PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
430 . TROPICAL NATURETheThere is one other striking example of a higher phase ofdevelopment in science and the arts being succeeded by alower phase, which is in danger of being forgotten because ithas been made the foundation of theories which seem wildand fantastic, and are probably in great part erroneous. Iallude to the Great Pyramid of Egypt, whose form, dimensions,structure, and uses have recently been the subject ofelaborate works by Professor Piazzi Smyth. Now the admittedfacts about the pyramid are so interesting and so apposite tothe subject we are considering, that I beg to recall them toyour attention. Most of you are aware that this pyramidhas been carefully explored and measured by successiveEgyptologists, and that the dimensions have lately becomecapable of more accurate determination owing to the discoveryof some of the original casing-stones, and the clearing awayof the earth from the corners of the foundation, showing thesockets in which the corner-stones fitted. Professor Smythdevoted many months of work with the best instruments, inorder to fix the dimensions and angles of all accessible partsof the structure : and he has carefully determined -these by acomparison of his own and all previous measures, the bestof which agree pretty closely with each other. The resultsarrived at are1. That the pyramid is truly square, the sides being equaland the angles right angles.2. That the four sockets on which the four first stones ofthe corners rested are truly on the same level.3. That the directions of the sides are accurately to thefour cardinal points.4. That the vertical height of the pyramid bears the sameproportion to its circumference at the base as the radius of acircle does to its circumference.Now all these measures, angles, and levels are accurate,not as an ordinary surveyor or builder could make them, butto such a degree as requires the very best modern instrumentsand all the refinements of geodetical science to discover anyerror at all. In addition to this we have the wonderful perfectionof the workmanship in the interior of the pyramid,
vn THE ANTIQUITY AND ORIGIN OF MAN 431the passages and chambers being lined with huge blocks ofstones fitted with the utmost accuracy, while every part ofthe building exhibits the highest structural science.In all these respects this largest pyramid surpasses everyother in Egypt. Yet it is universally admitted to be theoldest, and also the oldest historical building in the world.Now these admitted facts about the Great Pyramid aresurely remarkable and worthy of the deepest consideration.They are facts which, in the pregnant words of the late SirJohn Herschel, "according to received theories ought notto happen," and which, he tells us, should therefore be keptever present to our minds, since " they belong to the class offacts which serve as the clue to new discoveries." Accordingto modern theories, the higher civilisation is ever a growthand an outcome from a preceding lower state ;and it isinferred that this progress is visible to us throughout allhistory and in all material records of human intellect. Buthere we have a building which marks the very dawn ofhistory, which is the oldest authentic monument of man'sgenius and skill, and which, instead of being far inferior, isvery much superior to all which followed it. Great men arethe products of their age and country, and the designer andconstructors of this wonderful monument could never havearisen among an unintellectual and half -barbarous people.So perfect a work implies many preceding less perfect workswhich have disappeared. It marks the culminating point ofan ancient civilisation, of the early stagesof which we haveno trace or record whatever.ConclusionThe three cases to which I have now adverted (and thereare many others) seem to require for their satisfactory interpretationa somewhat different view of human progress fromthat which is now generally accepted. Taken in connectionof the ancient Greekswith the great intellectual powerwhich Mr. Galton believes to have been far above that of theaverage of any modern nation and the elevation, at onceintellectual and moral, displayed in the writings of Confucius,Zoroaster, and the Vedas, they point to the conclusion that,while in material progress there has been a tolerably steady
- Page 396 and 397: TROPICAL NATUREaway with the rapidi
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- Page 436 and 437: 420 TROPICAL NATUREprotoplasm up to
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- Page 466 and 467: IXTHE DEBT OF SCIENCE TO DARWIN 1Th
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- Page 492 and 493: INDEXABBOTT, C. C., on American pal
- Page 494 and 495: 478 INDEXBelt, Mr., on leaf-cutting
430 . TROPICAL NATURETheThere is one other striking example of a higher phase ofdevelopment in science and the arts being succeeded by alower phase, which is in danger of being forgotten because ithas been made the foundation of theories which seem wildand fantastic, and are probably in great part erroneous. Iallude to the Great Pyramid of Egypt, whose form, dimensions,structure, and uses have recently been the subject ofelaborate works by Professor Piazzi Smyth. Now the admittedfacts about the pyramid are so interesting and so apposite tothe subject we are considering, that I beg to recall them toyour attention. Most of you are aware that this pyramidhas been carefully explored and measured by successiveEgyptologists, and that the dimensions have lately becomecapable of more accurate determination owing to the discoveryof some of the original casing-stones, and the clearing awayof the earth from the corners of the foundation, showing thesockets in which the corner-stones fitted. Professor Smythdevoted many months of work with the best instruments, inorder to fix the dimensions and angles of all accessible partsof the structure : and he has carefully determined -these by acomparison of his own and all previous measures, the bestof which agree pretty closely with each other. The resultsarrived at are1. That the pyramid is truly square, the sides being equaland the angles right angles.2. That the four sockets on which the four first stones ofthe corners rested are truly on the same level.3. That the directions of the sides are accurately to thefour cardinal points.4. That the vertical height of the pyramid bears the sameproportion to its circumference at the base as the radius of acircle does to its circumference.Now all these measures, angles, and levels are accurate,not as an ordinary surveyor or builder could make them, butto such a degree as requires the very best modern instrumentsand all the refinements of geodetical science to discover anyerror at all. In addition to this we have the wonderful perfectionof the workmanship in the interior of the pyramid,
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