242 ATHENS. 
c ^ v vp - and, of course, is susceptible of a fine polish; 
' * * exhibiting a flat conchoi'dal fracture, which is 
somewhat splintery. We could not discover a 
single fragment of porphyry ; which is remarkable, 
as this substance was almost always used by 
the Antients in works of great magnificence. 
Among the loose fragments dispersed in the 
Acropolis, we found a small piece of marble 
with an inscription, but in so imperfect a state, 
that it is only worth notice as a memorial of the 
place where it was found, and in its allusion to 
the Prylaneum, which is the only legible part of 
Ofthepry- if. That the Prylaneum, where the written laws 
of Solon were kept 2 , was not situate near to 
the spot, but in the lower city, may be easily 
proved . Yet some have believed that it was in 
the Acropolis; owing to that remarkable passage 
in Pausanias, which set at rest the mistaken 
opinion of Ptolemy 's importation of the worship 
of Serapis into EGYPT ; Memphis having been 
the original source of this superstition, both for 
the Alexandrians and the Athenians*. After 
(1) Now in the Vestibule at Cambridge. See " Greek Marbles," 
No. XXX. p. 52. Carub. 1809. 
(2) nXr/* 5 V\^ara.iii'oi irrir, It u toftoi rt ei 2aAar; tifi 'ytygstf&ftiiei. 
Pautanue, lib. i. c. 18. p. 41. Lips. 1696. 
(3) See Vol. V. of these Travels, Chap.Vll. p. 382. Note (5). Octavo 
edition. 
