230 PROCEEDINGS OF [1842. 



Stated Meeting, May 9, 1842. 

 The Corresponding Secretary announced the following contribu- 

 tions and deposites : 



For the Cabinet. 



Uniones, 60 varieties ; Anadons, 1 variety, Wisconsin river. — From 



Stephen Taylor, Muscoday. 

 An old Knife, formerly belonr'ing to Daniel Boone, of which some 



account is given in a letter from Capt. Boone, U. S. Dragoons, his 



son, to W. L. Wharton, Surgeon U. S. Army. — From W. L. 



Wharton, Surgeon U. S. Army. 

 Egyptian curiosities, &c. — From George R. Gliddon, Corresponding 



Member, late U. S. Consul for Cairo, Egypt. 



The following is a descriptive list of the articles presented by Mr. 

 Gliddon : 



No. 1. — Fragment Limestone. This is a piece of the lining of the tomb of tlie 

 High Priest, " Petamonophlh," at the " Apapeef," Thebes. The tomb being of the 

 time of Psameticus second, the liieroglyphics on it were cut before the year 588, 

 B.C. 



No. 2 One piece Porphyry (?) picked up by me oue day at Heliopolis, " On" of 



the Bible. The hieroglyphics on it are* * • » • * « 



with the value of which I am unacquainted, unless it be a homophone of , which 



means God. Supposing, however, this to be the signification of the first letter or 

 symbol, the inscription might read thus: "God (?) Rha in the country (or city) (?) 

 of Rha," which would be the "City of the Sun," Heliopolis. The signs 

 are an abbreviation of I'habitation de Phre, or Rha, Heliopolis. — ChampoUion Gram, 

 chap. 5, page 157. I mention this because it would bo a curious coincidence to find 

 on a little fragment picked up by chance on the mounds of Heliopolis, (now marked 

 solely by the solitary Obelisk of Osertasm first, and the portions of the name of 

 Ramases third Sesostris on a shattered monolith,) the very name of the ancient 

 city amidst the ruins of which the stone was found. 



No. 3. — A piece of marble from the ruins of Dendera, Tentyris. 

 No. 4. — A piece of marble from a shattered Monolith, on the Hand of Schayl, 

 first cataract. Nubia. 



No. 5. — A piece of the gigantic statue of Ramaacs third Sesostris at tho 

 " Ranisessium," Thebes, erroneously called tho "Memnonium." This statue 

 when perfect weighed about 900 tons in one block of granite, until overthrown by 

 the Persians and shattered. It had been cut and finished at the syenite quarries at 

 Aswan, first cataract, and transported from its bod, (which is slill visible at tho 

 quarries,) one hundred and fifty miles to its present position prior to B. C. 1499. 

 The granite is a fair specimen of Egyptian monumental syenite. 



No. 6. — A piece of iho alabaster sanctuary of tiie same Pharaoh at the Temple 

 of Abydos, same date. 



No. 7. — A piece of sandstone from the quarries of Silsilis. 

 No. 8. — A piece of marble from the hill above the second cataract. Nubia. 

 No. 9. — Three Egyptian pebbles from tho desert behind the pyramids of Sac- 

 cara. 



No. 10. — Pieces ancient pottery, probably funeral vases, from the Buck pyramid 

 of Dashoor, Perring's French, very ancient, long previous to B. C. 2000. 



No. 11. — Nine small and one large piece of petrified wood, from the petrified 

 forests in the Eastern desert, near Cairo. There are three forests of this petrified 

 wood: one about two hours ride from Cairo, eastward; one about four hours ride 

 south eastward; one about seven hours ride beyond the others. Altogether, they 

 cover a space fully equal to ten square miles. There are trunks of trees lying on 

 the surface of the desert, (which is here hard gravel or rock,) ol all dimensions. I 

 measured one cighty-two feet long, ond three feet in diameter, a largo bamboo 

 apparently. Tho palm trees, and others resembling pine and sycamore wood in 



* The hieroglyphics are neceoariljr omitted. 



