THE BENFEY JUBILEE, 24TH OCTOBER, 1878. IN the June number of THE RECORD we gave a brief sketch of the literary career of the venerable PROFESSOR BENFEY, and alluded to the then approaching jubilee, which was celebrated at Göttingen with great success on the 24th of October. PROFESSOR BENFEY received the hearty congratulations of an extensive circle of literary and private friends, conveyed to him both personally, by letter, by telegraph, and through the medium of six delegations. These latter were headed by:1. The Curator of the University of Göttingen, Herr von Wurnstedt, who conveyed the written congratulations of the Culturminister, Dr. Falck, in the name of the Government, and likewise his own orally and in writing. : 2. Professors Wöhler, Weber, and Wüstenfeld, with the felicitations of the Gottinger Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften. Professor Wüstenfeld was also deputed to convey those of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft to Dr. BENFEY, along with the diploma of honorary fellowship. 3. Professor Wieseler, Dean of the University, and Professors Stern and Bertheau. The Dean handed to Dr. BENFEY the Renewed Doctor's Diploma of the "Georgia Augusta," and also printed Votivtafeln (honorary doctor's diplomas) of Heidelberg and Strassburg. In the latter, among others, are the words: Doctrine Germanica per decemlustra Decori Unico; and Cujus indefessum laborem summa admiratione intuentor omnes quæ bonus litera colunt gente. 4. Doctors Bühler, Bezzenberger, and Bechtel, the Schülerdeputation, handed to the Professor, in the name of the students, a handsomely bound copy of the fourth volume of the "Beiträge zur Kunde der Indogermanischen Sprachen," dedicated as a memorial of the fifty years Jubilee of his Doctor's degree, to PROFESSOR THEODOR BENFEY, by Leo Meyer, Theodor Nöldeke, Georg Bühler, Augustus Fick, Joseph Budenz, Jacob Wackernagel, Adalbert Bezzenberger, and Theodor Zachariæ.” 5. Gymnasialdirector Schöning as representative of the Göttingen Gymnasium. 6. Professor Dove, Prorector, and Professors Meyer and Leber. Honorary Doctor-diplomas were also received from the Universities of Kiel, Marburg, München, and Halle. In the last: "Quo eximiam nominis famam et in Germania et apud Exteras assecutus est; " and in individual printed congratulations it is expressly enforced, “ dass der Jubilar ein neues Fach der Literaturgeschichte allgemeinen erfelgreich begründet.” The Academies of Göttingen, Berlin, and München also sent printed and manuscript felicitations, as elegant as heartfelt, and in that of München are the words: "der beneidenswerthe Ruhm hervorgehoben welchen der Jubilar eingeärndtet, sowie die ungewöhnliche Fülle wissenschaftlicher Leistungen." The American Oriental Society sent congratulations along with its Honorary Membership. Dr. BENFEY'S Pupils sent festival greetings in prose and in verse; and besides these he was gladdened by Italian felicitations by post from the Padre Marco della Tomba, and Professor Angelo De Gubernatis, along with presents accompanying those of the Minister of Public Instruction, and from the Members of the Congress of Orientalists, at which PROFESSOR BENFEY had recently assisted in Florence, and among which was his "Indische Studien," from Dr. Albrecht Weber. No less gratifying were the many oral and telegraphic felicitations, and among the latter, especially those from MM. Gildemeister, Justi, Leo Meyer, Nicolas Trübner, and others; as well as epistolary greetings from Professors Max Müller, Auerbach, Whitney, Nöldeke, and A. Schiefner. Among the many presents was one peculiarly acceptable, which has not yet left the studio of Signor Caroni, of Florence, who took the model during the recent sitting of the International Congress of Orientalists,-a portrait bust of the venerable Professor, the gift of his English friends. The festivities of the Jubilee closed with a torchlight procession of the students of the University, at midnight, on Monday, the 28th. THE CONFERENCE OF LIBRARIANS AT OXFORD. THE first annual meeting of the Library Association of the United Kingdom was held at Oxford, October the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, in the rooms of the Oxford Union Society. The meeting on the first day was presided over by the Rev. H. O. Coxe, Bodley's Librarian, Vice-President of the Association. Mr. Coxe expressed his admiration of Sir A. Panizzi and Mr. Winter Jones, whose successor, Mr. E. A. Bond, he felt sure, would fill the post of Chief Librarian of the British Museum to the satisfaction of every literary man and woman. He doubted the possibility of a universal catalogue. After an allusion to and defence of the present copy-tax system, Mr. Coxe welcomed the association to Oxford. Mr. H. R. TEDDER read the report of the Council, which detailed the history of the Association during its first year of existence. There are 168 members representing 123 libraries. Membership is not confined to professional librarians, all interested in bibliography or library work being admitted. The report was adopted. Mr. J. POTTER BRISCOE, of Nottingham, read a paper condemnatory of subscription departments in Free Public Libraries. as establishing class distinctions and deluging reference libraries with novels. The plan was defended by Mr. MacLauchlen (Dundee) and Mr. Hanson (Rochdale). Mr. ERNEST C. THOMAS, one of the Hon. Secretaries, read a paper describing the libraries of Oxford, and the uses of College libraries. After describing these libraries, Mr. Thomas urged that each College library should be made a thoroughly good library of reference for the ordinary objects of Oxford study; that the office of librarian should be a real one, and adequately paid; and that if specialization be continued-Worcester, for instance, having taken up the subject of classical archæology-the