impostor. But this copy has another very interesting peculiarity: it has two blank leaves before the title, the first of which has the signature letter A printed at the bottom, proving that the book was entirely in eights, and that the dedication after the title is correctly signatured A4 (which printers never doubted); so that those who have said the first sheet was only six leaves were in error. Although the book is in the original binding, it has been so badly folded that several of the head-lines are actually cut right off, as I have observed is generally the case with this book. I have another copy, also with some of the head-lines cut off, but fortunately not off the same leaves as my new purchase, so I shall be able to make one good copy out of the two. I believe no other is known with the three genuine blank leaves; therefore my book is in a unique state. It really consists of 264 leaves,

three of which are blank. ROBERT ROBERTS.

Literary Gossip.

MR. J. C. NIMMO will shortly publish a collection of poems and translations by Mr. W. J. Linton, the wood engraver. It will include many poems from that rare little volume Love-Lore,' of which Mr. Linton

printed fifty copies at his private press. The translations from old and modern French poets will be, with few exceptions, published for the first time. A portrait of Mr. Linton will be prefixed; and the volume

is dedicated to Mr. William Bell Scott, in

token of a friendship extending over nearly fifty years.

TOWARDS the end of March Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge will hold an important sale of selected and duplicate books from the library of the Duke of Buccleuch, K.T. Six Caxtons are included, among them being the first edition of "The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers,' the first book printed in England. A choice copy of the rare Giunta edition of Boccaccio's Decameron,' 1527, richly bound by Padeloup, will attract attention; and there is an interesting fifteenth century MS., Les Grands Croniques de St. Denis, a large folio adorned with many well-executed miniatures. The collection of Thomas Hearne's works, on large paper, in the original subscription binding, is very extensive.

of the Irish with Charles I. and the Earl of Glamorgan, subsequently Marquis of Worcester; the activity of Cardinal Mazarin's envoy to Ireland; the arrangements for despatch of Irish troops to England; and the defeat of the Parliamentarian army in Ulster. On these and many subsidiary matters a large number of important letters and documents, illustrating English as well as Irish history, are printed for the first time in this volume.

THE deaths are announced of Cesare Guasti, head of the Tuscan archives, editor of Tasso's letters, and author of various monographs such as Le Commissioni di Rinaldo degli Albizzi'; of Mr. W. F. Tillotson, the founder of the Bolton Evening News, but best known by his arrangements for supplying fiction to newspapers, an enterprise which, owing to his untiring energy, assumed large proportions and earned him the gratitude of many novelists, whose incomes he largely increased; and of M. Claude Guigne, the learned keeper of the archives of the Department of the Rhone.

Museum, proposes to publish a 'Guide to MR. GEORGE GATFIELD, of the British Books relating to Heraldry and Genealogy.' The work will consist of upwards of 13,000 titles, and is intended to supplement such works as Sims's Manual' and Marshall's Genealogist's Guide.' The price to sub

scribers will be one guinea.

which has been unavoidably delayed through THE January number of the Genealogist, Mr. Selby's illness, will be issued next week. It will contain the conclusion of G. E. C.'s Irish Peerage' and a portion of letter C of the 'Complete Peerage.' The index number to the fifth volume of this magazine will be ready next month.

same

rican Commonwealth' in the United States has, we hear, done no good to the movement in favour of International Copyright. The price of the two volumes in which it appears is the as would be charged for two volumes of the same size from Mr. Bancroft or any other American author, but certain members of Congress resent paying the sum for an English book which they must pay for an American one, and they have declared that they will not support International Copyright lest the cost of English books should be raised to that of American ones. The fact that the American edition is half the price of the English one is not admitted to have any weight, the contention being that stolen or appropriated goods are the cheapest-and such a contention cannot be disputed.

THE fifth volume of the History of the Irish Confederation and War in Ireland,' by Mr. J. T. Gilbert, F.S.A., will, we understand, be issued at the close of the present month. It extends from August, 1645, to June, 1646, and deals with the negotiations

WE hear that the business of Messrs. Allman & Son, publishers of educational literature, has been turned into a limited company, the shares being all subscribed for privately. Allman & Son, Limited, will be the designation of the newly constituted firm.

NAMES of candidates for the examination of library assistants for the certificates of the Library Association, to be held on March 6th, may be sent to the honorary secretaries, 2, South Square, Gray's Inn, not later than March 1st.

MR. DAVID STOTT is going to publish a new issue of Montaigne's 'Essays (Florio's translation), edited by Mr. J. H. M Carthy, M.P., as the first instalment of a new series to be entitled "The Stott Library." The size will be 32mo., handy and neat in form.

