The “Byrth of Mankynde.”

I HdVE: already“ dealt with the author and the editions of the remarkable book known as the Byrth of Slankynde ; and I now intend to complete the consideration of the subject by discussing the contents of the work and the light thus thrown upon sixteenth century midwifery. Before I do so, however, let me remind the reader that Raynalde’s Byrth of Mankynde is really a composite work, for it contains an English translation (by Richard Jonas) of Rosslin’a De Pnrtu Homtnis, along with new matter added by Thomas Itaynalde. It has, therefore, three component parts : Rosslin’s U e Partu Horninis as translated by Jonas, his additions thereto, and those which came from the pen of Rayndde. In such a late edition as that of 1654, a fourth elenleiit is found in the supplementary matter added by a seventeenth century editor whose name we do not know; but it is small in amount, consisting chiefly of directions for the nursing of children, and no further reference mill be made to it. For purposes of description I might have taken any one of the first four Raynalde editions (those of 1545, 1552, 1560 and 1565), for it is probable that they all appeared during the lifetime of Raynalde;? but I have chosen that of 1560, for it represents what was practically the final recension of the work, and does not differ (save only in spelling and minor details) from so late an edition as that of 1654. The quotations which occur throughout this article