College libraries should be made reciprocally available. In the discussion which followed. Dr. Rolleston, Count Balzani, Messrs. G. Bullen, Ashton Cross, T. H. Ward, Dr. Seligmann, and the Chairman, took part. The question of lending books from great libraries came on incidentally. Mr. Cross made the revolutionary suggestion that the British Museum and the Bodleian should be opened until ten at night. The Chairman jocularly observed that all these facilities for reading might end in leaving the student no time in which to think. The Rev. H. E. REYNOLDS read a paper on "Our Cathedral Libraries, their history, extent, and use," in which he lamented the present disuse of these collections, and urged that efforts should be made to make them more accessible. After some remarks by Chancellor Parish, endorsing the views put forth, Mr. W. H. K. WRIGHT (Plymouth) read a paper, in which he strongly urged the desirability of each town-library collecting local books, and also of taking some special subject or department of literature, and aiming at completeness in it. Mr. Wright's views were endorsed by Messrs. Bullen, Cowell, Briscoe, Welsh, Garnett, Mullins, Parfitt, and Timmins. Mr. T. W. SHORE then called attention to the shameful neglect of Parochial Libraries; many had been allowed to perish, and others, containing valuable books, were in a sad state of dilapidation and disuse. Additional testimony was given by Mr. Russell (Bath) and Mr. Wright. The Rev. R. Hooper referred to an investigation made in 1875 by the associates of Dr. Bray. The BARON DE WATTEVILLE expressed the interest taken in the work of the Association by the French Government. The day's proceedings closed with a visit to the Bodleian, and a reception at Worcester College. On the second day the chair was again taken by the Bodleian Librarian. The report of the committee on a general catalogue of English literature was placed before the meeting. It recommended its preparation, and that it should be alphabetical, to be followed in due course by class bibliographies or subject-indexes. Mr. CORNELIUS WALFORD then directed attention to some practical points in the preparation of such a catalogue. He suggested co-operation with the British Museum, and submitted a model card-catalogue slip. Mr. WM. E. A. AXON then read a paper in answer to the question, Is a printed catalogue of the British Museum practicable? His suggestion was that the copy of the titles now arranged in the order of the shelf classification should be printed in sections. The books were divided into a thousand classes, and each of these might be issued separately, and followed by supplements as fast as the additions justified them. An interesting discussion ensued, in which Mr. Bullen said hat if he could persuade the Trustees, and had the support of the country, the catalogue of the British Museum should be printed. It had been decided to print, as a beginning, a catalogue of English books down to 1640. Mr. E. C. Thomas urged that we should now catalogue not libraries but literatures. Dr. H. W. ACLAND then read a paper, in which he sketched the foundation and progress of the Radcliffe Library, intended to supply the wants of the real students of nature who work in Oxford. Dr. SELIGMANN read a paper, in which the signification of libraries, ancient and modern, was brought out by means of a philosophical outline of the history of libraries in ancient and modern times. Dr. ACLAND next described a new form of iron bookcase, which had been designed for him by Mr. Wm. Froude. A paper by Mr. J. YATES, of Leeds, on the uses of mechanical Indicators' of the presence or absence of books on the shelves of lending libraries, led to a lively discussion, in which considerable divergence of opinion was manifest. Mr. Thomas, Mrs. White, Mr. Nicholson, Mr. Cowell, Mr. Harrison, Mr. Axon, and others joined in the conversation. Mr. F. T. BARRETT (Glasgow) described a form of stock book, or accessions catalogue, and Mr. P. COWELL explained a new card catalogue in use at Liverpool. Mr. C. MADELEY suggested the use of a book scale for the readier determination of sizes. Mr. NICHOLSON urged the appointment of a committee on the notation of book sizes, but Mr. BULLEN and Mr. COXE both thought the present system adequate. At the conclusion of the meeting the members visited Balliol under the guidance of Prof. Jowett, and All Souls under the leadership of Prof. Max Müller. In the evening there was a reception at the Radcliffe Library. The third day's meeting was presided over by Mr. J. T. Clark, of the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. Mr. E. B. NICHOLSON read the report of the Metropolitan Free Libraries Committee, which showed that a good deal had been done towards preparing the public mind. Hackney and Kensington have both rejected the Free Libraries Act. The question was under consideration in Whitechapel. After some remarks by various speakers, expressive of their surprise at the failure of the Metropolis to adopt institutions so successful in the provinces, the report was adopted. The report on Poole's Index to Periodical Literature was next considered. It showed that a number of English librarians were cooperating, and that the work was making satisfactory progress. Mr. J. B. BAILEY read a paper, in which he urged the necessity of a subject-index to scientific periodicals. The proposal was supported by Messrs. Garnett, Stevens, Rolleston, Knapman, Harrison. Walford, Axon, Timmins, and others. Mr. E. C. THOMAS desired to see a similar Index to Collectaneous Literature-a clue to the many valuable papers to be found in the volumes of essays and criticisms, original or republished, forming so notable a feature of modern authorship. Mr. ROBERT HARRISON then read a paper on the Salaries of Librarians, in which the multifarious duties of the office were