son of Sirach, the book of Maccabees, Esdras, Tobit, Bel and the Dragon, etc., all figuring as a part of the divinely inspired Word. This Bible. contains also the psalmody of Sternhold and Hopkins, and the Psalms of David in English verse.

A more remarkable work, however, as a curiosity of literature is a book. in the library of Prince de Ligne, which was neither written or printed. The letters were all cut out of the finest vellum and pasted on blue paper. The precision with which these small characters are cut renders the book easy to read, and excites infinite admiration for the patience of the author. It bears the title of "Liber Passionis Nostri Jesu Christi, cum characteribus nulla materia compositi."

The German Emperor, Rudolph II, is said to have offered, forty years. later than this date, the enormous sum of eleven thousand ducats for this wonderful work of art.

A thorough revision, by C. de Valera, of de Reyna's entire version was printed in Spanish at Amsterdam. This revision was effected by means of a diligent comparison of the Spanish version with the original texts, and with other translations, particularly the French version of Geneva. De Valera was fifty years of age when he commenced this revision, and he completed it in his seventieth year. He was deeply attached to the principles of the Reformation, and

his corrections of De Reyna's text add greatly to the accuracy and value of the translation. He resided for many years in England, and graduated at Cambridge University. A copy of this Bible is in the Reference Library at Manchester, England.

A version of the New Testament was published by William O'Donnel, Archbishop of Tuam, a town in Ireland which prior to 1839 was the See of a Protestant archbishop. He was assisted in this work by Mortogh Cionga, a native of Connaught, who translated from the Greek. This folio edition was printed in Irish, and consisted of five hundred copies, the expense of which was defrayed by the province of Connaught, and by Sir William Usher.

Except in large cities, the Erse or Irish language is still spoken more or less in almost every part of Ireland, but it prevails more especially in Munster and Connaught. Although Roman Catholicism has now a preponderating influence, yet in Ireland, until the yoke of Popery was imposed upon it by England, there was a pure form of Christianity. The Erse is at present but little known except as the vernacular of an illiterate population, but it was once the language of science and literature. The English Saxons considered Ireland as the mart of sacred learning, and the monuments of Irish philosophy, poetry and history, have been handed down

from the tenth century. Erse belongs to the Gaelic branch of the Celtic language, but it is not known where it originated, for Gaul, Spain, Scythia, Iran, and even Troy, have all laid claim to the honor of having first sent colonists to Ireland. By Gaelic is understood not merely the Celtic dialect spoken in the Highlands of Scotland, but the tongue of

the Gaels, as the Irish call themselves, for the primitive Celtic is the ancient Irish. It is certain that this dialect of the Celtic has preserved its original purity from the period of its first predominance in Ireland, so that no elements which are not strictly Celtic can be detected in its composition.

CHAS. W. DARLING.

DR. ROBERT BYRON TREAT, of West Chicago, has been for forty-three years a practicing physician in the northwest, and nearly twenty years of that time he has spent in Chicago.

He was born on a farm, near Canandaigua, in Ontario county, New York, August 2d, 1824, his father having immigrated to that State some years earlier from Connecticut, which was the original location of the Treat family in America, and which was. governed as a colony by Major Robert Treat, from 1686 to 1701.

Dr. Treat's mother was Sarah (Spear) Treat, who was born in this. country of Scotch parents. His father was a farmer, and one of the pioneers of western New York. The community in which the elder Treat resided, and in which his son spent the first thirteen years of his life,was one which had been made up mainly of New England people, who were intelligent, thrifty and prosperous, and Robert B. Treat had somewhat better advantages than the average country youth of that period.

There was a good public school near his home, which he attended regularly, from the time he was old enough to go to school until he was thirteen years of age, when his father removed to La Porte, Indiana. At La Porte, which was at that time (1837) a good sized village, considerably larger than Chicago, he entered

a

well-conducted private school, where he completed his education.

When he was eighteen years old, he began the study of medicine with Dr. Abraham Teegarden of La Porte, and in due course of time was authorized to engage in the practice, under the system of licensing physicians then in vogue in Indiana. In 1846 and 1847 he attended the full courses of lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, and graduated from that institution in 1847. At a later date, Berkshire Medical College of Pittsfield, Mass., also conferred upon him the degree of doctor of medicine.

