Page:Atlantis - The Antediluvian World (1882).djvu/375

Rh on page 355 of the Arch of Las Monjas, Palenque. If now we look at the representation of the "Treasure-house of Atreus" at Mycenæ, on page 354—one of the oldest structures in Greece—we find precisely the same form of arch, filled in in the same way.

Rosengarten ("Architectural Styles," p. 59) says:

"The base of these treasure-houses is circular, and the covering of a dome shape; it does not, however, form an arch, but courses of stone are laid horizontally over one another in such a way that each course projects beyond the one below it, till the space at the highest course becomes so narrow that a single stone covers it. Of all those that have survived to the present day the treasure-house at Atreus is the most venerable."

The same form of arch is found among the ruins of that interesting people, the Etruscans.

"Etruscan vaults are of two kinds. The more curious and probably the most ancient are false arches, formed of horizontal courses of stone, each a little overlapping the other, and carried on until the aperture at the top could be closed by a single superincumbent slab. Such is the construction of the Regulini-Galassi vault, at Cervetere, the ancient Cære." (Rawlinson's "Origin of Nations," p. 117.)

It is sufficient to say, in conclusion, that Mexico, under European rule, or under her own leaders, has never again risen to her former standard of refinement, wealth, prosperity, or civilization.