, 1873-12-21
The Oldest Symbol Known to tho
Human Race.
4 Sacred Emblem Among tho Ancient
Scandinayians, Tyriam, and
Hebrews.
Derivation Of the Dollar and
Pound Marks Thcrctroln,
IF. h. Fa,ccclkc in tho Il slankic for January.

trnnHltory hAttlfo OF oil material forms and the
difficulty with which mnn mnkos any permanent
impression upon them. It has talscn but Il
Thousand years or 60 TO oblternto the tnonu-
montal evdohcos Of son1o Of tho grcatest cities
Of tho world. Il fow nla,t.script-books
have lasted littlo lopgor. but timo at
lust tyrannizos over ali; walls crumblo. tho
ancient books 60 piccon1oal to rags, languages
die, the meaning Of words and symbols changes,
and it requires tho continuous nttcnsion OF man
to rcsca,o anything from tho scn Of oblivion that
continually cncronchos upon tho shores Of hia-
tory. 4 few lending idoas and words seom to
last forever but, as a rule, nil human Aa,ldiwork
TINT appeals to tho oyo disappears sooner or
lator; md whom we meet with any artificial OBJ
icct wl1ic, presents to our oyes form preserved
whilo cities lavo crumblcd and nationa havo
vanished, it sccn,B n now revelation of tho past.
But it is in tho unexpected discovery that faml-
lar words. idcas and objects hayo t. pedigree as
long as chronology itself, TINT We got. Perhaps
tito most vivid impression Of contact with tho
past and that shndowy hands seem to reach out
suddenly from somo mysterious atorchouse OF
dead and dusty things to clasp our own. For
tho great majority Of even educated people, such
ut, o1pcriouco as this may DO found in Tho listo-
syof
TIE MODERN poLLAR-NAEK, 8.
How little docs tho clork, shopkeepcr, or banker
who makes a hundred times q day tl,ia familiar
figure, imagine llo is making representations Of
tho oldest symbol known to tho human raco
ono wEicl, seems to hayo been clahoraed out Of
Tho mythologies Of all tho ancionts, passing
through n,l,nborless changes by tho outSrowth
of fanciful legends from the original idoas, hut
clearly traccab}o to the earliest races, uf whom
We got only shadowy. outlines in tho dnsk
Of antiquity symbol known to those
IT. t,S.stt rf,+rn o,tHF Fnrfi
"TliE PILLARS or 1fEnAcLEs,"
but as ancent to them as to liz. In comrarn-
lively modern times poetic fnncy Inns conferred
This iln1no on tho two mountains Tint stand at
tho entrance to the Moiliterranean,-Cnlpe 0n
tho north. and Abyla OIL tho south side Of tho
straits. But for more than 2,00D years before
The diversion Of tho namc. the form Of tho ma
tcriai symbol was Two pillars Of wood or stone.
But how came tho Two pillars to bo symbolized
in tho dolar-marl, aud what was their original
Tho Transfer of the title Pillars Of Hercules
to tho two mountains furnishes Mt lnast n local
beginning point in tho answer to tho first Of
those queries.
According to tradition, AIelcarth,is, q Tyrian
navigator and explorer, saiEgin search Of fublcl
Atlantis Or dimly rumorea Britain, had paused in
bay at tho Wcstcrl. extremity OF the land be-
yond tho straits, aud Hot up ttlero
TWO r1LLANS
as 4 memorial, building over them tho temple
Of Hercules. a colony Of Tyro was os-
sabliBhed there, and tho place grow iuto
Tho nncicnt GaGes, tho modern ,Cadiz: As
tho tcmplo increased in wealth through tho
vo.ivo otIorlngs Of passing yoyagers it bccomo
moro splendid, aud tho irst rlldo pillars Of stono
were replaced by others made Of precious 1notals
as late as The second ccntury this temple exist
ed in its greatest splcnlor. Flayius phostratns
w,o visited it., tcstilics to its magniticonce, md
in his life Of Apullonius OF Tyana gives the to-
lowing tlosc,iption Of tho pillars:
"'rho para i'll the temple wero composed Of
..5.1. IT,.
