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a colossal pillar which has received the name | of Pompey, the great Roman general, and rival of Julius Cæsar; and has in our own time excited the attention of the historian, the antiquary, and the traveller, to such an extent, that after several centuries of error and confusion, our information respecting the real origin of this work of art is clear and decisive.

In the fifteenth century, when learning was beginning to revive, human knowledge was chiefly confined to the architectural and literary remains of the ancients: they were the guides which served to recover mankind from that state of mental weakness and degradation which followed the overthrow of the Roman empire: then it was that the remains of the ancients became sacred, their buildings preserved, and their books sought for and perused with alacrity; the latter often serving as the interpreters of the former, whereby the ancients became known, and to a certain extent served as a model and a guide to a community whose intellectual strength was infantine.

In this way it was ascertained that a monument had been erected to Pompey in or near Alexandria, the capital of Lower Egypt. It was therefore naturally supposed that the Pillar represented above was the monument in question. In the absence of all knowledge derived from inspection of the pillar itself, the name Pompey's Pillar was attached to it; and thus almost undisputed was it handed down century after century, until the occupation of Egypt by the armies of France and England, about forty years ago. Before this time one or two travellers had converted it into a trophy erected to the memory of Septimus Severus. This pillar was said to be the remnant of an ancient city, which it once adorned: another account says that it was placed upon the ruins of the city of the Ptolemies; but in the time of Septimus Severus this city was not in a ruined state.

Before we proceed to notice the real object of the erection of the pillar, let us say a few words, descriptive of the pillar itself, of which our drawing will convey a very accurate idea. It is situated about two miles

from the sea shore, upon a slight eminence, and its vast proportions strike the beholder with amazement. Its height is 88 feet, † and of the Corinthian order of architecture. The shaft of the columu consists of one solid block of red granite finely polished, 64 feet high, and 8 feet 4 inches in diameter. This shaft leans a little towards the southwest. The pedestal is 10 feet high, with a base of 54 feet. The height of the capital is nine feet. The shaft is executed in a pure and masterly style, but the pedestal and capital are of very inferior workmanship, and executed at a different time: they are not of the same granite as the shaft: they are clumsy in style, and in an unfinished state, so as to give an outline only of the effect intended to be produced: the pedestal, too, is deficient in height. The shaft is in a good state of preservation, except on the north-west, which has suffered from the constant winds which blow from that point during the greater part of the year.

This'pillar has long been an object of interest to the rude Arab, from the notion that no human beings could possibly have taken so much trouble to erect such a pile, except to conceal and preserve under it a large and costly treasure of some kind. Hence the pedestal has suffered from the violent attempts of the Arabs to penetrate below it: one Arab sought to blow it up with gunpowder, but did not succeed. When the forces of the then republic of France got possession of Alexandria, they repaired and supported the pedestal with masonry-work, and crowned the capital

[blocks in formation]

with a cap of liberty, which however was soon afterwards pulled down by the Eng

lish.

When the celebrated English_traveller Clarke visited Egypt, he made Pompey's pillar an object of particular examination. He was surprised to observe that the pedestal did not rest upon the sand; for on digging this away, so as to get beneath the pedestal, he found, to his surprise, that the whole of this immense pile, consisting of three parts, pedestal, shaft, and capital, was sustained upon a small prop of stone, about four feet square. Around this central base, but in very irregular positions, other masses had been placed, consisting of the sepulchral fragments of ancient Egyptian monuments, which did not appear to contribute to the support of the column, but to have been brought there for the purpose of maintaining the prop in its adjusted situation, until the pedestal could be raised upon it. The four sides of the prop are in-, scribed with hieroglyphic figures, but the position of these shows that the prop has its original base uppermost, for they appear inverted; thus affording complete proof that the stone whereon they are inscribed belonged to other more ancient works, and that they must have been ruins before the column was erected upon its present basis; and consequently that the work is of comparatively modern construction.

A similar conclusion had already been made by Denon, shortly before Clarke's arrival in Alexandria. He concludes that the foundation being made of ruins argues a modern construction: also that the erection of this monument may equally belong to the time of the Greek emperors or to that of the caliphs.