contrasted with the miserable pittances paid to those who performed its duties. In the discussion which followed, the Baron de Watteville gave an amusing picture of the French librarians of the old school. Mr. D. B. GRANT advocated the use of American cloth for book coverings. Mr. C. P. RusSELL showed a method of filing newspapers, such as The Times. He used a large portfolio with eight eyelet holes, four on each side, through which a common bootlace was passed. The papers were stitched on to these crossbands, which at the end of the month were cut outside the folio, and were then ready for the binder without further stitching. Mr. W. E. A. AXON read a paper in which he urged the establishment of professors of bibliography. A discussion followed, in which Messrs. Thomas, Timmins, and Bullen took part. Mr. W. H. ALLNUTT then read some interesting Notes on Printers and Printing in Provincial Towns," and showed list of places in the United Kingdom known to have had printing presses before the close of the eighteenth century. Mr. HENRY STEVENS brought forward the subject of the Postal Union and International Copyright. The business meeting of the Association was then held, and after several votes of thanks had been passed with cordial unanimity, it was decided to hold the meeting next year at Manchester. A ballot for the election of officers brought a very successful meeting to a termination. LITERARY INTELLIGENCE. BIBLIOTHECA SINICA.-Dictionnaire Bibliographique des Ouvrages Relatifs à l'Empire Chinois. Par Henri Cordier. Secrétaire de la Mission Chinoise, Bibliothécaire Honoraire de la Société Royale Asiatique de Chang hai, Membre Correspondant de l'Ecole des Langues Orientales vivantes, Membre de la Société Asiatique de Paris. Tome Premier, Premier Fascicule. Paris: Ernest Leroux. Editeur. Libraire de la Société Asiatique de Paris, de L'Ecole des Langues Orientales vivantes, etc., 28, Rue Bonaparte. 1878.Notwithstanding the numerous book catalogues already published-some general and comprehensive, some special to China-few who take the trouble to examine M. Cordier's work will consider it superfluous. Instead of a mere list of titles, useful as that often is, this is a Catalogue raisonnée of the highest order, and goes far towards raising bibliography to the rank of a science. The raison d'être of the book is sufficiently stated in a well-written preface, which also gives a summary outline of the plan of the work. From this we learn that it is to be in five divisions, treating respectively, 1st, of China Proper; 2nd, Foreigners in China; 3rd, Relations of the Chinese with Foreigners; 4th, Chinese in Foreign Countries; 5th, Countries Tributary to China. The first division will embrace general works on the empire, works on Geography, Natural History, History, Religion, Science, Arts, Language. Literature, Manners and Customs. The second division will treat successively of the ports open to foreign intercourse, the knowledge of China possessed by foreigners, as given by the Roman, Arabian, and other writers and travellers from the middle ages down to our own time. The third division will comprehend documents relating to Chinese diplomacy with foreign nations. fourth division will contain the fullest information regarding Chinese travellers and emigrants to other countries, from the time of the early Buddhist pilgrims down to the embassy of Kwo Sung-taou. The fifth division will embrace Chinese colonies and countries tributary to China. The list of works under each of these sections is given chronologically, and it will probably surprise most readers to see the number of publications that have been put on record by the diligent The compiler. The part of the work now published is entirely occupied with the first division, embracing works of a general character, works on Geography, Nomenclature. Ethnography. Climate and Meteorology, Natural History, Population, Government, Jurisprudence, and the commencement of the section on History. The work will have an alphabetical list of authors appended, which will complete all that can be desired in the way of classification. On most topics of general interest, it is usual for people to profess at least, not only a fair acquaintance with the subject, but also the literature affecting it; but on all that pertains to China, an affectation of ignorance is more esteemed by many than the contrary part. Even from some under the sway of nobler instincts we are accustomed to hear the question asked, What books have been written concerning China? And this question is persistently repeated, notwithstanding the numerous volumes that are pouring from the press, and overcrowding the shelves of our publishers year after year. With M. Cordier's book available, such inquirers will be altogether without excuse. The earliest work recorded in the present part is an anonymous miscellaneous composition, dated 1655, containing a good deal of information on the natural products of China. The title-which is too long to quote entire-begins, Artificia hominum miranda naturae in Sina et Europa, etc. We find, in looking over the body of M. Cordier's work, a comparatively few authors stand prominent, whose works are like leading arteries in the mass. Such are among the works of a general character-Mendoza, Semedo, Le Comte, Duhalde, and the Mémoires of the Roman Catholic Missionaries, for last century; while, in more modern times, we have China and the Chinese, by Sir John Davis, and the Middle Kingdom, by Williams. Any one tolerably acquainted with the general run of works on China, knows how largely these sources of information have been drawn upon by subsequent writers, and how little there is comparatively that is new in most of the general accounts that appear at intervals. It is in matters of special research and observation that recent works add to our knowledge; and