ROBERT NEEDHAM CUST, celebrated as an essayist on Oriental subjects, was born in Bedfordshire, England, in 1821. At the age of twenty-two he entered the civil service of the British government in India, remaining in it until 1869, when he retired and returned to England. He is an Oriental scholar of great learning and a writer of much better prose than the average scientific student of word roots. Among his works are “Linguistic and Oriental Essays,” 1880–91; “Africa Rediviva,” 1891; “Notes on Missionary Subjects,” etc.