicians, Surgeons and Anatomists, and then proceed to detect the Frauds and Subtilties of the Undertakers or Burial-Men, to the end the World being made sensible of their Abuses, may the easier be reconcil’d to a right Opinion of the legal and skilful Artist; but before I proceed to acquaint you with any farther particulars, I shall content my self to shew you the Authority and Reasonableness of the Use of Embalming, together with the many Advantages that accrue thereby. |Useful in Natural Philosophy and Physiology.| First, I presume, it may not be a little Entertaining, should I relate how far the Knowledge of this Art may be necessary in our very Domestic and Culinary Affairs, such as, Tanning, Painting, Dying, Brewing, Baking, &c. as also in Confectionery, by Conserving all sorts of Roots, Herbs and Fruits, and Preserving Wines and Juices; for this Art being grounded as well on Natural Philosophy as Physiology, it not only teaches us how to Improve our Drinks, but our Aliments likewise, and not only to give a grateful Taste in Cookery, and thereby to whet the Appetite, but also to Preserve fresh Meats, Fish, Fruits, &c. beyond their wonted duration.

Particularly in Anatomy, Surgery, &c.

These Things however I will pass by for the present, that I may come more immediately to my principal Intent, which is to shew how a Body may be so Preserv’d, that by the help of Anatomy we may trace its minute Meanders, and investigate the secret Passages thereof, without being hindred by any offensive Odour or contaminating Cruor.

How Useful to the Naturalist,

By this Art the Naturalist may be enabled to Collect and Preserve a numberless variety of Birds, Beasts, Fishes, Reptiles, Herbs, Shrubs, Trees, with Things monstrous and preternatural; as likewise those which are more rare and not appropriate to his own Climate, and this for compleating his Musæum or Repository with all the Curiosities and Rarities in the Animal and Vegetable World.

To the Physician,

By this Art the Physician learns the situation and use of the Parts of Man’s Body, with the several alterations and changes in the Juices, as well in their healthful as morbid State; and consequently knows how to preserve and confirm them free from all Diseases, as likewise to correct and put a stop to malignant and putrid Fevers, which otherwise must inevitably destroy the sick and weak Patient.

To the Surgeon.

By this Art the Surgeon, in a rightly prepar’d Skeleton, sees the natural Position of the Bones, and proper Motions of each Part, with the true and natural Schemes of the Veins, Arteries, Nerves and other curious Preparations; which not only teach him the difference between the Muscles, the similar, dissimilar, and containing as well as contained Parts of the Body; but likewise how, in performing each Operation, he should skilfully avoid Cutting what he should not, and destroying the Function of that he is to relieve. He is also hereby instructed what Remedies may be found out against Gangrenes, Sphacelus and other Distempers that are judg’d Incurable without being extirpated by Knife or Fire: Who then can sufficiently admire and value this Noble Art of Embalming since it tends to the Conservation both of Life and Limb?

Anatomy deficient without it.

For tho’ Anatomy gives us an Insight into these Things in general, yet is it deficient without the Balsamic Art, in as much as it can neither so particularly nor frequently shew us, what in conjunction with it, may without any offence be Contemplated at any Time, and as often as we please.

How useful in Divinity.

Thus may we entirely conquer and accomplish that Delphian Oracle, Γνῶθι σεαυτὸν, by making most of our Disquisitions into Human Nature by Dissections: And tho’ Brutes may sometimes be useful in Comparative Anatomy, yet Man being the Epitome and Perfection of the Macrocosm, his Body shews a more wonderful Mechanism than all other Creatures can do, as one thus very elegantly expresses in Latin: Hominem (says he) a DEO post reliqua factum fuisse; ut DEUS in ipso exprimeret, sub brevi quodam Compendio, quicquid diffuse ante fecerat.

What accounted by this Age and what by the Antients.

The present Age therefore accounts the chief Use of this Art to be in Anatomical Preparations; but I shall shew another more antient and more general, which is the Preserving a Human Dead Body entire, and which is properly term’d Embalming: More antient, I say, as having been first devis’d and practis’d by the Wise and Learned Egyptians, and more general in that it relates to every particular Person, yet is it by most despis’d and look’d on meerly as an unnecessary expensive Trouble; so that unless I can convince these People to the contrary, I must not expect to find my ensuing Labours meet with any Favour. But before I affirm The Art of Embalming to be a particular part of that Duty, which obliges all Mankind to take care of their Dead, |The Right of Burial and Funeral Ceremonies.| I shall give some cogent Reasons to prove the Right of Burial, what Things are necessary thereto, whether Ceremonies are needless and superstitious, or Monuments vain-glorious, &c. and this shall be as Nature dictates, the Law of GOD appoints, and the Law of Nations directs and obliges.

