This use of the ram at present our sheep dogs supply; but the dogs of the shepherds at that time appear from Theocritus (see Id. v. l. 106. and Id. vi. 1. 11.) to be wolfdogs, kept to preserve the flock from wolves, and other wild beasts.

There remains yet one very curious observation, and established on the indisputable authority of Philo Judæus. That philosopher, a Jew, born and bred in Egypt, must of course be acquainted with their customs, and has these remarkable words in his first chapter concerning the creation. Κριοι βριθούλες βαθεσι μαλλοις ὑποποκοι κατα την έαρος ώραν υπο ποιμένος κελευσθεντες ἴσαναι μετα ηρεμίας, και ήσυχη κατακλινοντες ἐμπαρέχεσιν ἀποκείρεσθαι το έριον, ἐθιζόμενοι, καθαπερ αι πόλεις τον έτησιον ἀποδίδοναι δασμον τω βασιλεί φύσει. Woolly rams laden with thick feeces, in spring season, being ordered by their shepherd, stand without moving, and silently stooping a little, put themselves into his hand to have their wool shorn; being accustomed, as cities are, to pay their yearly tribute to man, their king by nature.' Their sheep, it is plain, stood unconstrained before the hand of the shearer.

6

These things may appear strange to us, who never attempted to know what the docility of a sheep is; and I shall leave it to the consideration of naturalists, whether or no the shepherds of these countries were not much assisted in this their government of their sheep, by giving them names, while in the state of lambs, and by using them to go and come daily by these names. Our Saviour's expression in St. John, ofcalling his own sheep by name, and leading them out,' seems to favour this hypothesis.' If this is granted, then all the other difficulties vanish; since every creature, conversant about man, is known to be teachable by names and sounds continually impressed on him, to do things almost incredible to those, who do not duly consider the docility of these creatures. I shall only add, that a sheep standing in this silent inclining posture, willing to part with his fleece for the good of man, is justly made by the prophet Isaiah, chap. liii. v. 7. to image out our Saviour, who laid down his life of himself,' standing in the most meek, uncomplaining manner, before his judge, when he was afflicted and oppressed, yet he opened not his mouth, when he was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth.'

South Moulton, Dec. 3, 1758. 1758, Dec.

Yours, &c.

JOHN COLERIDGE,

XXXVIII. On the Causes of Dryness in Dead Bodies.

MR. URBAN, Westminster, Dec. 8. IF the silence of the grave can sometimes afford a theme of instruction; the following occurrence, may perhaps occasion a speculative mind to take wing, in search of new discoveries.

In digging up the earth, to lay a foundation for a vault, in the church of St. Margaret, Westminster, towards the beginning of June last; the workmen broke into an old coffin, in which they found the body of a woman; which, from the condition it was then in, must have been buried many years. The skin and flesh were entirely dried up, and appeared to be of the same consistency with vellum or parchment; and in colour very much resembling the latter. The features were all perfect, except the nose, which was almost gone; and the mouth, the upper lip of which, on the right, was in some measure decayed. The nails were all perfect on the hands; and on the left foot appeared something like the remains of a stocking; which, upon examination, was thicker than ordinary, and made of thread.

As curiosity, Mr. Urban, had drawn a great many people to the church, to view these uncorrupted remains of mortality, I went there among the rest, with a design to enter upon a cool and deliberate examination of the matter, and to discover, if possible, the cause of such a preservation. The workmen were unable to give me any satisfaction as to the exact length of time it had lain in the ground: no plate, or inscription of any kind being found upon the spot, or thereabouts, even to warrant a conjecture. With a three foot rule I measured the figure, and found the length of it to be four feet eleven inches. From the common fate that attends objects of this nature, one would have expected, that these remains, upon being exposed to the air, would have undergone a sensible, if not a total dissolution; but, although this figure was handled and examined many days, little or no alteration ensued. There was nothing in the appearance that was ghastly or odious, like what we experience from the view of a body recently buried: but, to speak in the language of a medalist, there was a venerable rouge on the figure, that was rather inviting; for it bore a strong resemblance to an Egyptian mummy, stripped of its bandages.

The simple curiosity of an inconsiderate mind is a passion easily gratified, and to the multitude the bare sight of these

remains is found sufficient. But a rational curiosity cannot rest here. It is this that searches, examines, traces up things to their first causes, and wades with infinite pleasure through all the narrower channels that lead to the main spring-head. The inquiry to be pursued here, is, to what cause is the preservation of this body to be ascribed?

In the decay of bodies committed to the earth, there seems to be but one operative cause: and that is, the humidity of the body. The cadaverous moisture induces putrefaction, and that, a dissolution. The intestines, from their laxity, porosity, and humidity, are the first parts that are liable to corruption: from these, the contagion spreads gradually through the whole body; and the bones are soon stripped of the flesh that covered them. It is evident this was not the case here; and how came it otherwise?

