612 Fabulous Animals. 
a little after the summer solstice. This phenomenon, the 
source of unfailing fertility in the vales of the Delta np 
to Memphis, and around the bases of the majestic and 
venerable pyramids, was of the greatest importance to 
the people of Misraim, from the far-famed Pharos to 
the frontiers of Ethiopia. It was therefore their interest 
to calculate correctly the season, the month, and nearly 
the hour, when the flood should begin ; the more so, as 
the sudden invasion of the waters was dangerous to the 
inhabitants of the low lands, the meadows, and the fens, 
and often destroyed the cottages, and drowned the flocks 
and the improvident villagers. The star Sirius was 
remarked to emerge from the blazing halo of the sun 
about the time of the rising of the Kile ; it was a warning, 
and was accordingly called the Dog-star, as if barking 
from the heavens to apprise the inhabitants of the valleys 
of the impending rise of the waters. The Egyptian 
astronomers, to mark the period, combined the signs of 
the zodiac answering to the two months during which the 
overflowing took place. These signs happening to be 
Leo and Virgo, the mystical fancy of the ancient Egyp- 
tians united them in one, and thus formed the figure of 
the Sphinx, which has the head and breast of a woman, 
and the body of a lion. This was a great enigma to the 
Greeks and Phoenicians who travelled to Egypt ; they 
saw the monster, but could not comprehend its meaning. 
On returning to their respective countries, they invented 
the fable of the Sphinx offering riddles at the gates of 
Thebes, and destroying those who could not unravel them ; 
having probably been told by the supercilious sages of 
that nation, that they who could not guess the meaning 
of the Sphinx were to forfeit their life in atonement for 
their ignorance. Long afterwards, the real sense of the 
symbol was forgotten, and Egypt in her superstition 
began to worship the emblem, of which innumerable 
figures still exist in that once flourishing country. 
The Sphinx has been introduced in heraldry to adorn 
the gorgets of those general officers who distinguished 
themselves against the French on the banks of the Nile ; 
it has also been adopted as an ornament in various decora- 
tions ; and two specimens, exquisitely wrought, are seen 