metals as to form but one color. They were
more thnu cnbit higll,of ouaarangular form,
ike unyils wloso capitals were inscribed with
characters neither Inaiau nor Egyptian, nor such
Is could DO decphcred. These pillars are tAe
chains aehich bind together III" earth and sea. Tho
Inscriptions OIL them Woo executed by HorculcB
In tho house OF tho parcu+ to prevent discord
hrislng among tho elements aud that friendship
being disturbed which thoy lad for each other"
Thcno pillars were tho nncleuA of tho auciont
Gates. and naturally becn'no tho metropolitan
olnbiem Of tho modern city, aB the horses head
WINS Of Carthage.
Leaving for tho present tho explanation Of the
original Specification OF tho two pillars. tho
story OF
THE1n DESCENT TO Ts
may ho briefly outlined ny follows:
When Charles Y. became Emperor OF Germany
ae adoptod IT. now cont oil imperial ar.nn, i'll which
Empire, tho pillars Of tho arms of Cadiz being
nnde supporters in the doyice,
At Seville was All imperial mint in which WAS
'oinea C standard dollar called in tho AIcdtor-
igures in tho doyice Oh tins coin being tho two
pillars nnd tho scro! twined about them, the
representation Of which with u pen carae to be
tho accepted symbol Of tho coin.
Melcartha's was Tyrlar, and tho pillars must,
therefore, have been known anu revereuccd as
4 SACRED SYMBOL IN TYRE
long before ho sot them up I'll the shores
Of tho Atlantic. Additional proof of this
may DO found in tho fact that on tho coins
nj Tyro were prominently depicted, with Bomo
supporters. ono on either side OF tho general de-
ylce, tho proportions corresponding nearly to
these described BY philostratus. Tho Tyrians,
though not tho first people to coin money, wore
coinage became Tho currency of tho world, and
tho two pillars with which il was stamped would
naturally bccomo the symbol for 1nonoy, 10 TINT
the adoption Of tho dollar-.nayA to designate tho
pillGr-pieccs OF Charles 7. was probably only
tho revival Of an ancient custom which ut first
referred to tho pillar-pieccs Of Tyre.
THE rouND-MAHE,
in all probability owes it's distinguishing fcnture,
though in this connection thoy came into Eng
land by another route tllan Spain. Tho Il
WAS tho initial lotter Of tho Latin Libra, u
balance, and was used to signify Il stalla-
srd M by which i. to weigh weigh. tie precious metals.
tho Roman rondo, Il pound. But in tho tino Of
uonry VIII. tho pound sterling which had been
nsed as standard for money waa superseded by
another pound, which had boce brought from
Cairo in Egypt to Troyes in Frauco during tho
Crusadcs. III the 200 years from tho eleventh
to tho cloae Of tho thirtconth century. tho xoal
10 rocapturo Jerslaa}om brought tho people Of
EuroDe moro III contact with enc!l other, produce
ing an interchange Of idcas and clstonH, though
the jealonates Of tho two or three most powerful
nations retarded tlcir Eouoral adoption. It waH
pfoAnbly owing TO tho anciont hatred OF Dritou
ind Gaul that this Iroycs Weight was not aoii-
nitoy adopted IN England until It was carried
there by Venetian golds!niths, about tlo yoar
lA9G. When it waa no adopted it was probably
distinguished iron, tho oil sterling or ''caster-
ling" pound by Kidding to tho pound tl-marA i two
btroIteh OF tho pen to represent tho pillars Of
Hercules,
THE COMMON .losEy-sYa7noL
In tho mediterranean Cities But M tho lower
arm of the l. was tho shortost, q symmetrical
written character could bio made moro easily
by changing The pillnra frolu tia perpendicular
10 tho horizontal. In handwriting, 1t il natural