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written in three unknown languages, the interpretation of which has 
been the task of our own century. The task is now well-nigh accom- 
plished. The inscriptions of Egypt and Assyria are a mystery no 
longer ; the inscriptions of Etruria, which were the first to be 
attacked by scholars, have been the last to guard their secret. 
The Etruscan riddle differs altogether in its nature from the 
other two. To explain an inscription in an unknown language 
two things must be found out. In the first place, it is necessary 
to ascertain the phonetic value of the signs or letters ; secondly, 
we must discover the linguistic affinities of the language. Now in 
the case of the Hieroglyphic and the Cuneiform inscriptions, it was 
the first of these obstacles which presented the difficulty ; when 
that difficulty had been overcome, the rest was comparatively easy. 
And so when a happy guess had shown that certain recurring sets 
. of signs in the inscriptions must represent the names of Cleopatra 
and Ptolemy, of Darius and Xerxes, the interpretation of the 
Egyptian and the Assyrian records followed as a thing of course. 
It was only a question of sagacity and patience to work out all 
those magnificent results which have been obtained. 
But with regard to the Etruscan inscriptions the obstacle has 
been of a wholly different order. The value of the Etruscan letters 
is easily found, as they are only modified forms of the Phoenician 
or Carthaginian letters, and are themselves the source from which 
the well-known Koman letters have been derived. The problem 
is, therefore, to discover some cognate language — some language 
ancient or modern — belonging to the same family of speech, by the 
aid of which the Etruscan inscriptions may be interpreted.. 
Now, if we knew positively the meaning of a single Etruscan 
sentence containing a dozen words, it would not be difficult to 
detect the linguistic affinities of the language. A bilingual in- 
scription, such as that famous Rosetta stone which gave the key 
to the hieroglyphic records, would amply serve the purpose. 
It is true there are in existence a few bilingual inscriptions 
in Etruscan and Latin ; but, unfortunately, they are either so 
meagre or so mutilated as to be of very limited value. One of 
the best of them comes from a sarcophagus found at Perugia. 'It 
contains only four Etruscan words, and these are all of them 
proper names. On the side of the sarcophagus, in well-formed, 
carefully cut letters, is the Latin inscription : — 
P. VOLUMNIUS A. F. VIOLENS CAFATIA NATUS 
On the lid of the sarcophagus we have the Etruscan translation, 
somewhat rudely scratched, in letters of the very latest forms : — 
PUPVELIMNA AU CAHATIAL 
These inscriptions evidently date from the early days of the 