MR. EDWARD LAWSON, of the Daily Telegraph, will preside at the jubilee dinner of the Newsvendors' Benevolent Institution, to 9 held at the Hôtel Métropole on Tuesday next. The first dinner of the society took place on Wednesday, the 21st of November, 1849, when Charles Dickens introduced the

""

institution as a bantling of ten years' growth which came forth in its first year of public existence with a small capital of about 1,000l. To show how the good work has grown, Mr. Lawson, in his appeal for support, states that 'last year there were 28 pensioners, the men receiving 207. a year and the women 157., and there were 124 applicants for relief, to 63 of whom assistance was afforded." The funds are most carefully and economically managed, while the pensions are entirely under the control of the subscribers, and it is hoped that in this its year of jubilee the support of the general public may augment its resources so as to enable it to considerably increase its number of pensions.

MR. JOHN DURAND, who has translated M. Taine's work on the French Revolution,' is now engaged in preparing a work, translated from documents in the archives at Paris, relative to the part played by many persons in the United States at and after the achievement of independence. enigmatical dogs of Beaumarchais and an Congress when in secret session will be illusaccount of what took place in the Continental trated and made public in this work.

The

THE March number of Macmillan's Magazine will contain an article by Sir Robert Ball on celestial photography, and one by Mr. Goldwin Smith on the results of the

temperance laws in Canada and the United paper on the possibilities of "Boulangism" States. There will also be a sequel to the in England, which attracted some notice in Paris, and was made the subject of articles in the Journal des Débats and other

papers.

contain a paper by the veteran Dr. W. F. THE March number of the Antiquary will Ainsworth on 'The Kusti, or Fillet, of the Fire - Worshippers.' An article on 'Early Hospitals of Southwark,' by Mr. W. Rendle, and a defence, by Mr. C. E. Plumptre, of Giordano Bruno and the proposal to erect a monument in his honour, will appear in the same number. In the forthcoming number of the Library Prof. Ferguson, of Glasgow, gives an account of the early printers of Glasgow; Mr. Chancellor Christie tells the story of the family of Bignon, which for so many generations reigned over the French national collections; and Dr. Garnett gives an account of a Livy in the British Museum.

MR. TOM C. SMITH, who recently brought out a history of Longridge and district, is now engaged in collecting materials for the history of the parish of Ribchester. It is not a little remarkable that a place so abounding in antiquities has never hitherto been treated of in a monograph.

THE Powell Roll of Arms (temp. Edw. III.) belonging to the Ashmolean collection, about the most important heraldic roll still unprinted, will shortly be published in the Reliquary, being edited by Mr. James Greenstreet. There is a modern copy of this roll in the British Museum (No. 26,677, Add. MSS.), but the spelling of the names is frequently faulty.

A CONNECTING link with the past has just been lost in the person of of Schiller's daughter-in-law, the Freifrau Luise von Schiller. She was the widow of the late Oberförster Karl Schiller, the poet's eldest

son, and died on the 14th inst. at Stuttgart at the age of eighty-five.

MESSRS. TRÜBNER have in the press a work on ethics by Mr. S. Alexander, Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, entitled 'Moral Order and Progress: an Analysis of Ethical Conceptions.' It will be in three books: Book I. Preliminary, dealing with conduct and character; Book II. Statical-Moral Order; Book III. Dynamical-Moral Growth and Progress. It treats ethics independently of biology, but the result is to confirm the theory of evolution, by showing that the characteristic differences of moral action are such as should be expected if that theory were true. In particular, Book III. aims at proving that moral ideals follow in their origin and development the same law as natural species.

THE important' Jahrbuch' of the Vienna heraldic society "Adler," which is now being issued to members, contains among other noteworthy papers a very full history of the Counts of Champagne, well supplied with illustrative genealogical charts. The heraldic student will also turn with pleasure to Freiherr von Biedermann's interesting explanation of difficult figures used on shields of arms. The late Prince Rudolph was a member of this society.

THE subscription for establishing a pension, in connexion with the Printers' Pension Corporation, for a proof reader or proof reader's widow is not making remarkably rapid progress. Something like 1007. is the total yet attained, but, except Messrs. Cassell, none of the large printing or publishing firms has yet contributed, and no doubt when they do matters will take a more favourable turn. Mr. J. H. Murray, 14, Marquis Road, Finsbury Park, is the treasurer of the fund.

THE 'Calendar of the Records of the Corporation of Gloucester' and the 'Rental of all the Houses in Gloucester in A.D. 1455' are to be printed under the editorship of Mr. W. H. Stevenson and the Rev. Wm. Bazeley, M.A. The 'Calendar' consists principally of full abstracts, in English, of the early local deeds in the possession of the Corporation. There are close upon 1,300 deeds, and of this number no fewer than 571 are older than the year 1300, some dating from the twelfth century. Amongst the seals appended to them are many fine examples of early date of those of local families owning land. The Gloucester rent-roll was drawn up in 1455 by Robert Cole, a canon of Llanthony Priory. It is written in Latin, on parchment, and measures 33 ft. in length by 15 in. in width. It gives an account of every house in the borough, the names of the owner and tenant, the tenant's trade, the amount of rent, the amount payable for landgavel rent, and, in many cases, an abstract of title from the time of Henry III. Each of the four main streets is taken in turn, the houses on each side of the street being given seriatim in separate columns, similarly described. Between the columns a space is left to represent the roadway. In this space are curious drawings of the various churches, chapels, friaries, wells, the pillory, &c., which will be reproduced in facsimile. The work is thus practically a survey and directory as well as a rent-roll of the city in

and then the side streets and lanes are

1455. On the back of the roll is an elaborate pedigree of the kings of England from the Conqueror to Henry VI., historical sketches of each monarch being given in English. These have a value as representing the popular English history of the period, and also as specimens of the Gloucestershire dialect at an early date.

