life, but to incessant studies of the most laborious description. His knowledge of both of the two dialects of Tamil, in their history, structure, and genius, was simply unrivalled; and in order to gain the favour of Chanda Sahib, the Nawab of Trichinopoly, he learnt Persian and Hindustani in such an incredibly short space of time, and with such perfection, that the astonished prince at once appointed him as his Prime Minister, and gave him four broad townships for the support of his new station. During the forty-two years of Beschi's life in India, he composed twenty-four distinct works, besides numerous small pamphlets and poems. The labour which some of these works must have cost the writer may be imagined when it is considered that one was a Dictionary of the Tamil Language, another was a Portuguese, Latin, and Tamil Vocabulary, another was a Dictionary Tamil and French, several were systems of theology and controversial treatises, several were elaborate grammars, one was a novel, another was an inimitable satire (which has been translated by Mr. Babington into English, under the title of 'Guru Noodle,' and printed in London, 1822), and one, his greatest and most elaborate work, was a sacred poem called the 'Unfading Garland,' or Tembâvani,' which contains 3,615 tetrastichs, in thirty cantos, with a prose interpretation attached to every stanza. It is this last-mentioned work, in the author's own handwriting, which has been presented to the India Office Library by Sir Walter Elliot, and which is the subject of this notice.

The Tembâvani' is not only remarkable as being the production of a European pen, but in itself is a poem of wonderful excellence as regards its poetical conception, its structure, its style, its beauty of versification, and the vast erudition displayed in it. I am not aware of a poem, written by a European, in any of the languages of India, and acknowledged by Hindu pundits as a thoroughly classic production, save this one. Beschi found, on becoming intimately acquainted with South Indian literature, that the most celebrated folk-song of the Tamilians was the famous 'Râmâyanam' of Kamban, which treated of the exploits of another god than that worshipped by Christendom. He therefore set himself to composing, both in his character of missionary and of poet, an epic, of which the heroes were Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and her husband, in the hope that his poem would supplant the non-Christian epic in the favour of the South Indian public. With this aim in view, almost every adventure, achievement, and miracle recorded of Rama, is elaborately paralleled in Beschi's poem. Were it necessary, I could adduce extraordinary instances of this. In one part of the Râmâyanam,' for example, the flags on the towers are represented as flapping their gorgeous folds before the advent of the hero, as a warning to him, and as if to say, "Depart, depart!" In the 'Tembâvani,' on the other hand, the bannerets of the turrets of Palestine are represented by the poet as welcoming the Holy Infant from Egypt, quivering with wordless joy, and lightly waving their folds, as if to say, Come, come!" The following is my judgment of the Tembâvani,' taking that poem as a whole. The beauty of its versification is unparalleled in Tamil literature. As a poetical production, it ranks with the works of Tayumanavar, Tiruvalluvar, the authors of the 'Naladiyar,' the author of the 'Chintamani,' and Kamban. Higher praise can scarcely be accorded. Single passages in the writings of Tâyumanavar and Tiruvalluvar may surpass Beschi's best; but the 'Tembavani,' taken as a whole, is wonderfully poetical and intensely musical throughout. Even when the great Italian gets into metaphysics, and involves himself in abstruse controversial statements with reference to the attributes of the Deity, fate, and the origin of sin, his language is as vivid, and his periods as sonorous, as Milton's verse, when he rolls out merely a catalogue of Chaldaic names, and holds the reader amazed and entranced by the grandeur and magic of his thunderous rhythm.

66

I have been careful to ascertain the genuineness and authenticity of Beschi's manuscript volume in

