be corrected. Yet in Joseph's well, the partition of rock be- tween the pit and the passage way, and the uniform inclination of the latter, seem to have been ascertained with equal precision as if the whole had been constructed of cut stone on the surface. Was the pit or the passage formed first, or were they simultaneously carried on, and the excavated masses from both borne up the latter 1 The extreme thin- ness of the partition justly excited the astonishment of M. Jomard, whose account of the well is inserted in the 2d volume of Memoirs of Napoleon's great work on Egypt. It is, according to M. Jomard, but sixteen centimetres,, or about six inches, thick ! It must have required singular care to, leave and preserve so small a portion, while excavating the rock from both sides of it. It would seem no stronger, in proportion, than sheets of pasteboard placed on edge, to support one end of the stairs of a modern built house, for it must be borne in mind, that the massive roof of the spiral passage next the well, has nothing but this film of rock to support it, or to prevent such portions from falling as are loosened by fissures,, or such as from changes in the direction of the strata, are not firmly united to the general mass. But this is not all ; thin and insufficient as it may seem, the bold designer has pierced it through its whole extent with semicircular openings, to admit light from the well. " Opinions respecting the date of this well are exceedingly various. Pococke thought it was built by a vizier named Joseph, 800 years ago ; other authorities more generally attribute it to Saladin, the intrepid defender of his country against the hordes of savages, who, under the name of Crusaders, spread rapine and carnage through his land. His name was Yussef (Joseph). " By the common people of Egypt, it has long been ascribed to the patriarch of that name, and then- traditions are often well founded. Van Sleb, who visited Egypt several times in the 17th century, says some of the people in his time thought it Avas digged by spirits ; and he adds, " I am almost inclined to believe it, for I cannot conceive how man can compass so wonderful a work." Some writers believe this well to have been the work of a more scientific people than any of the comparatively modern possessors of Egypt — in other words, they think it the production of the same people that built the Pyramids, and the unrivalled monuments of Thebes, Dendarah, and Ebsamboul. " Lastly, Cairo is supposed by others, to occupy the site of Egyptian Babylon, and this well is considered by them as one of the remains of the ancient city. Amidst this variety of opinion respecting its origin, it is certain that it is every way worthy of the ancient mechanics of Egypt, and in its magnitude exhibits one of the prominent features which characterize all their known productions. "Why was this well made oblong ? Its designer certainly had his reasons for it,. May not this form have been intended to light more perfectly ihe interior, by sooner re- ceiving and longer retaining the rays of the sun? With what point of the compass its longest sides coincide, has not, that we are aware, been recorded. Should they prove to be in the direction of the rising and setting sun, the reason suggested may possibly be- the true one." PRELIMINARY ESSAY. 5 To complete this notice of wells, it may be added that in our own country, ac- cording to Mr. Flint, ancient wells have been found. " From the highest point on the Ohio, to St. Charles on the Missouri, and far up the Upper Mississippi and Missouri, the more the country is explored and peopled, and the more its surface is penetrated, not only are there more mounds brought to view, but more incontestible marks of a nu- merous population. Wells artificially walled, different structures of convenience or de- fence, have been found in such numbers as no longer to excite curiosity." For a long period, the only mode of raising water from wells, was by letting down vases or buckets into them by a cord, but gradually the pulley and windlass succeeded, and even irrigation in Eastern countries, upon which the success of their agriculture depends, was carried on by water thus raised from wells, and borne by laborers to the field. The excessive labor and inconvenience of this practice, led to the formation of vast tanks for the collection of water, from which it might be conducted in open channels to the points proposed. In comparison with some of these