cus Maximus at Rome. In the fifth century, it
was thrown down by the barbarians, and lay in pieces upon the ground,
until Sixtus V., in 1588, had it raised upon the square, before St.
John's church of the Lateran, thence called the _Lateran obelisk_. It is
beautifully adorned with sculpture; its weight is 13,000 cwt.; its
height, exclusive of the pedestal, 140 feet; with the pedestal, 179
feet. Several others have been erected by succeeding popes.

REMOVAL OF AN OBELISK BY FONTANA.

The following curious account of the removal of the obelisk in the
Circus Vaticanus to the centre of St. Peter's square, by Domenico
Fontana, is extracted from Milizia's life of that famous architect. It
shows plainly that the Egyptians must have attained great skill and
perfection in mechanics and engineering, to have been able to quarry out
obelisks at least a third larger, and convey them often several hundred
miles, to the places where they erected them.

"Sixtus V. was now desirous of raising in the centre of the square of
St. Peter's the only obelisk which remained standing, but partly
interred, near the wall of the Sacristy, where was formerly the Circus
of Nero. Other pontiffs had had the same wish, but the difficulty of the
enterprise had prevented the execution.

"This obelisk, or pyramid, is of red granite, called by the ancient
Romans, Marmor Thebanum (Theban marble), on account of having been
worked near Thebes, in Egypt, whence it was transported to Rome in the
time of Caesar. Of the immense number in Rome, this is the only one
remaining entire; it is without hieroglyphics, 84 feet high, 8 feet 6
inches wide at the base, and 5 feet 6 inches at the top. One cubic foot
of this granite weighs about 160 pounds; so that the whole weight of the
obelisk must be somewhat less than 759,000 lbs. Of the manner in which
the Egyptians and Romans moved these enormous masses we have no idea,
and so many centuries having elapsed since such a thing had been done,
this proposition of Sixtus V. was considered so novel, that a general
assembly was called of all the mathematicians, engineers, and learned
men from various parts of Europe; and, in a congress held by the pope,
more than 500 persons presented themselves, bringing with them their
inventions; some with drawings, some with models, others with writings
or arguments.

"The greater number were for removing it by means of an iron carriage
and thirty-two levers. Others invented a