the India Office Library. Before speaking of the book itself, I may be permitted to lay before the reader the history, as far as I can ascertain, of its discovery. After Beschi's death, the manuscript appears to have passed into the hands of Bangaru Naik, one of Beschi's disciples. It next passed into the hands of Luz Naik, son of Bangaru. In 1822, Muttuswami Pillei, then Tamil translator to the Government of Madras, undertook to collect materials for a life of Beschi, and visited the country adjacent to the towns of Madura and Trichinopoly, for the purpose of gathering, on the spot of Beschi's labours, trustworthy accounts of the great Italian's work and writings. At Avoor, twenty miles south of Trichinopoly, on the confines of the wild district under the rule of the Poligar of Poodoocottah, Muttuswami Pillei met Luz Naik, with his precious manuscript. Luz Naik was prevailed upon to bring the volume to Madras, to the well-known Tamil scholar, Mr. Ellis, the translator of the 'Kural.' Luz Naik was then induced to part with his treasure for the sum of 300 rupees, only 30%! After Mr. Ellis had taken a careful copy of the work, he presented the original to Muttuswami Pillei. Sir Walter Elliot, I fancy, errs in saying that, at the death of Mr. Ellis, Beschi's manuscript passed into the hands of Muttuswami Pillei. wami himself gives a different version of the story, in a paper of his on Beschi, contributed in 1840 to the Madras Journal of Literature and Science. What he says is, that the copy of the 'Tembâvani' which Mr. Ellis took from the original manuscript by Beschi himself, was purchased by Mr. Josiah Hudleston when Mr. Ellis died and his effects were put up to auction. But he says that Mr. Ellis, during his lifetime, presented him with the original MS. The book in the India Office Library is, undoubtedly, that discovered by Muttuswami, purchased by Mr. Ellis, and then given back to Muttuswami.

1. Almost the whole of the MS. is undoubtedly in the handwriting of Beschi,

2. It is written in a thoroughly European hand, and written so that, each letter being separated, it shall appear as nearly as possible as clear as print to the reader.

3. The title-page, besides the Tamil inscription, also in Beschi's own handwriting, bears his name and occupation in Portuguese, viz., By Father Beschi, Member of the Madura Mission. The Portuguese is written in an old-fashioned style, and the words are much blurred; but Beschi's signature stands out clear and distinct. 4. The MS., with the most insignificant exception, is complete.

1

This book bears, on a fly-leaf, the following memorandum by Sir Walter Elliot:-"This copy of the Tembâvani,' in the handwriting of Viramamuni himself, was obtained in the Madura district by the late Muttuswami Pillei for Mr. F. W. Ellis, at whose death it passed into the hands of Muttuswami Pillei, from whom I obtained it.-W. E., 1843.

"N.B. The first and last three leaves have been added by another hand."

The following memorandum has been added by Sir Walter Elliot fifteen years after:-" By a singular chance the remaining sheets of Beschi's MS. have come into my hands. A native Christian of Tanjore having some business with the Revenue Board, in which I was able to be of use to him, and to whom I showed this volume, told me he thought he knew where some leaves in the handwriting of Vira Mâmuni were preserved by a family in the Tanjore district as a memorial of the poet. On his return home, he sent me the accompanying leaves, which prove to be exactly the missing portion of the manuscript. Madras, March, 1858, WALTER ELLIOT."

Sir Walter Elliot's gift to the India Office in his honoured age, fourteen years after the above was written, is one of simply priceless value to the Dravidian scholar. During the late Congress of Orientalists the fact that the India Office possessed a copy, in Beschi's own handwriting, of the Tembâvani" happened to be mentioned in the hearing of a French Baron, who, some time ago, was the Governor of Karikal, near Pondicherry, and was one who had been not only long resident in Southern India, but also had always taken a deep interest in South Indian literature, and he immediately exclaimed, "Why, the Jesuits would give 2,000l. to-morrow for such a prize and relic!" Now as for the MS. itself. My careful scrutiny of it has not been thrown away. able to speak with almost absolute certainty of several important points connected with it, and I have discovered several interesting particulars relating to it. Of the manuscript-book, just as it stands, the following may be stated as the result of my examination:

