308 BERTHA'S VISIT TO HER 



birds which are to convey him to the moon ; 

 the team is wedge-shaped, and the birds are 

 harnessed together in rows, each of which in- 

 creases by one, from the single bird that acts as 

 leader. Now, supposing that the man weighs 

 ten stone, and that each bird can raise live 

 pounds, how many rows of birds are necessary 

 for his flight? 



i, Sunday. My uncle again took up the 

 judgments inflicted on the Egyptians. He said 

 that if they were considered with reference to 

 that particular nation, it appeared that there was 

 a peculiar meaning in some of those calamities, 

 which would not have applied so well to any 

 other people. He told us that they paid an 

 idolatrous reverence to many of the inferior ani- 

 mals, and worshipped, as superior gods, the ox, 

 the cow, and the ram. Among these, the Apis 

 and Mnevis are well known ; the former, a 

 sacred bull adored at Memphis, and the latter 

 at Heliopolis. There were also a cow and heifer, 

 which had similar honours, at Momemphis. 

 These judgments were therefore very significant 

 in their execution and object ; as the Egyptians 

 not only saw their cattle perish, but, what was 

 still more dreadful, they saw their deities sink 

 before the " God of the Hebrews." This satis- 

 factorily explains what is said in Numbers : 

 " Upon their gods also the Lord executed judg- 