THE Secretary of the Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire writes denying the correctness of the statement we copied from the Manchester Guardian that a union was to be effected between his society and the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool..

THE most interesting Parliamentary Papers of the week are Pauperism, England and Wales, Statement for November (2d.); East India, Public Works Department, Position of Civil Engineers, Correspondence (5d.); Corn Averages, Second Report of Committee and Evidence (1s. 6d.); Hydrophobia, British Subjects under M. Pasteur, Return (1d.); Agricultural Produce, Statistics for 1888 (6d.); Gold Coast Affairs, Further Correspondence, with Maps (2s. 6d.); and Consular Reports - Russia, Agricultural Condition of Taganrog (1d.); Spain, Tobacco Industries of Cuba (Id.).

SCIENCE

MATHEMATICAL TEXT-BOOKS.

Table of Quarter-Squares. By Joseph Blater. (Trübner & Co.)-Of the various uses to which this ingeniously constructed table can be put, the most practical one is the finding the product to the last figure, and without multiplication, of two factors not exceeding six figures. It is founded upon the algebraic formula ab=1(a+b)2 — 4(a−b)2, in which a and b are the factors whose product is required. We have tested the author's table by several examples, and in every case found it accurate. In actual saving of time we question whether it will generally be found to have any advantage over straightforward multiplication; but it probably involves less liability to error, as the only processes required in using it are addition and subtraction. For ordinary calculations, which do not aim at absolute accuracy to the last figure, logarithms are preferable. It is a pity that the author did not submit his work to some one better acquainted with the English lanface by his friend, "Anthony Steinhauser, I.R., guage before sending it to the press. The preCounsellor of Government at Vienna," and the introduction by himself, both abound in foreign idioms which sound odd to an English ear. Even the author's explanation of the table is rendered obscure by his deficiency in this respect, so that for a time we had some difficulty stood it is simple enough. We may mention in understanding it, though when once underthat the author has also published, with the co-operation of his friend the counsellor, a modification of the multiplying method usually called "Napier's Bones," an explanation of which, with cardboard slips representing the bones, may be obtained for a trifling sum from the publishers. The cardboard substitutes for if they were of wood, metal, or ivory they might the bones," however, are not very convenient; possibly prove a boon to those who do not feel at home in the use of the multiplication table.

A Treatise on Hydrodynamics. With Numerous Examples. By A. B. Basset, M.A. (Cambridge, Deighton, Bell & Co.)-This book consists of two octavo volumes, each of them rather larger than Lamb's treatise, which is the most advanced text-book hitherto available. The name "hydro

dynamics" is used in its older and more limited sense as excluding statical questions, but in other respects the work is eminently modern. It aims at presenting in a connected form the results of recent advances in the mathematical theory of the motion of liquids, and devotes a large amount of space to vortex rings, rectilinear vortices, and the motion of viscous liquids. Recent results obtained by Osborne Reynolds, J. J. Thomson, and others are included, and there are numerous The mathematics are neat and compact, but references in foot-notes to original authorities. highly technical, advanced methods being employed even where elementary ones are available, and no attempt is made to translate results from their technical form into ordinary language. For example, the "coefficient of viscosity" is simply occurs in certain preceding formulae. This want defined as the name given to the factor u which greatly detracts from the usefulness of the book to students, and to all who delight in clear physical conceptions; but those readers who can appreciate terse and exact statements couched in analytical form will find here a rich treasury of varied information, which without it could only be collected by laborious research. may add that the mathematical typography is singularly clear and good.

We

Elementary Mathematics. (Longmans & Co.) This volume of "Longmans' Elementary Science Manuals" contains arithmetic, geometry, and algebra, and is specially adapted to meet the requirements of the Science and Art Department. The type is singularly clear, the subjects are judiciously arranged, and the convenience of having the whole course of elementary mathematics in one handy volume is great. Numerous examples are given in arithmetic and algebra; and the deductions and exercises in geometry (Euclid, book i.), with key, supply the student with adequate means of testing and deepening his acquaintance with the truths of elementary

geometry.

GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES.

THE Scottish Geographical Magazine publishes Col. T. Cadell's paper on the Andamans and Andamanese, which was read before the Scottish Geographical Society in January, and presents a mass of trustworthy information in a condensed shape. Col. Cadell deals, of course, with the penal settlement at Port Blair, probably the most successful establishment of the kind in the world, and certainly one of the most interesting and instructive. Among other articles we notice one on the Philippine Islands by Mr. W. A. Taylor, and another on the Transvaal by Mr. S. P. Ford, of Pretoria.

