The absence of the Arch in all the Ruins of America will, also, identify those ancient cities with a nation having a Knowledge of, and contemporaneous with, Egypt,--for the Arch is not to be found in the cities of the Nile--nor was it at Sidon or Tyrus. The Arch was invented by the Greeks, but seldom practised by them, as they did not think it graceful,--the Romans did, and consequently used it upon nearly every occasion. Not only does the absence of the Arch point out Egypt as a contemporaneous nation with the builders in America, (this is omitted by Mr. Stephens) but the manner of forming their ceilings is distinctly imitated at Ocosingo, Palenque, and Uxmal:--for the ceilings there are formed by stones lapping over each other (like reversed steps) till they reach a centre, or such small distance from each other, that a single stone will bind them. At Uxmal the ceiling is smooth-surfaced, like a pyramidal, or gable-end ceiling. In vol. ii., p. 313, he says, "The ceiling of each corridor was in this form. [Described above.] _The builders were evidently ignorant of the principles of the Arch_; and the support was made by stones lapping over as they rose, as at Ocosingo," &c. It will be remembered that at Palenque, the principal part of the architectural ornaments are of _stucco_ and as "hard as stone." "The whole front [of the Temple] was covered with _stucco_ and _painted_." The reader who may be familiar with descriptions of the wonders of the Nile by Legh, Wilkinson, and Belzoni, will recognise at once that "painted stucco" is also Egyptian:--but, this comparison is avoided by Mr. Stephens; as, also, the following artistical fact and analogy, which is found at Memphis and other cities of Egypt--viz., "On the top of one [_i. e._ stucco figures at Palenque] _are three hieroglyphics_ SUNK IN THE STUCCO!" The following will not serve to support his conclusions. "And the most radical difference of all is, the Pyramids of Egypt are complete in themselves: the structures in this country [America] were erected to serve as _the foundations of buildings_. There is no pyramid in Egypt _with_ a Palace or Temple upon it, [would he have it on an apex?]--there is no pyramidal structure in this country _without_."