The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-26 00:00:00

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SEPTEMBER 26, 1862.

!ANCIENT 2RADES, 700 LS, MANUFAC-
' 7771a5, AND MACHINERY.

Mr. Clarkson last Tuesday evening (in consequence of
the inadvertent absence of an announced lecturer) delivered
an extempore lecture on this subject at the Holloway
Literary Institute. He said the subject of the trades, tools,
and manufactures of ancient Egypt was embarrassed by no
problematical inference. The illustrations (of which he
produced enlarged copies) derived from the painted sculp-
tures of the tombs, temples, and palaces of Thebes, speak
for themselves with the unmistakeable logic of tangible
demonstration and ocular conviction. Noticing the pro-
ficiency of the ancient Egyptians in the arts of peace, he
remarked that some industrial occupations stood out in
pro-eminent relief from the rest. Thus their looms, pre-
cisely resembling in their primitive structure those in the
Indian and Chinese departments of the International
Exhibition, imperfect as they were, produced finer tissues
in weft and woof than the Dacca muslin, and won the
poetical designation of "woven air." So of their upholstery
it may be affirmed, that no sensible improvement in their
original tasteful designs have been effected. They decorate
the drawing-rooms of our gentry and the saloons of royalty
as they adorned those of the Pharoahs ; nor is the improve-
ment aesthetically exhibited even now_at the International
Exhibition, although the materials may be more various
and costly, for the unexceeded forms of couches, chairs,
footstools, tables, and buffets, were by the same artists who
transmitted the unrivalled designs of pottery to Etruria,
,Magna Grxcia, lonia, and Athens, a striking tribute to
pre-eminent Egyptian taste. A similar remark may be
made on the Workmanship of their goldsmiths. The
ancient golden ornaments which attract thronged attention
in the Egyptian department of the International Exhibition
are less remarkable for their taste than curious as antiques.
Their date is anterior to the golden age of art—that of the
18th dynasty. Those copied and displayed by Rosellini,
constituting the splendid banquet service of the Pharoahs
of that dynasty—epergnes, plateaus, jewelled goblets,
hunting cups, golden vases supported by caryatides, in
honour of victors and victories—will not shrink in chastity
of design (though inferior in wealth of material) from com-
parison with those exhibited by Elkington, Hunt and Ros-
kell, or others, in the precious metal department of the
International Exhibition—some of whose contributions
have, indeed, been subjected, on account of the incongruity
of their purposes, to severe resthetical criticism. " Why,"
it has been asked, " should a dish for macaroons be planted
in the topmost branches of a silver palm tree ? Why should
the fiery war-horse become the bearer of panniers for salt ?
The Graces support a trifle dish ; heroes tipsy cake ; and
the brawny shoulders of Hercules are employed in bearing
aloft a few pounds of grapes." There is no such incon-
gruity chargeable on the Egyptian goldsmiths. The Lee.-
turer having quoted the description by Homer (who from
his gorgeous account of it had evidently visited Thebes) of
golden clockwork automata ; for instance—
" Two female forms the msnarch's steps uphold,
Who breathe and move in animated gold ;"
and golden clockwork tables, conveying their dainties, at a
wish to the guests of the banquet chamber, as at present
beyond modern rivalry—adverted briefly to thd question of
" Lost Arts." The ancient Egyptians were able to,impart
a cutting edge to copper which we are unable to accomplish.
Had they the knowledge of the artesian well ? Ancient
artesian wells have been found, and recently reopened in
the singularly level road from Cosseir to Kenneh. That
