REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



The recently published ' Guide to the Hull Municipal 

 Museum' is an excellent little handbook containing- a large 

 amount of information condensed into its 35 pages. It is 

 illustrated by a plan — in which every case has a reference mark 

 — and by two views of the interior ; it is also fully indexed. 

 Not the least of its merits are that it is printed in large, clear 

 type and is leaded. The publication of this guide for the moderate 

 price of one penny, is a striking tribute to the energy and public 

 spirit of the Hull Museum authorities. 



The guide begins with a brief history of the collections from 

 their humble beginnings in 1823 to the present day. The various 

 departments are then dealt with separately. Under the head 

 of British and Anglo-Saxon Antiquities, a clear and concise 

 description is given of the early history of the county as deduced 

 from objects found in excavations, etc., but it would perhaps be 

 better to separate the Stone Age distinctly from Celtic and later 

 antiquities. We read on p. 13 that 'the Anglo-Saxons are 

 known to have visited Eastern England during the fifth and sixth 

 centuries,' but the term ' visited ' is somewhat euphemistic when 

 applied to the action of our forefathers in the sixth century. 

 The Celtic inhabitants would probably have used a stronger 

 word. The exhibition of a case of objects from the tumulus of 

 Efaefsk is an admirable plan and affords the visitor an oppor- 

 tunity of seeing how wide-spread was the early culture illustrated 

 by the burial mounds of East Yorkshire. Roman antiquities 

 are wisely exhibited by themselves, and Hull is fortunate in 

 possessing a good representative series of Roman pottery. 



Under the head of ' General Antiquities ' are included a 

 number of objects, now obsolete, ranging from Norman times to 

 the last century. The plan of preserving objects that have but 

 recently gone out of use is most commendable ; these things are 

 antiquities in the making, and may in the course of a few years 

 become unobtainable. A special and highly-interesting feature 

 of the museum is the collection of Hull Whaling Relics exhibited 

 in a special case. The industry is, alas! extinct, and the collec- 

 tion has an historic importance. The Ethnological collection 

 is, as might be expected in the case of an important seaport, 

 exceptionally good. One case is devoted entirely to the foot- 

 gear of various nations ; another to leather utensils of different 

 kinds. As an instance of the care taken in conserving objects 

 which narrower-minded arch^ologists might be apt to despise, 



1904 July I. 



