178 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



Great, and whose weight was only 3,234,000 pounds, said that it was impos- 

 sible for him to make use of rollers; even iron ones were insufficient. Balls 

 of wrought and cast iron, which he tried to substitute for them, were 

 flattened and broken, as well as the cushions of the same metal in which 

 these balls rolled; only those made of a mixture of copper, tin, and calamine 

 could resist the pressure. Still, as we cannot contradict a matter which 

 Herodotus says he saw and regarded with wonder, we must believe that the 

 walls of this structure were hollowed out of a mass of rock found upon the 

 spot. This conjecture is all the more probable, as Herodotus does not men- 

 tion where this enormous block came from, nor the mode of its transportation. 



As for the stone which formed the upper part of the structure, it is evident 

 that it must have been taken from another block, and that it must have 

 been moved and raised above the walls. It was 52.8 feet long by as many 

 broad, with a depth of 5.28 feet, making, all trimmed, a mass of 14,720 

 cubic feet, and a weight of 1,984,950 pounds, supposing the stone to be of a 

 mean hardness with that used for most of the temples and for the steps of 

 the pyramids. 



A block of such dimensions must have been moved in the same position it 

 was to have when laid. The operation required a plane and solid surface of 

 great extent; and as wood was scarce in Egypt, we may presume, according 

 to what Herodotus said in relation to the great pyramid of Cheops, that in 

 these extraordinary circumstances the custom of the Egyptians was to con- 

 struct large causeways and inclined planes of cut stone, upon which they 

 hauled the enormous stones which they prided themselves on using for the 

 construction of their edifices. These means, which would be expensive with 

 us, were but a small matter with them, by reason of the great number of 

 men employed upon their works, the small wages of the laborers, and the 

 insignificant cost of the materials. 



When they had to move round and unwrought masses of granite, such as 

 are found in the quarries of Egypt, they were turned over or rolled by the 

 force of men. In many places, far distant from the quarries, are found 

 masses of granite whose transportation appears to have been interrupted by 

 some unforeseen circumstance. 



As for the blocks which do not come in this kind of transportation, and 

 whose surfaces were plane, as that which served for the covering of the 

 temple at Buto, and the monolithe structure of Amasis, we believe that they 

 made use of rollers and capstans, the most simple and ancient machines, the 

 most powerful and speedy in their effects. To give our ideas upon this, we 

 report the result of an experiment made upon this subject with a cut stone 

 weighing eleven hundred and sixty-five pounds. 



To drag this stone upon a horizontal surface of the same material, and 

 coarsely cut, required eight hundred and eighteen pounds. 



The same drawn upon pieces of wood exacted a force of seven hundred 

 and three pounds. 



The same placed upon a wood platform, and drawn upon wood, required a 

 force of six hundred and fifty-four pounds. But soaping the two surfaces 

 which slid upon each other, there was only needed one hundred and ninet}-- 

 six pounds. 



This stone put upon rollers 3.2 inches diameter, and set in motion upon a 

 surface of the same material, required only a force of 36.G8 pounds; the 

 same rolling upon pieces of wood yielded to an effort of 30 pounds; and 

 Avhen the rollers were put between two pieces of wood 233 pounds sufficed. 



