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be some modified editions or special books written by good writers for this purpose? While paying this tribute to the Western books of the kind, it must be understood that now and then almost ridiculous errors are committed, in spite of the profundity and minuteness of the writers’ researches. I have often seen in the Japanese newspapers ‘Pall Mall’ being phonetically written as if it had the sounds of ‘paul maul,’ basing their analogy upon such words as hall or wall; and I have once seen the word ‘ball,’ in the sense of a dancing-party, translated as a game at ball in the sense of a round object. This kind of mistake is only natural for foreigners, and therefore it is not a matter of surprise that on the part of the Europeans they should also commit similar mistakes in the matter of the terms employed by Oriental nations. With all Mr. W. G. Aston’s knowledge of Japan, in his ‘Japanese Literature,’ which I have just peeped into here and there, I found ‘Koga’ (name of a country seat of a Daīmio, a patron of the famous Hakuseki) written as ‘Furukawa,’ a mistake arising from reading the Chinese character in a more common Japanese way; and, again, I found him describing the father of Hakuseki as a ‘Metsuke’ or inspector of the Daīmio’s Yedo Mansion, and adding a footnote to ‘Metsuke’ thus: ‘This is the word usually rendered “spy.” ’ ‘Metsuke’ means a superintendent, inspector, or overseer. It was formerly employed to designate certain offices held by individuals who might be in some instances of high rank and in others of lower rank, the distinction being made by the addition of a prefix indicative of the duties involved. If, therefore, he means to say ‘Metsuke’ equals inspector he is correct, though if he means it equals inspector of the Daīmio’s Yedo Mansion he is wrong. But to speak of it as equivalent to a spy is detestable, and I am at a total loss to imagine how and whence he could have got such a notion. How much more are similar errors to be anticipated in works undertaken by less competent hands! In books written by foreigners, moreover, it often happens, when carefully scrutinized by the native eye, that some important points are overlooked, and that trivial points are treated with great prominence. These kinds of mistakes, however, must be overlooked, and on the whole I recognise the far outweighing merits in those books written by the Westerners on those subjects we are speaking of. They may be read with advantage for the purpose I recommend.

The subject is so wide and complicated that it is a matter of absolute impossibility to deal with it satisfactorily in a short article; further reference, therefore, must be had to some good