338 
NATURE 
[FEBRUARY II, 1904 
taken deep root, and had reached a very perfect state. 
To illustrate this fact Mr. Boscawen 
facsimile of part of the inscription of Manishtusu, 
King of Kish, with an English translation, and the 
list of modified picture signs on p. 57 is not the least 
interesting portion of the chapter. Inserted in the 
chapter, somewhat oddly it seems to us, comes ‘‘ The 
Legend of Creation,’? and Mr. Boscawen illustrates 
the old tradition of the fish-headed, man-god Oannes, 
who taught men to read and to write, and to sow, and 
to reap, and to build, from the Legend of Adapa. The 
alleged relation of the Garden of Eden with the grove 
of Eridu is discussed, and we are glad to see that Mr. | 
Boscawen prints Mr. R. C. Thompson’s translation of 
that portion of the tablet upon which it has been so 
inadequately based, and that he considers Mr. Thomp- 
son has succeeded ‘‘to a certain extent’’; in our 
opinion Mr. Thompson’s arguments are conclusive 
and his proofs final, but error dies very hard. 
Mr. Boscawen’s third chapter deals with the obvious 
affinity between the primitive civilisation of Meso- 
potamia and that of Egypt, and he skilfully drives 
home his arguments with the facts that have been 
deduced from the excavations of J. de Morgan at 
Nagada, in Egypt, and at Shushter (i.e. Shushan the 
Fortress, or Susa). Passing over two chapters, we 
now come to the consideration of the life and times | 
of Khammurabi the Great. A few years ago Mr. 
L. W. King, of the British Museum, published a valu- 
able monograph on Khammurabi, giving all the 
original texts from tablets in the British Museum and | 
elsewhere, with English translations; it was tolerably 
easy to gather from this work that Khammurabi was | 
a ruler of no mean order, but no one ever imagined 
how great a law-giver he was until the discovery of 
his famous ‘‘Code’’ by J. de Morgan at Susa. 
This wonderful document contains about 282 distinct 
““laws,’’ and we shall hardly be overstating the case 
when we say that it is fully as comprehensive as the 
Hebrew Code, which is associated with the name of | 
Moses, whilst it is certainly a thousand years older. 
It is wrong to say that it is the oldest code in the | 
world, for that which is represented in the so-called 
Negative Confession of the Book of the Dead is far 
older. Since the publication of the original text by 
Father Schiel, many works have appeared on the sub- 
ject, but the fullest monograph, and one which is of 
great importance from a comparative point of view, is 
that by Prof. D. H. Miller, of Vienna, who discusses 
at great length the relation of Khammurabi’s code 
with that of Moses, and with the Twelve Tables. 
For those, however, who lack the time and leisure 
necessary for comparing modern renderings of this 
difficult Babylonian text, but who wish, nevertheless, 
to obtain a good general idea of its contents, we com- 
mend the rendering given by Mr. Boscawen in his 
eighth chapter. The meanings of a number of words 
which are used in 
doubtful, but, speaking generally, the sense of the 
‘“Code ” of Khammurabi has been well made out. 
The space at our disposal will not permit us to consider 
in detail the contents of Mr. Boscawen’s chapter on 
the beginnings of literature, but we may say that the | 
NO. 1789, VOL. 69] 
supplies a | 
a technical sense are, of course, | 
| general reader will find in it a large number of in- 
teresting facts, as well as extracts from translations 
of Assyrian texts, made both by himself and by other 
experts. The book is well illustrated, and will, we 
believe, be widely read. s 
BIOLOGY AND ARCHAOLOGY OF CENTRAL 
AMERICA. 
Biologia Centrali-Americana; or Contributions to the 
Knowledge of the Fauna and Flora of Mexico and 
Central America. Edited by F. Ducane Godman 
and Osbert Salvin. 
Archaeology. By A. P. Maudslay. 4 vols. text; 4 vols. 
plates. (London: R. H. Porter and Dulau and Co., 
1889-1902.) 
pees the time of the Spanish conquerors up to our 
own, a glamour of romance, mingled with hopes 
of easily gained riches, has hung over the ruined cities 
of Central America. The fortunate chance that pre- 
| vented Mr. J. L. Stephens from performing his consular 
functions in Central America on behalf of the United 
| States Government first gave the modern world a true 
| idea of their character and rendered easier the explor- 
ations that have been made during the sixty years that 
have passed since his account appeared. His book 
and the drawings of his English colleague, Cather- 
wood, form no unworthy monument to the talents and 
industry of the two explorers, and will compare favour- 
ably with most of the contemporary works in the more 
trodden fields of archeology. 
The modern student, however, is an exacting task- 
master; he realises that no domain of archeology can 
_ be profitably studied without reference to others, and 
| he insists upon accurate measured drawings, carefully 
oriented ground plans, and reproductions by processes 
| that eliminate as far as possible the chance of personal 
| bias or error. Given time, money and intelligent enthu- 
| siasm he can obtain all these, though it is but rarely 
that these conditions have been so harmoniously con- 
joined in Mr. Maudslay’s ‘* Archeology ’’ in the 
‘* Biologia Centrali-Americana.’’ That such a publica- 
tion as the ‘* Biologia ’’ should have a section devoted to 
archeology is entirely due to the old friendship subsist- 
ing between the author and the munificent editors, Mr. 
Ducane Godman and the late Mr. Osbert Salvin, who 
generously offered to include the of Mr. 
Maudslay’s researches in their magnificent publica- 
tion. Students of American archeology as well as 
| Mr. Maudslay can only be grateful to them for the 
elasticity that they have given to their biology. Four 
volumes containing about 4oo plates, measuring 18 
inches by 12, and as many volumes of quarto text, 
admirably printed, represent a whole that few pub- 
lishers would hesitate to regard as an unprofitable 
speculation, where the subject treated American 
antiquities. Mr. Godman has added another leaf to 
the crown of English men of science, though it is 
probable that appreciation will be less in his own 
| country than beyond the Atlantic. 
It seems by no means unlikely that the completion of 
this great work, which has taken fourteen years in the 
doing, will place the study of the Maya hieroglyphs 
as 
results 
is 
