206 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



It is probable that Hero of Alexandria imitated the 

 procedure of the priests of ancient Egypt, who, it is 

 said, caused inanimate objects to move, or doors to 

 open and shut at their bidding, by means of tubes let 

 into the passages. Many tourists have seen the 

 colossal statue of Memnon, which emitted sounds 

 when struck by the sun's rays in the burning plain 

 of Thebes. The escape of the vapour caused by the 

 damp which had found its way in through the inter- 

 stices, and had been produced by the radiation of the 

 cold at night as well as by the abundant morning 

 dew, quite explains this phenomenon. At the base of 

 the monument may still be read inscriptions in prose 

 and in verse testifying to the wonder of the Greek 

 travellers. 



There is now in the head of the Colossus a fissure 

 through which an Arab, for a small fee, will, after 

 having managed to climb up, pass his arm and 

 produce a metallic sound, by striking the hollow space 

 inside with a stone. 



By way of a connecting link between the Greek 

 engineer Hero and modern authors, we have the 

 following passage from Eabelais, which Littre* quotes 

 in his Dictionary : 



"Eolipylus, gate of Eolus. It is a closed instru- 

 ment with an opening through which, if you place 

 water and put it near the fire, you will see wind 

 constantly pouring forth." (Rabelais, notes on Book 

 4, chapter xliv.) 



