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.
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