14 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 
Syene, and thence conveyed to Heliopolis, where by Sesostris they were set up 
before the entrance to the temple of the god Tum, or the Setting Sun. Pliny 
‘states that they were transported to the Nile with the aid of flat-bottomed boats, 
floating in canals specially prepared for that purpose. Sharpe says that they were 
placed in an erect position by cutting a groove in the pedestal, in which the 
lower edge of the monolith might turn as if it were a hinge, the top of the shaft 
‘being elevated by means of a mound of earth, the size of which was continually 
increased till the stone stood securely erect. The obelisks were brought to Alex- 
andria during the reign of Tiberius, but bear their present popular name because 
of a tradition that they were taken to Alexandria in the time of Cleopatra. Their 
age is estimated to be about 3,300 years. One of the obelisks has until recently 
been standing where it was originally placed when brought to Alexandria, but the 
other, which is the less perfect of the two, has for many years been lying prostrate 
on the sand. In 1819, Mehemet Ali offered the fallen monolith to the Prince 
Regent of England, and the British Government accepted the gift, but afterward 
declined to act in the matter because of the expense attending removal. In 1851, 
the subject was again brought up; but, as before, no action was taken. Finally, 
in 1876, Dr. Erasmus Wilson concluded to pay the expenses himself of transport- 
ing the great monolith, and bargained with Mr. John Dixon, a well-known 
engineer and contractor, to bring it to England and erect it on the Thames Em- 
bankment for $50.000. Both of these ‘‘Needles’”—the one transported to England, 
and its more perfect companion recently presented to the United States by the 
Khedive of Egypt—possess great historical value, aside from that sentimental 
estimation which enlightened nations place upon all monuments of antiquity. As 
far as known the hieroglyphs on the obelisk which is coming to this country have 
never been deciphered, but as both obelisks are of the same age, and came origi- 
nally from the same city and temple, it is not unlikely that the inscriptions refer 
to the same, or, at least, to similar subjects. When the London obelisk was 
unearthed, it was found to be just 68 feet long, and its weight about two hundred 
tons. ‘The hieroglyphics which covered each of its four faces were washed, and 
- then. deciphered by Brugsch Bey, the eminent Egyptologist. He found that they 
referred to the lives of the two Kings, Thothmes III. and Rameses II. Subse- 
quently a correct translation of the whole has been made by Dr. Samuel Birch, 
of the British museum, and is as follows: 
‘¢ First Side, Central Line, toward east when erected on Embankment.— 
The Horus, lord of the upper and lower country, the powerful bull; crowned in 
Uas or Thebes, the King of the North and South Ramen Cheper has made his. 
monument to his father, Haremachu (Horus in the horizons), he has set up to him 
two great obelisks, capped with gold, at the first time of the festivals of thirty 
years, according to his wish he did it the son of the Sun Thothmes (III.) type of 
types did it beloved of Haremachu (Horus of the horizons) ever living. 
‘« First Side—Left Line.—The Horus of the upper and lower country, the pow- 
erful bull, beloved of the Sun, the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Ra-user-ma, 
