JUNE.12, 1902] 
NATURE 
147 
trusted when he professes to deduce relationship of 
words, names and beliefs in Egyptian, which is an 
African (Hamitic) language, and in Babylonian, which 
is a Semitic language, and in Sanskrit, which 
is an Aryan language, and in Chinese and Accadian, 
which, whether they be related or not, have no relation- 
ship with any one of the other three. Mr. Hewitt, like 
Mr. John O'Neill, in his “ Night of the Gods,” has done a 
useful piece of work in collecting a mass of facts and 
theories, but they want sorting and arranging and 
winnowing, and especially condensing, before they can 
be used by the students of the various religions of 
antiquity. What is more important, moreover, is that 
the derivations of the words and names should be 
checked by experts in the various languages in which 
the books of the various religious systems are written, so 
that the student may be quite sure that no mistake has 
been made. Descending from generalities to particulars, 
we note that Mr. Hewitt speaks of the “ Hittite” as if it 
were a known language ; but it is not, and no inscription 
written in the script which is commonly called “ Hittite” 
has yet been deciphered. It is true that ‘‘ translations ” 
of certain “ Hittite” texts have been printed and pub- 
lished, but no trained philologist admits that they really 
represent the meaning of the texts from which they are 
alleged to have been made. Even the identity of the 
Hittites of the Bible has not yet been established, for 
whilst the Khatti of the Assyrian monuments may be 
identical with the Kheta of the Egyptian records, there 
is no evidence that either name is connected with the 
Hittites, or that the Hittites were related to the Kheta and 
Khatti. Simularly, Mr. Hewitt alludes to the Accadian 
language as if it too were known; but every student of 
comparative Semitic philology is well aware that the study 
of Accadian is so little advanced that certain eminent 
Assyriologists, no doubt erroneously, even now do not 
regard it as a language at all! 
The general impression which a careful perusal of the 
book leaves on the mind is that Mr. Hewitt has proved 
too much ; but be this as it may, it is our firm conviction 
that if he wishes his labour and learning to receive the 
study and recognition which they deserve, he must con- 
dense his statements and formulate his theses in sucha 
way that the student who is not an Oriental philologist 
may be able to make up his mind what are the theories 
which Mr. Hewitt sets out to prove, and whether he has 
proved them or not. A sharp distinction should, of 
course, be made between theory and fact, but this Mr. 
Hewitt fails to make. In conclusion, we cannot help 
wishing that he had confined his attention exclusively to 
Indian languages, cosmogonies, and theologies, of which, 
obviously, he has had abundant opportunities of obtaining 
knowledge at first hand, and that he had not made such 
lengthy excursions into the domains of Chinese, Semitic, 
Egyptian and other studies of which he as obviously has 
no first-hand knowledge whatever, not even enough to 
distinguish good authorities from bad. He has, in fact, 
lost an excellent opportunity of writing a most interesting 
book on the early religious myths of India, and this we 
sincerely deplore. The indices to the volumes before us 
are remarkably comprehensive and good, and merit 
praise. 
NO. 1702, VOL. 66] 
CYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 
Cyclopedia of American Horticulture. By L. H. Bailey, 
assisted by Wilhelm Miller [and others]. In 4 vols. 
quarto. Pp. 2016. (London: Macmillan and Co., 
Ltd. ; New York: the Macmillan Company, 1900 to 
1902.) Price 21s. net each volume. 
HERE are some books which gain the title “ monu- 
mental” on the sheer score of size. The present 
work, which has recently been completed, has earned it, 
not only by its bulk, but by the quality of its contents, 
their freshness and diversity, and the originality of their 
treatment. 
There are two ways of producing such a work as this, 
one by the free use of paste and scissors, a plan not to 
be despised if the compiler be at once honest and 
judicious, and the other wherein each article inserted is 
treated as a monograph. Facts are accumulated, con- 
trasted, classified, so that in the result the reader has 
placed before him as complete a view of the whole 
subject as the limitations of space will allow. This is the 
plan that has been followed by Prof. Bailey and his 450 
contributors and assistants. The Cyclopedia was to be 
new, “ brand new from start to finish. The illustrations 
were to be newly made; the cultural suggestions written 
directly for the occasion from American experience and 
often presented from more than one point of view ; few 
of the precedents of former cyclopzdias to be fol- 
lowed; all matters to be worked up by experts and 
from sources as nearly as possible original.” Con- 
sidering all these things, the volumes constitute a 
real triumph of sagacity and organisation on the part 
of Prof. Bailey. 
The matter, so far as we have tested it, is accurate, 
well set forth and in due proportion—a most difficult thing 
to secure when the work of so many contributors has to 
be correlated and adjusted. It is quite clear that a large 
share of the work, independently of planning and super- 
vising the whole, has fallen to Prof. Bailey. Two things 
specially strike us in consulting the volumes, the one 
the way in which science, and especially evolutionary 
science, permeates the whole book, the other the way in 
which scientific knowledge has been set forth for the 
special benefit of commercial horticulture. In most or 
all books of the kind, botanical and physiological details 
are given, but here they seem expressly set forth for the 
benefit of those who make their living out of the land or 
the forcing-house. Science is not allowed to suffer in the 
least, but its application to commercial necessities is 
insisted on to a degree unknown in British horticulture. 
Prof. Bailey knows and caters for the requirements of 
the commercial cultivators in all or most of the States of 
the Union, and not the least valuable of his articles are 
those concerning the natural features and economic con- 
ditions of the several States and Territories. 
So far as the plants are concerned, analytical keys are 
framed, so as to facilitate, by means of contrasting 
characters, the discovery of the name of each plant and 
of its salient features. The enormous and irksome labour 
involved in the construction of these keys can only be 
appreciated by those who have had to construct similar 
ones. An error the most trifling in itself may involve the 
