ON THE PROGRESS OP SCIENCE. 13 



explored ? And why might not the localities of important monu- 

 ments especially of the Hebrews be sought for, under the guidance 

 of scriptural authority and of tradition as, for instance, the Egyptian 

 coffins of the patriarchs at Hebron and Sychem ; the twelve stones set 

 up by Joshua at Gil gal and in the Jordan ; the monumental record of 

 the Law in the Stone of Sychem ; the sacred Ark, supposed to have 

 been concealed by the prophet Jeremiah in some recess ; with many 

 others which will suggest themselves to the biblical reader ? The 

 discovery, if not also the recovery, of these precious relics of Hebrew 

 antiquity might be accompanied or followed by the acquisition of va- 

 rious objects of historical importance, as coins, vessels, implements, 

 sculpture, inscriptions, manuscripts, and other documents, all illustra- 

 tive of the most interesting periods of remotest antiquity ; and that in 

 the Holy Land, the land of the Bible, such a treasure of archaeological 

 knowledge would possess a high degree of importance, as corrobora- 

 tive of the Sacred Writings, and would doubtless be so esteemed, as 

 well by the learned as by the religious world." 



At a recent meeting of this Society, an address was given by Dr. 

 Turnbull, in which he stated that the idea of this Society was not bor- 

 rowed from any recent movements of a similar nature, much less in- 

 tended to rival them, but arose simply from the perusal of the Books 

 of " Genesis, Exodus and Joshua," and more especially from the cir- 

 cumstance recorded of the embalming and burying of the patriarch 

 Jacob, at Hebron, by his son Joseph, Viceroy of Egypt ; that the cof- 

 fin is in all probability remaining entire in the Cave of Machpelah, as 

 then deposited ; and that there can be little doubt, if examination, with 

 all proper attention to decorum, were permitted, we should find on the 

 exterior, and within the coffin, some characters, and, perhaps, some 

 emblems, not according to the idolatrous mythology of Egypt, but re- 

 lating to Jacob and his family and ancestry, and perhaps, also, relative 

 to the countries of Egypt and Palestine. 



In reference to the coffins of the Hebrew patriarchs, he had formed 

 expectations of the most important discoveries. In that of Joseph he 

 did not see why tf-e might not find a papyrus, containing his own auto- 

 biography, together with other great historical documents, such as 

 have been found on opening tombs in Egypt. Who would have im- 

 agined that we should have found some of the rarest works of the Greek 

 classics in the tombs of Upper Egypt? Yet some of these we have 

 seen in lithographs of the papyri, as recently produced at a meeting 

 of the Syro-Egyptian Society. 



The London Society of Arts have appointed a Committee of Indus- 

 trial Pathology for the purpose of inquiring into the nature of acci- 

 dents, injuries, and diseases incident to various bodily employments, 



