MYTHOLOGY. 13 
“In the philosophy and theology of the 
Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans 
the egg was the emblem of the universe, the 
work of the Supreme Deity. 
The Egyptian divinity, Kneph or Emeph —a 
word in their language meaning good or benevo- 
lent — is painted in the human form to indicate 
his intelligence; androgynous, to signify his 
absolute independence, having on his head a 
butterfly to designate his activity, and with an 
egg issuing from his mouth to prove his fertility. 
From the egg proceeded Phthah, or the Fire, 
from whom the Greeks derive their Vulcan. 
To this divinity was addressed the famous in- 
scription on the Temple of Sais, ending with 
these words — 
‘The fruit which I have produced is the Sun.’ 
According to Orpheus, who carried this doc- 
trine into Greece, there first existed the immense, 
eternal chaos from which all things were to be 
produced. 
It was neither light nor shade, damp nor dry, 
warm nor cold, but all together — and had the 
form of an immense egg. 
