The Great Pyramid.

treating this , and subsequent divisions of the subject , the writer is anxious to express his indebtedness to Professor Piazzi Smyth , for the valuable discoA-eries he made while prosecuting his researches in the Great Pyramid , and Avill not fail to make use of some of the valuable information Avhich that author has given to the Avorld , first in " Life and Work at the Great Pyramid , " 3 vols ., 1867 ; and finally in the 3 rd edition , 1877 , of " Oui' Inheritance in the Great Pyramid . " We musthowever , premisefor the information of the readerthat all the

measure-, , , ments in connection with this wonderful structure will be indicated by the Great Pyramid inch ( unless otherwise stated ) , Avhich is half a hair ' s breadth longer , or j ^ y th part longer than the British standard inch . This may appear an unimportant quantit y ; but it forms an important item in the measurement , AA-hen considered in connection with the spanning of the sun ' s distance . THE GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION of the Great Pyramid is a remarkable feature

, worthy of note . " In the midst of the land of Egypt , " and " in the border thereof . " This description may excite , in the sceptic , a feeling repugnant to our \ , vishes ; a minute examination of the locality in Avhich the Great Pyramid is situate will , however , go to prove the severe beauty of Isaiah ' s statement . What is known as the Delta land , of LoAver Egypt , forms the sector of a circle . This open-fan shaped land , Avith the Great Pyramid erected on its southern apex , gives a peculiar distinctiveness to its

position . Whether the soil carried CIOAVU by the Nile , in its course , has changed the land surface of the Delta of Egypt , or not , during the past 4 , 000 . years , it is not in our province here to determine ; but it certainl y appears remarkably appropriate that a Delta-shaped monument , like the Great Pyramid , should have been erected on the southern apex of land distinguished by the same particular form as that Avhich characterised the building . Again , let a line be drawn through the centre of the Delta

of Egypt , due north and south , and on its southern apex will be found the Great Pyramid , establishing its identity with the " Pillar " named by Isaiah . On this subject we may , however , give the testimony of one of the first Hebraists of the day , Doctor Moses Margoliouth , who , after pointing out the mistake of our translators in rendering the word " MATZAVBHAH , " " Pillar , " concludes by stating that " we consider Professor Piazzi Smyth justified in his considering the word ' MATZATBHAH , ' in Isaiah xix . 19 ,

to mean a PXIJAMID . " In connection with this fact , is it not also very singular , to say the least , that this , the largest pile of masonry in the world , should be erected not only in the centre of the habitable land portion of the globe , but on a meridian where there is more land surface , and less sea , than in any other meridian ? No wonder that it should be regarded " as essentially marked by nature as a PRIME MERIDIAN for afi nations measuring their longitude from , or for that modern cynosure , ' the unification of longitude . '"

The happy choice of the Architect , in his selection of a site for this great symbolic monument , on the northern edge of the Gheeza Hill , on the border of the Lybian desert , is manifest to every Pyramid student . The amount of labour expended in reducing some hundred of acres of the hill ' s crest , in order to obtain a solid rock-bed foundation for such an immense building , that covers of itself some thirteen and a half acres , and is computed to ka \* e weighed over five million tons , will indicate the magnitude of this stupendous work . The completion of the levelling of the crest of the hill brings us to

the first scientific , lesson , —namely , the ground plan of the Great Pyramid , with its SQUARE BASE , giving four truly oriented sides , facing due north , south , east , and Avest . THE ORIENTATION of this Delta-shaped building is not an accidental pointing marked by the uncertainty of the magnetic needle ; but fixed with astronomical certainty . It has been tested b y the most advanced mathematical instruments , and the result is , that it has been pronounced to be the nearest masonified approach to exact orientation extant .

The base-side length of the Great Pyramid is 9 , 131-05 inches , —divide by 25 , and we then reduce the number into 365-242 cubits , — -which will faithfully represent the days in a solar year ; and if the base-sides are added together , the fractional parts Avill supply the extra day , for what is generally known as " leap year . "