Word: plaster
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...very existence, says Professor André Bataille, director of the institute, to the fact that during the 2nd and 3rd centuries B.C. wood was too expensive to be used in mummy cases for average Egyptians. As a result, funeral directors enclosed corpses in waste papyrus manuscripts coated with plaster and molded to a shape vaguely reminiscent of a human body...
...Glue. First step in the delicate process of retrieving the papyrus intact is to spray the mummy with hot diluted hydrochloric acid. In about ten minutes most of the plaster dissolves, and the wad of papyrus that is left is laid on a wire tray over a tank of steaming water. It poaches there for a while, gradually softening as the papyrologists encourage the process and separate the stuff with delicate tweezings...
...Everybody out!" A stream of sobbing Negroes stumbled through the litter?past twisted metal folding chairs, past splintered wooden benches, past shredded songbooks and Bibles. A Negro woman staggered out of the Social Dry Cleaning store shrieking "Let me at 'em! I'll kill 'em!"? and fainted. White plaster dust fell gently for a block around...
Staff headquarters for the Irvine project is Urbanus Square?a remodeled red barn in the midst of the ranch's rolling greenery. Inside, the white plaster walls are covered with brightly colored plans, maps and projections, and the huge floor is crowded with big tables holding clay models of structures, topographical miniatures, sketches of things to come. At one side is a conference and dining area, dominated by an ever-burning fireplace and well stocked with books, records and liquor. Pereira wheels out a couple of times a week to visit his planners in the red barn, calling them together...
...entranced workers at Rakovica responded to all this by handing Khrushchev a present he must have long wanted and needed: a plaster bust of Lenin. Presumably none of Henry Ford was available...