296 LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC. 



the pyramid. Some of the structures of London offer a very familiar comparison, 

 by which an estimate can be formed of the magnificent and massy solidity of the 

 great pile, the size of which is about that of Lincoln's-Inn Fields, and its height 

 124 feet above the Cross of St. Paul's. But to afford some of my fair hearers a 

 more familiar simile, letme beg of them to suppose each side of this model as one and 

 three quarters the length of the cathedral, measuring from window to window, and 

 the height two and a half that of the pinnacle of the centre tower, and they will be 

 able to form a readier idea of its immense magnitude tlian the more difficult method 

 of calculating its dimensions." 



On reaching so far, we find that we must confine tlie remainder of 

 this lecture within a very narrow compass, having already exceeded the 

 space allotted to us. That interesting portion of it, containing an ac- 

 count of the different chambers and galleries described by various ex- 

 plorers, with the precise measurement of each, as well as the opinions of 

 Belzoni, Caviglia, Davison, Salt, and others, on these stupendous monu- 

 ments of antiquity, so essential to the clear developement of the conclu- 

 sions to which the lecturer inclines, we must, by necessity, pass over. 

 All that we can now perform is to abridge the concluding part of this 

 admirable lecture, which we will accomplish as effectually as time will 

 permit. 



" Although I diflfer in the general opinion that the pyramidic erection was for the 

 original design of a tomb, there can be no doubt that it has been used in after 

 ages for such purpose. The startling question appears to be its size. In the care 

 and attention thus paid to the obsequies of the dead, the Egyptians surpassed all 

 other people — their tombs they called everlasting habitations. [Here the lecturer 

 shewed a ground plan of the tomb of Osiri opened by Belzoni. j Notwithstanding 

 this bears no external resemblance to the pyramidical form, yet its internal con- 

 struction possesses many things in common — a first, second, and third corridor, a 

 hall of piUars, room of mysteries, &c. You will naturally expect that I shall ofier 

 some opinion as to the origin or intention of these buildings. Whether they are 

 temples, tombs, or observatories, I cannot be expected to decide. All hitherto is 

 speculation — but, with your permission, I will add my ideas to the stock of general 

 conjecture. 



" Three principal questions appear to present themselves, which I shall endeavour 

 to solve. 



" Firstly. What is the meaning of the word pyramid — does it explain the subject? 



" Secondly. Are the pyramids peculiar to Egypt, or do other countries furnish 

 analogies ? 



" Thirdly. Is there any event traditional or recorded that could have led to their 

 peculiar form of erection ? 



" The etymology of the Greeks, whose vanity led them to make every possible 

 adaptation to their own language, is that most generally adopted, they giving the 

 root iivp fire from the circumstance of flame assuming the pyramidic form, gave it 

 the name irvpafAtt, * dubio Danaos.' I am disposed to think that they applied this to 

 the name and not to the building, and would ask what was the pyramid called before 

 the arrival of the Greeks, and what do the modern Egyptians call it ? The Coptic 

 word was appi preceded by the article m, which the Greeks mistook for a portion 

 of the word, and merging the vowel, made from this nrtpai/*. The modern word is 

 eipapi., or hurum, preceded by the article el — el aram, a word very similar, if not 

 precisely the same as that formerly used, and which is defined as "ancient," a name 

 applied to the pyramids, whose history is lost in antiquity. It might be derived from 

 another coptic word nript signifying the sun, but I hold to the former ; and cannot 

 but think that the observation of Herodotus as to the food of the workmen, proves 

 that they were erected at a period when a vegetable diet formed the food of man. 



" Secondly. Pyramids are not peculiar to Egypt, but are to be found in all the 

 earliest settled postdiluvian monarchies, and have been continued amongst those na- 

 tions, to a very late period, which from one cause or other have been most secluded 

 from intercourse with other states. The Pagoda of China is but a modification of the 

 pyramid—- a building rising story above story, and decreasing towards its apex. 



