No 255. Third (Innermost) Coffin of Gold. 7.
between the shells of the two coffins (Second & Third) which when
dried consolidated and caused them to stick firmly together. This
liquid reached nearly to the height of the upper edge of the
third gold coffin.
The chemical changes which took place in this material caused
corrosion of certain of the glass incrustations upon the coffin.
Treatment.
This pitch-like material hardened by age had to be removed by
means of hammering, solvents and heat, while the shells of the
coffins were loosened from one another and extricated by means of
great heat; the interior being temporarily protected during the
process by zinc plates - the temperature employed though
necessarily below the melting point of zinc was several hundred
degrees Fahrenheit. After the inner coffin was extricated it had
to be again treated with heat and solvents before the material
could be completely removed.
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