TAA i.3.9.20

                                   –           16            –    
 

chemisty/<r>y. In many cases, the correct treatment can only be founx[?]/<d>

by experiment, and in many cases the requisite treatment cannot

be given to the object in situ, so that a preliminary treatment

only can be given. Hence the necessity of establishing a laboratory

near the tomb. In the case of this discovery the empty tomb of

Seti. II. was used and here the objects were treated, not with a 

view to their permanent preservation but to preserve them suffic-

iently to tide over their journey to the Museum at Cairo, where

they receive further and final treatment, when this is necessary.

          Those of us whose lot it is to deal with the deterioration

of any particular material, whether this deterioration be a/<o>f a

chemical, physical or bacteriological nature, know only too well

how difficult it is to stop good material from rotto/<i>ng. How

much more complex, then, is the problem of treating damaged

material to make it “as good as new”, – at any rate, in appearance.

          Woodwork is usually in a very bad condition, but in this

case at Luxor, it was in a good state of preservation, and the 

only trouble was subsequently, when, in a change of atmosphere, it

started to shrink. This was eventually overcome by the application

of melted paraffin wax. The substance is very much in use by

archeologists^sic as a preservative, owing to the fact that it is

easy to apply, can be used to fill in all the spaces even blisters

on the surface, and it renders the treated object solid and safe

to handle.

          Metal, glass and stone work usually require <very> little treat-

ment and if it/<they> does,/<need> this/<treatment it> can be done/<given> at leisure, and need not woo/<r>ry the arch<a>eologist on the spot.

          Leather work is usx[?]/<u>ally in a very bad condition, and is

either reduced to a gluey mess or it is perished to a black brittle