292 FROM GRAND CAIRO TO ROSETTA. 
in it retain their original polish as perfect as 
when they issued from the hands of the sculp- 
tor. We procured also a number of bronze 
relics. From the state of decomposition in 
which these appeared, as well as from the cir- 
cumstances of their form, they seemed to be of 
high antiquity. The bronze itself has since 
been analyzed, and is found to consist of copper^ 
with twelve per cent, of tin ; a compound com- 
mon to almost all the bronze works of the 
Antients. We bought of the peasants a bronze 
tripod, originally intended for a lamp; also a 
small bronzehust of PTHA, the Mgyptian Vulcan\ 
Perhaps this last was originally an antient 
weight. Its very great antiquity may be deter- 
mined by the shape of the ivings, which are 
curved upwards from the back of the figure. 
This peculiarity is found only in the works of 
artists belonging to the earliest ages, as we 
learn from the sculpture and coinage of Greece, 
particularly of Corinth. They brought also a 
bronze image of Orus, formerly worn as an 
amulet, together with a number of Lares and 
other amulets, similar to those already described 
in the account of the antiquities found at 
(l) See Nos. 1 and 2, of Plate auuexed. 