The Journal of the Manchester Geographical only been issued just now. Society for January to June of last year has It abounds in the most varied information, an account of a recent journey from Lamu through Vito and up the Tana to Golbanti, by that veteran missionary and now President of the United Methodist Free Churches, the Rev. Thos. Wakefield, taking the lead. Mr. James Stevenson supplies a paper on structive maps; and Mr. Henry E. O'Neill, until the Arabs in Central Africa, illustrated by two inrecently our consul at Mozambique, deals with the commercial aspects of the Nyassa region. The number of smaller articles, some of them perhaps not strictly geographical, is very large, and the volume affords ample evidence that the Manchester society is doing good work.

L'Esplorazione Commerciale of Milan pubto the north of Massaua, by Dr. S. Losio, which lishes a sketch-map of the country of the Habab, illustrates a series of articles compiled at the

instance of the Italian General Staff, and dealing with the regions bordering upon the Italian possessions in the Red Sea.

A Text-Book of Physiography or Physical Geography, by Edward Hull, Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland (Deacon & Co.), is a capital book of the kind. The limits assigned

by the publishers have not permitted the author to deal exhaustively with his subject, but he has done so judiciously, and has made the very best use of the 280 pages which he covers. The book is singularly free from errors. The few maps and diagrams are to the point and intelligible. But why introduce the term "physiography" in the title? "Physiography" and physical geography" are not synonymous, and, barring an excursion to the moon, the author most strictly confines himself to physical geography, not even allowing his predilections as a geologist to tempt him into fields not properly covered by his subject.

46

Records of African travel come thick and fast, but Mr. F S. Arnot's narrative of his journey from Natal to Benguella, on the west coast, will yield to few in the extent of ground covered and the importance of the geographical and general results. His paper in the February number of the Royal Geographical Society's Proceedings is illustrated by a poor map, in which the somewhat similar journeys of Serpa Pinto, Capello and Ivens, and Lovett Cameron are also shown. With Serpa Pinto's oblique route across the continent Mr. Arnot's corresponded most closely, except that the two were in reverse directions. On reaching the west coast, after a brief rest Mr. Arnot turned back, and returned this time almost due east, through the Ovimbunda country, which is of some interest as its inhabitants are great traders, and supply the Portuguese markets at Benguella and Catumbella. Latterly, owing to the failure of the ivory trade, one of their chief articles of barter has been a species of rubber, which is obtained from the root, and not from the juice of the plant. In Katanga (which is frequently, but quite absurdly, called Garaganze, after a tribe of Wanyamwezi, to which the ruling chief belongs) Mr. Arnot stayed two years. This country, which is a good deal larger than England and Wales, extends between the Luapula and Lualaba rivers, and its king Msidi, who showed kindness to Mr. Arnot, appears to be a monarch of a tolerably enlightened character. Before Mr. Arnot's arrival some half-caste Arabs from Zanzibar who were at the capital tried to prejudice the king against receiving the Englishman. Msidi refused to express an opinion on the charges alleged, as he did not know Englishmen, never having seen one before; but, on the other hand, he remarked, "One thing I know-I know you Arabs"; and so, taking into account the character of the accusers, he was content to suspend judgment on Mr. Arnot. Msidi has five hundred wives, and as each of these represents at the court a section of the empire which is governed by a local chief, the wives are to all intents and purposes officers of state. They also collect tribute and entertain visitors to the capital. By this simple but original plan of his own Msidi, without books or secretaries, rules the whole country most effectively, and his name is everywhere feared. An account also appears in the Proceedings of M. Grombcherski's journey across the Pamir. The Afghans appear to have sent a military detachment for the purpose of arresting the Russians; but the latter cleverly turned the tables, and state that they took the Afghans with them across the slopes of the Hindu Kush into Hunza and Nagyr, a conterminous state with Kashmir. Here they were supplied with carriers by the thum or ruler, and stayed some time in the country, during which they explored the passes reported on previously by Col. Woodthorpe. The expedition appears to have crossed the Muztagh range further east, and, after some privation, to have safely reached Russian territory.

ASTRONOMICAL NOTES.

THE planet Mercury will be at greatest western elongation from the sun on the 13th prox. in the constellation Aquarius, and will be visible to the naked eye about that time a little before sunrise. Venus will attain her greatest bril

liancy on the 25th prox.; she will be in Aries during nearly the whole of the month, about 6° due south of B Arietis on the 4th and of a on the 8th. Mars is in Pisces, and will move towards the end of March into Aries; he will set a few minutes after 8 o'clock in the evening throughout that month. Jupiter is in Sagittarius, and rises about half-past 3 o'clock in the morning, a little earlier each night. Saturn is on the borders of the constellations Cancer and Leo,

pical Africa' was read by Commander V. Lovett Cameron before a meeting of the Foreign and Colonial Section.

