Epitaphs of the Catacombs. By Rev. J. Spencer Northcote, D.D.
(Longmans.)—This is a valuable and interesting book, not aiming at being exhaustive, of the nature, indeed, of an abridgment, but qualified to form an excellent introduction to the study of this branch of Christian antiquity. It is, perhaps, necessary to observe that a certain caution must be used in accepting Dr. Northcote's conclusions or conjectures. He cannot, indeed, be said to write with a contro- versial purpose, but ho is not altogether forgetful of controversy. Indeed it would scarcely be possible for a theologian on either side to deal with these very significant remains without drawing some in- ferences from them. We may venture on the remark that the absence of any mention of the Blessed Virgin from the earlier inscriptions is very noteworthy. This would scarcely be possible, if the cultus had received anything like the development which it has now attained in the Roman Church, and especially in Italy.
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