Some Observations In Egypt.

chamber which had three tiers of columbaria ou the three sides , there being six in each tier on the side opposite the entrance , and space for four in a row at each end ; although at present only three were cut , leaving room for future bodies to be received . Each of the openings in this chamber has narrow , delicate , architrave mouldings of a Pompeian character , worked in plaster with thin consoles to support

the head mouldings . I found this to be the case in other tombs . From the accumulation of debris and [ collection of water , it was impossible to ascertain precisely the heights of the chambers ; but they must be about 11 feet 3 inches to the springing of the vault , and the vault itself rises 2 feet 6 inches , giving a total height of about 13 feet 9 inches . While at Alexandria , Professor Donaldson went of course

to see Pompey's Pillar ; and , on examining the base he was surprised to find that a number of boulders were placed irregularly under it . He was enabled to push a 5-feet rod through the fissures ; and , upon further examination , he found an opening large enough to admit his body . On entering it he ascertained , greatly to his astonishment , that the pillar rested upon a square block of stonein the centre

, , of smaller diameter than the base of the monument itself . The pillar stood upon a mound , 100 feet above the level of the surrounding country . He had asked Mr . Eous , the engineer to the railway , to examine it thoroughly ; in the hope that , if the pillar were in danger , some representation might be made to the Viceroy of Egypt , to take steps for its preservation . The circumstance of the pillar resting in the

manner he had stated was most extraordinary ; and it occurred to him that the block of stone to which he referred , as supporting the ivhole , might be the upper portion of another column or obelisk , imbedded in the ground . But whatever might be the hypothesis on the subject , the fact itself was most curious .

Fall Of The Central Tower And Spire Of Chichester Cathedral.

FALL OF THE CENTRAL TOWER AND SPIRE OF CHICHESTER CATHEDRAL .

Chichester has received a heavy blow , and England a warning . Tbe story must be told in full . Iu the autumn of 1859 it was determined , as a memorial of the late dean , Dr . Chandler , to remove the then existing choir fittings , and to open out the choir to the nave iu order to afford greater accommodation for the public at the cathedral services . This determination originated in a

bequest by the late dean of £ 2000 , for the decoration of the cathedral . To this bequest a further sum was added by public _ subscription , and a committee was formed for the administration of the fund , of which committee the dean and canons were ex officio members . Mr . Slater was the architect charged with carrying into effect the tvork thus undertaken . The prebendal stallsas they then existedwere

, , ranged against the piers which carried the north and south arches of the great central tower , upon which rose the spire to an altitude of 272 feet . The west end of the choir was formed by a return of the stalls ; the back of them , and so the limit of the choir , being as nearly as possible at the centre of the responds which carried the great western

arch of the tower . Thus the stalls concealed , as far as the western piers of the tower are concerned , about half of the inside faces of these two piers , to the height of the top of the stall canopies . Immediately at the back , i . e ., westward of the stalls , there was on either side of the entrance to the choir a stone staircase used for access to the organ gallery , and these staircases nearly concealed the remaining of the two

part piers on the inside , as the stalls did of the other part . The first bay of the nave was occupied by a stone arched screen , known as the Arundel shrine , the back or east wall of which inclosed the staircases , and touched the angle of each of the two great piers to which we are now referring . Upon the shrine was placed the organ . it , in factformed an gallery extending the

, organ across nave . The Arundel shrine was built in the fifteenth century . The piers themselves rose to a height of 45 feet , and carried semi-circular arches , both piers and arches being of Norman date . The crown of the arches was immediatel y below the vaulting of the cathedral , which is 68 feet from the floor of the . nave ; and above the vaulting , on each side of the tower , was visible a discharging arch of Pointed architecture .

springing from a mass of rubble walling at the angles , the discharging arches being fully three feet deep and of cut stone . The tower above belonged to the Geometrical period . The spire was added later , and the pinnacles ancl canopies around its base were of the end of the fourteenth century . Beturning to the base , the great Norman arches , visible

within the cathedral , were in good condition , and had been carefully constructed , the inner ribs , which were large and strong , having a through stone at about every fourth voussoir . The piers which carry these arches presented many marks of failure . Iu the two eastern piers these marks were chiefly confined to the upper part , but in the western they were much more numerous , particularly on the

south side of the south-west pier ; they appeared to have existed for a long time , some of them evidently for centuries ; and one great settlement , by which the south-west pier had become separated from the adjoining transept-wall , must have occurred soon after the tower was built , as the Early English string-course above it had been , with some ingenuitybrought to a straiht line where the stone courses

, g below were out of the true level . The south-west pier was separated by old fissures from the nave wall , nearly to thesame extent as from the transept ; and as regards the north transept , a similar separation of the north-west pier had occurred . The failure of the eastern piers iu these respects , although marked , was not so complete . Much of the stonework bore marks of calcination from the fire which destroyed

the cathedral at tbe end of the twelfth century . From a computation made a few days before the catastrophe , the weight borne by each one of the four piers amounted to 1416 tons , and the bearing surface of each pier was 83 feet superficial . The plan of re-arrangement determined upon was , to

retain the north and south stalls iu their old position aftertaking down and refitting them : but the return , or western stalls , organ gallery , and Arundel shrine , were to be done away with , in order to open the nave for the congregation . Very early in the preparation it was discovered that the tower piers were worse than had at first appeared . Many of these defects were coated over with whitewash , and the

removal of the woodwork disclosed others . Under these circumstances it was decided to take further professional advice upon their state , and Mr . Yarrow , civil engineer , was consulted . It appeared that in the north-west pier so considerable a fissure existed , that several parts in its height a 5-feet red could be entered for its ivhole length , and moved freely behind the facing ; and in the south-west pier one

angle , where the Arundel shrine abutted , was found to have been entirely cut away , and the corner of the pier was carried by a short oak lintel and one upright , and one raking oak shore . The respond of the great west arch against the south-west pier was cut away at the bottom , ancl at about 12 feet high , had burst off , and was hung to the wall by an iron strap ; the marble columns and the whole respond of the two nave arches abutting on tbe tower piers were fractured ,

and the nave arches themselves strained and crippled . Strong timber centres were then placed under the north , south , and west arches , and the work of refixing and replacing the stone separated from the north-west pier was taken in hand , at about the same time that the building up of a sound stone angle to the south-west pier , in place of the wooden shores , was commenced . This was during the past

summer , and , ultimately , the respond of the western arch was restored against the south pier , up to where it had been found cut or split off , and the whole east face of the northwest pier , with nearly half its north , and south sides , was refaced up to about 40 feet from the floor . The inner ribs of the two nave arches were also renewed . Later still , a small piece of facing near tbe top of the north-west pier was reset ,

and tho western caps of the south-east pier , which were broken and forced forward , and the joints opened to li-inch wide , were taken out , and new Portland stone caps inserted , and the shafts repaired for 7 or 8 feet below . The work to the western piers was finished in or before October last ; that to the south-east pier has been completed within the present month . Thc new work to these piers was built in lias mortar ; tbe old was taken out L . small pieces at a time . The bond was made as good as was practicable , the old core