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Mellified man, or human mummy confection, was a legendary medicinal substance created by steeping a human cadaver in honey. The concoction is mentioned only in Chinese sources, most significantly the ''Bencao Gangmu'' of the 16th-century Chinese pharmacologist Li Shizhen. Relying on a second-hand account, Li reports a story that some elderly men in Arabia, nearing the end of their lives, would submit themselves to a process of mummification in honey to create a healing confection. This process differed from a simple body donation because of the aspect of self-sacrifice; the mellification process would ideally start before death. The donor would stop eating any food other than honey, going as far as to bathe in the substance. Shortly, his feces (and even his sweat, according to legend) would consist of honey. When this diet finally proved fatal, the donor's body would be placed in a stone coffin filled with honey. After a century or so, the contents would have turned into a sort of confection reputedly capable of healing broken limbs and other ailments. This confection would then be sold in street markets as a hard to find item with a hefty price. ==Origins== Allegedly from Arabia, the mellified man legend was reported by 16th-century Chinese pharmacologist Li Shizhen in his ''Bencao Gangmu''. It is described in the final section (52, "Man as medicine") under the entry for ''munaiyi'' (木乃伊 "mummy"): 木乃伊, (). HUMAN MUMMY CONFECTION In her book ''Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers'', writer Mary Roach observes that Li Shizhen "is careful to point out that he does not know for certain whether the mellified man story is true." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「mellified man」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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