380 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



circle, called the crux ansata, or the cross with a handle ; 

 sometimes life was denoted by a lamp, and sometimes by zigzag 

 lines denoting water, because that element is essential to animal 

 and vegetable existence, a figure which has come down to us as 

 a zodiacal sign, zz Aquarius, the water-bearer. Hieroglyphic 

 characters bore considerable resemblance to the object intended 

 to be described. The sun, for instance, could not be more 

 strikingly represented than by a circle, nor the waning moon 

 than by a half-circle. Chemistry indeed perseveres in using this 

 species of symbolic designation, for by the former it denoted 

 gold, by the latter silver. In ancient Egypt the same hiero- 

 glyph, in ancient Greece the same word, was synonymous for 

 writing and painting ; and words are but symbols of our ideas, 

 expressed by the medium of sound. In the remote past, as in 

 the middle ages, and during the slow advance of knowledge and 

 culture generally, almost to the present time, the only language 

 understood of all people was that transmitted through the tra- 

 ditions of the past expressed and typified by figures as by colours. 

 Pythagoras, the philosopher, seems to have introduced a 

 system of hieroglyphics or symbols, which are contained in his 

 esoteric doctrines, and were of two classes — the one, a visible 

 emblem, as an emblem or geometrical figure ; the other, a pithy 

 sentence, combining many ideas or sparks of truth for those 

 who are able to enkindle them. The use of animal hieroglyphics 

 among the followers of Pythagoras was very extensive in its 

 application and symbolic meaning. According to this system, 

 the ox was an emblem of patient industry ; the elephant, of 

 fidelity, justice, and piety ; the bull, of ferocity ; the horse, of 

 fame and swiftness ; the dog, of fidelity, friendship, memory, 

 and gratitude ; the lamb, of innocence ; the ram, of boldness, 

 profanity, or slander ; the ass, of docility ; the camel, of strength 

 and abstinence ; the mule, of sterility ; and so on. An anchor 

 represented magnanimity and fortitude. " These," said Pytha- 

 goras, " no tempest can shake ; virtue alone is firm ; everything 

 else is unstable." Fortitude was also symbolised by a rock 

 amidst the waves of the sea. A bridle was symbolical of wisdom, 



