It is deserving of notice, as one of the many proofs which the records of antiquity afford of the similarity of the results of human thought in all ages, and of the truth of the Wise Man’s saying, that “there is nothing new under the sun,” that the ancient Egyptians appear to have had the same conceptions of the solid of stability that were present to the mind of the modern Engineer of the Eddystone Lighthouse. In the admirable work recently published by Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson on the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians, he gives, in the first volume of his second series, at page 253, a wood-cut, shewing the figure of the deity Pthah, under the symbol of stability, according to Egyptian conceptions. This symbol so closely and strikingly resembles the general appearance of the Eddystone, that I willingly give it a place in the text, (No. 1) denuded, however, of the arms and head-dress of the deity whom it shrouds. * * * * * In applying these general notions to the design of a Tower for the Skerryvore Rock, I was, of course, guided by numerous circumstances, which modified my views and produced the individual form of Tower which I have adopted. Since the days of Smeaton, when his magnificent Tower was lighted by common candles, the application of optical apparatus to Lighthouses has greatly altered the state of the case; and the improvement of the system in modern times has, in most instances, rendered a greater altitude of Tower desirable, in order to extend, as much as possible, the benefit of a system capable of illuminating the visible horizon of any Tower which human art can reasonably hope to construct. In the particular case of the Skerryvore, also, the great distance of the outlying rocks (some of which, as will be seen from the chart, are 3 miles right seaward of the Lighthouse) concurs with the improvement of the Lights, in making it desirable that the Tower should be of considerable height, and that the light should command an extensive range. It was, therefore, from the first consideration of the subject, determined that the Light should be elevated about 150 feet above high water of spring tides, so as to illuminate a visible horizon of not less than 18 miles of radius; and, after much deliberation, and a full consideration of the infrequency of communication with the proposed Lighthouse from the great difficulty of landing on the Rock, and the consequent uncertainty of keeping up the supplies, I found that, for the convenient accommodation of the Lightkeepers and the suitable stowage of the stores, a void space of about 13,000 cubic feet would be required. These elements being fixed, the general proportions of the Tower came next to be considered. * * * * *