612 Fabulous Animals. 



a little after the summer solstice. This phenomenon, the 

 source of unfailing fertilit}^ in the vales of the Delta up 

 to Memphis, and around the bases of the majestic and 

 venerable pyramids, was of the greatest importance to 

 the people of Misraim, from the far-famed Pharos to 

 the frontiers of Ethiopia. It was therefore their interest 

 to calculate correctly the season, the month, and nearly 

 the hour, when the flood should begin ; the more so, as 

 the sudden invasion of the waters was dangerous to the 

 inhabitants of the low lands, the meadows, and the fens, 

 and often destroyed the cottages, and drowned the flocks 

 and the improvident villagers. The star Sirius was 

 remarked to emerge from the blazing halo of the sun 

 about the time of the rising of the Kile ; it was a warning, 

 and was accordingly called the Dog-star, as if barking 

 from the heavens to apprise the inhabitants of the valleys 

 of the impending rise of the waters. The Egyptian 

 astronomers, to mark the period, combined the signs of 

 the zodiac answering to the two months during which the 

 overflowing took place. These signs happening to be 

 Leo and Virgo, the mystical fancy of the ancient Egyp- 

 tians united them in one, and thus formed the figure of 

 the Sphinx, which has the head and breast of a woman, 

 and the body of a lion. This was a great enigma to the 

 Greeks and Phoenicians who travelled to Egypt ; they 

 saw the monster, but could not comprehend its meaning. 

 On returning to their respective countries, they invented 

 the fable of the Sphinx offering riddles at the gates of 

 Thebes, and destroying those who could not unravel them ; 

 having probably been told by the supercilious sages of 

 that nation, that they who could not guess the meaning 

 of the Sphinx were to forfeit their life in atonement for 

 their ignorance. Long afterwards, the real sense of the 

 symbol was forgotten, and Egypt in her superstition 

 began to worship the emblem, of which innumerable 

 figures still exist in that once flourishing country. 



The Sphinx has been introduced in heraldry to adorn 

 Hie gorgets of those general officers who distinguished 

 themselves against the French on the banks of the Nile ; 

 it has also been adopted as an ornament in various decora- 

 tions ; and two specimens, exquisitely wrought, are seen 



