16 FEBRUARY 1889, Page 26

The Encyclopedic Dictionary. Vol. VII., Part II. (Cassell and Co.)—This

second part of the seventh volume (" Urceola " to " Zythum") brings this most useful work to a close. It has amply fulfilled its promise, and, indeed, may now claim to be among the best, as it certainly is among the most convenient, of books of reference. The average reader, who wants to know about some- thing that meets him in the course of his reading, cannot do better than consult the Encyclopedic Dictionary. He will be sure to find something, and probably all that he wants. If the matter be of a kind that will be better set forth by an illustration, the illustration is furnished. A preface states the objects which the dictionary has been designed to attain, gives some of the names of the contributors, as well as a history of the undertaking, and states, among other things, the interesting fact that this dictionary contains 180,000 words or headings. Todd's edition of Johnson contained 58,000, and Webster's latest edition 118,000. " An Historical Sketch of the English Language, its Origin, Dialects, Structure, and Affinities," is added.