Feb. 20.-Sir F. Bramwell in the chair.-A paper 'On the Forth Bridge' was read by Mr. B. Baker, and was followed by a discussion.

MATHEMATICAL.-Feb. 14.-Mr. J. J. Walker, President, in the chair.-Mr. H. F. Baker was admitted into the Society.-The following communications were made: On the Diophantine Equation

dy\2

and continues to be visible throughout the night, +() Square,' by Prof. Cayley,-Sur la Transnot setting until nearly sunrise. formation des Équations Algébriques,' by Signor Brioschi,-On Projective Cyclic Concomitants or Surface Differential Invariants,' by Mr. E. B. Elliott, -On Secondary Invariants,' by Prof. L. J. Rogers, and Remarks upon Algebraical Symmetry, with Particular Reference to the Theory of Operations and the Theory of Distributions,' by Major Macmahon.

M. Charlois has given the name Elvira to the small planet, No. 277, discovered by him at Nice on the 3rd of May, 1888. His last discovery, that of No. 283, was made on the 8th inst.

SOCIETIES.

ROYAL.-Feb. 14.-The President in the chair.The following papers were read: Magnetization of Iron at High Temperature,' Preliminary Notice, by Dr. Hopkinson,-On a Series of Salts of a Base containing Chromium and Urea,' No. II., by Mr. W. J. Sell and Prof. W. J. Lewis, Effect of Floordeafening on the Sanitary Condition of Dwelling Houses,' by Miss E. Johnstone and Prof. T. Carnelley,-On the Comparative Action of Hydroxylamine and Nitrites upon Blood-pressure, by Dr. Brunton and Mr. T. J. Bokenham, On the Total Solar Eclipse of August 29th, 1886,' by Capt. L. Darwin, Prof. Schuster, and Mr. E. W. Maunder,-and 'On the Determination of the Photometric Intensity of the Coronal Light during the Solar Eclipse of August 28th-29th, 1886,' by Capt. Abney and Prof. Thorpe.

SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES. · Feb. 14. Dr. J. Evans, President, in the chair.-Lord Justice Fry was elected a member of Council in the room of C. S. Perceval, Esq., deceased.-Dr. E. Freshfield was elected Treasurer.-Mr. Peacock exhibited an armorial roundel bearing a shield with a chevron engrailed surmounted by a chevron with a label of three points, found near Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire. Mr. R. C. Hope exhibited a silver foldingspoon found at Scarborough, which Mr. Franks thought might be of fourteenth century date.-Mr. Rome exhibited a fine janiform bust of bronze found at Torre-del-Greco.-Mr. S. Cowper communicated a note on some antiquities at Hawkshead, Lancashire.

STATISTICAL.-Feb. 19.-Dr. T. G. Balfour, President, in the chair.-A paper was read 'On the Coal Question,' by Mr. R. P. Williams.-A discussion followed, in which Sir W. Smyth, Sir R. W. Rawson, Prof. A. Lupton, Messrs. E. H. Carbutt, A. E. Bateman, F. Hendriks, S. Bourne, J. Glover, F. S. Powell, and the President took part.

ROYAL SOCIETY OF LITERATURE. Feb. 20.Mr. J. Haynes, Treasurer, in the chair.-A paper was read by Dr. Zerffi On certain Great English Writers of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries.'

CHEMICAL-Feb. 7.-Mr. W. Crookes, President, in the chair.-Messrs. A. Cooper, W. Hepworth Dixon, F. C. Garrett, F. B. Guthrie, J. Percival, and R. W. Woosnam were formally admitted Fellows. -The following papers were read: Researches on the Constitution of Azo- and Diazo- Derivatives: V. Compounds of the Naphthalene-3-Series' (con

tinued), by Messrs. R. Meldola and G. T. Morgan,The Action of Nitric Acid on Anthracene,' by Mr. A. G. Perkin,-'The Preparation of Glyceric Acid,' by Dr. T. Lewkowitsch, The Relation of Cobalt to Iron as indicated by Absorption-Spectra,' by Dr. W. J. Russell and Mr. W. J. Orsman,-Note on Methyl Fluoride,' by Dr. N. Collie, 'The Nitration of Naphthalene -B- Sulphonic Acid,' by Messrs. H. E. Armstrong and W. P. Wynne,-and 'The Action of Bromine and Chlorine on the Salts of Tetrethylphosphonium,' by Messrs. Orme Masson and J. B. Kirkland,

SOCIETY OF ARTS.-Feb. 15.-Sir C. E. Bernard in the chair.-A paper' On the Ruby Mines of Burmah' was read before the Indian Section by Mr. G. S. Streeter.-A discussion followed, in which Sir G. Birdwood, Mr. M. Wood, Prof. Rudler, and others took part.

