Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, Vol. 18: Peru Primates
Peruvia architecture. Remains of antient Peruvian buildings are dispersed over the western parts of Sough America, from the equator to 16 8. Lat.. Especially over the Montaiia. The are characterised by simplicity. Symmetry. And solidity. Here are no columns, pilasters, or arches, and the buildings exhibit a singular uniformity and a complete want of all exterior ornaments. The great read of the Incas. Which runs from Quito to Cuzco and the table-land of the Desaguadero. Is made of enormous masses of porphyry, and it is still nearly peifect in several parts of the Montana. Humboldt obtained an antient peruvian cutting instrument. Which had been found iii a mine not tar from Cuzco: the material consisted of 94 parts of copper and 6 of tin. A composition which rendered it hard enough to be used nearly like steel With instruments made of this material the Peruvnins cut the enormous masses of which their buildings are composed. Some of the buildings near Cuzco contain stones 40 feet long, 20 feet Wide, and nearly 7 feet thielt. These stones aic fitted together With great skill, and. As it was supposed, with out cement. But Humboldt discovered in some ruins a dim layer of cement. Consisting of gravel and an argillaceous earth; in other edifices. He says, it is composed of bitumen. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
