"Some Words With a Mummy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Poe Edgar Allan)

Around the neck thus ensheathed, was a collar of cylindrical glass
beads, diverse in color, and so arranged as to form images of deities,
of the scarabaeus, etc, with the winged globe. Around the small of the
waist was a similar collar or belt.
Stripping off the papyrus, we found the flesh in excellent
preservation, with no perceptible odor. The color was reddish. The
skin was hard, smooth, and glossy. The teeth and hair were in good
condition. The eyes (it seemed) had been removed, and glass ones
substituted, which were very beautiful and wonderfully life-like, with
the exception of somewhat too determined a stare. The fingers and
the nails were brilliantly gilded.
Mr. Gliddon was of opinion, from the redness of the epidermis,
that the embalmment had been effected altogether by asphaltum; but, on
scraping the surface with a steel instrument, and throwing into the
fire some of the powder thus obtained, the flavor of camphor and other
sweet-scented gums became apparent.
We searched the corpse very carefully for the usual openings through
which the entrails are extracted, but, to our surprise, we could
discover none. No member of the party was at that period aware that
entire or unopened mummies are not infrequently met. The brain it
was customary to withdraw through the nose; the intestines through
an incision in the side; the body was then shaved, washed, and salted;
then laid aside for several weeks, when the operation of embalming,
properly so called, began.
As no trace of an opening could be found, Doctor Ponnonner was
preparing his instruments for dissection, when I observed that it
was then past two o'clock. Hereupon it was agreed to postpone the
internal examination until the next evening; and we were about to
separate for the present, when some one suggested an experiment or two
with the Voltaic pile.
The application of electricity to a mummy three or four thousand
years old at the least, was an idea, if not very sage, still
sufficiently original, and we all caught it at once. About one-tenth
in earnest and nine-tenths in jest, we arranged a battery in the
Doctor's study, and conveyed thither the Egyptian.
It was only after much trouble that we succeeded in laying bare some
portions of the temporal muscle which appeared of less stony
rigidity than other parts of the frame, but which, as we had
anticipated, of course, gave no indication of galvanic
susceptibility when brought in contact with the wire. This, the
first trial, indeed, seemed decisive, and, with a hearty laugh at
our own absurdity, we were bidding each other good night, when my
eyes, happening to fall upon those of the Mummy, were there
immediately riveted in amazement. My brief glance, in fact, had
sufficed to assure me that the orbs which we had all supposed to be
glass, and which were originally noticeable for a certain wild
stare, were now so far covered by the lids, that only a small
portion of the tunica albuginea remained visible.
With a shout I called attention to the fact, and it became
immediately obvious to all.