Feb. 18.-Mr. B. F. Cobb in the chair.-Mr. W. J. Linton gave the concluding lecture of his course of Cantor Lectures On Wood Engraving,' dealing with the work of Dürer, Lutzelburger, and others, down to the time of Bewick and his school, and comparing it with the wood engraving of the present day.

Feb. 19.-The Earl of Dundonald in the chair.A paper' On Slavery in its Relation to Trade in Tro

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.-Feb. 12.-Dr. J. Beddoe, President, in the chair.-Dr. Beddoe read a paper On Human Remains discovered by General Pitt-Rivers at Woodcuts. Rotherley, and Winkelbury Camp.'-Mr. Bernard Hollander read a paper On Centres of Ideation in the Brain.' The object of the paper was to furnish the basis of a scientific phrenology.

NEW SHAKSPERE.-Feb. 8.-Dr. F. J. Furnivall in the chair.-Miss G. Latham read the second part of her paper On Shakspere's_Development in Comedy.' In the Comedy of Errors' we found a change in the construction, four central figures taking the place of a central group. Behind these central figures was a commonplace background, with what we might call a "middle distance" of tragedy. The advance was great in this comedy, which though simple was of perfect construction. There was an advance in characterization, in reflection, and in power of construction. It was worth noting that Shakspeare's first finished portrait of a woman was that of a jealous wife. In the Two Gentlemen of Verona' Shakspeare first essays a complicated plot, with six threads, his real interest, however, being less in the plot than in the development of the principal characters. For construction we had here a central group of six figures, with a background more connected with these than was the case in the Comedy of Errors.' The climax, however, was reached too soon, in act iii., and the end was in consequence weak. Miss Latham then gave her reasons for placing the Midsummer Night's Dream' second in point of date. In the Merchant of Venice,' constructed, like the 'Two Gentlemen,' with a central group and a complicated plot, we found the "great lady" character of Silvia at last fully developed, and tragedy and comedy combined, this time on the same plane.

PHYSICAL.-Feb. 9.-Annual General Meeting.Prof. Reinold, President, in the chair.-The Reports of the Council and Treasurer were read and adopted. -The following gentlemen were elected to form the new Council: President, Prof. A. W. Reinold; VicePresidents, Dr. E. Atkinson. Prof. W. E. Ayrton, Dr. S. Bidwell, and Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh; Secretaries, W. Baily and Prof. J. Perry; Treasurer, Prof. A. W. Rücker; Demonstrator, C. V. Boys; Other Members of Council, Hon. R. Abercromby, T. H. Blakesley, W. H. Coffin, C. W. Cooke, Prof. Ŏ. Lodge, Prof. W. Ramsay, W. N. Shaw, Prof. S. P. Thompson, H. Tomlinson, and C. M. Whipple.-The meeting was then resolved into an ordinary meeting, at which Mr. J. Wimshurst and Mr. P. W. Sellon were elected Members.-Prof. A. S. Herschel read a paper On Physico-Geometrical Models.'

ARISTOTELIAN.-Feb. 11. Mr. S. H. Hodgson, President, in the chair.-Rev. J. Lightfoot read a paper On the Philosophy of Revelation,'

MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. MON. London Institution, 5 Recent Studies of some Forms of Minutest Life,' Rev. Dr. Dallinger.

TUES.

=

Hellenic, 5.- On certain Vase Fragments,' Miss J. Harrison.
Aristotelian. 8.- Do Separate Psychological Functions require
Separate Physiological Organs?' Mr. B. Hollander.
Surveyors' Institution, 8.

British Architects, 8. Writing a Specification,' Mr. T. M.

Civil Engineers, 8.

Society of Arts, 8.- English Bookbinding in the Reign of
Henry VIII,' Mr. W. H. J. Weale.
Folk-lore, 8The Philosophy of Rumpelstilchen,' Mr. E. Clodd.
Anthropological Institute -Exhibition of a New Instrument
for testing the Delicacy of Perception of Differences of Tint,
Mr. F. Galton; The Early Races of Western Asia,' Major
C. R. Conder.

WED. Cymmrodorion, 8.-'Giraldus Cambrensis,' Mr. H. Owen.
Society of Arts, 8.-The Irish Lace Industry,' Mr. A. S. Cole.
THURS. Royal Institution, 3.The Venem of Serpents and Allied
Poisons,' Dr. S. Martin.