Sepulture a Debt to Nature.

First, Sepulture is truly and rightly accounted to be Jus Naturæ, by reason the very condition of Human Nature admonishes us, that the spiritless Body should be restor’d to the Earth, from whence it was deriv’d; so that it only pays that Debt of its own accord, which otherwise Nature would require against its Will. Thus, in the beginning of the World, so soon as Adam had transgressed, |Ordain’d by GOD himself.| GOD said to him, Gen. 3. 19. Thou shalt return to the Ground, from whence thou wert taken; for Dust thou art, and unto Dust thou shalt return. Whence Ecclesiastes, 12. 7. says, The Dust shall return to the Earth as it was: and the Spirit to GOD who gave it. Likewise patient Job thus expresses himself, Job 1. 21. Naked came I out of my Mothers Womb (which David also calls the Lowest part of the Earth, Psalm 139. 15.) and naked shall I return thither. Upon which Quenstedt thus Comments, p. 10. De Sepult. vet. He shall not return again into his Mothers Womb, but unto the Earth which is the Mother of all Things. Upon which occasion read also Ecclesiasticus, 40. 1.

Practis’d by the Heathens.

Hence it is the Heathens have generally follow’d the same Custom of restoring the Dead to their Mother Earth; since it is but according to the course of Nature, for all Things to return at last to their first Principles, and that so soon as ever a Disunion or Dissolution of the Parts of Man’s Body shall be caused by Death. That each Thing has ever immediately requir’d what it gave, is excellently describ’d by Euripides, in one of his Tragedies call’d the Supplicants, where he introduces Theseus Talking after this manner:

Ἐάσατ’ ἤδη γῇ καλυφθῆναι νεκρούς.

Ὅθεν δ’ ἕκαστον εἰς τὸ σῶμ’ ἀφίκετο,

Ἐνταῦθ’ ἀπῆλθε, πνεῦμα μὲν πρὸς αἰθέρα,

Τὸ σῶμα δ’ εἰς γῆν· οὔ τι γὰρ κεκτήμεθα

Ἡμέτερον αὐτὸ πλὴν ἐνοικῆσαι βίον·

Κᾄπειτα τὴν θρέψασαν αὐτὸ δεῖ λαβεῖν.

Jam sinite Terræ Mortuos Gremio tegi:

Res unde quæque sumpserat Primordium,

Eo recipitur: Spiritus Cælo redit

Corpusque Terræ: Jure nec enim mancupi:

Sed brevis ad Ævi Tempus utendum datur:

Mox Terra repetit ipsa quod nutriverat.

Suffer the Dead within the Earths cold Womb

To be Interr’d, nor envy them a Tomb;

For all Things, whence they did their Being draw,

Thither, at last, return by Natures Law:

The Soul flies back to Heav’n from whence it came,

Our mouldring Bodies Mother Earth does claim;

Lent us but for a fleeting space to wear,

And then they to their first Abodes repair.

Asserted in the Scripture.

Hereby it plainly appears that we really possess nothing of our own, and what we seem to enjoy, is but only lent us for a season, and must be restor’d again when ever we die, which is agreeable to that Expression of Job, in the latter part of the above-mentioned Verse and Chapter. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord. Also Holy David, Psalm 146. 4. (speaking of Man’s Frailty and Mortality) says, His Breath goes forth, he returns to his Earth. Here he emphatically calls it his Earth, both because he was made of it, Gen. 2. 27. and must return to it again, Gen. 3. 19. and by reason he has a Right to a Burial-Place in it.

Confirm’d by the Philosophers and Poets.

The same is likewise Taught us by Cicero, where he says, Reddenda Terra Terræ: That the Earth (meaning Man’s Body) must be restor’d to its Earth; which also gave occasion to the antient Philosophers to contemplate the Beginning and End, or the Life and Death of Man, that thereby they might be the better able to Teach us what we really are in Nature, and how little we have to Boast of: The very Thought of which put an old Poet into a Passion and Admiration, expressing himself thus in gingling Monkish Verses:

Cum Fæx, cum Limus, cum Res vilissima simus,

Unde superbimus, ad Terram Terra redimus.

Man who is made of Earth, Can he be vain

And know he must return to Earth again?

Methinks the very Consideration of this should cause us to lay aside all Pride and Vanity, and serve for a perpetual Memorial of Humility and Obedience to our Creator, who as he was pleas’d to endue us with Rational Souls, and to give us Dominion over all Things here below, yet, that we might not be thereby puffed up and tempted to forget him, he wisely formed us of the Dust, and, in his good Time, will reduce us to Dust again. Thence Divine Plato assures us, that the End and Scope of his Philosophy was only The Consideration of Death.

Its Rise and Antiquity.

