1863.] 231 [Chase. 



from 270 to 337 feet of surface for each of the grates under present 

 consideration. ......••• 



Were I limited for room, so that long cylinder boilers were imprac- 

 ticable, I would advise the use of French boilers in place of flue 

 boilers. I am satisfied the French universal practice, of putting the 

 flues outside, is superior to ours, of putting them inside, in similar 

 cases. 



I do not wish you to assume, from all this, 

 that I look upon a well-built two-flued boiler as seriously objection- 

 able in a mill, only that T prefer the same extent of surface, with 

 greater capacity of water, in a cylindrical form. 



Mr. Chase paid a tribute to the genius and merits of M. 

 Des Guignes, as an orientalist and etymologist, having an 

 insight into the true relationships of the languages and histo- 

 ries of the east and west of Asia not sufficiently acknow- 

 ledged or appreciated. 



Philologists are peculiarly exposed to pert and arrogant criticism. 

 Their favorite studies lead them into unexplored fields, and among 

 the many hypotheses that they are obliged to hazard in their en- 

 deavors to explain the laws and phenomena of language, it is reason- 

 able to expect that some will be overthrown by subsequent investiga- 

 tion. It then becomes an easy matter for sciolists to talk of seeming 

 and fanciful resemblances, and thus throw discredit on the whole 

 science of Etymology, while they gain a cheaply bought reputation 

 for critical acumen. It is therefore particularly gratifying to find 

 that many of the shrewd surmises of a true scholar, like M. de 

 Guignes, after enduring the unstinted ridicule of his contempo- 

 raries, are confirmed by the discoveries of a later generation. 



To Zoega the credit is generally given, of first forming the happy 

 conjecture that several of the Egyptian hieroglyphs were employed 

 merely as phonetic or alphabetic characters. But more than thirty 

 years before he announced his views, he had been anticipated by M. 

 de Guignes, who, in the very Memoirs that were most mercilessly 

 criticized, not only declared his belief in the phonetic use of most of 

 the Egyptian hieroglyphs, but also, arguing from the supposed com- 

 mon origin of the Chinese and Egyptian systems of writing, he sur- 

 mised that the cartouches contained royal names and titles, and that 

 the Egyptian, as well as the Chinese characters, might all be grouped 

 under the three classes of ideographs, determinatives, and phonetics. 



