How Were The Pyramids Built

Wonder is often expressed at the ability of the engineers oL ancient Egypt to construct tlie great pyrííüids at Gizeh. According to one estímate, no less than 100,000 men must have been employed, during a period of twenty years, to build the largest of these pyramids. It has also been assumed that the ancients possessed immense machines which could hardly be matched in our day. At a recent meeting of the Philosophical society in "Washington, Mr. J. E. Watkins read an ilustrated paper on this subject, and showed how the great pyramids could have been erected without the use of complicated machines, and without the employment of an enormous force of workmen. The principie employed by the pyramid-builders, according to Mr. Watkins, was that of the inclined plane. By banking up the structure with earth, the builders were able to carry the great stone blocks to. the summit with the aid only of levers and pry-bars. Afterward the earth was removed and the ground leveled.