I am

9. From an important letter, dated 1844, which I happily found unattached in the manuscriptbook, I came to the conclusion, together with the aid of internal evidence, that it must have been Muttuswami Pillei, who furnished eleven pages and two or three notes, which are now bound up with the MS., and that it was through the late Vedanayaga Shastri, the great Tamil Protestant poet of Tanjore, that the portions of Beschi's original 'Tembâvani,' at first missing from the MS. Muttuswami brought to Mr. Ellis, were handed over to Sir Walter Elliot. The reader should consult page 36 of Beschi's MS. There will be found Muttuswami's and Beschi's handwritings in curious juxta-position, and their several characteristics may be compared. In writing this paper, I have not consulted Sir Walter Elliot: he will doubtless be able to throw much light on several of my statements, and to judge if my conclusions are or are not warrantable. Muttuswami Pillei's handwriting is an example of beautiful Tamil penmanship; Beschi writes clearly, forming every letter distinctly, eschewing flourishes and mere ornamentation, and sacrificing elegance to perspicuity. I know no Tamil manuscript of the early part of the eighteenth century so thoroughly legible, and so nearly similar to the Tamil print of modern times, as this handiwork of Beschi's.

The India Office will doubtless preserve the precious prize it possesses with the greatest care and veneration. The manuscript is bound roughly in a common red cover, and the binder, probably a common Madras workman, seems to have had little idea of the worth of the paper he was handling, for he has cut the pages often so closely as to obliterate almost all traces of the headings of one of the padalams. This, however, is fortunately a very slight matter.

I may mention briefly, in conclusion, that there is a very rough etching extant, representing Beschi in his robes as a Guru. He appears as a tall, venerable man, with severe features and a flowing beard. In his right hand he grasps a book and a crucifix; in his left he holds a staff; and his feet are shod with thick wooden sandals. Behind him rise bleak mountains, one of which is crowned by a church. The policy of the Roman Catholic Church is clearly exemplified in its having sent to a semi-barbarous country, such as Southern India was then supposed to be, such enthusiastic missionaries and intellectual giants as Francis Xavier, Robert De Nobili, Constantine Joseph Beschi, and the Abbé Dubois. At another time, and in another place, it is my intention to draw attention to a sacred poem in Tamil by Beschi, which has never hitherto been translated, but which, in my

humble opinion, is quite unique of its kind, and remains as another memento of his extraordinary genius. ROBERT CHARLES CALDWELL.

Literary Gossip. LORD LYTTON is, we hear, engaged upon an important work in the nature of a romance in verse, or lengthy love-poem.

SOME time ago the Intelligence Department of the War Office thought of publishing an official, or rather a technical, account of the Ashantee Campaign for the use of military officers, and there was some probability that the task would be confided to Col. Home, who commanded the Royal Engineers, and was himself at the head of the sap throughout the expedition. We regret to hear that this idea has been relinquished; and we do not doubt that the service has lost what might have been a most useful publication.

M. CLERMONT GANNEAU has returned from Palestine, the year of leave granted him by the French Foreign Office having expired. He brings with him a cast of the 'Head of Hadrian,' with a quantity of notes, sketches, and inscriptions, which will be published by the Palestine Exploration Fund.

A TRANSLATION of Prof. F. A. Lange's

'Geschichte des Materialismus' has been

undertaken by Mr. Ernest C. Thomas, of Trinity College, Oxford, and a first instalment of it may be expected in the course of the ensuing year.

THE Committee appointed at the meeting of booksellers, held to discuss the question of discount to the public, to which we alluded in last week's Athenæum, has met, and the result appears to have been deemed satisfactory. No immediate action was resolved on, but it is intended to revive the subject shortly.

On the first of this month, Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge sold, at their rooms, the library of a well-known foreign collector. We quote the following items, with the prices realized-Augustinus de Civitate Dei, the second book printed in Italy at the Monastery of Soubiaco, 317. 10s.-Breviaire Nostre Dame, printed in 1587 at Paris, from the library of Henry the Third, with his devices and motto on the binding of N. Eve, 271. 10s.-Casa de Potentium ac Tenuium inter se Officiis, manuscript on vellum, in a curious perforated binding by N. Eve, with the arms of Henry the Second and the devices of his famous mistress, the beautiful Diane de Poitiers, 371.-The Household Expenses of the same Diane de Poictiers, "pour Souppers," in August, 1565, with her autograph signature, 201.Grolier's copy of Geyleri Navicula, with his name and motto, 301.-Evangelia, a specimen of P. Seguier's library, 201. 10s.-Gratiani Decreta, manuscript of the thirteenth century, on vellum, with twenty-eight miniatures in the early Saxon style, 491. 10s.-Heures a lusage de Rome, printed on vellum, in 1496, by Pigouchet, 751.-Hore in Laudem B. Virginis, Tory's first edition, 487. 108.-Manuscript Horæ, on vellum, with illuminations, 461. and 507-First Edition of La Fontaine's Fables, 231.-Oudry's Edition of the same, on large paper, 421. 108.-His Contes, in the edition of the Fermiers Généraux, 307, 10s.The Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre, with Freudenberger's plates, 327. 10s. A

