488 



SCIEJ^CE, 



[Vol. VI., No. 148. 



without the labors of Grimm, of Grein, and of Koch? 

 Wulker's lists seem here and there somewhat mea- 

 gre. Under ' Metrik ' (p. 108) we miss Schmeller's 

 ' Ueber den versbau der allitirierenden poesie ' 

 (Miinchen, 1889), although this is mainly concerned 

 with Old Saxon ; and Lanier's ' Science of English 

 verse ' (New York, 1880), which sets forth at length a 

 theory of Anglo-Saxon versification. That the theory 

 is untenable does not matter ; for Wiilker includes 

 in his various lists quite worthless books (cf . p. 175). 

 Further, we fail to find mention of EUis's ' Early 

 English pronunciation,' in which pp. 510-537 treat 

 the pronunciation of Anglo-Saxon. 



The third section, which takes up four-fifths of 

 the book, considers Anglo-Saxon Hterature, and 

 whatever has been written about it. The arrange- 

 ment is arbitrary, ' Caedmon ' and Cynewulf tak- 

 ing precedence of the heathen poetry. As regards 

 the famous hymn in Northumbrian dialect writ- 

 ten at the end of the Cambridge manuscript of 

 Beda {Hist. eccl. gent. Angl.), Wiilker recedes 

 from his sceptical position of eight years ago, and 

 joins Zupitza and Ten Brink in believing this text 

 to be Csedmon's own, or at least to have passed as 

 such so early as the eighth century. Wiilker ad- 

 mits the personality of Csedmon, but accepts as 

 his work nothing save the hymn ; whereas Ten 

 Brink was inclined to credit Ca3dmon with a part 

 of the 'Genesis.' Cynewulf is treated at length. 

 While the ' Phoenix ' is assigned to him, and the 

 end of ' Guthlac,' Wiilker brings forward fresh 

 arguments against the Northumbrian origin of the 

 poet, and discourages the tendency to ascribe poems 

 to Cynewulf on no better basis than general re- 

 semblance to his undoubted works. Proceeding 

 to the smaller and lyrical pieces, Wiilker concludes 

 with Leo that ' The ruin ' refers, not to a castle, 

 but to the city of Bath. 



For the heroic and heathen poetry, we find, be- 

 sides much other matter, sixty pages of well-sifted 

 information about ' Beowulf.' Wiilker thinks the 

 original heroic poetry was in the shape of ballads ; 

 and he decides for the theory that * Beowulf ' 

 was composed about the middle of the seventh 

 century, by a poet-monk, on the basis of these old 

 songs. The summary is very thorough ; but Gar- 

 nett's translation is wrongly stated to be in prose ; 

 on p. 268, Ten Brink ought to be named as agree- 

 ing with Miillenhoff in regard to the mythology in 

 ' Beowulf ; ' and Wiilker might have added, as 

 usual, his own decision. So rich a display of 

 poetic talent brings the author to the question 

 whether there are any dramatic elements in An- 

 glo-Saxon literature. We have always regarded 

 Ward's denial of any such elements {Hist. Eng. 

 dram, lit., vol. i. p. 6) as an ungrounded state- 

 ment. Wiilker more justly shows that not only 



in the 'Seafarer,' but also in 'Christ,' there is a 

 strong dramatic element ; while, on the other hand, 

 he proves that these elements were never devel- 

 oped, and never came to a regular representa- 

 tion. 



At last we reach Anglo-Saxon prose. With re- 

 gard to Aelf red, Wiilker puts the ' Cura pastoralis ' 

 first among the royal translations, the ' Boethius ' 

 and the ' Soliloquies ' last ; while hp leaves unde- 

 cided the authorship of the ' Metra.' With 

 Aelfric, and the review of various prose frag- 

 ments in theological and quasi-scientific fields, the 

 book conies to an end. ' An index is added 

 which might be much more exhaustive. Sev- 

 'eral names are omitted ; e.g.. Professor John- 

 son, whose work is mentioned with praise (pp. 

 438-440). Some misprints occur here and there, 

 and a few harmless mistakes, such as Siebenzeili- 

 gen (p. 308) for Siebenfussigen. 



Wiilker's book leaves one full of respect for the 

 author's patience, accuracy, and diligence. We 

 may and do disagree with some of his conclusions ; 

 but that matters Httle, since the opposite conclu- 

 sion, and the arguments for it, are carefully given. 

 Another impression is a renewed sense of the 

 small part played by Englishmen and Americans 

 in the study of their own tongue. One cannot re- 

 sist the conviction that we in America should do 

 well to abandon in part the mediaeval discussions 

 which so often fill our teachers' ' institutes ' and 

 conventions, and to encourage the modern and 

 scientific spirit which devotes its energies to the 

 patient investigation of facts. The field is open : 

 an immense amount of work is to be done before 

 the history of our literature can be written. Let 

 teachers of English in academies and schools 

 thi-ow themselves into the actual study of the 

 language rather than into discussions about sys- 

 tem and method, — discussions sometimes useful, 

 but often mere rhetoric, theorizing, and waste of 

 time for all concerned. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



Heinrich Entz and August Mer have recently 

 independently studied the voyage of Hanno, the 

 Carthaginian. Both agree that its termination 

 was at the Island of Fernando Po, in the Bight of 

 Biafra, called by Hanno the Isle of Gorillas. The 

 colony of Thymaterion is identified by them, as 

 by most authors, with the town of Mazaghan, and 

 the promontory of Soloe with Cape C'antin. The 

 river Lixus is regarded by Mer as the Senegal for 

 weighty reasons, though Entz and others have 

 favored the Wadi Draa, much farther north. 



Hanno's Island of Cerne was probably Goree, 

 and his Western Horn (or bay) was the Bight of 



