144 Study of the Nexc York Obelisk as a Decayed Boulder. 



12 to 3 P.M., at 107°. 5 to 109°. 5 F., on the north and in the shade; 

 in the sun, in open air, up to 113° F. ; in the sand, 158° F.^ Nouet 

 found, opposite the ruins of Thebes, that a thermometer in the sand, 

 at noon, rose to 153°. 5 F. ; in the shade, 100°, with light wind from 

 N.W.^ Also at Philfe, he observed thermometer in the sand at 

 153°. 5 F., and in the shade, 109°. During the removal of the 

 western Luxor Obelisk to Paris, in July, 1836, the engineer in 

 charge, M. A. Lebas, states that the sands burned his feet, the 

 temperature of the air, on one day, remaining for four hours at 66° C. 

 (151° F.): a sun which strongly recalled, as he feelingly remarks, 

 "the energetic and fitting expression of Moses in regard to Egypt 

 ' this furnace of fire.' "^ 



Dr. Donald Dairy mpie,* in 1 86 1, called attention to the considerable 

 diurnal variations of temperature in the climate of Egypt. His series 

 of observations of the temperature of the air, on a Nile boat, during 

 the winter of 1859-1860, showed the following average ranges: — 



December, 1859 . . . . 36° F. Febrnary 50OF. 



January, 1860 .... 44° F. March 30© F. 



He also states that "the minimum never registered within (l 

 degrees of freezing-point out of doors." 



More definite on this point are the meteorological observations of 

 Dr. J. D. Hutcheson,^ at Thebes, during five months of the coolest 

 season, from November, 1881, to March, 1882, inclusive. During 

 each of these months, the daily maxima in the sun, when reduced 

 from bis tables, are found to vary as follows: — 



November, 1881 



December 

 January, 1882 

 February 

 March . 



139°-171° F. (59°-73° C). 



. 136°-145° F. (58°-(;3° C). 



. 125°-139° F. (52°-59° C). 



. 119°-143° F. (48"-(;2° C). 



. 134°-155° F. (57°-68° C). 



These figures show that the maximum heat of the sun must be 

 in Egypt far more intense, continuous, and severe upon stone than 

 in the climate of New York. This surprising conclusion is exactly 

 contrary to the prevailing opinion, frequently expressed, concerning 

 the trying climate of New York, with its supposed extraordinary 

 and sudden ranges in temperature. To these has been mainly 

 attributed*^ the mysterious and sudden destruction which began to 

 affect the surface of our Obelisk, soon after its re-erectiou in New 



1 Coutelle, loc. cit., 334. « Nouet, loo. cit., 341. 



3 Lebas, idem, 60. * Dalrymple, op. cit., 7, 11, 25. 



5 Stuart, Fun. Tent of Eg. Queen, 146. ® Eglestou, loc. cit. 