in this department the present work promises to be of the utmost importance. One does not expect to find much light reading in a simple catalogue of books, but the plan our author appears to have sketched out will doubtless embrace a good deal that is suggestive, and may prove a source of many questions of interest. In the part already published, there are some bits not unworthy a place among the curiosities of literature. The remarkable imposture of George Psalmanaazar is well known, and the salient points relating to the author and his works are here concisely given. As an example of M. Cordier's manner of treating his subjects were it not for the space it would occupy-we should like to give the article on the Dominican priest Navarette's great work, Tratados historicos, politicos, ethicos, y religiosos de la Monarchia de China, published in 1676. The transcript of the title-page extends to 24 lines. Three descriptive lines are followed by a statement of the selling prices of the volume at four well-known book auctions. This work gave rise to the following spirited reply:-Memorial apologetico al Excmo. Señor Conde de Villa-Hombrosa, Presidente del Consejo Supremo de Castilla, etc. A second edition of this reply, extended in length, afterwards appeared, with the title, Reparos historiales apologeticos dirigidos al excelentissimo Señor Conde de Villavmbrosa, Presidente del Consejo Supremo de Castilla, etc. It appears Navarette's work was to have been in three volumes. The third volume, however, was never printed; and the second volume, containing matter offensive to the Jesuits, was suppressed by order of the authorities at Rome. The only known existing copy is in the Grenville Library in the British Museum, and that is incomplete, reaching to page 688. There is a considerable extract from the second volume, translated into French, in a MS. in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris, to which the following note is appended: "There would have been a third volume of Navarette, if his patron, Don Juan, had not died while the second was being printed. I have been assured that the manuscript of it was in the Minerva convent at Rome." On p. 77 of the MS. Navarette alludes to his third volume. A MS. copy of the second volume is preserved in the St. Genevieve School of the Jesuits at Paris, in the 23rd volume of the collection of MSS. relating to China. In the Scriptores Ordinis Praedicatorum, by Fathers Quétif and Echard, there is a detailed description of Navarette's first two volumes, and a reference to the third, which was never published. There is a MS. volume of Navarette's travels in the Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal at Paris, entitled Viages y Navegaciones del P. Mo. Fr. Domingo Fernandez Navarette Cathedratico de Prima del Colegio y Universidad de S. Thomas de Manila, etc. An English translation of Navarette's first volume was published in the first volume of Churchill's Collection of Travels in 1732, entitled. An Account of the Empire of China, Historical, Political, Moral and Religious, etc. A third edition of this Collection was published in 1744. English, French, and German translations have been published of Navarette's travels in China, in an abbreviated form, which are all carefully recorded. In this way does the author trace the existing remains of a work which created much sensation in the religious world at a time when polemics ran high betwen the different orders in the Church of Rome. With equal care does he give the genealogical history of most of the leading works that fall within his range. The various editions, large and small, in French and English, of Duhalde's great work, are well known. It is not so generally known that there is a translation of the same into German, 1747-1756, and we venture to say, it will be new to most readers, that there are actually two volumes in print of a Russian translation of the same work, 1774, seq. The section on Geography is specially rich; and, besides an extraordinary accumulation of books and pamphlets under this head, we have a careful and minutely detailed list of the various maps and charts issued by the English, French, and German admiralties; as also much information regarding the Jesuit maps, those of D'Anville and others. It is not so obvious why M. Cordier includes some purely philological treatises in this part of his work. Such are Macgowan's Manual of the Amoy Colloquial, and Medhurst's Dictionary of the Favorlang Dialect. The latter article by the way contains some curious and interesting notes. The earnest of M. Cordier's complete Dictionnaire Bibliographique, which we have already in hand, warrants us in expecting one of the most important works of the class that has ever been published. The alphabetical index promised at the end will add immensely to its value.-A. W. THE SKRIMAT VAGABAT.-A Mahratta lady is described as a "walking edition" of the Skrimat Vagabat, the 18,000 verses of which Roma Bye-such is the lady's name-can recite from memory, and explain with prompt readiness any verse menned of the great Sanskrit poem. SANSKRIT POETRY.-We have received the "Fourth Set" of Mr. J. Muir's Metrical Translations from the Sanskrit. These elegant recreations of so able a Sanskrit scholar are only printed for private circulation. SANSKRIT MANUSCRIPTS.-Dr. Rajendralála has issued the ninth fasciculus of "Catalogue of Sanskrit MSS. existing in Oudh of Mr. Nesfield and Pandita Deváprasáda." Also List of Sanskrit Manuscripts discovered in Oudh during the year 1876," by the same. The N.W.P. Government have printed the second part of "A Catalogue of Sanskrit Manuscripts in Private Libraries of the NorthWestern Provinces.' TULSEE DASS' RAMAYANA-The first instalment of Growse's translation of this work has appeared. Tulsee Dass occupies in the Hindi vernacular the position of Shakspeare in the English language, while the poet Chand dates back 600 years, and occupies the position of Chaucer. The Ramayana is an independent poem, and not a translation from the Sanskrit. It is most popular with the people, and deservedly so, but up to the present time quite unknown in Europe. ASSYRIAN MONUMENTS.