terials of which have resisted, alike, the process of de- 

 composition for hundreds of centuries. 



Fragments, and entire specimens of sculpture, from 

 the ruins of Carthage, are exhibited in the museums 

 of almost every civilized country, yet notwithstanding 

 their exposure for two or three thousand years, they 

 betray few or no marks of the corroding agents of de- 

 composition. 



If we examine the gloomy recesses of the Catacombs 

 at Necropolis, we find their walls, of granite, or lime- 

 stone, sculptured with inscriptions and hieroglyphics 

 which, though subject to the nitrous, or ammoniacal 

 exhalations, arising from the remains of the dead, or 

 the accumulated filth of jackals, and other animals, 

 which, as well as man, seek safety and refuge in these 

 silent retreats, have remained unhurt by the operatioa 

 of any natural agent, although the date of their con- 

 struction is at a period so distant, as to be almost as 

 much involved in obscurity, as the births and names of 

 the ghastly tenants, that are deposited in their dreary 

 mansions. 



On such facts we might rest the final decision ; but 

 our views of the subject must not be confined to a sin- 

 gle district, however numerous and favourable the 

 cases may be, which it affords ; since a difference of 

 climate and other circumstances, may produce very dif- 

 ferent results, in the opinions of some, even on the 

 same materials. Let us cross over the Mediterranean, 

 and examine the ruins of Telmcssus, an island in the 

 gulf of Glaucus. 



