From Alan Sherwood
In answer to John Hinde’s query about what future generations might make of
the hundreds of millions of toilet bowls we leave behind us
(Letters, 5 September p 57),
I can do no better than recommend David MacAulay’s humorous
Motel of the Mysteries.
The story concerns a latter-day Howard Carter who unearths a 20th-century
motel room and theorises on the purpose of the “sacred urn”. Indeed, he suggests
a musical purpose, but not for the bowl, rather the “music box” above it. This
is played by turning the handle to release water.
The picture of his wife modelling the “sacred collar” supposedly worn by the
priests is hilarious.
Melbourne