The operation of forming a rope-ladder - to ascend the column has been performed several times of late and is years, very simple: a kite was flown, with a string to the tail, and, when directly over the pillar, it was dragged down, leaving the line by which it was flown across the capital. With this a rope, and afterwards a stout hawser, was drawn over; a man then ascended and placed two more parts of the hawser, all of

which were pulled tight down to a twentyfour-pounder gun lying near the base (which it was said Sir Sidney Smith attempted to plant on the top); small spars were then lashed across, commencing from the bottom, and ascending each as it was secured, till the whole was complete, when it resembled the rigging of a ship's lower masts. The mounting this solitary column required some nerve, even in the seamen; but it was still more appalling to see the Turks, with their ample trowsers, venture the ascent. The view from this height is commanding, and highly interesting in the associations excited by gazing on the ruins of the city of the Ptolemies, lying beneath. A theodolite* was planted there, and a round of terrestrial angles taken; but the tremulous motion of the column affected the quicksilver in the artificial horizon so much as to preclude the possibility of obtaining an observation for the latitude.

The two readings of the inscription are as follows:

"To Diocletianus Augustus, most adorable Emperor, tutelar deity of Alexandria,Pontius, Prefect of Egypt, dedicates."

"Posthumus, Prefect of Egypt, and the people of the metroplis, (honour) the most revered Emperor, the protecting divinity of Alexandria, the divine Hadrian Augustus."

Of these readings, which certainly have but little resemblance, the former is considered the better. It will be recollected that some of the characters cannot be traced at all, and others but faintly; and the various ways of supplying the deficiencies, according to the ideas of the advocates of either, will account for the very wide difference that exists between them.

• Mathematical instrument used in surveying.

Carlo Quinto, Imperador di Germania, quando ebbe abdicato il trono, e che si fu ritirato nel convento di S. Giusto, si divertiva colle arti meccaniche e particolarmente con quella dell' orologiajo. Un giorno esclamò: "O che famoso pazzo sono io stato a sprecar tanto sangue e tanti tesori sull'assurdo tentativo di far pensar tutti gli uomini ugualmente, quando non mi riesce di far andare dello stesso passo neppur pochi orologi."

FUQ IL MEUT TA NAPULIUN IL KBIR.

Ejjeu, ja bnedmin,
Maduar dan il qabar,
U kolkom sektin
Ismeu dan il habar.

Tafux min jinsab
F'din ix-xanra midfun?
Haun hu taft it-trap
Il Kbir Napuliun.
Dan hu dak li rinet,
U mela l'art b'ismu;
Arau issa qined
Mardum hauna gismu!
Is-slaten qoddiemu
Il kol mismutin,
Taht qautu, taht giemu,
Geu huma nieqsin.
Met' izda kburitu
Пoliet sas-smeuuiet,
Muria ckunitu
Kem fis hia giet.
Mijet ta l'eluf,
Mxeu huma minu,
Sa l'aktar bent truf,
Пal nogba bis tinu.
Izd' Alla mis-sema
Bis b'nefha tar-rief,
Uisk minnom fl'art rema
U temmuhom l'irsieh.
nax dan il kbir Alla
Bid-dieher ried juri,
Li jkunu tinu jtalla
Ujnaddas il kburi.
Min qabel gie mfahhar
B'uisk qima u uisq gieh;
Dan kollu tar fl' ahhar
Ma ziffa ta rieh.

U baqnet mitfia

FI' leil l'aktar mudlam,
Il-lehha tad-dia
Li nissel mil fram.

Fuq gebel misrud

Mbanad mismum,

Gie miekla tad-dud,

Haun mejjet mardum.

Tad-dinja, O kobria,
Пal kem inti merfuna,
Kem inti kburia

Tal genn u tal fruna!

Morru issa, O bnedmin!
Dan il qabar li raitu.
U il kliem, hasbenin,
Istqarru li smaitu.

Longevità. In una Gazzetta di Varsavia si dice che poco tempo fa, in Potorski, sulle frontiere della Lituania, un pastore chiamato Demetrio Grabowsky morì nell' avanzatissima età di 169 anni. Jenkins, l'uomo il più vecchio che si rammenti in Inghilterra, visse giusto appunto quanto il pastore Polacco. Il vecchio Parr arrivò all età di 152 anni. Si dice che Grabowsky abbia lasciato un figlio, che ora ha 120 anni. În Polonia, ultimamente morì una donna nell' età di 124 anni. Giuseppe Ram, negro, porge il più straordinario recente esempio di longevità, appresso a Grabowsky, essendo morto di 146 anni.