-During Mr. Rassam's absence from Nineveh, the excavations have progressed steadily under his nephew, and some 400 fresh tablets are on their way to the British Museum. Mr. Rassam, after his return to Nineveh, anticipates being able to complete the exploration of the Kouyunjik library by the end of March.-Dr. Zainhart Hörning, one of the younger Assyriologists of Germany, is about to publish two most important inscriptions of Sennacherib-the Taylor Prism and the Bellini Cylinder. SINHALESE MADE EASY.-Under this title there has been issued from the Wesleyan Mission Press of Colombo, a Phrase Book of Colloquial Sinhalese in Roman and Sinhalese Characters, in a revised and enlarged edition. It contains some useful hints on the grammar of the language, and a collection of idioms. INDIAN SURVEYS.-The seven years having elapsed since the first edition of the Memoir of the Indian Surveys, by Clements R. Markham, C.B., F.R.S., was issued, that gentleman has brought out a second edition, bringing the Survey up to the present time, and embodying the abstracts for the years 1871, 1872, 1873, 1874, 1875, and 1876; an additional sub-section having been added for the Marine Survey Department. : NUMISMATA ORIENTALIA.-In 1874 Mr. Thomas undertook, with the co-operation of the most learned Oriental numismatists, to edit a new issue of Marsden's "Numismata Orientalia." Each author will give a history of the dynasty whose coins are the subject of review, a critical list of regal succession, a notice regarding values of current coins, and a resumé of the sites and designations of mint cities. The first part of the series, by Mr. Thomas himself, is a very interesting essay on ancient Indian weights, and the origin of a currency in India. It was published in 1874. The section on the coins of the Saljukis, Urtuki Turkumans, and Atabegs, was undertaken by Mr. Stanley Lane Poole, and the Urtuki portion was published in 1876. Four other parts are completed, namely, the Coins of Ceylon, by Mr. Rhys Davids; those of the Túlúni Dynasty of Egypt, by Mr. Rogers, of Cairo; those of the Parthians, by Mr. Percy Gardner and the Coinage of Lydia and Persia from the earliest times to the fall of the Achaemenidae, by Mr. Barclay V. Head. Sir Walter Elliot has undertaken the Coins of Southern India; Sir Arthur Phayre those of Arakan and Pegu; General Cunningham those of the IndoScythians; Dr. H. Blochmann, of Calcutta, those of the Bengal Sultans; M. F. de Sauley the early Arabico-Byzantine adaptations; Professor Gregorief those of the Russo-Tatar Dynasties; Don Pascual de Gayangos those of the Khalifas of Spain; Dr. Julius Euting those of the Phoenicians; Mr. F. W. Madden those of the Jews; Mr. Reginald Poole those of the Ikhshídís; M. Sauvaire those of the Fatimites of Egypt; and Mr. Thomas himself the Sassanians of Persia. Regarded as an introduction to the study of Eastern history, this work will be invaluable. Each section is undertaken by the most learned man in Europe on the particular subject to which it is devoted, and his knowledge of numismatics is brought to bear on the elucidation of history, and especially of ehronology by the unerring guidance of coins. As triangu lation furnishes the accurate framework by which geographical description receives precision, and is made useful, so the landmarks fixed by the study of coins and inscriptions are the essential guides to a correct knowledge of history. In future the student of Indian history will no more be able to dispense with the information contained in the "Numismata Orientalia," than the geographer can pursue his researches without the aid of surveys. Messrs. Trübner and Co. have undertaken this costly publication entirely at their own expense, and it is to be hoped that the work will receive that patronage and encouragement which is undoubtedly its due. -From A Memoir on the Indian Surveys," by Clements R. Markham, C.B., F.R.S., second edition, 1878, pp. 261-262. KOOLANYSU.-We note the publication of A Short History of Koolanysu by Mr. H. A. Giles, of H. M. Consular Service. This work has been printed at Amoy, chiefly for circulation among residents at that port. MALAYAN.-The first volume of the Malayan and Dutch Dictionary by MM. H. van de Wall and H. N. van der Tuuk, has just been issued in Batavia, at the cost of the Dutch Government, in royal 8vo. M. P. van der Meulen's "Inleiding en het Maleisch," as spoken, with Introduction by Dr. P. J. Veth, has also been recently published. THE EGYPTIAN CALENDAR for the past year 1295 of the Hegira, corresponding with 1594-95 of the Coptic era, and 1878 of the Christian era, has been published in English, handsomely printed at Alexandria by A. Mourés, in 8vo., with explanatory notes, a most useful glossary to elucidate the fasts and festivals. and ceremonies mentioned in the tabular calendar. It is so arranged that for general purposes it can easily be made to serve as a perpetual calendar, and both as a Mohammedan and a Coptic calendar, prominence being given to the Muslim year, the Christian and the Amshik (Coptic) being placed side by side with it. "CYPRUS, a Weekly Journal of Agriculture and Commerce," commenced publication at Larnaca on the 29th of August. It is a four-page paper, half in English and half in Greek. A TECHNICAL DICTIONARY.-The St. Petersburg Technical Society has just issued the first portion of a Technical Dictionary in French, Russian, German, and English. BERBER LANGUAGE.