road, so apparently artificial, suggests the next re-
mark. This ancient people had, at all events,
a knowledge of the principles of the railroad,
although not carried out to its modern maturity. They
had level causeways extending for many miles, on which
they conveyed enormous colossi and monolithic temples on
trucks in oil-lubricated grooves. Lastly, a more startling
query presents itself in pursuing the subject of " lost," and
" lost and recovered arts," Was steam-power known to the
ancient Egyptians ? This had been partially suspected ere
it was asserted and, indeed, demonstrated, by M. Arago--
a great name and trustworthy authority. Hero, the Egyp-
tian engineer, to whom the first invention is ascribed, con-
structed, it seems, a gigantic ship capable of holding about
3,000 persons—about the size of the Great Eastern—to be
worked by thirty banks of oars. All naval architects were
aware that all 'the upper banks of indefinitely protracted
oars would be powerless to move the ponderous mass ; and
thence an internal motive mechanism like steam was sus-
pected and inferred. Again, Homer describes a vessel of
Phoenicians—an undoubted Egyptian colony (as Lord
Nugent, when Lord Commissioner at Corfu, proved)—
which conveyed Ulysses to Ithaca, in terms which would
accurately apply to a modern steam-vessel, and, indeed,
nothing else. These are the terms of the description :
" So shall thou swiftly reach thy realm assigned
In wondrous ships, self-moved, instinct with mind.
No oars have they to urge, ne sails to guide,
Like man intelligent, they plough the tide.
Though tempests and tho' clouds obscure the sky,
Heedless thro' tempests and thro' clouds they fly ;
Far as Eubcea tho' thy kingdom lay,
These ships with ease convey you in a day.
Thither of old earth's giant son to view
On wings of wind with Rhadamanth we flew.
This isle, which saw our morning course begun,
Saw us returning with the setting sun."
That is to say, a regular course of twenty miles an hour, in
spite of wind and weather, by self-motive action. So much
for presumptive inference. But M. Arago proceeds from
suspicion to assertion. This is his allegation :—That
Simon de Caus, imprisoned by Richelieu as a mad-
man for his importunity, gave the first suggestion
of a steam engine, which he himself derived from the
Egyptian engineer Hero's mathematical diagram, termed
the Elopole, preserved by Euclid, to the Marquis of Wor-
cester, who, adopting it in his " Century of Inventions,"
and receiving a grant for employing it in waterworks by
Charles 1., transmitted it, through Captain Savary's inter-
vention, to Watts, of Bolton. It must, however, be admitted
that the construction of steam engines in ancient Egypt, or
rather the application of steam power, was principally de-
voted to the cause of superstition and idolatry ; for the
steam-engine, which is now in alliance with the paddle-
wheel, the railroad, and the printing press—one of the
most powerful agents for the diffusion of civilisation—was
employed in ancient Egypt to work sham miracles—to pour
spontaneously from hydraulic vases wine and oil on their
sacrificial altar tables—to open wide the clanging gates of
Amente during the severe trials of initiation—and to ex-
hibit, by means of self-motive machinery in the dramatic
mysteries of that originating Freemasonry, the pains of
Tartarus or the joys of Elysium. These ancient Egyptian
steam-engines were not, however, endowed with great
power. If they gave out articulate sounds from the mouth
of an oracle or brazen dragon, or whirled round the ghostly
figures of a choral dance in the Great Mysteries of
Amente, they pretended or aspired to little more. One
additional fact adduced by M. Arago is exceptionally note-
worthy, since he avers that the simple machine of Hero,
the ancient Egyptian engineer, on the rotary principle, is
at this time in practically efficient and economical opera-
tion in America.

