6io 



NATURE 



[October 29, 1891 



in various colours, and the initial letters are very large 

 (Pis. 34, 38). 



A fine example of the writing and illumination of the 

 thirteenth century is that given on PI. i, from a Coptic 

 and Afabic Evangelarium written A.D. 1250; in it St. 

 Mark, seated, is about to receive in a napkin the book of 

 the Gospels from St. Peter, and by his side is a stand in 

 the shape of that used to hold a Koran ; opposite is a 

 scene in which John the Baptist is baptizing Christ in the 

 Jordan, in the presence of two angels, who hold napkins, 

 and above them is descending from blue heavens the 

 Holy Ghost in the form of a dove. Behind John the 

 Baptist is a tree, in the trunk of which an axe has been 

 struck. Of illustrated Gospels of this period we have 

 excellent specimens on Pis. 44-47, where the Transfigura- 

 tion, the devils entering the swine, the Marriage at Cana, 

 the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, &c., display a quaint 

 mixture of ancient Coptic, Byzantine, and Arab methods 

 of illumination and ornamentation. Of manuscripts of 

 the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries good examples 

 are given on Pis. 50 foil., with facsimiles of the ela- 

 borate crosses of the period and of the portraits of the 

 four Evangelists in circles. The space at our disposal 

 will not allow a more detailed description of the contents 

 of the "Album de Paleographie Copte " than that given 

 above, which will serve to indicate the great value of the 

 work to scholars. 



The Copts, or " Egyptian " Christians, played no un- 

 important part in the history of Egypt after the preach- 

 ing of St. Mark at Alexandria, A.D. 64 ; and from that 

 time until the present day they have steadily and consist- 

 ently maintained their religious opinions without change. 

 They clung fast to their language, in spite of the wide- 

 spread use of Greek in Egypt in the earlier centuries 

 of this era ; and although they adopted the Greek alphabet, 

 with the addition of some few signs from the demotic, 

 and borrowed largely from the Greek vocabulary, they 

 did not cease to write their books in Coptic nor to cele- 

 brate the services of their Church in that language. After 

 the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs, the Copts held 

 positions of dignity and importance there for some 

 hundreds of years ; but about the twelfth century they 

 seem to have fallen into poverty and contempt, and about 

 a century later it seems that they ceased to produce 

 literary works ; moreover, the growing custom of adding 

 Arabic translations by the side of the Coptic texts proves 

 that the knowledge of Coptic was dying out. During the 

 next few centuries it probably became the study of the 

 learned. In the course of the last two centuries, travellers 

 in the East have brought to Europe numbers of Coptic 

 manuscripts, and among those deserving special mention 

 are Pietro della Valle, and Huntingdon, Assemani, Curzon^ 

 and Tattam. The revival of Coptic learning was begun 

 by Abela, a Maltese ; and his work was carried on by 

 Kircher, Petraeus, Jablonski, Renaudot, Wilkins, Vansleb, 

 Lacroze, Tuki, George, Zoega, Quatremere, Tattam, and 

 Peyron : among those who have done much excellent 

 work in Coptic during the present century are Schwartze, 

 Lagarde, Revillout, and Riickert. The recent works of 

 Amelineau and Hyvernat show that serious attention is 

 now being paid to the Coptic language for philological 

 and ecclesiastical purposes, and that the publication of 

 new material is going on rapidly. 

 NO. I 148, VOL. 44] 



In conclusion, all lovers of Coptic literature owe a debt 

 of gratitude to M. Henri Hignard, formerly President 

 of the Academie de Lyon, for his liberality in under- 

 taking the expense of publishing this work, and to 

 M. Hyvernat for the excellent way in which he has 

 made use of the funds so generously placed at his 

 disposal. 



BRITISH MUSEUM {NATURAL HISTORY) 

 CATALOGUES. 

 Systematic List of the Frederick E. Edwards Collection 

 of British Oligocene and Eocene Mollusca in the 

 British Musetcni {Natural History); with References 

 to the Type Specimens from similar Horizons con- 

 tained in other Collections belonging to the Geological 

 Department of the Museunt. By Richard Bullen 

 Newton, F.G.S. Pp. xxviii. and 365, with a large 

 Folding Table. (London : Printed by order of the 

 Trustees. Sold by Longmans and Co. ; Quaritch ; 

 Dulau and Co. ; Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner, and 

 Co. ; and at the Natural History Museum. 1891.) 



THE interest which attaches to the records of past 

 periods of our earth's history is greatly enhanced 

 when we find them in the strata forming the very ground 

 beneath our feet. Such is the explanation of the origin 

 of the well-known Edwards Collection of Eocene Mol- 

 lusca, which forms the subject of the volume before us» 

 Mr. Frederick Edwards resided at Hampstead some fifty 

 years ago, at a time when the Primrose Hill tunnel of 

 the London and North- Western Railway was formed,^ 

 and the Archway Road, Highgate, had lately been c\y\ 

 and, later still, the Great Northern tunnel under Copen- 

 hagen Fields. These, and many brick-field excavations 

 in the north of London, led to the discovery of abundant 

 fossil-remains around his residence, and attracted the at- 

 tention not only of Mr. Edwards, but of Dr. Bowerbank, 

 Mr. Wetherell, Prof. John Morris, Mr. Searles V. Wood 

 and his son, Mr. Sowerby, Mr. White, Mr. Page, and other 

 geologists living in Highbury, Highgate, Hampstead,. 

 and Kentish Town, who formed among themselves a \ 

 small Naturalists' Society, known as the '' London Clay- | 

 Club," the members of which met periodically at each 

 other's houses, to compare and exchange specimens,, 

 and to name the fossils they had discovered in the 

 London clay. Mr. Wetherell, Dr. Bowerbank, and Mr. 

 Frederick Edwards made most extensive collections; but,, 

 whilst Wetherell and Bowerbank collected from the 

 London Clay, the Chalk, and other formations, Mr, 

 Frederick Edwards devoted all his attention to the 

 Mollusca of the London Clay and other Tertiary beds of 

 the south-east of England. All his summer holidays 

 were spent in such spots as the New Forest (where, at 

 Brockenhurst, Bramshaw, Lyndhurst, and many other 

 spots, assisted by Mr. Henry Keeping, he opened numer- 

 ous trial-pits), or at Barton and Hordwell on the coast 

 of Hampshire, Colwell Bay, Headon Hill, Osborne,. 

 Hempsted, Bembridge in the Isle of Wight, and Brackles- 

 ham Bay, Sussex. He collected at all these places, and 

 carefully recordedthe localities from whence his specimens 

 were derived. With infinite care he mounted and named 

 these delicate Tertiary shells, and the beautiful specimens 



