t 
Retrofpedt of French Literature— Egypt. 
The produétions cultivated there, con- 
fift of the doura, a fpecies of the forgho 
(holcus vu.) corn, lentils, lupines, and, 
peas. The doura returns two hun- 
dred and forty for one, while the ar- 
deb, a meafure equivalent to fourteen 
buthels, fells for five franks, or about 
three thillings and nine-pence. In the 
province of Syouth, corn is ufually mul- 
tiplied in the proportion of fourteen to 
one; in that of Gyrgeh, twelve; and 
in that of Thebes, ten. 
The onion ferves at prefent, as in 
the time. of the Pharoahs, to feed the 
more indigent claffes of the people.— 
Flax, the carthamus, indigo, cotton, 
and tobacco, grow here in great plenty, 
and are cultivated with facility ; but 
the unhappy husbaridman, having been 
{ubjected to a fucceffion of conquerors, 
does not poffefs any Jand which he can 
term his own ; he enjoys the ufufruct 
alone, for he can neither fell, nor pur- 
chafe, but only hire. his fmall portion 
. during @ certain determined epoch. 
The wyry, or tribute, is collegted by 
the Chriflian Copts from the fellahs, or 
farmers; thefe in their, turn account with 
the kiachef, or lieutenant, who pays the 
revenues to the Bey, or governor, of every 
province of Egypt. 
The Copts, taking advantage of the 
ignorance and corruption of the cheykhs, 
or chiefs of villages, furcharge the mifer- 
able inhabitants, and levy for their own 
ufe more than one-third of the contribu- 
tions. 
L. Coftaz gives a detailed account of 
refearches relative to the ancient city of 
Eleithias, in the Thebaid, and alfo 
the arts of the firft inhabitants, whom he 
afferts to have facrificed human victims. 
In the grottos of Eieithias are to be feen 
pictures painted in fre/co, reprefenting the 
manner in which the earth was formerly 
cultivated, fowed, and its productions 
reaped ; the vintage, the chace, the fef- 
tivities, the mode of embalming, and the 
funerals of the, ancient Egyptians, are 
alfo depiS&ted. All thefe arts, however, 
appear to have been in their infancy ; even 
their plough was deltitute of wheels, al- 
though that of the prefent natives, to the 
full as barbarous and ignorant as their 
anceftors, poilcfles this advantage. 
Reynier has given a paper on the palmi- 
er-dattier, ov date-bearing palm-trec, the 
fruit of which isdried, and carried bythe 
Arabs on purpole to ferve as food during 
a long journey. 
Tallien enters into a variety of details 
relative to the adminiftration of Egypt at 
64) 
the period it was conquered by the French: 
According to his account, the Porte re- 
ceived no more than five millions of livres 
annual income, the Beys having converted 
all the reft of the revenue to their own ufe. 
In addition to the direé&t, or territorial, 
there were many indire€t taxes, all of 
which, even thofe on the houfes licenced 
for proftitution, were farmed. 
there were pious foundatiors called ouag/y, 
for the maintenance of lof dogs; grain 
alfo was left daily on the minarets fer the 
fupport of the wild turtle-doves. The 
fum-total of the impofitions on Egypt 
amounted to 117,756,066 medins. 
Profeffor Geofiroy gives a differtation 
on the fea-fifh cf the coaft. Roziere pre- 
fents the reader with a mineralogical de- 
{cription of the valley of Quoffeyr. Nouet 
has drawn up a report relative to the geo- 
graphical pofition of the pyramids of Mem- 
phis ; according to him, their angles do” 
not correfpond, as has been commonly be~ 
lieved, with the four cardinal points. 
Delile {pecifies the different kinds of 
fenna ulually found in Egypt.- One fpe- 
cies is produced from the caffa acutifolia, 
which grows in the Sdid; tnis obtzins - 
the name of che fenna of Alexandria in 
Europe, and its leaves are pointed ; the 
fenna of Barbary, with obtufe leaves. 
grows on the. Cafia fenna; there is a 
third kind, mentioned by Forfkial, called 
Caffia lanceolata; but it appears to have 
been hitherto difcovered in Arabia alone. 
The natives mingle with the Alexandrian — 
fenna a violent purgative, known by the 
name of Cynanchum arghel. ee) 
The culture, irrigation, and commerce 
of the province of Fayoum, is defcribed 
by Girard, who had alfo prefented fome 
details relative to the city of Tentah, as 
well as geological conje&tures about the 
formation of the ifthmus of Suez. 
The Generals of brigade, Galband and 
Duranteau, informed Defgenettes, the 
firft phyfician to the army, that no fewer 
than fourteen perfons, who had attained 
the age of roc, had died at Cairo in the’ 
courle of a fingle mionth ; eight of thefe 
were men, and fix women. One was.138, 
another 120, and two more1o5 each. 
That city, exclufive of the citadel, the 
Old Town, and Boulaq, is fuppofed to 
contain about 300,000 inhabitants ; the 
number of women is far more confiderable 
than of the men. 
It is ealy to perceive, by the above ana- 
lyfis of only a fingle volume, that thefe 
memoirs contain a variety of interefting 
faéts. ’ | 
‘¢ Nouveau Elemens de Phyfiologie,”’ 
4 2 eee 
At Cairo | 
du 
