BY reason of certain circumstances which it would take too long to explain, it has been thought advisable to publish the second volume of this work before the first. The Author wishes to apologize for the adoption Of this unusual order, which he decided upon with a View to avoiding further delays. He hopes that no serious inconvenience will be caused, as the present volume forms an independent whole, devoted to Palestine, but excluding Jerusalem and its environs, which will form the subject matter of Volume I. The only difficulty is that the reader will have to refer to the first volume for the fac-sz'mz'les of the numerous masons' marks mentioned in the second volume, as well as for those in the first. It was thought that it would be best to bring together the main types of these marks, classified and numbered, into a single comprehensive table, followed by a list containing all the necessary references, and thescheme of the work made the first volume the natural place for this table.