302 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 103. 



through the mouth of the Borysthenes." — Encyclo- 

 pedia Britannica, art. " Clisiate." 



s. c. c. 



Corfe Castle. 



Ancient Language of Egypt (Vol. iv., pp.152. 

 240.). — The only works on the langu;i<je of 

 {incieut Egypt preserved in the liieroglyphical 

 inscriptions that possess any authority are the 

 Grammaire Egyptienne of Chainpollion *, and the 

 appendix to the first volume of the Chevalier 

 Bunsen's Egypt's Place in Universal History. 

 Much, however, is known to individuals who have 

 studied the language, which has not been pub- 

 lished, or perhaps digested into a system ; and the 

 works mentioned are by no means to be depended 

 on as to matters of detail, especially as respects 

 the verbs and pronouns, though the general ])rin- 

 ciples of interpretation may be considered as 

 settled. There was another language used by the 

 ancient Egyptians, and expressed in what is called 

 the demotic or enchorial character. Erugsch of 

 Berlin is the highest authority as to this ; his 

 work, De natura et indole lingita popularis 

 2Egyptio7-utn, is, I believe, incomplete, but he has 

 published others in Latin and German. 



The work on Egyptian chronology, i'rom which 

 most seems to be expected, is that of Lepsius ; 

 but he has yet published only the first volume, 

 which consists of preliminary matter. Le Sueur's 

 treatise, though crowned by the French Academic, 

 is a failure. Bunsen's is less palpably erroneous, 

 but a great part of the second and third volumes, 

 which were published in German in 1844, would 

 require to be re-written. Those who wish to 

 study the chronology, as systematised by the 

 Egyptians themselves, should consult the Turin 

 Sook of Kings, of which an accurate fac-simile, 

 with explanatory text, has been lithographed, and 

 is about to be published by subscription, under 

 the superintendence of a committee, of which Sir 

 Gardner Wilkinson is the most prominent member. 



E. H. D. D. 



WelwoocTs Memoirs (Vol. iv., p. 70.). — The 

 edition referred to by Mr. Ross I have not seen, 

 but there is one in my library printed at London 

 in 1702, and which bears to be " the fourth 

 edition," with the dedication to the king, and an 

 address "to the reader" commencing as follows: — 



" These sheets were writ some years ago, by the en- 

 couragement of one whose memory will be ever s icred 



* This contains the latest views of the author, whose 

 most important discoveries were made near the close 

 of his life. The Precis contains much that Cham- 

 pollion afterwards rejected as erroneous. The Dic~ 

 tionnuire is a compilation, made after his death from 

 what he wrote at different periods of his life. It is 

 inconsistent v.'ith itself, and aboimds in errors, so as to 

 be worse than useless to the student. 



to posterity. It's needless to mention the occasion ; 

 and they had not been pul)lished now, if a surreptitious 

 copy of a part of the manuscript had not crept abroad." 



The volume, which is very well got up in 8vo., 

 is printed for " Tim. Goodwin, and sold by James 

 Round at the Seneca's Head in Exchange Alley." 



It may be fairly inferred that this edition came 

 out under the superintendence of Welwood, and 

 it would be interesting to ascertain whether there 

 are any alterations in the sixth edition. Welwood 

 was a Scotchman, and a letter from him to James 

 Anderson, the eminent Scotish antiquary, will be 

 found amongst the Anderson Papers in the Li- 

 brary of the Faculty of Advocates. It has been 

 printed in the appendix to the Catalogties of 

 Scotish Writers, Edinburgh, 1833. J. Mt. 



NOTES ON BOOKS, SAiES, CATALOGUES, ETC. 



On Wednesday the curtain fell on the most gorgeous 

 and successful Pajreant ever enacted — a Pageant in 

 which all the nations of the cartli played a part, with 

 tlie Crystal Palace for their " tyring house." Honour 

 then to all who had hand or heart in tliis Triumph of 

 Peace ! Honour to our Queen for her most judicious 

 patronage ! Honour to Prince Albert for the admir- 

 able tact with which he fulfilled the duties of his im- 

 portant office ! Honour to our countrymen for the 

 manner in which they have maintained the dignity of a 

 free people ! Honour to our foreign visitors for tlie 

 friendly spirit in which they responded to our invitation, 

 and received our welcome ! Honour to that efficient 

 corps the Sappers and Miners, (and happily we have 

 only to mention the military to recognise their services 

 as civilians), and to our Police for their good-humoured 

 firmness ! Honour to Paxtcn for his design — to Fox 

 and Henderson for tlieir execution of it ! and, though 

 last not least, honour to that band of zealous and inde- 

 fatigable S))irits, the Digby Wyatis, Dilkes, Coles, Scott 

 llussells, &c., to whose prevision and supervision, at all 

 times and in all places, the success of the World's Fair, 

 and the comfort of its visitors, owe so much ! If ever 

 there was a fitting time for instituting an Order, of 

 Civil IMerit, it is now ; if ever there were men who 

 deserved to wear such an order, they who planned, and 

 they who carried out the Great Exhibition of the 

 Works of Industry of all Nations, they are the 

 men. 



We could not allow the Great Exhibition to close 

 without malting a Note of it : we have therefore little 

 room this week for Notes on Books. We must, how- 

 ever, take notice of six additional volumes of the 

 Nalioiial Illustialed Library, which we have received. 

 Of three of these we may well speak briefly, as they 

 form the Second, Third, and Fourth Volumes of J3os- 

 tvell's Life of Johnson, to which we formerly directed 

 the attention of our readers. Tlie Bonk of English 

 Songs from the Sixteenth to the Nineteenth Century is a 

 very well selected volume. The Editor's endeavour 

 to present a fair view of this branch of our National 

 Literature has been attended with success, and the book 



