$37, 38. Since these sections were printed I have acquired a copy of the 1596 edition of A. T.'s book: A Rich Store-houfe or Treafury for the Difeafed. All things considered it is in good condition, and it has the advantage over the Museum copy of being perfect. But I have got besides an edition of 1601, which is not in the British Museum, and which may, therefore, be more fully considered, in view of the universal catalogue of English books that is to be compiled some day: A RICH STOREHOVSE, | OR | Treasurie for the Diseased. | WHEREIN, ARE MANY APPRO- ued Medicines for diuers and fundry | Diseases, which haue bin long hidden, and not come to light before this time. | FIRST SET FOORTH FOR THE great Benefit and Comfort of the poorer fort of People that are not of abilli- tie to go to the Phifitions, by A. T. | And now newly Corrected, augmented and inlarged, by | G. W. Practicioner in Phisicke and Chirurgerie. [ [Device.] AT LONDON, | Printed by Ralph Blower. 1601. Small 4to. A2, B to Y in fours, Z2; or ff. [10] 78. Black letter, but the title, Epistle Dedicatorie, head-lines, titles of sections and chapters, and technical words are in roman. The device is a clenched right hand with the motto: There are numerous florid capitals, and typographical ornaments between the main sections. EX AVARITIA BELLVM. As the first edition appeared in 1596, and the fourth in 1607, the question arises whether this of 1601 is the second edition or the third. Judging by the date and allowing for the usual interval of about four or five years for an edition, this might be either the second or third, though more likely the third, for the reason that the second was possibly or probably issued by the author himself immediately after the first, after which the work may have fallen into the hands of G. W. This view seems to be confirmed by the rate at which additions were made successively to the book, as is shown by the following table: The problem, then, which can be solved only by the discovery of the other edition between the first and the fourth, is, whether it is a mere reissue of the first and contains only 341 chapters, or whether it was enlarged, either by the author or by G. W., and contains fewer chapters or more than 604. Speculation on the subject is futile. It will be noticed that in the sixteen years between 1596 and 1612 there were five editions, and in the nineteen years from 1612 to 1631, there were six, which illustrates the steady demand there was for the book. § 55, Note*. The discrepancy between Reid's death in 1641, and the preface of his book in 1642, could be got over possibly by assumptions like these: 1. That the address to the reader had been already printed off before the author's death and had to stand as it was. 2o. That, if the author died before the printing was begun, the printer, or publisher, or editor, did not presume, or did not wish, or did not trouble to alter the terms of the passage referred to. But whether such explanation, or some other, be sufficient or not, the actual explanation is probably now beyond our power. $ 59. Maunsell in The Seconde parte of the Catalogue of English printed Bookes, London, 1595, p. 20, mentions: Jo. Partridge, Treafurie of commodious conceits and hidden secrets. Rich. Jones. 1591. 8°. This edition I have not seen, but it fills up the blank between the editions of 1586 and 1596. § 60. I have now got a copy of the 1684 edition of "The Ladies Cabinet Enlarged and Opened," which tallies with the description given. No. XI. NOTES ON THE CROSS-BOW. BY C. L. SPENCER. (Read at a Meeting of the Society held on 17th January, 1907.) I. WHEN we consider the obscurity into which the cross-bow has fallen in this country, we may well be surprised. Although frequent allusions to it are to be found in old writers, very little real information is to be gleaned from any one of them, and I know of no work on the cross-bow, either ancient or modern, except that of Sir Ralph Payne-Galwey, published in 1903. This work contains such full information as to the use, manufacture, and history of the weapon that I am justified, I think, in saying that no further book on the subject is required. A great part of the information I have been able to collect is either taken from its pages, from works from which the author quotes, or from personal experience. This being so, the members of the Society may well ask why I should attempt to write a paper on the subject instead of presenting a copy of Sir Ralph Payne-Galwey's book to the library and asking the secretaries to mention the fact to the members. My reason for not following this course is that I thought that some of the members might wish to examine a few specimens of the weapon for themselves, and owing to the deplorable lack of an antiquarian museum in the West of Scotland this is difficult for a member who does |