388 



NA TURE 



[February 27, 1902 



by reason of their antiquity ; moreover, the beasts and 

 creatures, which the prayers and spells were intended to 

 frighten away from the dead man, belong to the period 

 when forests clothed the banks of the Nile in Kgypt and 

 river monsters of all kinds abounded which are now only 

 to be found on the upper reaches of the Blue Nile and 

 near the Great Lakes. 



In his introduction, Dr. Hudge has brought together 

 some exceedingly interesting evidence that parts of the 

 " Book of the Dead " were in general use even before 

 the period of the kings of the first dynasty ; but what 

 concerns us here is, not the early history of the 

 book, but the traces which its early history has left 

 upon it, and which have been retained even in its most 

 perfect and complete form, the so-called "Theban 

 version," which is found written upon papyri in 

 tombs of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth 

 dynasties. The Egyptian was conservative to the back- 

 bone, and to this conservatism the anthropologist and 

 the scientific student of religion are much indebted ; for 

 as he advanced in his religious beliefs and conceptions, 

 he did not discard all traces of his earlier and more 

 primitive state, but along with the profession of his more 

 spiritual faith he jealously clung to and retained the 

 earlier spells and formuUc which had long ceased to apply 

 to his own condition of life. It is thus possible in the 

 " Book of the Dead " to trace the semi-barbarous North- 

 African element contending with more moral and spiritual 

 beliefs, the rise of which Dr. Budge traces to the presence 

 of some Proto-Asiatic element in the composition of the 

 Egyptian race. The space at our disposal does not 

 admit of our treating this fascinating subject at greater 

 length, and for a more detailed discussion we must refer 

 the reader to Dr. Budge's introduction. 



We have already made a brief reference to one of the 

 most striking characteristics of this latest edition of the 

 " Book of the Dead " — the beautiful series of outline blocks 

 with which the chapters are illustrated. The ancient 

 Egyptian scribes and artists used to add to the separate 

 chapters or sections of the work vignettes, or pictures, 

 intended to illustrate their general contents and also to 

 have in themselves a magical effect upon the destinies of 

 the deceased ; and these pictures are often of considerable 

 assistance in the interpretation of the texts to which they 

 refer. Dr. Budge has selected the vignettes from the 

 best papyri, and where the designs vary in different 

 papyri he has given more than one version ; as interest- 

 ing examples of varying treatment we may refer to the 

 three vignettes illustrating the " Weighing of the Heart " 

 (p. 31/), the numerous illustrations to chapter xvii. and 

 the curious variant to the vignettes of chapter xxxvi. 

 This last chapter ensures the driving away of the insect 

 called .Ips/itu'/, which Dr. Budge identifies with 

 "the beetle which is often found crushed between the 

 bandages of poorly made mummies or even inside the 

 body itself, where it has forced its way in search of food." 



Thus, in most vignettes to this chapter the de- 

 ceased is represented spearing a beetle, as in those 

 illustrated on p. i6i ; but in the vignette on p. 162 the 

 deceased is portrayed spearing a pig and not a beetle, 

 which the translator ingeniously explains as due to the 

 scribe having confused the proper liame Apshait with 

 shaii^ the word for " pig." The vignettes throughout the 

 NO. 1687, VOL. 65] 



volume have been faithfully drawn from the originals in 

 bold, clear outline, and, apart from the light they throw 

 upon the text, they form in themselves a beautiful series 

 of examples of Egyptian design and draughtsmanship. 



In conclusion, we may say that we heartily endorse the 

 remarks which are made in the preface with regard to 

 the fashion that has grown up among certain writers on 

 Egyptology during the last few years, who decry the 

 " Book of the Dead" and announce as a ^'reat discovery 

 that parts of its text are corrupt. But, as Dr. Budge 

 remarks, this fact has been well known to Egyptologists 

 for the last fifty years, and is, moreover, a characteristic 

 shared by every great national religious composition 

 which is handed down first by oral tradition and 

 secondly by copies which are multiplied by professional 

 scribes. 



" The more the ' Book of the Dead ' is read and 

 examined," he adds, "the better chance there is of its 

 ditificult allusions being explained and its dark passages 

 made clear, and this much-to-bedesired result can only 

 be brought about by the study, and not by the condemna- 

 tion, of its texts." 



To this end no other scholar has contributed so much 

 as Dr. Budge himself, and his latest efforts, embodied in 

 the volumes before us, will place a rich store of material 

 within the reach of the humblest worker in the great 

 field of the comparative study of religions. 



FOSSIL FISHES IN THE BlilTISH MUSEUM. 



Catalflguc of Fossil Fishes in the Uri/ish Museum 

 {Natural History). Part iv. By Arthur Smith Wood- 

 ward, LL.D., F.R..S., F.G.S. Pp. xxxviii + 636, 22 

 figures, 16 plates. (London : Printed by order of the 

 Trustees, 1901.) 



THE fourth volume of this great work, which has just 

 appeared after an interval of six years since the 

 publication of the third volume, completes the account of 

 the unrivalled collection of fossil fishes preserved in the 

 national museum, to which the author has devoted so 

 much attention during the twenty years which have pre- 

 ceded his appointment to the post of keeper of the 

 geological department, on the retirement of Dr. Henry 

 Woodward. The issue of this volume, dealing entirely 

 with the Teleosts, was eagerly awaited, not only by 

 paheontologists, but also by all students of fishes, as great 

 hopes were entertained that a revised arrangement of the 

 bony fishes, the preponderating element in the recent 

 fauna, would result in very considerable progress in our 

 understanding of the inter-relations of the components of 

 this difficult group. 



If the feelingof joy be mixed with some disappointment 

 at so many problems of classification remaining unsolved, 

 the fault rests entirely with the nature of the material 

 with which Dr. Woodward has had to deal. Those who 

 merely glance over the beautiful series of fish-remains 

 exhibited in the gallery at South Kensington are apt to 

 carry away too sanguine an impression of the osteo- 

 logical inforination which is to be obtained from their 

 study. It is a fact that, on some very essential points, 

 fossil remains, however numerous and well preserved 

 they may appear, still fail to afford the information 

 which is most wanted. As an example we would allude 



