13 MARCH 1880, Page 24

considerable utility and importance. It is described on the title-page

as " A New and Original Work of Reference to All the Words in the Eng- lish Language, with a Full Account of their Origin, Meaning, Pronuncia- ticn, and Use." It may be briefly described as a dictionary in which the technical and scientific words are defined or described with some- thing of the fullness of an encyclopaedia, illustrations being used when occasion seems to demand them. Under the heading, "Arrowroot," for instance,—first, we have the history of the word, with its Germau parallel, "pfeilwurz ;" then a botanical description ; then an account of the varieties known to commerce, illustrated with representations of the magnified grains ; and finally, a brief notice of the adulteration commonly practised in the article. The volume before us takes in the letters " A—BAB."