-General Faidherbe gives, in the new volume of the Mémoires des Sciences de Lille, the second part of his essay on the Berber language, consisting of phrases and a vocabulary. SENNACHERIB.-The work on Sennacherib, by the late George Smith, the celebrated Assyriologist, is on the eve of publication. THE ORIENTAL PROFESSORSHIP IN THE UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN.-The very important information of the appointment of Mr.V. Fausböll to the Chair of Oriental Languages and Literature at the University of Copenhagen, become vacant by the lamented death of Professor Westergaard, has reached us just before going to press. This is a step in the right direction-as honourable to the Minister of Public Instruction, and the Senate of the University, as it is to the recipient of this distinguished honour. The study of Pali was inaugurated in Europe by E. Burnouf in 1826. Subsequently Professor F. Spiegel, of Erlangen, by his catalogue of the rich collection of Pali MSS., formed by Prof. Rask, and preserved in the University Library of Copenhagen, as well as by a number of papers on Pali literature, contributed essentially to the opening of the treasures of that language. In 1855 Mr. Fausboll, who had devoted himself entirely to the study of Pali, and had visited for that purpose the great libraries of England and France, brought out the first important Pali Text, viz. the Dhammapadam, in Pali and Latin, and has since been acknowledged the first and leading Pali scholar in Europe. His subsequent publications are evidence of his sterling scholarship. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE.-" Die Metaphern. Stadien über den Geist der modernen Sprachen von Dr. F. Brinkmann. I. Band. Bonn, A Marcus, 1878."-A new speciality has made its appearance with this book amongst the constantly widening circle of linguistic doctrines, which take their start from the science of Comparative Philology. It is only since the beginning of this century that the great thinkers of Germany began first to consider the problem of language and its origin in a philosophical spirit, and that by one of those mysterious coincidences so often provided, it seems, for the more rapid advancement of human knowledge, the Sanskrit language and literature became known in Europe about the same time. Following in the rear of Herder and Kant, men like Wilhelm von Humboldt and Franz Bopp gave a solid basis of scientific experience to the lofty speculations of abstract philosophy. A flood of light soon began to be thrown on a field of research where absolute darkness had reigned before, in spite of a most devoted study of classical philology for many generations. Inspired by the same critical spirit of the age, the astounding genius of Jacob Grimm, who founded Germanic philology with all its important branches of antiquarian research, F. Diez did the same for the Romance languages. The whole of the languages of the Indo-Aryan family were gradually studied and analyzed in the same way. The comparative treatment extended to Celtic, Slavonic, and Iranic languages, and drew into its circle the other emanations of the human mind, such as mythology, folklore, manners and customs. The researches of A. Kuhn, followed by those of MaxMüller, laid the foundation for a new branch of knowledge, the Science of Religion, by means of which we often get most curious glimpses into the working of the human mind in the prehistoric period. In tracing the many forms of transcendent belief amongst the Aryan world back to their most ancient sources, we seem to get considerably nearer the perception of those laws of logic immanent in language itself, to which the dry bones of scholastic wisdom, commonly called logic, hold about the same relation as aesthetic reflection holds to artistic inspiration, or theology to revealed religion. To evolve the laws by which the living brain is guided, and which constitute the very essence of its activity, is the task in which philology will have to assist philosophy in the future. In this sense a book on metaphors ingrained in the spoken language, and on figures of speech generally, even when taking its stand on a much humbler ground than the one reviewed just now, must be pronounced as decidedly appropriate and corresponding to the tendency of the time towards philosophical comprehension of the phenomena of the mind. The author's method of dealing with his subject was known to the readers of "Herrig's Archiv für das Studium neueren Sprachen" for some years past; in fact, nearly half the materials of this book are deposited in the different articles published there from 1870-77. By collecting them now and writing an introductory dissertation on metaphors under their different aspects, the author seems first to have conceived more distinct ideas of the use to which metaphors are turned in the economy of language, and to have altered the plan accordingly, on which he wants to proceed in future, if this first volume finds favour in the eyes of the public. We should decidedly wish to encourage him to go on steadfastly with his useful work; but, in his own interest, we must recommend to him to be more concise in future, and, in his exposition, more to observe the due proportions between essential points and mere by-work. He generally has instances enough ready at hand in illustration of a particular point to be able to dispense with long comments which only dilute the matter without making it in any way clearer. It is like analyzing a joke, an operation which always destroys it, and both the epigrammatic and the metaphoric expression may be said to be the more forcible the less explanation they require. What wit, for instance, is there left in an expression like c'est ma bête noire, if it has need of a commentary of four pages, from 164-168? Instead of comparing it to the "black ox who has trod on somebody's foot"-a phrase hardly known except to a few antiquaries-was