on. This was
none other than the extraordinary Dr. Thomas Young, the demonstrator of
the vibratory nature of light.

Young's specific discoveries were these: (1) That many of the pictures
of the hieroglyphics stand for the names of the objects actually
delineated; (2) that other pictures are sometimes only symbolic; (3)
that plural numbers are represented by repetition; (4) that numerals are
represented by dashes; (5) that hieroglyphics may read either from
the right or from the left, but always from the direction in which the
animal and human figures face; (6) that proper names are surrounded by
a graven oval ring, making what he called a cartouche; (7) that the
cartouches of the preserved portion of the Rosetta Stone stand for the
name of Ptolemy alone; (8) that the presence of a female figure after
such cartouches in other inscriptions always denotes the female sex; (9)
that within the cartouches the hieroglyphic symbols have a positively
phonetic value, either alphabetic or syllabic; and (10) that several
different characters may have the same phonetic value.

Just what these phonetic values are Young pointed out in the case of
fourteen characters representing nine sounds, six of which are accepted
to-day as correctly representing the letters to which he ascribed them,
and the three others as being correct regarding their essential or
consonant element. It is clear, therefore, that he was on the right
track thus far, and on the very verge of complete discovery. But,
unfortunately, he failed to take the next step, which would have been to
realize that the same phonetic values which were given to the alphabetic
characters within the cartouches were often ascribed to them also when
used in the general text of an inscription; in other words, that the
use of an alphabet was not confined to proper names. This was the great
secret which Young missed and which his French successor, Jean Francois
Champollion, working on the foundation that Young had laid, was enabled
to ferret out.

Young's initial studies of the Rosetta Stone were made in 1814; his
later publication bore date of 1819. Champollion's first announcement of
results came in 1822; his second and more important one in 1824. By this
time, through study of the cartouches of other inscriptions, Champollion
had made out almost the complete alphabet, and the "riddle of the
Sphinx" was practically solved. He proved that the Egyptians had
developed a relatively comple