-

beautiful Officium B. Virginis Secundum Ordinem Humiliatorum, written on vellum by an Italian scribe, with miniatures, 1027. An Officium B. Virginis, written on vellum, for the private use of Henry the Fourth, by C. Ruffin, 477.-An Office de la Vierge, dedicated to the Queen of France by the Jesuit Coton, and bound for her by Le Gascon, 251.-The first Aldine Poliphilo, 337-Royaumont, Histoire de la Bible, 437.-Seneca Opera, first edition, 321. 10s.-Thevet, Singularitez de la France Antarctique, 257.-An elegant Manuscript on vellum, containing "Prieres Saintes et Chretiennes pour Monseigneur," written by the famous caligrapher, Gilbert, so well known as the only book Louis the Sixteenth was allowed to retain whilst in prison, and which he gave to his gaoler, Vincent, a gift that proved fatal to the latter, as it caused him to be guillotined as a suspected Royalist, 827. The Elzevir Corneille, 41. The entire sale (comprising only 275 lots) brought 2,4147. 10s. 6d. MR. W. R. S. RALSTON, of the British Museum, is to lecture at the Royal Institution, next February, on Fairy Tales: their Origin and Meaning."

DR. PAUL GOLDSCHMIDT, a graduate of Göttingen University, and a pupil of Benfey and A. Weber, has been appointed by the Ceylon Government to collect and edit rock inscriptions, and to report upon the ruined cities of Ceylon.

WE learn from Lisbon that the Duke de Palmella has, with princely liberality, borne the expense of the Portuguese translation, which we mentioned some time ago, of Mr. R. H. Major's Life of Prince Henry the Navigator,' and that the revision of the translation by the Marquis de Sà da Bandeira, late Prime Minister of Portugal, is all but completed.

A FEW days ago, at Sheffield, the foundation-stone was laid of two new branch Free Libraries, which are intended for the accommodation of readers resident away from the centre of the town. The cost of them will be about 10,000/

THE Austrian Imperial Academy is about to publish an edition of the Latin Fathers under competent editors. Such a work will be of use to students, especially if brought out at a price that will enable persons living out of the way of large libraries to possess it for themselves. Even the Abbé Migne's edition of the Fathers has been of use in this respect, but it is not so trustworthy a work as we may now hope to receive.

WE understand that the average sale daily of Mr. Gladstone's pamphlet on the Vatican Decrees is 7,000 copies.

THE German Emperor has conferred the Order of the Crown upon Dr. S. Birch, in recognition of his exertions in connexion with the Congress of Orientalists, held in Sep

tember last.

standing his extreme sensitiveness, Hawthome was cheerful enough in his own home, which was always a happy one. His wife's gentle devotion her drawings are in Mr. Emerson's house, and she to him was fully reciprocated.... One or two of

was Miss Alcott's teacher.... Hawthorne's house is now the 'Wayside' boarding school for young ladies.... His grave is in the cemetery; 'Sleepy Hollow' its name is. One might fancy he had named it. He lies entirely desolate, forgotten () and neglected. The evergreen hedge is blighted, the grass dead, the hawthorn bushes planted st each corner have entirely disappeared but one; that stands dead and ghostly. There is nothing but a long mound, and a white stone marked 'Hawthorne.""

