Two kinds of English organizations, without parallel in any other country――Bible Societies and Palestine Societies――have contributed particularly to the investigation of Palestine. Apart from their conversionist tendency, the Bible Societies were founded in order “to promote the circulation of the Holy Scriptures, both at home and in foreign lands.” This idea could take deep hold of the minds of the people only in England. The first Bible Society of Great Britain was founded in 1802 (Appendix xxxviii). Shortly afterwards――in 1805――a “Palestine Association”¹ was established for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of its geography, natural history and antiquities, with a view to the illustration of the Holy Writings. The inquiries of the Society were directed in the first place to ascertaining the natural and political boundaries of the several districts within the limits of the Land of _Israel_, the topographical situation of the towns and villages, the courses of streams and rivers, the ranges of mountains, and the manners and customs of the inhabitants. They extended to the natural products of the Holy Land and adjacent countries, to peculiarities of soil, climate and minerals, and to the exploration for Jewish antiquities. This was, however, by no means the beginning of the study of Palestine: it was rather a new organization of the studies in question. But notwithstanding the learned and laborious compilations of Christianus Adrichomus (1533‒1585), Petrus Ravanellus (_ob._ 1680), Christophorus Cellarius (1638‒1707), Thomas Fuller (1608‒1661), John Lightfoot (1602‒1675), and the more recent work of Dom [Antoine] Augustin Calmet (1672‒1757), Johann Heinrich Michaelis (1668‒1738), Thomas Harmer (1715‒1788), Willem Albert Bachiene (1712‒1783), and Ijsbrand _van_ Hamelsveld (1743‒1812), many of the most important points were still left unexamined. “No country should be of so much interest to us as Palestine, and at the same time no country more urgently requires illustration.” With this motto the “Palestine Association” started its fruitful work, which it continued during the whole of the last century with growing skill and success. ¹ Palestine Association. 1805. (Proposals.) _p._ 4. _Saville Row_, _March 31, 1805_. [B. M.]