"To adduce the foregoing example--the number 22, which the Italian calls _venti-due_, a Frenchman pronounces _vingt-deux_, and an Englishman _twenty-two_, though all three write them just alike. It is in this manner that the universality of the Chinese language extends only to the written character, and that the natives of the two extremities of the empire, who read the same books, and understand each other perfectly on paper, are all but mutually unintelligible in speech. The roots, or original characters of the Chinese, are only two hundred and fourteen in number, and might, indeed, be reduced to a much smaller amount by a little dissection and analysis. These are combined with each other to form other words, or express other ideas, very much in the same way that the individual Arabic numerals are combined to express the infinite varieties of numbers. By a species of analogy, they may be called the alphabet of the language, with the difference that exists between an alphabet of ideas, and an alphabet of sounds."[17] When the Chinese wish to write a European proper name, they have recourse to a contrivance which in some respects approaches the phonetic hieroglyphics of ancient Egypt. The Chinese characters when thus employed do not become alphabetic, but represent the entire syllable or sound which they express in ordinary use. Thus, if we suppose A, B, C, to stand respectively in the place of three Chinese characters, intended to give the name _Maria_, the mode would be thus-- +-+ |A| _Ma_ Jasper |B| _Li_ Profit |C| _Ya_ Second in rank.[17] +-+ [17] See Klaproth's Examen, etc., p. 25. In ancient Egypt, two modes of writing were practised, namely, the _common_ and the _hieroglyphic_. There were several kinds of _common_ characters, and also, as it would appear, of _hieroglyphics_. Clemens of Alexandria distinguishes from both the _hieratic_, which was used by the sacred registrars. The ancient Mexicans employed pictorial writing; and of this nature we may consider the Bayeux tapestry, representing the chief incidents of the invasion of England by William I. Savages often give information to their friends, or convey their wishes, by cutting rude figures on the bark of trees, the meaning of which is at once understood by every individual of the tribe.