'- '. it_--

ElcV:•-•7.1-A. PE R.

-.4.,-..,,,,-:e4;4,--4 '•
a small caboose. The oil, flowing from li - . q,
a small pipe, enters a retort, v.-heyn thc;afg4 ' ' ratv''
the heat passes into the gasometer— krOn Viet ;,.,,:,.:
pipe conveys the gas below to the-'rune-i/1-,
alley, which yesterday, lit .0.6'12 burraYstst:(4l44o4:,?):__
)
truly brilliant effect, and
,was wOnderfA ;dtffltitt toit e s
old oil lamp, which at times:43./11P serves to make da,rlzness
. ..
more visible. t c,iit
At the conclusion of the trial the Restkance again an-
chored at Spithead to await further orders, . It:is reported
she is to accompany the Edgar, Warr4ietl'int-glltek Prince
to Lisbon, in honour of.the comininfiAige of the King
of Portugal to the Princess Pin_ Of Tta y,

THE SCINDE INDUS STEAM. FIA97iLLA,
PUN.TAUBAND DELIII ItAILW (031-
,
.

I
The'liikt t
enth; Qr4ipary general meeting, of this
cow
heat the Londbn Tavern,
D'Bll.(iliNklefeq,pvee,rii,ic4 W. P. Andrew, Ef, q.,
chairmau,4 the (board. otdireeters, presided.
The advertisemen,t calling the shareholders toge-
ther having been read,
The CHAIRAtAN said that on the last occasion of
their meeting he had to state to them the numerous
difficulties by which they were surrounded, but now
he was happy to say that they had almost entirely
subsided. The funds in the hands of the Secretary
of State in Council for India amounted to £600,000
paid up, so that it would not he necessary to issue
any more new shares, or make any further calls on
the proprietors. As to the Scinde Railway it had
now been open little more than a year, and yet it had
nearly doubled its receipts, which amounted in the
aggregate to as much as the East Indian line, the
Great Indian Peninsula, or any of the leading lines
of India. (Hear, hear.) The result of its working
was not only most creditable to the officers of the
company,but was in theend sure to yield a profitable
return to the shareholders of the company. (Hear.)
4-lie letter of Sir H.Pottinger on the scheme, and the
advantages which must be conferred on India by the
harbour of Kurrachee, had been already pointed
out ; and the late Sir Charles Napier, conqueror o f
Scinde, added his willing testimony to the vast im-
portance of such a line of communication. To these
opinions was added that of the present Governor of
Bombay, Sir Bartle Frere, and they would.see that
in the course of the last eight months they had nearly
doubled the amount of their traffic, and were still
steadily and surely increasing it. In the present cir-
cumstances there was one object most interesting not
only to the company but to the Government and the
people of this country, and that was the supply of
cotton. By a report which he had seen from the
Governor of the Punjaub, forty-four millions of
pounds of cotton were produced in that locality
within the last year, and yet, owing to a want of
communication, only eight thousand pounds' worth
reached England. But that state of things was
greatly improved, for he found that from Scindo
alone cotton to the value of £112,000 had been sent
to this country from Scinde alone, and he knew that
cotton grown in the neighbourhood of Kotree was
equal to any ever sent from America. (Hear, hear.)
All they wanted to extend trade was agency, and
not only would the line be benefited by the transit
of cotton, but indigo, silk, flax, and even tea and
sugar, would increase the profits of the railway.
There would also be in course of time a regular ex-
port of salt and saltpetre; so that all the principal
articles produced in great quantities in Scinde,
would find their way to England in the shortest
time possible. He eulogised the services and abili-
ties of their resident chief engineer, Mr. John Brun-
ton, who was present on the occasion, and would
give every explanation which the shareholders
might require, either with respect to the line itself,
or the Indus steam flotilla, with which it was con-
nected. So great wero the improvements lately
effected, that they had now a bi-monthly communi-
cation between Karrachee and the Punjaub ; and
the steamer Stanley, though not so speedy in her
sailing as they should wish, yet yielded the com-
pany very excellent profits in her trips from Mortree
to Moultan. There were many advantages which
this railway conferred on the particular portion of
India through which it traversed, but he did not
intend to detain the meeting by entering into de-
tail, and should therefore conclute by moving the
adoption of the report.

Sir T. HERBERT MADDOCK, Deputy-Chairman,
seconded the motion.

Mr. BRUNTON, chief engineer of the company,
explained the manner in which the lines were con-
structed, and assured the proprietors that the in-
crease of the traffic since their opening was really
astonishing, and he had no doubt that before very
long the line would have to be doubled. It was
wonderful to see the enthusiasm with which the
natives hailed the opening of this line. (Hear.)
The report was then put, and carried unanimously.
Colonel HILL complained that the original esti-
mate for the line was £soo,ooo,:whereas it amounted
to £700,000, and the original capital extended to
£1,500,000. In the report dated Dec., 1861, it was
held out that the traffic would be greatly increased,
but it since appeared, by a petition to the Indian
Government, that goods conveyed by railway were
so much injured by theft and carelessness that the
traffic was greatly damaged. He wished to have
some explanations on this subject, especially as the
traffic had greatly increased, and these irregulari-
ties, if not checked,:must deteriorate their property.
(Hear, hear.) Altogether, he though the proprietors
ought to be furnished with a more detailed account
of the receipts and expenditure of the company,
especially of the latter ; and he wished also to know
whether, if the line did not pay, the deficiency
would have to be made up out of the guarantee fund
of 5 per cent. payable by the Government.
The CHAIRMAN reminded the gallant officer that
the estimates originally proposed were made by
Lieut. Chapman on behalf of the Government, and
the
ywere not responsible for the errors
whichbeen committed by him. If they were
co company
n
misled it was from official data, and not by any one
shown a great anxiety to do the best they
connected with the company. Their officers had
always
could, and certainly in their management the result
bad proved they were entirely correct. The railway
did pay its working expenses, so that the 5 per cent.
would not be touched at all, and an account had
been already opened with the Government on the
subject with the best results to the proprietors.
With respect.to charges made in the alleged petition
of the natives alluded to by the galiant officer, they
were entirely unfounded, because so great was the
traffic that people had to be kept out of the trains,
in many instances absolutely by force, so great was
the anxiety to travel by the trains.
Mr. BRUNTON explained with regard to the
works that they suffered very little by the mon-
soons, and in no case had the masonry employed in
of the line been at all injured.
tThehe present yeaconstructionr
or
ro
destroyedease had any Was the wettest that had occurred
since Seinde became a British province ; but in
a single Water interfered with their traffic
bridge
on the line.
The CHAIRMAN next proposed to convert or con-
solidate Delhi railway shares upon which the full
amount of £2O had been already paid, into Delhi
Railway Capital Stock, and to authorise the direc-
tors to pursue a similar course in future.
Colonel HILL having made an explanation with
regard to his former observations, and expressed his
utmost confidence in the chairman and directors,
the resolution was put and unanimously adopted.
Thanks were then returned to the chairman and
directors, and the proceedings closed.