54 



Notices of some Roman CatlioUc Books, 



[July 



Obs. — These dissections have been prepared with the view of show- 

 ing that sections 7 and 9 are not distioguishable by the characters 

 assigned — the anthers being lobed or entire — and that, by taking our 

 characters rather from the form of the anthers than the insertion of the 

 filaments, Trichosanthes and Cucurbita might be advantageously placed, 

 in the same section, leaving the character taken from insertion available 

 as a generic distinction between them. 



VI. — Notices of some Boman Catholic Books, existing in the Telugu 

 Langvage. — By C. P. Brown, Esq. 



The Roman Catholic Missionaries, who visited India about the year 

 1600, were diligent in instructing the Telugus ; and their efforts are 

 briefly described by Navarettf, one of their number, who, after being 

 employed in China, was transferred to India and subsequently to South 

 America. 



The Abbe Dubois gives no very complimentary account of the suc- 

 cess of the Catholic Missionaries among the Tamils. The imitation of 

 the Vedas, written in Sanscrit, under the guidance of Robertas de Nobili, 

 has been described by Mr. Ellis, in the Asiatic Researches; and it is 

 to be wished thnt a sketch could be obtained of all the Roman Catholic 

 treatises existing in Tamil : some of which have been noticed in the 

 last number of this Journal, in the Memoir of Beschi. Those which 

 are written in Telugu, will now be described. There may perhaps be 

 others : but such are unknown to the native christians who obtained for 

 me the following few volumes. 



One of these is a translation or abridgment of the Old Testament 

 history : this is written in a clear and easy style, and may be useful to 

 those who are beginning to study Telugu. It is evidently translated 

 from the Latin Bible : and the ten commandments are arranged as they 

 are in English Bibles. 



The version of the Gospels forms a separate work ; it is a Harmony 

 or selection of chapters, taken from the different Evangelists, so as to 

 form a continuous narrative. Some Romish legends are interspersed ; 

 particularly those regarding the Virgin : and paraphrastic remarks are 

 mingled with the text : thus, the Lord's Prayer is quadrupled in length. 



The dialect used in these works is very respectable. A few Italian 

 words are used ; as Sancto spirito, and Pascha, with Baptismum, and 