THE Third Part of the Palæographical Society's Publications, now being distributed to subscribers, comprises thirteen fac-similes, among which are specimens selected from the Paris MSS. of Prudentius and Livy of the sixth century; from the "Augustine Gospels, with contemporary illustrative drawings, in the Library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, of the seventh century; and from the illustrated Terence' of the Bibliothèque Nationale, of the tenth century; as well as a second plate from the Latin Papyrus of dated Greek MSS. of the tenth century. The Ravenna, A.D. 572; and fac-similes of two Committee of Management purposes to extend the action of the Society to Oriental Pala the action of the Society to Oriental Pala graphy; but in order to prevent interruption of the progress of the work already in hand, a separate subscription-list will be opened. The editing of this extra series of Oriental Palæography will be undertaken by Dr. W Wright, Professor of Arabic in the University of Cambridge.

is in the engraver's hands. It is intended to A PORTRAIT of the late Mr. Charles Swain illustrate the forthcoming volume of Ancient and Modern Songs and Ballads of Lancashire, which will contain some of Mr. Swain's lyrics. We believe that this is the first portrait of the poet that has been engraved.

THE Border Counties of Scotland have,

during the past week, lost by death two hisMr. Jeffrey, solicitor, Jedburgh, the author of torical antiquaries of more than local fame. The History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire and Adjacent Districts,' a 'Guide to the Antiquities of the Border,' and other works on like subjects; and Mr. Riddell Carre, of Cavers Carre, who, although he did not contribute anything of a very permanent nature to literature, did much, by lectures and other means, to keep up an interest in, and extend the local knowledge of, the antiquities of the Border.

retirement its master loved so well. . . . Notwith

had made no progress with the execution of the statue which is to be placed in the garden before the new offices of the School Board. It is probable that Mr. Woolner, A.R.A., will now be entrusted with the execution of the work.

WAS the following odd appeal to a young lady an amorous or an artistic advertisement? It occurs in the General Advertiser, Tuesday, October 27, 1747, p. 2, col. 2 :

"The young Lady who danc'd with a GENTLEMAN dress'd in a silk-plad Waistcoat, Embroidered with Silver, and a Green Velvet Frock, at the last ASSEMBLY at LITCHFIELD, and kindly assur'd him she would favour him with her Picture, and accept of his, and generously left with him a Diamond Ring, as a further Pledge for the Performance of her Promise, is hereby entreated to call on Mr. PETER PAUL LENS, the celebrated Portrait-Mina

ture-Painter (the same who did lodge in Portlandstreet facing Portland-Mews), at his House, at the Green Lamp, in the Middle of Berwick-street, Soho; with whom the Ring is left, to be delivered to her, with the Gentleman's Picture, on her Sitting for her Own. ** The Gentleman having unfortunately lost his Pocket-Book, as he was coming to Town, in which was the Direction to the Lady, occasions this Publick Adress, which the Gentleman begs her to Excuse; and that she would leave Word with Mr. Lens (who is entrusted with her name) where she may be waited on."

The "silk-plad Waistcoat" is not without its significance to us even in these days, for it is to be remembered that, after the defeat of Prince Charles Edward in 1745, the Jacobite gentry of Staffordshire used to assemble at certain races held at Lichfield, on Whittington Heath, during the second week in September, and came there, says Smollett, "in the Highland dress, and their zeal descending to a very extraordinary exhibition of practical ridicule; they hunted with hounds clothed in plaid, a fox dressed in a red uniform. Even the females at their assembly, and the gentlemen at the races, affected to wear the chequered stuff which the prince-pretender and his followers had distinguished; and divers noblemen on the course were insulted as apostates." The last statement refers to the assaults on the Duke of Bedford and others on Whittington Heath, 1748.—See the Gentleman's Magazine, 1748, p. 378. A country attorney, named Humphrey, horsewhipped the Duke "with equal justice, severity, and perseverence on the course at Lichfield." See Woodfall's 'Junius,' i. 578. So widely were parties separated at the time that the Whig races, which lasted three days, and the Tory races, which lasted two days, were held at an interval of a fortnight. Mr. Peter Paul Lens was, of course, one of the younger sons of Bernard Lens the Second, "ingenious painters in minature," as Vertue had it. It was their father who, when drawing a lady's portrait in the dress of Mary, Queen of Scots, replied to her not without wit. She said, "But, Mr. Lens, you have not made me like the Queen of Scots"; he rejoined, "No, Madam, if God Almighty had made your ladyship like her, I would."