In 1848 he removed from La Porte, Ind., to Janesville, Wis., then a village of a few hundred inhab

itants, but generally looked upon as one of the promising towns of the new State, admitted into the Union that year.

Being a vigorous man physically and mentally, Dr. Treat was well adapted to the kind of professional labor which he was called upon to perform in his new field, and his practice not only built up rapidly, but extended over a wide area of territory.

While devoting himself conscientiously to his profession, and meeting, as far as possible, all demands made upon him, he interested himself in various enterprises, calculated to develop the resources of the country, to aid in its settlement, and to contribute to its improvement. He was instrumental in starting the first newspaper published at Janesville, and was the owner of the first daily paper published in the town, when Thomas L. Withrow, now a distinguished railroad lawyer of Chicago, was its editor. He also enjoys the distinction of having been one of the proprietors of the first newspaper, published in Wisconsin, to favor the organization of the Republican party.

Originally a Democrat, he became. actively identified with the anti-slavery crusade, and consequently something of a politician, although never in any sense a seeker after official preferment. He favored, through his newspaper, the election of Fremont to the Presidency in 1856, and had the honor of introducing Abraham

Lincoln to a Janesville audience, which he addressed in that campaign.

In 1860 he was elected Mayor of Janesville, and when Stephen A. Douglas visited the city during the Presidential campaign of that year, his official position brought him into close contact with the distinguished Illinoisan, for whom he had a high regard, notwithstanding their political differences.

In this connection an interesting bit of heretofore unwritten history. may be given to the public. Dr. Treat relates that in the course of a long conversation which he had with Mr. Douglas, at the time of his visit. to Janesville, the latter warmly complimented his competitor, Mr. Lincoln, but at the same time, urged that it would be a great misfortune for the country, should he be elected to the Presidency. He insisted that civil war was imminent in any event, but took the view that while Lincoln's election would solidify the South in the pending struggle, he would, in case of his own election, be able to command the support of four hundred thousand Southern voters, in aid of any effort which he might be called upon to make, to suppress rebellion, and preserve the Union.

While acting as Mayor of Janesville Dr. Treat did much to relieve the city of its financial burdens, one of his most important achievements being that of cancelling the bulk of its indebtedness, on account of aid voted

to the Union Valley-now a part of the Chicago & Northwestern-Railroad enterprise. To aid in the construction of this railroad, the city of Janesville had issued ten per cent. interest bearing bonds, to the amount of $147,000. Dr. Treat succeeded in cancelling these bonds, to the amount of $144,000, at a cost to the city of but little more than $10,000. Two of these bonds for $1,000 each, of which he could not obtain possession at that time, turned up some few years later, and the cost to the city of redeeming them, and paying interest charges, was something more than $9,000.

During the war he spent some time in the south, assisting to care for Union soldiers wounded in battle, and was one of about thirty Wisconsin physicians, designated to look after the Wisconsin men who fell in the battle of Pittsburg Landing.

In 1871, being somewhat broken. down in health, and in consequence feeling disinclined to engage longer in a country practice, he came to Chicago, where he has since resided. and continued his professional work.

He has never entertained the idea that the sumum summarum of the knowledge of medicine should be arrogated by either of the recognized schools of his profession, and his independent views have been distinguishing characteristics of his professional career. He has witnessed a revolution in methods of treating diseases since he began the practice

of medicine, and believes that men who undertake to practice the healing art, should be physicians rather than devotees of a particular school. In his judgment, no set of iron-clad rules and regulations can be made to apply to all cases, and the intelligent physician should conscientiously administer the remedy most likely to have the desired effect, from whatever school it receives its indorsement. In his many years of active practice he has felt that the gravest responsibility resting upon the physician-next to that of correctly diagnosing the patient's ailment-was that of determining whether or not any medicines should be given. Believing that the use of drugs is fraught with danger, and that a train of evils may follow, and frequently does follow in the wake of a train of medicines, he has not hesitated to express this opinion when occasion. offered, nor to make practical application of the principle in his own extended practice. The patient who applied to him for treatment has never had occasion to fear a multiplicity of prescriptions which the exigencies of his case did not require, but could rest assured that he would be dealt with candidly and fairly under all circumstances.

Dr. Treat was married in 1847 to Miss. Orrilla J. Hubbell, and has one son, now engaged in business at Janesville, Wis.