it not much more natural to trace its origin to the nursery, like the English bugbear, and to consider it simply a milder phrase for je l'ai en abomination or en horreur? In keeping our attention too exclusively fixed on one subject, it is only natural that our mental vision should get impaired, and that then we should be apt to overlook things quite near at hand. Something of this sort happens to Dr. Brinkmann when he sees a metaphor in every out-of-theway expression, and does not take into account the popular taste for bons-mots, double-entendres, and passing allusions to some well-known saying, which, if rightly understood, are suggestive of a great deal that is lying beyond the mere metaphorical expression of a single idea. One should have thought, for instance, that the meaning of the Spanish phrase comulgar á uno con ruedas de molino, for "cheating or mystifying a man" (p. 145), was patent to every one as a pun which turns on the word rueda, in the two senses of "a slice of something eatable in a circular shape," and of "a wheel." That there is a metaphor in the use of this word for "wafer," like the Latin rotula in ecclesiastical language, is not to be denied; but the intentional magnifying of it into a mill-wheel divests it of that character again. Or take the phrase ciertos son los toros (pp. 158, 451), in which Dr. Brinkmann finds proof of the intense excitement and the degree of assurance with which this national pastime is expected in Spain. If that were so, it would be a badly chosen simile, as it is neither descriptive enough nor generally true. If, on the other hand, we should be allowed to consider it as an imperfect quotation, and to supplement it by something like de su destino, it would be like the paradoxical saying that the only thing certain in life is death. To deal with it as complete in itself would be about as safe as to detach Pindar's ἄριστον μὲν ὕδωρ from its connexion, and to impute to the divine bard hydropathic theories or total abstinence principles. Page 206, the author is at a loss how to explain the metaphorical use of criblé in the sense of "perforated," etc.; naturally enough, because it is not a question of metaphor, but one of derivation by means of the Latin suffix -atus, which does not only mean 'possessed of something," but "bearing likeness to.' Pliny already uses cribratus in that sense, and the medieval Latin words viratus " manlike," and magnatus "grand in appearance, magnate," speak likewise to the point. If, by these remarks, we could induce the author to rise above his immediate subject, and to consider figurative speech from a more comprehensive point of view, we should hope to have done good service to his cause. He has evidently been collecting a great deal of material for a long time, the publication of which would be highly interesting to philologists; but, unless he studies brevity more than at present, he will not produce that which we should wish him to do. The field is enormous, and concentration in the plan and its execution is an absolute necessity. Instead of amassing example on example, good, bad, or indifferent, let him first give us the condensed result of his experience, methodically arranged, and he will find himself to be the first gainer by that process, in seeing his studies assume a more distinct character as contributions to a new science, the Psychology of Language. DR. FERDINAND TONNIES is carefully examining papers and letters of Hobbes and Aubrey, preserved in English libraries, in search of materials for his life of the former. ETYMOLOGISCHES WÖRTERBUCH DER ROMANISCHEN SPRACHEN VON FRIEDRICH DIEZ. VIERTE AUSGABE. Bonn, A. Marcus. 1878.-For the fourth time this fundamental work of Romance etymology appears before us, supplemented by the latest researches in that field as carried on by the active school of philologists, of which F. Diez was the celebrated founder. Twice in his lifetime the author had published improved editions of his work, which for the first time had appeared in 1853, and each time he had conscientiously revised or placed on a firmer basis many of his original propositions. This time the work of registering the recent discoveries in that branch of philology was most appropriately confided to the hands of Dr. A. Scheler, the accomplished Librarian to the King of the Belgians, and distinguished in that line by works of his own. That the science of etymology, like all historical inquiries, needed constant sifting of new evidence, and that its results could therefore at no time be considered as absolutely unchangeable, none could be more thoroughly convinced of than Diez himself. Nor did he hesitate to confess himself in the wrong when the knowledge of others helped to throw a new light on a doubtful question. Language, after all, is not so strictly an organic growth that all its branches and leaves can be derived from one single germ, like the evolutions of the organic body from a "particle of oleaginous matter." Those secondary productions emanating from the human mindlike language, religion, law, and social institutions-are subject to many irregular influences and accidental circumstances that cannot altogether be reduced to an unalterable rule. But these being deducted, there remains a sufficiently large substratum in each language, and in each group of cognate languages, that is the result of fixed laws, and each apparent deviation from them must be explained in a rational manner, and supported by good analogy before it can be established as an indubitable fact. It is Diez's everlasting merit first to have laid down such laws for the Romance languages in his Comparative Grammar (Bonn, 1836-44), and then to have shown by innumerable instructive examples! in his Dictionary how manifold are the agencies that modify their general course. In this sense, the work before us forms