As there seems to be one cause of putrefaction, so there seem to be three causes of preservation, in the case of interred bodies,

1. Embalming.
2. Dry sand.

3. Extreme age.

As to the first, upon the most rigorous inspection that could be made, this body appeared never to have undergone this operation. No incision of any kind was visible on the stomach, or any other criterion, to favour such a surmise.

As to the second cause, it is well known, that dry sand will imbibe, by attraction, the humid effluvia of bodies: and as it partakes of an attractive, but not a repellent quality, human bodies have been found entire after a long course of time, where they have lain in such a stratum. As, on the contrary, where the soil has been naturally moist; and from that quality, repels as well as attracts, bodies are soon consumed. But upon viewing the earth, where this body lay, it appeared to be a soft loam, rather damp than otherwise: and one would have imagined at first, that as all the bodies which were hereabouts, except this, were decayed, that this lay in a stratum of earth of a different nature. But, on examination, the earth was every where the same, and no sand visible any where.

The third cause seems most likely to give some light into this matter, which is that of extreme old age. It is obvious, that in this period of life, the radical moisture begins to subside, and that dryness ensues, which is the consequence, when the pores are fewer in number, and the perspiration altogether insensible. At this juncture, there

is a more firm adhesion of the flesh to the bones; a contact and union formed between both, that seems to admit of no separation; not unlike the case of fruit and other bodies, whose moisture has been exhaled by the sun's heat; we find their component parts more compact and united, and the disunion of them difficult. An instance of this kind, we had some years ago, in the work house of this parish.— It was the case of Margaret Patten, who lived to the age of 113. Nature's heat and moisture had been so far exhausted in this woman, that she might be said to have lived in two different bodies: her muscles, tendons, sinews, and other ramous parts, a long time before her death, being entirely ossified. Should her remains be viewed at this time, they would probably afford an entertainment to a rational curiosity, no ways inferior to that which we have lately experienced in this church.

Among many instances, that might be produced to confirm this hypothesis; that the incorruption of dead bodies is sometimes owing to old age; I shall mention but one. It occurs in a book, entitled, The History of the Church of St. Peter, Westminster; published by Mr. Widmore, librarian to the dean and chapter of that church. The book is only in the possession of the subscribers, and therefore I shall transcribe the passage:

'Abbot Estney, died in 1498, and was buried on the south side of St. John the Evangelist's chapel. August 17, 1706, by digging near Estney's tomb, in a large coffin, lined with lead, his corpse, cloathed in crimson silk, was found entire.'

The incorruption of Estney's body and that of this woman, were certainly owing to the same cause. The dry season of old age had entirely absorbed the radical moisture, the cohesion of all the parts became more uniform and contracted and by these means, putrefaction was resisted. Such persons as these had possibly a vigour of constitution, equal to that of old Massinissa, introduced by Tully, in his inimitable treatise De Senectute. Arbitror te audire,' says this master of language, Scipio, hospes tuus avitus Massinissa quæ faciat hodie, nonaginta annus natus: nullo imbre, nullo frigore adduci, ut capite operto sit: summam in eo corporis siccitatem.'

Yours, &c.

EDGAR BOCHART.

[Dugdale, in his history of St. Paul's church, remarks that among the rubbish of the old fabric, when it was pulled

down, the body of bishop Braybroke was found in a leaden coffin; and though it had been buried more than 260 years, as by the inscription appeared, yet it was not in the least inclined to putrefaction; the flesh, sinews, and skin being so dried to the bones, that when it was set upright it stood as stiff as a board. The same author tells us of two other bodies found at the same time dried in the same manner; and mentions besides, the corpse of William Parr, marquis of Northampton, found in the choir of St. Mary's church, Warwick, in whose coffin, though interred 50 years before, the rosemary and bays were also as fresh as if they had not been laid in it ten days. This he ascribes to the heat and dryness of the dust in which the bodies lay, and not to the sanctity of the persons, as was the prevailing opinion in his time.]

1758, Dec.

XXXIX. On Bishop Fisher's Grave.

MR. URBAN,

IT is surprising upon what slight grounds the Roman Catholics, so addicted to marvels, will obtrude their sham miracles upon the world. To omit many others, I will here report you one very remarkable instance. Dr. John Fisher, bishop of Rochester, it will be allowed on all sides, was a very learned, pious, and good man, but his warmest advocates, the Papists, will find it difficult to persuade us that any extraordinary or miraculous appearance (for such they would suggest it to be) was seen at his grave. The account given of the matter, by one of those authors, runs thus:

And touching the place of his burial, in [Allhallows] Barking church-yard, it was well observed at that time by divers worthy persons of the nations of Italy, Spain, and France, that were then abiding in these realms, and more diligently noted and wrote the course of things, and with less fear and suspicion than any of the king's subjects might, or durst do, that for the space of seven years after his burial, there grew neither leaf nor grass upon his grave, but the earth still remained as bare as though it had been continually occupied and trodden.' Baily's Life of Bishop Fisher, London, 1655, 12mo. p. 212.

This Dr. Baily, the publisher of bishop Fisher's life, was