Amongst these ruins, which bespeak the pomp and 

 luxury of ancient kings, we also find the same mate- 

 rials, which compose the rocks and mountains, that 

 are said to be undergoing the gradual process of disin- 

 tegration and decay. Such as granite, sienite, porphy- 

 ry, marble, verd-antique, serpentine, &c. 



Antique specimens of these materials are sometimes 

 exhibited to our view, which fully demonstrate, that 

 they have withstood the injuries of time for ages, and 

 are yet unimpaired. 



It is not long since the busts of Niobe and Socrates, 

 executed in red antique porphyry, and obtained from ' 

 the ruins of Pompeii or Herculaneum, were offered to 

 view in this city. These specimens of art, which dis- 

 covered all the freedom and beauty of outline, that 

 characterise the Roman and Grecian statuary, had ex- 

 perienced no other injury, than a kind of etching upon 

 the surface; although, in all probability, fifteen or 

 eighteen hundred years had elapsed, since they were 

 executed , for it is well known, that for several hundred 

 years, the art of sculpturing in porphyry was totally 

 lost or unknown. 



Specimens of this description, abound in almost all 

 the museums and cabinets of Europe, and are of 

 themselves, sufficient to prove the indestructibility of 

 rocks, or materials of this kind, though exposed for 

 ever so long a period to the injuries of time. 



Still, if stronger evidence should be required, there 

 are innumerable examples in Asia, Africa, and parti- 

 cularly in the ancient cities of Egypt ; the imperishable 



