establishing the relation of gold to silver in an alloy of these two metals through the medium of their specific weight. The facsimile of some of the old manuscript is appended to the text. Kitab al-'Ilm al-Muktasab . By Abu'l-Qāsim al-'Irāqi... Edited with a translation and introduction by E. J. Holmyard. Paris, 1923. To form an accurate estimate of the contribution made to chemical knowledge by the scientists of Islam, the student cannot proceed far if dependent merely on the medieval Latin translations. In these tomes of the Latino Barbari he views, as in a glass darkly, a subject which in the original language is sufficiently obscure. What measure of certainty is possible can come only from the publication of the original texts. Until now, including the pioneer work of Berthelot, whose researches in this field are the most exhaustive we possess, only some 25 Arabic chemical texts have been edited out of the 300 or so which are available. Mr. Holmyard therefore is to be warmly congratulated on having provided this good text and translation of Abu'l-Qāsim al-'Iraqi's treatise on the transmutation of metals. The main theme of the Muktasab is that all metals are really of one species and differ from one another only by virtue of certain accidental properties ('arad) which can be removed by chemical treatment. When these accidental properties have been eliminated, the resulting substance will be found to be gold. Whatever value one may place on the theory of transmutation, one is bound to admit, in numerous instances, the cogency of Abu'l-Qasim's logic, and that some of the laws he seeks to establish do sufficiently explain the phenomena involved, as they appeared to a 13th century scientist, and were therefore scientifically "true." But when he comes to describe the preparation of his Elixirs and gravely assures us that a certain kind “is taken from a single tree which grows in the lands of the West. It has two branches. . . The blossom of one is red and the blossom of the second is between white and black . . . and this tree grows on the surface of the ocean. . . of which whosoever eats, man and jinn obey him” here the intelligence that is “hot for certainty" must exercise a charitable restraint, and perhaps reflect that this strange amalgam of common sense and credulity has appeared in later laboratories than that of Abu'l-Qasim. The editing of the text, based on three MSS., appears to have been carefully carried out, and the editor has done well in making his translation as literal as is consistent with the genius of the English language. 33 Al-Ghazzali's Mishkat al-Anwar. A translation with introduction by W. H. T. Gairdner. (Asiatic Society Monographs, vol. 19.) London, 1924. The sound scholarship displayed on every page of this little work amply justifies its dedication to Goldziher and Macdonald, and none but a skilled and sympathetic student of Sufism could have so well translated and expounded Ghazzālī's fascinating but perplexing opuscule on the "Lights." The Mishkat is one of Ghazzali's later works, subsequent to his monumental ihya'ulṛm al-din. Its object is to give an exposition of the “Light-verse" (Koran xxiv. 35) and of the celebrated "Veils-Tradition." It falls into three divisions. In the first the word "light" is considered as denoting physical light, the intellect, prophets, supernatural beings, and Allah himself. The second deals with the symbolism of the Niche, the Lamp, the Glass, the Tree, the Oil and the Fire. In the third this symbolism is applied to the "Light-Verse" and the "Veils-Tradition." Almost half of the book consists of an introductory essay in which the translator abl vith Ghazzali's philosophy of religion and particularly with his doctrine of aVicagerent of Allah (Mutā'), a doctrine which aroused the comment of Ibn Tufail and the anger of Ibn Rushd. The chief charm of the treatise is that it brings us into close touch with Ghazzālī's inner life and supplements his autobiographical Al-Munkid min al-dalal with many new glimpses of his mental and spirtual journey, towards the end of which the mystic is seen clinging in desperation to orthodoxy. Tafsir al-Jalālain, etc. Great credit is due to the proprietors of the "Dār ¡hyā al-kutub al-'arabiyah" Press in Cairo, and especially to the chief editor, Muhammad al-Zuhri al-Ghamrāwī, for their excellent edition (published last year) of the Tafsir al-jalālain. This "Commentary of the two Jalāls", which was composed jointly by Jalāl al-Din al-Mahalli and Jalāl al-Din al-Suyuti, deservedly occupies a distinguished place in Moslem Qoranic literature, and the treatise has been published many times in Egypt and India, and at least once in Persia, during the past hundred years. The present work however, in carefulness of editing and typography, easily surpasses all its predecessors. The text of the Qoran, clearly printed and fully vocalised, stands out sharply against the commentary, which itself is printed in a pleasing type. But the editors have increased the value of their book manyfold by printing on the margins in smaller yet perfectly clear letters the following important works: 1. Lubab al-nuqul, on the occasions of Qoranic revelation, by Jalāl al-Din al-Suyuti. 2. 3. Fi ma'rifat al-nāsikh wal-mansukh, on the abrogating and abrogated verses of the Qoran, by Muh. b. Hazm. Alfiyah fi tafsir gharīb alfāz al-qur'ān, elucidation of difficult Qoranic expressions, by Abu Dar ah al-'Irãi. 4. Risalat mā warad fi'l-Qur'ān min lughāt al-qabā'il, on Qoranic words which belong to tribal dialects, by Abu al-Qāsim b. Salām. Obviously whoever desires to study the philology and theology of the Qoran, will find in this one volume a choice little library. The first volume of the great "Catalogue of the George EumorfoPoulos Collection of Chinese, Corean and Persian Pottery and Porcelain "--admittedly the finest in the world-by Mr. R. L. Hobson, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics and Ethnography at the British Museum, will be published in the autumn. So stupendous seemed the task of carrying through this great work, the six volumes of which will contain about 400 reproductions in colour and 1500 in collotype, that doubts have been freely expressed as to whether the project would ever come to fruition. The first volume will be published at the exact time originally announced. It is significant of the growing influence of London as a centre for Oriental studies that the first English "Year-Book of Oriental Art"- a type of publication previously associated with Germany and France-will be published almost immediately. The volume, which will be lavishly illustrated, is under the editorship of Mr. Arthur Waley, of the British Museum, and draws its contributors from almost every country of the civilised world. NEW FEATURE. SEE SECTION X OF THIS LIST. NEW ORIENTAL BOOKS Published during the Quarter. The prices quoted for books published outside of Great Britain cannot always be given exactly, owing to variations in the Rate of Exchange, and to the impossibility to foretell the cost of Postage. The prices may therefore be slightly increased or reduced. The letter immediately in front of the price indicates the town of publication. Capart (J.)-L'Art Egyptien. Première partie. 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