the months" (Job 1, 1, 6). May this accursed hour stand, aye, ac cursed in the calendar" (Macbeth).

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou has made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet " (Psalm VIII, 4-6). "What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason, how infinite in faculties ! In form, and moving, how express and amiable ! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension how like a God! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals" (Folio of May).

ORIGIN OF SYMBOLIC MASONRY. I trace Masonry in its symbolism and its mysteries as far back as possible; first, in the primitive cyclopean architecture of the Cabiri; next, in the Aryan system of the level bricks; the great pyramid, for instance, is an Aryan system in which the interior structure symbolizes the heavenly temple of Osiris. Hellenic Greek architecture was Aryan (aided by Egyptian mysteries and civilization) in opposition to Turanian, Cyclopean, and Cabiric, or Pelasgic art. The Roman Colleges were Pelasgic, aided by the more refined style of the Dionysian artificers, who were Aryans, as were the Osirian and Dionysian Mysteries.

The Arcane Discipline sprung out of the eclectic Serapian Mysteries of the Ptolemies temp Euclid; and the Culdees of York were of this kind of religion, as was nearly all of the north, and also Ireland until nearly Norman times.

Anglo-Saxon Freemasonry. Here I stick to the text of the oldest Masonic MS., that it was of Egypto-Roman origin, a branch of the Osirian Mysteries, which was changed to orthodox Christianity.

The present system I place in the Oriental descent, brought hither by the Norman French during the Crusades. Probably the earliest Masonic seal in France, in the time of Charles Martel, was the, Saracen city of Neumes, Niomes, Nimes, in South France; altered in our MSS. of the sixteenth century to Marcus Graecus, who is mentioned in early ninth century, by the Arabian physician Mesne, and from whose MSS. Friar Bacon obtained the secret of gunpowder.

Of course, in all times and all countries, Mason's Marks afford a good argument and illustration.

JOHN YARKER, Manchester, Eng.

THE NILE AND THE EUPHRATES. In the published fragments of the Phaethon of Euripides, we find that the city of Aurora was situated on the plains through which the river Oceanus flowed, and the Egyptian account of the Nile is more particularly given by Pausanias, namely, that the Nile actually was the river Euphrates, which, after discharging into a lake or inland sea, reäppeared under that name in Upper Ethiopia. The fable had not ceased to obtain, even unto the thirteenth century, when Sir John Mandeville was informed: "This ryvere cometh rennynge from Paradys Terrestre, between the deserts of Ynde, and aftre, it smytt into londe and rennethe longe tyme many grete contrees undre erthe. And aftre, it gothe out undre an highe hille, that men clepen Alothe, that is between Ynde and Ethiope, the distance of five moneths journeyes fro the centree of Ethiope."

AARON'S ROD THAT BUDDED. A correspondent asks if the account of "Aaron's rod that budded " is mentioned in any work outside the Bible. We hardly divine just what he desires to know by his ques tion. The last half of the verse referred to (Numbers XVII, 8) reads: "The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds."

Just at this time we recall what Achilles said when he uttered his great oath in the presence of Agamemnon :

"I claim no supremacy, I dispute that of no man; I bear a subordinate and barren sceptre, not the budding rod of sovereignty. Yet by that sceptre I swear."-Herbert, in "Nimrod," Vol. I. p. 112.

"I will tell thee, and I will further swear, yea, by this sceptre, which will never bear leaves and branches, nor will bud again, after it has left its trunk on the mountain, for the axe has lopped it all around of its leaves and branches." — Buckley's trans. Iliad 1, l. 240. Whether Achilles had Aaron's rod in mind when he uttered his oath, or not, we cannot say, though some think so.

ALBIGENSES. (Vol. XI, p. 92). This is the name of a romanee by Charles Robert Maturin (1783-1824), published in 1814, in three volumes; a second edition in 1824. It was in great demand some fifty years ago. Second edition is bound three volume in one; pp. 735.

Maturin also was the author of Bertram, a tragedy, produced at Drury Lane in 1816, described by Sir Walter Scott as powerful."

QUESTIONS.

1. Who was the person that wrote the following stanza to an inquirer for the best proof of consubstantiation?

"Christ was the word that spake it,

He took the bread and brake it,

And what his word did make it,
That I believe and take it."

L.

2. Why are the moon's nodes in the almanacs called the Dragon's Head and the Dragon's Tail?

FARMER'S SON.

3. What is the English of the following quoted from Southey's "The Doctor" (page 27):

4.

"Vema whehaha yohu almad otemba twanbri athancod.”

What is the real meaning of the Hebrew word Azazel translated scapegoat "in Leviticus XVI, 8, 10, 26?

P. H. D.

5. We have read somewhere that some classical professor wrote and published a book claiming that the Grecian siege of Ilium was a war between the Medes and Persians; Persia was figured as Troy, Media as Europe, and Assyria as Asia. Can some reader give the author's name or title of his book?

T. H. S. 6. Who were the Solyma mentioned in the Iliad (v1, 227)? Also, who were the Solipses mentioned in various histories as cotemporary with Abraham, Lot, etc.?

66

LOGOS.

7. Some geometrician, a few years ago, announced an essay on the subject Hypothesis"; stating also that it would show the relation of the word etymologically to the word hypothenuse. Can any one give any information whether such essay has been published in any form ? THEON.

8. The letter M is said to have been formed from its resemblance to waves of water. Is there a recondite reason why that letter is the initial of so many words in Hebrew, Indian (Aryan), and some other languages?

9. Who is considered the firist Neo-Platonist?

IO.

To which of the Napoleons does the word especially apply as generally used?

11.

R. D. K.

ANDREW.

Napoleonic more
ANDREW.

Is a native and inhabitant of British, Central, or South Amer ica, considered an American?

DEWOLFE.

12. How does the "Day of Brahma," the "Great Year of the Egyptians," and the "Platonic Year" compare?

O.