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Mummification

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mummification

[‚məm·ə·fə′kā·shən]
(medicine)
Drying of a part of the body into a hard mass.
Dry gangrene.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Mummification

 

the drying of a corpse or dead parts of a living organism. Natural mummification occurs because moisture escapes from dead tissue or a corpse in the absence of conditions that favor the decomposition of tissues. (Such conditions include high temperature and loose soil, which facilitate the evaporation of moisture and movement of warm air.) Artificial mummification is achieved by saturating a corpse with special embalming substances. There are also cases of criminal and ritual mummification, generally of the head. In mummification, the corpse or any of its parts retains its shape while losing up to 75 percent of its weight.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Porcine parvovirus is the main infectious cause of fetal mummification in swine (ROEHE; SOBESTIANSKY & BARCELLOS, 2007) and has been associated with reproductive failure in Brazilian swine farms for about five decades (GOUVEIA et al., 1984).
Balangcod said the practice of mummification could have been interrupted due to the influence of Catholicism introduced by Spain, which ruled the country from the early 1500s to 1898.
Archaeologists are hoping the mummification workshop will provide fresh insight into the chemical make-up of the oils used by ancient Egyptians to mummify their dead.
Rumours of a curse after the fifth Earl of Carnarvon's untimely death, as well as other mysteries are swiftly dealt with, and there's a long section on the pharaoh's sarcophagus, which ought to have been at least introduced during the section on mummification and his funeral, among other slightly confusing lapses between words and pictures.
Even clothes can help mummification, according to Piombino-Mascali, because they can act as a wick that absorbs bodily fluids from the skin.
Unlike findings of maceration or mummification (Jubb et al., 1985) size of fetuses was same with different extent of maceration and mummification.
A lack of such damage signals that natural or artificial mummification blocked rapid decomposition of a dead body's flesh.
in Springfield; children ages 7-12 are invited to attend with an adult to learn about Egyptian art and the process of mummification; wheremindsgrow.org/programskids.html or tworley@springfield-or.gov or 541-726-2243.
According to the Ancient History Encyclopedia, "mummification is a type of preservation of the dead that was most notably practiced by the Ancient Egyptians.
Several administrative procedures are required for flying bodies out of the Kingdom, including acquiring mummification certificates, burial permits, death certificates, air bookings, and the approval of the embassy of the home country to where these bodies will be deported.
Mummification has been reported in several species including sheep, goat, cattle, horse, pig, dog and cat.
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