The Diseases of the Bible. By Sir Risdon Bennett, M.D.
(Re- ligious Tract Society.)—This is a volume of the series entitled "By-Paths of Religious Knowledge." The greater part of it is naturally occupied by the subject of leprosy. Sir Risdon Bennett holds that the leprosy of the present day, elephantiasis, is not denoted by "any of the diseases described under the head of" tsara'ath in the Levitical Law. He has equal difficulty in identi- fying the "plagues" of the Bible with known forms of epidemic disease. The death of Herod Agrippa I. he attributes to peritonitis, brought about by intestinal worms. The "fiery serpent" may have been the dracunculus or guinea snake. The author deals with his subject in a genuinely scientific spirit, and is uniformly candid. - Wales and the Welsh Church. By H. F. Edwards. (Rivingtons.) A biographical sketch of Dean Edwards, written by the Rev. David Jones, has been prefixed to this selection from the Dean's writings. It is in one sense a sad, in another an inspiriting story. A more vigorous worker, a more independent thinker, could not have been. He took his line, a line that often offended the con- victions or prejudices of others, and remained steadfast in it. The defect of his nature was a certain restlessness, which would not allow him to make the most of his strength. He had that incapacity for rest which must, sooner or later, prove fatal to mental balance. Possibly domestic trouble had something to do with it ; for that he had in full measure. Of the writings them- selves that have been here collected, we will only say that they are well worth the reader's attention. The Welsh Church is one of the questions of the day, and there is no one whose utterances on the subject are more noteworthy than those of Dean Edwards ; he saw very plainly, and expressed with uncomprising frankness, what was amiss in her past ; but this did not prevent him from being hopeful of her future.
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