We have received a long letter, a great deal too long for us to print, from Mr. E. S. Drone, of New York, combating the views on International Copyright expressed by Mr. J. A. Morgan, in a letter that appeared in our columns in October. As Mr. Drone has also attacked Mr. Morgan in Appleton's Journal, we may refer our readers who are interested

in the matter to that paper. Mr. Morgan writes to inform us that, by an error of his transcriber, one of the cases cited by him was called Palmer v. Daly, instead of Palmer v. De Witt.

SCIENCE

Cave-Hunting: Researches on the Evidences of Caves respecting the Early Inhabitants of Europe. By W. Boyd Dawkins, M.A. (Macmillan & Co.)

THE publication of this volume must have the effect of still further increasing the attention already paid to anything relating to the In these days archæology of organic nature.

of congresses and scientific associations there are few educated people who fail to take some interest in those momentous discoveries of human relics in the river deposits and caves by which we have obtained, at least, some faint glimpses of the races who have preceded us during long forgotten times in various portions of our globe.

Hitherto, as a rule, the various accounts of such discoveries have been mostly crude and fragmentary; but now, following the example of Sir Charles Lyell and Sir John Lubbock, Mr. Boyd Dawkins has written an exhaustive work treating of caves and their contents, as well as of the information afforded by them about the sojourn of man in Europe, about the animals associated with him, and the vast but gradual changes of climate and geography which they illustrate. With labour and care the author has correlated and brought together within manageable compass a mass of facts relating to this branch of research, and the consequence is the appearance of a fit supplement to the Antiquity of Man' and 'Prehistoric Man.'

Mr. Dawkins divides his subject under two heads, Physical and Biological; the first treating of the relation of caves to general physical geography, especially to that of the calcareous strata; the second, of their animal contents. An outline is also given of the literature of cave exploration, which originated in fossil-hunting by seekers of unicorn's horn (ebur fossile), a great specific at that time, as dragon's tooth is to this day in China. A more systematic investigation of the European bone-caves was carried on towards the end of the last century; but it was not until 1816 that, after visiting the Cave of Gailenruth, Dr. Buckland introduced the scientific examination of ossiferous deposits into this country, and the results of his explorations were published by him in 1823, in his famous Reliquiæ Diluvianæ,' since which date the ideas of the day have been revolutionized by later discoveries.

The caves in arenaceous rocks, in sea-worn cliffs, and in volcanic formations, are passed by as of comparatively small importance in comparison with those to be detected everywhere in the limestone plateaux, and which are found to be generally arranged around a main axis of erosion. The exploration of these caves and "pot-holes" offers a wide field of investigation to the physicist, anthropologist, and archeologist, whilst there is danger sufficient to please the mountaineer who engages in the exploration of these recesses. Witness Mr. Birkbeck's descent into a "bottle-shaped" chasm called "Gaping Gill," near 300 ft. deep, when

the author.

Some caves contain stratified deposits comprising various remains of all these periods. For instance, in the Settle cave; at the entrance were found bronze, gilt, and enamelled ornaments, which are, with tolerable certainty, referred to the Romano-Celtic or Brit-Welsh period after the withdrawal of the Roman troops in the fifth century and prior to the English conquest. Underneath these, and separated by a talus of accumulated fragments of stone, 6 ft. in thickness, calculated to repre sent a period of 3,600 years, is a neolithic stratum, below which, again, is a deposit of grey clays of variable depth, under which is the loamy cave-earth, containing the bones of animals, of the pleistocene period, more or less gnawed by hyænas, who then must have inhabited this cave; finally, a fragment of a human fibula establishes the fact of the existence of man as a contemporary of these animals. Similar evidence is adduced from other caves; but, as a rule, the traces of the abnormal occupation of caves by man in the iron and bronze ages are rare by reason of his comparative civilization. The Neolithic caves are more numerous, and the Denbighshire caverns afford the most remarkable examples, which indicate not only occupation by the living, but also by the dead. Curiously enough, the contracted interments found in these caves are closely correlated with those in the neighbouring chambered cairns answering to the "gangrabben" of Nilsson and the long barrows of Dr. Thurnam. The partial insulation of the chamber from the passage in these tombs is also noticeable in the Channel Islands, and in Britanny, as well as in the Irish" giants' graves." As to the human remains found in conjunction with paleolithic implements at Engis, Aurignac, Cro-Magnon (Les Eyzies), Paviland, &c., Mr. Dawkins rightly refuses to admit that the evidence is