the crowning triumph of his scientific career. With his vast amount of learning, and his knowledge of those languages in their various stages of development, and of their ramifications in provincial dialects, he approached his complicated subject, and with that strictness of method in which he was equalled by few only, he disposed of the immense material before him in a manner which made his work a standard to be followed and imitated by all future generations of investigators in the wide domain of linguistic study. No doubt, men like Grimm, Bopp, and Pott before him had shown the way in which these researches must be conducted, but no one had contributed so much to popularize this new branch of learning, because they had to deal with families of languages of which even the educated generally speaking know very little, while Diez demonstrated his propositions on the changes undergone by a great language which from our early days has been a subject of study and mental discipline to all of us, and which, since then, seems to accompany us all our lives through, as every day we find its traces impressed on our modern civilization. In the large concourse of nations which each in their turn have shaped the history of medieval Europe, and have contributed their share to the vernaculars developing in the provinces of the Roman Empire, it is natural that we should find sediments of the older languages remaining in the newly-created ones. The base and groundwork is, of course, Latin, but there is a more or less considerable foreign element in each. The Teutonic is prevalent in French and Italian, while it is found in diminished proportions in Spanish and Portuguese by the side of Arabic, which, again, is of lesser importance in the before-named languages. The admixture of words of Greek, or of Celtic and Basque origin, is so trifling, and as far as the latter two are concerned, so uncertain, that resort is had to them only when the other sources fail. But the infusion of the Teutonic and Arabic words alone produces variety enough, and allows us to judge of the kind of intercourse the three nations had with each other. While the victorious Teuton seems to have introduced expressions relating to war as well as seafaring terms, words connected with social life and sports, etc., the Arabic importations confine themselves to the administration of the commonwealth, to state dignities, and to the sphere of abstract knowledge, It, further, is a clear indication of the more complete fusion of the Teutonic and Latin races, when we find that the Germanic dialects enter largely into the formation of verbs, while there is perhaps not a single instance of an Arabic verbal root being naturalized as such on foreign soil. E. Varducci, in his two Saggi di voci italiane derivate dall' arabo, Roma, 1858 and 1863, proceeds on a different principle; but his way of etymologizing by a general similarity of sounds would take us back to the days of Etienne Guichart, who, in his Harmonie étymologique des langues, Paris, 1619, derives the languages of Europe, old and modern, directly from the Hebrew, in such wise that Sire comes from Hebrew sar, princeps, and jour and dies together from Hebrew yom. The subject of Arabic importations into the languages of the Christian middle-ages may be considered as definitely settled by Engelmann and Dozy's combined researches into the Spanish and Portuguese stock of these words. The other languages of this family have added very little to it, and probably derived even much of what they possess of it through the medium of the Spanish. Many of the articles noted in Devic's Dictionnaire étymologique des mots français d'origine orientale, Paris, 1876, were never property of the language in the sense in which certain Moorish terms were felt to be indispensable for every-day Both Diez and Scheler have made sparing use of this rich display of rare and half-forgotten words, in order not to overload their ship with useless ballast. Such as it is, it must be considered a perfect storehouse of valuable philological and historical information, which the scholar and the friend of literature will peruse with equal curiosity and profit to himself. use. DESK-CHARTS FOR GRAMMAR SCHOOLS-Prof. Albert von Kampen purposes issuing a series of coloured special charts to illustrate the Classics, 25 inches by 32, each author to have a special set. These charts are intended to be placed on the desk by the side of each pupil, as the class is reading that portion of the author's text to which the chart, so placed, has particular reference. The geographical maps will omit all modern names, and, in doubtful cases, that locality will be adopted to which our present state of knowledge gives the preference. Topographical views and other illustrations will be sketched, where requisite, in the maps; and the plans of battles will have contending hosts distinguished by contrast of colour. The first series will consist of 15 charts and plans of battle to Cæsar de Bello Gallico, in which 17 topographical and figure illustrations are introduced. The price of the five numbers, each containing three charts, is 2s. 6d., or 6d. each. Should the plan meet with approval, Xenophon's Anabasis, Quintus Curtius, Livy, and others, will be similarly illustrated. THE EMPEROR OF BRAZIL, with characteristic regard for high intellect and still cherished friendship, has sent a silver vase to the oldest living companion of Coleridge, the author of "Recollections of Samuel Taylor Coleridge," with it the following inscription: TO THOMAS ALLSOP, FROM PEDRO II. In Recognition of Interesting Documents and Letters, As the only surviving Friend of the Philosopher and Poet, WITH WHOM I LOVED LIVING AND HONOUR DEAD. When the Emperor was last in England, he paid a visit to Coleridge's tomb at Highgate, one morning as early as six o'clock. |