a divinity worshipped by the ancient Egyptians at Memphis, namely, an ox, having certain exterior marks. The soul of Osiris was supposed to subsist in the body of this animal. "A white spot," says Pliny, "resembling a crescent, on the right side; and a lump under the tongue, were the distinguishing marks of Apis." When a cow, therefore, which was thought to be struck with the rays of the moon, produced a calf, the sacred guides went to examine it, and if they found it conformable to this description, they announced to the people the birth of Apis.

"Immediately," says Aelian, "they built a temple to the new god, facing the rising sun, according to the precepts of Mercury, where they nourished him with milk for four months. At the expiration of this term, the priests repaired in pomp to his habitation, and saluted him by the name of Apis. They then placed him in a vessel magnificently decorated, covered with rich tapestry, and resplendent with gold, and conducted him to Nilopolis, singing hymns, and burning perfumes. There they kept him for forty days. During this space of time women alone had permission to see him, and saluted him in a particular manner. After the inauguration of the god in this city, he was conveyed to Memphis with the same retinue, followed by an innumerable quantity of boats sumptuously decked out. There they completed the ceremonies of his inauguration, and he became sacred to all the world. Apis was superbly lodged, and the place where he lay was mystically called the bed.

There was a mysterious term fixed for his life. "Apis," says Pliny, "cannot live beyond a certain number of years. When he has attained that period they drown him in the fountain of the priests; for it is not permitted to let him prolong his life beyond the period prescribed for him by the sacred books." When this event happened he was embalmed, and privately let down into the subterraneous place destined for that purpose; after which the priests announced that he had disappeared; but when he died a natural death before this period arrived, they proclaimed his death, and solemnly conveyed his body to the temple of Serapis. Huet, bishop of Avranches, has endeavoured to prove that Apis was a symbolical image of the patriarch Joseph, and has supported his opinion with all his erudition. Mr. Bryant apprehends that the name Apis was an Egyptian term for father; that it referred to the patriarch Noah; and that the crescent which was usually marked on the side of the animal was a representation of the ark.