§2 
moft valuable, efpecially thofe of the em- 
prefies, fe that this will, probably, leng 
furnifh valuable {pecimens for the cabinets 
of the curious. 
The refearches made by the prefent pof- 
feilors of Egypt into every branch of in- 
tereiting and fcientific inquiry, and into 
the immenfe treafures of antiquity, which 
this celebrated country has long concealed, 
are going on with the ereateft ardour and 
zeal, and beein to affume a regular and 
methodized fyftem. Some of the moft cu- 
rious particulars are mentioned in a letter 
from Cit. CoraBceurF, one of the com- 
miffion for examining Upper Egypt, dated 
Jaly 11, 1800. He fays, “* The gevgra- 
phy of Egypt has been nearly completed 
by the labours of the commiffion. The 
“errors necefiarily attending topographical 
scmeafurement, have been corrected by 
aftronomical obfervation, fo that little is 
now wanting to complete the materials for 
conftru&ting a chart of this famous coun- 
try from the earlieit antiquity. The tables 
of longitude and latitude, determined by 
C. Nouet, have been printed, and from 
comparing them with thofe of Danville, 
the differences will be found fo great as to 
fhew the neceffity of the prefent ebferva- 
tions. The latitude of Syene, for in- 
fiance, which Eratofthenes placed under 
the tropic, is nearly forty minutes differ- 
ent from that which has been affigned to 
it. It was a very important obje& to 
determine the comparative level of the two 
feas. The traces of the antient canal have 
been difcovered, and from the different 
‘levels which have been taken, no doubt 
can be entertained that the height of the 
warers of the Red Sea exceeds that of the 
Mediterranean. A complete knowledge 
has been obtained of the monuments of 
antiquity which now remain (the moft va- 
Wfabic of which are in Upper Egypt), and 
plans of the fite of the antient cities have 
beentaken. Drawings have been taken of 
the pieces of iculpture which embellifh the 
antique monuments. ‘They reprefent fa- 
erifices made to the different deities, bat- 
tles, triumphal entries, &c. In a grotto 
near to Elethea or Luciza, have been found 
accounts relative to agriculture, the nfh- 
ery, and navigation. The fepulchral crot- 
toes of Thebes, which are fo numerous, 
and dug with fo much art, have been 
carefully examined. Many of them con- 
tain mummies in high prefervation, and in 
rummaging 2round them, feveral roils of 
p2pyrus have been found, which have en- 
riched many of the members of the com- 
miffion with fome of the mof antient ma- 
nufcripts in the world. But the moft re- 
. 
Literary and Philofophical Intelligence. 
rFeb. ry 
markable and interefting prize for fcience 
which has been difcovered is, two zodiacs, 
the oneengraved at the bafe of a periftyle at 
Efne, the other in the greattempleof Denda- 
ra. The fermer indicates the folftice in the 
fign of Virgo; the other, which is of later 
date fhews the fun in Leo, and hisappreach 
to Cancer, has alfobeen fhewn. The intention 
of the founders of thefe monuments was 
certainly to reprefent the prefent ftate of 
the heavens when thefe were conftruéted. 
A comparifon of thefe two zodiacs, which 
mav now be inftituted, throws back to the 
moit remote antiyuity the period of the 
conftruétion of theie temples, and proves in 
a ftriking mannerthe knowledge which the 
antient Egyptians poffeffed of that aftro- 
nomical pheromenon, the precefiion of the _ 
equinoxes.* j 
A traveller in Brittany gives the fol- 
lowing account of the celebrated Carnac on 
the coaft of Vannes, a relique of antiquity 
to all appearance of the fame kind with 
our Stone Henge on Salifbury Plain. 
fays, ** This is animmenfe colonade of 
ftones, about four thoufand in number, 
planted in the form of a quincunx, exactly 
in even parallel lines, and fixed upon the 
loftieit part of the coait, near the town of . 
Carnac, in full view of the fea, occupying 
a {pace of a thoufand toifes (2000 yards)’ 
long, and fifty in breadth. ‘There are 
eleven rows, with unequal intervals of two 
to fix toifes between them, and the diftance 
between each column is likewife irregular, 
being from eighteen to twenty-five feet. 
The height of each varies from a few feet 
to eighteen or twenty above the ground, 
and the thicknefs in proportion. What 
is very fingular, almoft all the columns are 
fomewhat cenical in form, and are fixed 
with the point downward, fo as to give 
the appearance of a vaft block of fione 
refting on a pivot. No infcriptien is to 
be found any where, to give the deaft in- 
formation as to the period of their ere&tion, 
and their deftination, nor does hiftory 
throw any light on the fubje& 5; bur from” 
their great antiquityand the rude methed 
of conftruétion, they have all the appear- 
ance of Celtic monuments.” —_ 
WIELAND has juf pubhfhed the two 
firfi volumes of his Life of Ariftippus, the 
Greek, and his cotemporaries. The ce- 
lebrated Lais is a confpicuous character in- 
this work, and the poet has thought pro~ 
per to reprefent her im a very different light 
trom other writers. 
HEYNE’s magnificent edition of Virgil, 
in four volumes, vejlum paper, with 150 
vignettes, has a very rapid fale at Letp- 
fic, efpecially owing to the very ai " 
He 
