X. In 1625, the Inquisition of Rome issued an order prohibiting any resident of the States of the Church from printing a book without the permission, if within the city of Rome, of the cardinal vicar and the _Magister_ of the palace, or if without the city, of the local bishop. Alexander VII announced in the Bull of 1664, which accompanied his Index, that only those penalties were still in force which were specified in this tenth Rule and in the _Bulla Coenae_. Under this decision, the excommunication _latae sententiae_ became no longer applicable to those who might read writings of heretics but still held good for the reading of books actually specified in the Index, of vernacular versions of the Scriptures and controversial works, and of works classed as obscene. The enforcement in Germany of the penalties prescribed in Rule X was a matter of dispute among the theologians as had before been the authority of the _Bulla Coenae_. In 1869, these penalties were rescinded by the Bull of Pius IX. In the same Bull, however, Pius retained the “reserved excommunication” for the printing, reading, etc., of books which had been specifically condemned (by titles), not by the Inquisition, but by direct apostolic authority (papal Bulls, briefs, or encyclicals). This specification would apparently cover the books listed in the two Indexes issued under the direct authority of Pius IX and probably holds good also for the works contained in the two Indexes of Leo XIII. * * * * *