188 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



the angle of inclination necessary to ensure this proportion is 51 49' 46"; 

 which is again a very close approximation to the observed angle of 51 50'. 

 The proportion of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is 3.1415927 

 to 1. The perpendicular height or radius of the pyramid being 486 English 

 feet, its diameter is 972 feet; and its perimeter is four times 764, or 3056 

 feet. Taking the diameter as unity, we have 1000 feet of .972 of the English 

 foot, and in the circumference 3144 of the same feet. The true proportion 

 in a sphere would be 3141.5927 feet, about 2 feet less than the actual meas- 

 ure. This foot of .972 of the English foot is precisely the larger Roman, or 

 Italian, foot, whose connection with the pyramid measure is thus estab- 

 lished. By a series of elaborate but very interesting calculations, Mr. Taylor 

 shows that the different ancient feet with which we are acquainted, as well 

 as the English foot, are similarly connected with the pyramid measures. 

 Thus the foot of Drusus or of Diodorus Siculus, which, is 1.0909 English feet, 

 is contained 700 times in the length of the base of the pyramid, and 120 

 million of times in the circumference of the earth, as given by Eratosthenes; 

 and it is that measure of the circumference of which 363,636 feet constitute a 

 degree. This is actually the length of the degree in the latitude of the Great 

 Pyramid. The circumference of the earth being 120,000,000 Egyptian 

 feet, the diameter would be about 38,200,000 feet, or 458,400,000 Egyptian 

 inches, numbers which furnish no principle of unity as a measure of the 

 diameter. If, however, we express the diameter of the earth in English, not 

 in Egyptian, feet, we have 41,672,380 feet, or 500,068,560 inches; and the 

 circumference is 130,908,000 English feet, or 1,570,896,000 inches. Doubling 

 this last number, we have 3,141,792,000 English inches; and dividing 130,- 

 908.000 by 3.141792 (instead of 3.141592) gives us 41,666,667 English feet, or 

 500,000,000 English inches, for the diameter. Hence, at the building of the 

 pyramid, the diameter of the earth was indicated by 1, Avhen its circumfer- 

 ence was represented by 3.141792 (the actual proportion of the diameter of a 

 sphere to its circumference being 1 to 3.141592). These numbers are double 

 the actual measure, which therefore allows 500,000,000 inches for the diame- 

 ter, and 1,570.896,000 for the circumference. But these inches are English 

 inches ; whence Mr. Taylor concludes that the English inch was invented at 

 this early period to express the 500 millionth part of the diameter of the earth. 

 Not only all the ancient feet with which we are acquainted, but also all the 

 cubits which we find mentioned in the Scriptures and elsewhere, arc, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Taylor, connected with the pyramid measure; but we have not 

 space to detail the connection in each case. 



Having thus concluded, from the exterior measurements of the Great 

 Pyramid, that it was designed as a record of the dimensions of the earth, it 

 now remains to inquire what we can learn from its interior. The only object 

 as yet discovered inside the pyramid is an oblong coffer, shaped like a 

 trough or hot-bath, hollowed with the greatest accuracy out of a solid block 

 of porphyry, and placed in what is known as the King's Chamber. This 

 coffer has generally been regarded as designed for a sarcophagus. But, 

 from a consideration of its dimensions, as recorded by Colonel Vyse, Mr. Tay- 

 lor arrives at a very different conclusion. It is 78 inches long, 26.5 wide, and 

 34. 5 deep; and its cubic content is consequently 71,311.5 inches. Now the 

 cube of the Karnak cubit of 41.472 inches is 71,328.8, a number so near to 

 that expressing the cubic content of the coffer, that Mr. Taylor concludes 

 that the true capacity of the coffer is a cubic Karnak cubit, and that it is 

 designed to be a standard measure of capacity. He traces its connection 



