618 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 203 



feet is that there are hardly any examples left for 

 the student to do by himself. Half the advan- 

 tage of a course of mathematical study is lost if 

 some facility in doing work of the same kind has 

 not been acquired : and facility cannot be ac- 

 quired without long hours of practice, any more 

 than one learns to play the piano by listening to 

 another person's playing. 



Professor Cremona objects to the rather more 

 common name of ' modern geometry ' for the sub- 

 ject he is treating, that it expresses merely a 

 relative idea, and that although the methods may 

 be regarded as modern, yet the matter is to a 

 great extent old. Neither objection seems to us 

 very forcible. The characteristic of the modern 

 geometry is its method, and not its matter, and 

 the distinction between an ancient and a modern 

 world has not yet ceased to have a real signifi- 

 cance. 



In all essential respects the distinguished author 

 has accomplished his self-appointed task in an 

 admirable manner, and English-speaking students 

 will be very grateful to him for his labors. The 

 presentation of the subject is admirably lucid and 

 clear, the order is well chosen, and there are 

 many simplifications of the more laborious pro- 

 cesses of Steiner and Von Staudt. It is a good 

 plan to make use of M. Ed. Dewulf's proof of the 

 proposition that lines joining corresponding points 

 of two projective ranges envelop a conic, but it 

 is a mistake to let the proof of the most important 

 proposition in the whole book rest upon one of 

 the few passages which are printed in smaller 

 type. The extent to which the subject is devel- 

 oped may be gathered from the facts that the 

 •sheaf of conies through four points is not reached, 

 and that the existence of sixty Pascal lines is only 

 mentioned in a footnote. 



ARBOWSMITHS EDITION OF KAEGFS 

 RIG VEDA. 



Sanscrit scholars, and those who are familiar 

 with the value of Professor Kaegi's ' Der Rigveda, 

 die alteste literatur der Inder,' will be pleased at 

 any attempt to throw the work into a form that 

 will give it a larger circulation, and at the same 

 time increase the interest in Vedic studies by 

 bringing an introduction to them within the reach 

 of general readers. As contributing to this end. 

 Dr. Arrowsmith's translation of the German edi- 

 tion will be welcomed, since, to quote from the 

 preface, it places "at the command of English 

 readers interested in the study of the Veda a com- 

 prehensive and at the same time condensed manu- 

 al of Vedic research." 



A^^?* R'^sveda: the oldest literature of the Indians. Bv 

 ^^iL^'^^**^^, Authorized translation, with additions to 

 the notes, toy R. Arrowsmith, Ph.D. Boston, Ginn 1886 



This is the end which the translation has in 

 view ; and it is from a popular stand-point, as ap- 

 pealing to English readers, that this new piece of 

 work must be judged. In preparing the transla- 

 tion, Dr. Arrowsmith has chosen to follow the 

 author throughout ;* and no claim is made to 

 originality of thought or treatment, or to the con- 

 tribution of any specially new material for the 

 elucidation of the Veda. Bearing this in mind, 

 it must be said that the translation, as a rule, is 

 excellently made ; and it would perhaps be hyper- 

 critical to pick out the few passages in which the 

 English is not as finished as it mi^ht be, or where 

 we have, perhaps, too close an imitation of the 

 German idiom or word order. 



In the metrical quotations from the hymns; 

 themselves, the translator, although having the 

 Sanscrit text constantly before him, has generally 

 adhered, as he says, closely to Dr. Kaegi s render- 

 ings ; and the design seems to have been to give 

 a readable version in popular form, rather than 

 always a strictly scientific translation of the San- 

 scrit. Such being the case, we cannot look to these 

 renderings for any thing original ; but they carry 

 out well enough the plan proposed. 



The additions to the notes consist chiefly in a 

 number of references to the more recent literature 

 on the subject, thus bringingthe book up to date ; 

 and though by no means complete, nor even pro- 

 fessing to be so, they will prove very welcome andi 

 useful. The introduction of the * Frog song,' oil 

 p. 81, is a good idea, and makes an acceptable ad- 

 dition to the book. It may be noted, in passing, 

 that an improvement has been made by inserting 

 at the end of each metrical translation the nu- 

 merical reference to the mandala and sukta from 

 which the various verses are taken, instead of re- 

 serving such references for the notes. This will 

 prove much more convenient in a general reading 

 of the book. 



The form in which the book is presented is at- 

 tractive ; but it is to be regretted that numerous 

 mistakes should have crept in, not only in the 

 Greek and Latin quotations and in the tran'^litera- 

 tion from the Sanscrit, but even in the English 

 portions of the work. These we shall hope to see 

 corrected in a future edition in order that they 

 may not mar what is otherwise admirable in form. 



In conclusion, we may say that by others beside 

 the student of Sanscrit this book will be found in- 

 teresting and instructive ; and, with the exception^ 

 of the notes, even the general reader will be in- 

 terested in its perusal. It will also, it is hoped, 

 render somewhat more general a knowledge of the 

 Veda, and at the same time increase the interest 

 now taken in oriental studies. 



A. V. Williams Jackson^ 