sufficient to class them as more than doubtful. He draws a different conclusion to that of Prof. Owen as to the age of the Bruniquel interments, and also to that of Mr. Pengelly as regards the skeleton of Mentone. In fact, the difficulty of pronouncing on the relative age of associated remains is enormous; mere superposition or association can never be rigidly enforced as a test; for instance, in the Uphill cave the pleistocene is vertically above the historic deposit. In the Paviland cave, two sets of widely diverse ages are intimately associated; even the objects being cemented together by the same calcareous infiltration is no test of contemporary or relative age, which

cannot be ascertained without distinct stratifi

cation, as in Kent's Hole, Wookey Cave, &c. The filling up, re-excavating, and re-filling of caves by floods considerably complicate the problem; and Mr. Dawkins attributes the presence of that formidable carnivore, Machairodus latidens, in Kent's cave, to some such physical accidental change of position from an older into a newer deposit.

The evidence of the cave-deposits indicates the following facts, as far as our knowledge extends at the present day. The climate and geography of Europe in ancient times were altogether different from those of the present day. We may infer with a high degree of probability that a palæolithic people migrated from the East into Europe along with the peculiar Pleistocene Fauna in the pre-glacial age, and disappeared with the same arctic mammalia, leaving behind them as their representatives the Eskimos; they were cavedwellers, and occupied their time in hunting and fishing, and supporting life in a rigorous

climate.

An indefinite interval of time, which cannot be measured by years, separated these palæolithic peoples from their successors of the prehistoric times.

These latter or neolithic people arrived also from the East along with cereals and domestic animals; they were cave-dwellers, and also used caves as sepulchres: we know more of them than of their forerunners. They were non-Aryan, swarthy (melanochroi), dolichocephalic and short, and distinguished in many instances by platycnemism (a peculiar flattening of the shin); they were pastoral, herdsmen, and farmers; and when caves were not to be obtained, they buried their dead in chambered cairns. They have disappeared, and left as their representatives the Basques, Berbers, and Kabyles.

Another wave of migration swept over Europe from the East; this time Aryan, fair (xanthochroi), brachycephalic, tall and broadshouldered Celts; they brought with them. metallurgic skill, bronze and iron, and higher stage of civilization. The ancient Basque continent was submerged by the Celtic populations advancing steadily westwards, certain parts of the non-Aryan peoples being left insulated, as the Ligurians, Sikani, Sardinians, &c. Similarly the Belgæ invaded the Celts, and the Germans in their turn pressed southwards and westwards on the Belgae, driving away or absorbing the inhabitants of the regions they conquered.

MEDICAL BOOKS.

Medical Guide for Anglo-Indians. By R. S.
Mair, M.D. (H. S. King & Co.)
A Manual of Family Medicine for India. By
W. J. Moore, Bombay Surgeon - Major H.M.
Indian Medical Service. (J. & A. Churchill.)
Remarks on the Uses of some of the Bazaar Medi-
cines and Common Medical Plants of India.
By E. J. Waring, M.D., Surgeon (Retired) H.M.
Indian Army. (Same publishers.)
Haydn's Dictionary of Popular Medicine and
Hygiene. Edited by E. Lankester, M.D.
(Moxon & Co.)

Outlines of the Science and Practice of Medicine.
By W. Aitken, M.D. (Griffin & Co.)
THE exceptional character of the three first of these
publications justifies their receiving notice in our
columns. Dr. Mair's book is a reprint, in a
separate form, of the medical portion of his admir-
able handbook, ‘The European in India,' which is

lished on

Dr. Waring's 'Bazaar Medicines' is the work of a thorough master of his subject, well known India, and by his 'Manual of Practical Theraas the editor of the official Pharmacopoeia of peutics,' one of the most useful books ever pubhis constant advocacy of the use of indigenous Indian medicine. It was chiefly drugs in Indian practice in substitution of more costly exotics that led to the publication of the 'Pharmacopoeia of India,' and to a large saving in the annual expenditure by the Government of India on medicines previously imported from Europe. The present small octavo volume, of two hundred pages, is a popular edition of his Pharmacopoeia, to which he has added the therapeutics of the Bazaar drugs of which he treats. It makes a capital companion volume to Dr. Mair's' Medical a capital companion volume to Dr. Mair's Medical Guide,' and the European in India would do well Guide,' and the European in India would do well always to keep the two together.