of the manifold hills morning shadows are being dispersed by the progress of the sun, while, as ever with Claude, the imposing dignity of the lofty cliffs nearer at hand has been portrayed with noble feeling. The whole is a little hard and cold, no doubt, but admirable in the highest degree for the extreme care and delicacy with which it was painted. It is an example of Claude's middle period, and the reflections on the smooth water are remarkably choice. The Shepherd playing on a Pipe (88), also Lord Northbrook's, is the companion picture. A sunset effect, it refers to Liber Veritatis,' No. 172, which is dated 1667, when the picture was painted for an amateur of Palermo. Smith's No. 172 and Supplementary No. 17, it was in 1811 sold with the collection of Lord Kinnaird to Mr. Glover for 1,000l.; it was in 1830 bought in at Glover's sale for 700 guineas, and afterwards fell into the hands of J. Smith. Such prices seem small for such fine landscapes, which, unlike Watteaus, have always been admired; but-and the fact illustrates the vast increase in the monetary value of masterpieces-we must remember that that Claude of Claudes, the Enchanted Castle' itself, which Woollett engraved and Hazlitt rapturously praised, was sold in 1810 for 945., and that it was not till 1848, at Mr. Wells's sale, that Lord Overstone gave 2,100l. for it. The 'Shepherd Piping,' which is now before us, has a composition as happy and as much marked by that halcyon sort of sentiment which is the chief element of Claude's magic. Full of dreamy repose, it is such a piece as Samuel Palmer took for his model. Like its companion, though in a less degree, it is a little cold; but this imperfection is redeemed by the nobler elements of the design-the high bank, for instance, crowned with lofty trees from amid which the towers of a palace fortress, such as Claude delighted to paint, as Milton imagined for his 'Comus,' and Keats dreamed of, rise on high and their "magic casements" overlook this fairy - land, where a river traverses a fertile valley, is crossed by a bridge in the middle distance, and terminates in a spacious bay which the sun, declining in the west, makes somewhat cool and dim. All the romance of Claude's romanceful nature has been expended on this lovely work, to which the excellent print by Dubourg does only partial justice, because it could not give the sentiment of the colour and the purity of the shadows near which the shepherd, in a blue mantle, plays upon his pipe, heedless of the herdsman who drives his cattle into the gloomy dell nearer to us.

If nothing more existed to illustrate the fine qualities of English art, the contents of Galleries I. and III. would force us to marvel at Sir F. Leighton's recent doubt whether our countrymen are an artistic people! The English pictures may be divided into three groups: 1. Those which occupy two sides of Gallery III., and comprise Reynoldses, Romneys, and Gainsboroughs, a Hogarth more amusing than beautiful, a capital Crome, a good Cotes, two Zoffanys, three Turners, and an unsurpassed Constable. 2. Examples of the art of the last generation filling Gallery I., and including Turners, Leslies of great charm, Linnells which will add to this artist's fame, Boningtons, Mulreadys, Coxes, a very fine Dyce, three most brilliant Lewises, a typical F. Danby, and a good E. M. Ward; besides examples of Newton, Landseer, Phillip, Etty, Creswick, Maclise, and Poole. The sixty-four pictures in this room, and five in Gallery III., have been most generously lent by Mr. T. Horrocks Miller, of Preston, whose brother, Mr. W. Pitt Miller, has added liberally to that admirable collection of water colours by Turner which, mainly furnished by Mr. Ayscough Fawkes, of Farnley, fills the water-colour room in a manner in which even it has seldom been filled before. 3. The Galleries IV. and V. are entirely devoted to portraits and pathetic pieces by the late Mr. F. Holl, respecting which we may as well say at

once that their energy, spirit, and the intense sympathy shown with the subject would have produced more effect if their technical mannerisms, obvious and not at all profound artifices, and the limited nature of the painter's resources had not been forced on the visitor's notice, first, by the mere number of the pictures, and secondly, by their unlucky approximation to the incomparable Rembrandts which give distinction to Gallery III. It will be convenient to take the firstnamed group of pictures in their order on the walls.

This arrangement brings to view Romney's capital portrait of Archdeacon Paley (135), being the very man as he lived, in a three-cornered hat, wig archidiaconal, and coat succinct. His taste for fishing is indicated by the rod in his hand and the landscape behind him. From this picture J. Jones, in 1792, made a fine mezzotint, which is dear to collectors. This, or a duplicate, was lent by the late Earl of Ellenborough to the National Portrait Exhibition, 1868. The Portrait of Mrs. Trimmer (139) is another first-rate Romney. It is unusually soft and warm. The kindly expression of the lady's features seems to belie her somewhat martial air and cap like a Roman helmet. Among the most beautiful and sincere portraits of the eighteenth century is Romney's group of the Countess of Warwick and two of her Children (145), whole-length figures in an open daylight landscape, which effectively disputes Reynolds's claim to have been the best painter of English children. Sir Joshua never dealt more happily with such a subject. It was to another portrait of Lady Warwick that Hayley addressed a copy of neat verses entitled 'Venus to Lady Warwick,' and beginning :

:

Sweet model of my chaster power,
Simplicity and grace thy dower,
Behold thy finish'd portrait stand

The masterpiece of Romney's hand.