In Obedience therefore to the Laws both of GOD and Nature, Sepulture undoubtedly was at first Instituted, and if either Antiquity or universal Custom can prove a convincing Argument, you may account it as antient as the World it self, and us’d by all Nations tho’ perhaps in different manners; for you must allow, so soon as Death came in by Man’s Transgression, it necessarily follow’d that some care must have been taken to Bury his Carcass. The first Instance of this that we read of, in the Sacred History of the old Testament, is how Abraham, the Father of the Faithful, Buried his Wife Sarah in the Cave of the Field Machpelah, which he had bought of the Sons of Heth for a Burying-Place for his Family, Gen. 23. 19, 20. There also St. Jerome asserts Adam the first Man was Buried; and Nicolaus Lyranus and Alphonsus Tostatus are of Opinion the Four Patriarchs were Buried there likewise with their Wives, Eve, Sarah, Rebecca and Lea, all which you may find explain’d more at large in Quenstedt, p. 2, 3, 4.

First Cause of it.

Now this seems to have been one of the first Causes of Interment, to wit, that it being the course of Nature, for Bodies depriv’d of Spirit or Life to corrupt or stink; and the Medicinal Art being little known and less us’d in those early Days (without the Knowledge of which it was impossible to preserve them) there remained no other way of securing the Living from the pestiferous Exhalations of the Dead, than by burying their Carcasses in the Earth, and so removing such miserable Objects out of their sight; which seems clearly intimated by the aforesaid Example of Abraham, when, being in much trouble for the Loss and Death of Sarah his Delight, he spake thus unto the Sons of Heth, Gen. 23. 4. Give me a Possession of a Burial-Place with you, that I may Bury my Dead out of my Sight. (LXX. θάψω τὸν νεκρόν μου, ἀπ’ ἐμοῦ) where it is to be observ’d, that he no longer calls her his Wife, but his Dead; as knowing that those alterations, which she must in a few Days inevitably undergo, would have deterr’d him from the very Thoughts of her, if he had not earnestly sought for and obtain’d a Burying-Place, where he might hide her out of his Sight.

Second Cause.

This is to be look’d upon as the second Cause or End of Burial, to wit, that it being not only disagreeable to the dignity of our Nature, but also occasioning great sadness of Mind, for the Living to see what dismal Accidents and Calamities befall the Dead, that we should free our selves from the Apprehensions and black Idea’s such Objects are naturally apt to inspire, by removing them out of our Sight and Mind, by a timely Sepulture: For as Demosthenes said in a Funeral Oration, Leniatur ita Luctus Eorum, qui Suis sunt Orbati; By this means the Grief of those, who are depriv’d of their Friends, is alleviated. |Thought more Beneficial to the Living than the Dead.| So that these two Reasons seeming to conduce more to the Benefit of the Living than the Dead, it has given occasion to some to believe, that Burial was from thence invented, and of this Opinion was Grotius, who thus writes: Hinc est, quod Officium Sepeliendi, non tam Homini, id est, Personæ, quam Humanitati, id est, Naturæ Humanæ, præstari dicitur; For this Reason it is that the Office of Burial is said not to be paid so much to the Man, viz. To the particular Person, as to Humanity it self, that is, to Human Nature in general. And St. Austin, Lib. 1. De Civit. DEI, cap. 12. and Lib. De Cura pro Mortuis, cap. 2. affirms, Curationem Funeris, Conditionem Sepulturæ, Pompas Exequiarum, magis esse Vivorum Solatia, quam Mortuorum Subsidia; that The regulating and management of the Funeral, the manner of Burial, the Magnificence and Pomp of the Exequies, were devised rather as a Consolation to the Living than any Relief to the Dead. But Seneca, Lib. 1. De Remed. hath more plainly confirm’d both the foregoing Reasons, saying, Non Defunctorum Causa, sed Vivorum inventa est Sepultura, ut Corpora & Visu & Odore fœda submoverentur; Burial was found out not so much for the sake of the Dead as the Living, that by means thereof Bodies noisom both to Sight and Smell might be remov’d: Therefore Andrew Rivet, in his 19th Exercise, on the 23 Chap. of Genesis, commends Sepulture as a laudable Custom, pertaining to common Policy and Honesty. Human Nature would be asham’d to see Man, the Master-Piece of the Creation, left unregarded or lye unburied and naked, expos’d to the Insults of all Creatures, and become a Herritage to the most vile Worms and Serpents, or lye Rotting like Dung upon the face of the Earth; so that if Pity and Compassion will not move our obdurate Hearts to Bury him, the very Stench and Corruption of the Dead will compel us to it. Hence Chytræus:

CONTENTS

To the Right HonourableTHOMAS

THEPREFACE.