SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading we notice seep Books of the week as hare not Sass reserved for review in other forms.] The Deaths of the Kings of England. By James Rae, M.A., M.D. (Sherratt and Hughes. 4s. Gd. net.)—Basing himself upon con- temporary evidence, Dr. Rae gives in this small book an account from the standpoint of modern medical science of the causes of the deaths of the English kings since the Conquest. Of the thirty-eight persons considered, the deaths of seven (William II., Richard I., Edward II., Henry VI., Edward V., Richard III., and Charles I.) are attributed to violence, and of three (Henry
Richard Cromwell, and George ILL) to senile decay. In the remaining cases, in which death was due to disease, Dr. Rae makes the following classification, according to which, however, the same name occurs sometimes under more than one heading. Infectious Diseases: Henry II., Edward I., Henry V., Edward IV., Mary I., Elizabeth, James I., Oliver Cromwell, Mary IL, William III., and William IV. Intestinal Troubles : William I., Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., John, Edward I., and Henry V. Pulmonary Disorders: Edward IV., Henry VII., Edward VI., Mary I., Elizabeth, Wil- liam III., George IV., and William IV. Circulatory Disorders: William I., Henry IV., James IL, Anne, George I., and George IL Deaths primarily due to Syphilis : Edward HI., Henry IV., Henry VIII., Edward VI., James II., and George II. Dr. Rae adds that the average age of this series of rulers was fifty-three years, five months, and twenty days, which is considerably above the mean age for males at death, namely forty-five. Though the book is scarcely for general reading, it is of undoubted interest, and has been carefully compiled.
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