Such was Romney's facility that in 1786, some eight years before this group was in hand, he earned 3,504 guineas, when his price was only twenty guineas for a three-quarterslength figure; in 1793 he raised his price to thirty guineas for such a work. He painted Cumberland for eight guineas. At no time does he seem (his biographer's account is muddled) to have had more than 120 guineas for a wholelength figure. Contrast this with the fact that 10,000 guineas was lately refused for a wholelength figure of his. Lord Warwick was a great friend of Romney, and R. Cumberland's Correspondence' declares that the painter occupied a tower in Warwick Castle. This brings Romney into relation with the Hon. C. Greville and Emma Hart (Lady Hamilton), the former of whom owned a certain portrait of his mistress in a straw hat, called 'Emma,' which, having been painted for Mr. Crawford, was afterwards (1788) claimed by his successor Mr. Greville! This seems to be that which, now belonging to Mr. A. de Rothschild, is before us with the number 172. Emma Hart began to sit to Romney in 1782. (See the Rev. J. Romney's 'Memoirs of G. Romney,' 1830.) She appears here as a mere courtesan of a florid and sentimental kind; her cheeks are strongly coloured, her eyes fixed on high, and her attitude is forced. This is one of the worst examples of a bad type, in style and taste extremely vicious. The studies Romney made of Lady Hamilton, to which he gave various names, such as Iphigenia,' Cecilia,' 'A Bacchante,' and 'The Spinstress,' are not always liable to such censure; some of them are as chaste as they are charming and refined. The Portrait of Miss Mellon (176), the "laughter-loving Harriet," or "Euphrosyne" of many a lively prank which, as Haydon told us, startled the elderly and staid Mr. Coutts, is the reverse of No. 172, and as fine in its way as 'Mrs. Trimmer,' which in style, taste, and vivacity it much resembles. It is full of character, the eyes brim over with fun, and it gives the brilliant actress to the life some time before she became Duchess of St. Alban's. Like nearly all Romneys, and unlike all Reynoldses,

St.

it is practically unchanged. Miss Sophia Schutz (180), an exquisite sketch in the largest style, is full of power and life. Miss Schutz was, as Mrs. Delany said, daughter of Miss Maddens that was," and one of the four maids of honour of the Princess of Orange. Hardly inferior is Lady C. Paulett (182).

The fine, clear draughtsmanship, firm touch, glowing atmosphere, and rich colours after nature render Crome's Landscape and Figures (138) quite a typical picture. It may serve as a standard to judge his works by. Its surface seems to have darkened. probably in respect to the varnish only. -The Portrait of Mrs. Freeman (140) brings us to Sir J. Reynolds's works, of which there are good specimens here. It has been flayed alive. "Miss" Freeman sat to Sir Joshua in 1775; of Mrs. Freeman there is no record. The remaining "Reynoldses" before us deserve attention. No. 149, Portrait of Mrs. Crouch, is unknown to those who possess ample records of Sir Joshua's exhibited and unexhibited works. It looks like a French picture, and not like a Reynolds. A Miss Crook sat to the President in December, 1755, when his technique did not resemble that before us, which is poor in handling and impasto. Lord Waldegrave's William Henry, Duke of Gloucester (183), shows perfectly the man whom Walpole admired because he married his niece, and seems to have been painted in March, 1770. It was probably designed to illustrate the Duke's union with the widowed Countess Waldegrave, whose picture by Sir Joshua is a famous masterpiece. The artist painted her in many ways. Among the best of these works is that three-quarterslength seated figure whose rapt expression was truly said to be "commercing with the skies," and thus affords a strong contrast with the looks of the honest but silly prince whose face is depicted in No. 183. The veracity of the likeness is affirmed by its absolute identity with Gainsborough's superb whole-length, No. 150, which must have been painted at the same period, and is wonderfully like a Sir Joshua, while this first-rate Reynolds is wonderfully like a Gainsborough. The Portrait of Mrs. Thomas Scott (174), described as by an unknown artist, has puzzled many minds bent on discovering the name of the painter. Although the design is obviously clever, and the figure is gracefully posed, while originally the face was doubtless pretty, spontaneous, and expressive, at present the picture is not worth much attention or many guesses. It may have been adapted from a Reynolds, but it has been daubed over by a careless, feeble, and coarse hand (see the vile touch on the pearls, lace, hair, and, above all, the flesh), and is now in such a condition as enables us to affirm that neither Sir Joshua, Gainsborough, Romney, nor Dance-all of whom have been mentioned in connexion with it-ever saw or touched the surface which is before us.

THE SKULL OF DARNLEY.

University College, Toronto, Jan. 31, 1889. Ir is a privation to an old Scottish antiquary to have been beyond reach of the recent singularly interesting historical exhibitions of relics of the hapless Mary Stuart. But numerous and varied as they were, it is possible that one curious relic has escaped notice, which nevertheless is within easy access of all Londoners.

More than forty years ago the late Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, when showing me a reputed portrait of Lord Darnley, gave me an account of what he had heard from eye-witnesses of the rifling of the royal vault of Holyrood Abbey, and told me that the skull of Darnley had been secured by one of the Frasers of Lovat. During a visit to England in 1878 I availed myself of the opportunity to make a careful examination of the fine collection of crania of diverse races in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincoln's Inn Fields. A letter from W. H. Flower, Esq., F.R. S.-who was then absentsecured for me free access to the cases; and I