286 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[August, 



COLOSSUS OF SESOSTRIS. 



During the period of their dominion in Egypt, the French erected 

 a bridge across the Nile, uniting Old Cairo with the Isle of Rhoda 

 Of that structure no other vestige now remains than a fragment of the 

 first arch attached to the old stonework of the Nilometer. On the 

 other bank of the river stands the citv of Gizeh, about two leagues 

 from the pyramids, and which formed the northern boundary of ancient 

 Memphis, whose southern limit and necropolis were what is now 

 Sakara. The road along the course of the river leads to Bedrechein, 

 beyond which village the former site of some large city is attested by 

 the massive blocks of granite and fragments of columns that strew the 

 plain. Pieces of shattered stone project every where through the 

 sands that have already b\n-ied up the principal monuments of that im- 

 mense city, and which ere long will completely obliterate all remaining 

 traces of it. Between Bedrechein and the village of Mit Rahineh rise 

 two long hills parallel to each other, which are probably formed by 

 the remains of a vast enclosure of unburnt bricks, similar to those that 

 have been found in many other ruins. These bricks, which are thirty 

 three centemetres (about thirteen inches) long, by eighteen wide and 

 ten deep, are for the most part stamped with a hieroglyphic cartouch. 

 Within this enclosure is the magnificent colossus exhumated by 

 Captain Caviglia, to whom the world is indebted for several other 

 discoveries no less important. 



This gigantic statue is one of the finest pieces of Egyptian art ; it 

 is of a very fine limestone, and although incrusted in parts, still retains 

 that polish which is met with only in sculptures of the same epoch. 

 Notwithstanding that the lower parts of the legs are broken off, the 

 present length of the figure is not less than eleven and a-half metres, 

 or thirty-nine feet nine inches, English, and is remarkable for its pro- 

 portions, at once elegant and severe. The face, which has been pre- 

 served in its fall by the head-dress, is uninjured, and is of the most 

 exquisite workmanship. It is that of Sesostris, so often represented 

 in the pr ncipal temples of Egypt, who reigned, according to the chro- 

 nological table of Abydos, 151)5 years before the Christian era. It is, 

 therefore, but on a nmch larger scale, a faithful resemblance of the 

 Sesostris in the museum at Turin. Upon the arm, and un the front of 

 tlie breast and the girdle, is a cartouch indicating his name. 



M. Caviglia took the precaution of having the fare of the statue 

 turned downwards, in order to preserve it from the mutilations the 

 Arabs are in the habit of inflicting upon all repr'-sentations of the 

 human figure. He has also caused it to be propped up by masonry at 

 each end and in the middle. 



According to all appearance this colossus, near which are massive 

 foundations of limestone, was placed against one of the jambs of a 

 large doorway, and had a companion figure against the other one. 



At a short distance from the spot where it remains, is the small hut 

 or cabin near some palm trees, which served Caviglia as his residence 

 during the years he employed in investigating these ruins. It is now 

 occupied by an Arab, who acts as the keeper and cicerone of this mo- 

 nolithic statue. In a line with the latter, but at some distance from 

 it, are some small colunms of rose-coloured granite, in a very ruinous 

 state. 



To the north of the colossus was once a temple of white limestone, 

 dedicated to Venus Athor, by Rhamses the Great, and without the 

 enclos\n-e on the east side of it, are the remains of another temple or- 

 namented with coupled pilasters, also of rose granite, which was dedi- 

 cated to Phta and Athor (Vulcan and Venus), tlie two great divinities 

 of Memphis. 



MOMENTUM OF FALLING BODIES. 



Sir — It was in consequence of the difficulty which attends the cotic 

 parison of the effects of pressure and moving force, that I entered upon 

 the discussion in the IGth Number of the Journal, Vol. II. page 18^ 

 not that I hoped to clear it away, but because the subject is mghly' 

 interesting and useful, and I hoped to elicit information through the 

 medium of your Journal. It was with great pleasure, therefore, that I 

 saw the letter, page 255 in No. 22 — and I hope that the discussion 

 will now fall into abler hands than mine. I will, however, beg space 

 in your next number to enable me to make a few observations on Mr^ 

 Neville's letter. — The words in italics will point out wliere I think he 

 has misconceived my remarks on the subject. 



1. The inference that I draw fromtheexperimentdetailedinVol.il. 

 page IS, is that a weight on the spring keeps it steadily to a point, 

 that one-half o{ the same weight falling with a velocity of 2-3rn foot 

 per second would have attained when its motion was destroyed. — 2» 

 In comparing the effect of the falling weight on the pile with that of 

 the weight it is to sustain, it is presupposed that that pressure would 

 cause the pile to peneirute ; otherwise why drive the pile at all ? — 3. 

 To suppose the incumbent weight to move with a velocity oi one, two 

 or mure than three feet per second is to suppose what is not likely to 

 take place ; and to found a calculation upon such vague data could 

 not lead to any accuracy of result. In short, one might as well g\iess 

 the result at once and save the trouble of all calculation. — 4. Mr^ 

 Neville says that " in falling bodies, after the force ehv is expended, 

 b then acts by its weight, and very little consideration will shew that 

 they cannot be added together." But there is but one collision; the 

 effects of the weight and the acquired momentum are simidlaneous 

 and of the same nature, whether b and ebv are so or not. Indeed b 

 and flii' represent the effects of the forces, and it is not very easy to 

 point out in what the ditference in the nature of these forces consists : 

 since, should the motion be infinitely slow, the effect would evidently 

 be the same as though the body remained at rest. 5. I believe that I 



may have been wrong in applying the formula m=Lb-\--bv to the cases 



taken from " Mutton's Course," where the motions are not occasioned 

 by gravity, but in all cases oi falling bodies, I still think I am right in 



adding 6 to -bv. For if the true formula be -bv nearly, and b be dis^ 



carded; taking for example 6= 10,000 lbs. and v=.———r- foot then 

 " ^ ' 10,000' 



•lifi force 7n=^ 



300,000 



Xi/64x ^24,000 lbs.; or in other words, 



the consequence of its fall through that small space would be the los* 

 of three-fourths of the force it exerted when in absolute rest : but if 



the factor 6 be not discarded and m be =:6-J- 6»;i: 124^00 lbs. 



B. 



