Mr. Kipling has assured us in one of his songs
that the customs and conventions of the building trade arc by no means things of yesterday or the day before. But perhaps even he will be surprised to discover how com- pletely they were in use 3,000 years ago. It has been discovered that inside the innermost shrine of the tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen the work at the back and in the dark corners has been badly scampcd. In one place, for instance, a whole row of gilt vultures' have been put facing the wrong way round, and in another the pieces of the shrine have been fitted together wrongly. We may confidently believe that when the inevitable hilt came in, " To men's time fixing and making good six rows gilt vultures," the court officials, busy with the ceremonial for the new reign, passed it without a query, heaving only the customary sigh at the exorbitant cost of building.
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