A dictionary can hardly fail to be useful even if, as in the case of the Dictionary edited by our lamented contributor, Dr. Lankester, it treats of matters which can only be imperfectly learnt from books. The work professes to comprise all possible self-aids in accident and disease, and aims at being a companion for the traveller, emigrant, and clergyman, and all heads of families and institutions. It appears fairly to justify this profession, but has, we think, somewhat suffered from the desire of the publishers to make it uniform with others of the same series, and would have been likely to prove more useful and popular as a companion if it had been made more compact. Under many heads information is given which would be hardly intelligible except to a person who had received a medical education, and to such a person would be unnecessary; but as a rule there is full, simple, and sound advice regarding the means to be used in accidents and emergencies, though here and there we have noted recommendations which, if adopted by unskilled persons, might be productive of evil, as, for instance the following. When a person is in danger of choking through the impaction of some substance in the gullet, we are told if it cannot be reached so as to pull it away, to seize a piece of whalebone, a quill, or even a penholder, anything at hand, and push it down as a probang so as to force the substance downwards. On the whole, while the volume is certainly less than a complete dictionary of medicine and hygiene, it is more than a dictionary of popular medicine, for which a somewhat more restricted plan might, we think,

have been better.

fair for the author to refer so frequently to his larger work. This is the first systematic book on medicine we have met with which follows in its plah the classification of disease drawn up by the Cal lege of Physicians, and now used for all statistical records; and the essential part of this classification is very conveniently printed, so that a space of only fourteen pages contains what was first pub lished as a moderate-sized octavo volume. It is remarked by the author that malingering is markedly disappearing from communities where it has hitherto been supposed to prevail, since the more extended use of delicate instruments, and more precise methods of explaining and determining the existence of symptoms; tais is only one of many indications that might be pointed out in such a work as the present of the great advances that have been made in medical science on the side of diagnosis compared with that of therapeutics.

THE ENDOWMENT OF RESEARCH

DR. BORTHWICK GILCHRIST, when on service as medical officer in India, distinguished himself fession; and he bought land in New South Wales by linguistic acquirements as well as by his prowhich is becoming increasingly valuable for building London University, in the establishment of which purposes. He died in 1841, and bequeathed to the he had taken great interest, the whole of his large fortune, for "the benefit, advancement, and propagation of education and learning in every part of the world as circumstances permit." The Trustees have "absolute and uncontrolled discre tion" in the expenditure of the income, which at present amounts to about 4,000l., yearly, and will augment as the building lots at Sydney are sold.

This is a noble endowment, and should be nobly administrated. We learn, from a statement addressed to the President of the Royal Society by Dr. Carpenter, Registrar of the University, that for bringing young men of ability from India and "the Trustees have created various scholarships the Colonies to carry on their education in this country; and have given assistance to various educational institutions which they consider as having a claim for occasional help from the fund, such as the Working Men's College in London and the Edinburgh School of Arts; and they have instituted short courses of scientific lectures to working men in London, Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool."

The Trustees, we believe, on the suggestion of Dr. Carpenter, have resolved to extend their scope of beneficence by employing a portion of the income in "the promotion of scientific research," and, to give effect to their resolution, they allot 1,000, a year. The distribution of this sum is to be made under the advice of the Council of the Royal Society, who are to "undertake, on their part, recommend to the Trustees suitable subjects of inquiry," and the men competent to undertake their investigation, as also the amount of money to be granted. The "competent men are to be "men of proved ability in scientific research, but who, from their limited pecuniary means," and the necessity of providing for daily wants, are checked in their scientific aspirations.