Un letterato corrispondente dell' Esaminatore, foglio che sempre fa delle riflessioni sopra siffatte eccezioni dell' ordinario termine della vita umana, vorrebbe che coloro, a cui fossero personalmente noti simili casi, raccogliessero e dassero al pubblico le circostanze per cui erano rimarchevoli questi individui, particolarmente le loro abitudini. Sir Gio. Sinclair nel suo Codice di Sanità e di Longevità disse, che sopra un gran numero di soggetti vecchissimi, tutti quelli che furono interrogati da lui si somigliavano in due sole particolarità:—discendevano da genitori di buona costituzione, e (cosa che forse potevano meglio affermare) si alzavano di buon mattina.

I Libri.-Consideriamo che grande provvista di dottrine esista nei libri; quanto facilmente, quanto segretamente, quanto sicuramente essi espongono la nudità dell' ignoranza umana, senza metterla a vergogna! Questi sono maestri, che ci istruiscono senza colpi nè battiture, senza parole dure e di sdegno, senza panni nè denaro. Se vi accostate loro, non li trovate a dormire; se investigando gl' interrogate, non vi celano nulla; se li sbagliate, non mormoran mai; se siete un ignorante, non si posson burlare di voi.

Those men who destroy a healthful constitution of body by intemperance, and an irregular life, do as manifestly kill themselves, as those who hang, or poison, or drown themselves.—SHERLOCK.

Printed for Mr. J. Richardson. Quarterly Subscriptions at 1s. received 97 Str. Forni.

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THE BOA CONSTRICTOR.

The immense number of venomous snakes in all parts of India and Africa are a vast check to the enjoyment of every person residing there; to the timorous, apprehension and fear attend every step; even within their houses there is danger of meeting with them; and the most courageous and strong-minded cannot help often feeling uneasy at the presence of these reptiles. The largest of these terrible reptile creatures is the boa constrictor; but it is not considered by the natives the most formidable, because its bite is not venomous, and its great size somewhat diminishes the danger of surprise.

The name boa is not of recent introduction. It occurs in Pliny, who doubtless intended by it some one of the larger species of European snakes; the name being probably derived from the notion, which is still very common among the peasantry of Europe, that these reptiles introduce themselves among the herds to suck the cows. The place which the boa should occupy in a regular system is not well determined, and this arises from the circumstance that travellers have entered much into the history and habits of the larger species of serpents without carefully describing the animals themselves. We cannot enter minutely into the question, but shall be content to follow Blumenbach in stating that the enormous reptile usually called the boa constrictor is found in the East Indies and in Africa, and does not appear to differ much from the Amaru of South America, which was worshipped by the Antis of Peru. It is the largest of serpents. Its average length appears to be about thirty feet, but it sometimes attains to forty, fifty, or even sixty feet; it therefore occupies the relative position among reptiles which the elephant does among quadrupeds, and the whale among the inhabitants of the sea.

In the venomous species, the poison fangs are in the upper jaw, somewhat larger than the other teeth, projected forward in the act of biting, but at other times disposed along the roof of the mouth. These are

wanting in the boa, but otherwise the teeth are disposed much in the same manner as in other serpents,-being long, sharply pointed, and inclined backward;-of no use for mastication, but evidently intended only for the purpose of holding the prey. The genus is distinguished by having a hook on each side the vent; the body is compressed, inflated towards the middle; the tail is prehensile; the scales small, particularly upon the back of the head. The ground colour of the boa constrictor is yellowishgrey, with a large chesnut-coloured interrupted chain, extending down the back from the head to the tip of the tail, and sub-trigonal spots down the sides. The name "constrictor" is derived from the terrible muscular power by which it crushes to death the unfortunate animals embraced in its folds. It is true that most serpents possess in some degree this constrictive power, but it is not commonly used by the smaller species in seizing their prey, the mouth and the teeth alone sufficing for the purpose.

Requiring food only at intervals, the boa constrictor, like most other serpents, spend the greater part of its life coiled up asleep, or in a state of stupor, in which, if it has recently been gorged with food, it may be overcome with little danger or difficulty, although to attack it in an active state would be madness. But when it becomes hungry, the gigantic reptile assumes an activity strikingly in contrast with the loggish inertness it before exhibited. When properly in wait of prey, it usually attaches itself to the trunk or branches of a tree, in a situation likely to be visited by quadrupeds for the sake of pasturage or water. In this posture it swings about, as if a branch or pendent of the tree, until some unhappy animal approaches, and then, suddenly relinquishing its position, it seizes the unsuspect- • ing victim, and coils its body spirally around the throat and chest. After a few ineffectual cries and struggles, the poor entangled animal is suffocated and expires. It is to be remarked that, in producing this effect, the serpent does not merely wreathe itself around the prey, but places fold over fold,

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