20 MARCH 1880, Page 24

We have received a handsome volume entitled, Lox Salica; the

Ten Texts, with the Glosses, and the Lox Emend ate. Synoptically edited by J. H. Hessell. With Notes on the Frankish Words in the "Lox Salica." By H. Keyn. (John Murray ; Triibner and Co.)—The Lex Salica" (which must not be confounded with the restricted sense in which the term is commonly used) is the early criminal code of the Franks. It embodies laws or customs which probably date back to a very remote period. In its earliest form, it goes back to the fifth century and the beginning of the Merovingian dynasty. The oldest MS. belongs to the eighth century. The editor has arranged the readings of the MSS. in parallel columns, and added copious anno- tations. The "Lox Salica" is a curious record of life now very remote ; and this edition, which seems to have been executed with admirable care, would well repay a much longer and more detailed examination than we can give it.—Also, the second volume of the Breviarium ad Usum. Sarum. Fasciculus II. Edited by W. Proctor and Christopher Wordsworth. (Cambridge University Press.)