20 OCTOBER 1900, Page 21

The quarterly instalment of The Oxford English Dictionary, edited by

Dr. James A. H. Murray (The Clarendon Press, 5s.), contains a portion of" I," being the fifth volume of the work, and reaching from "Input—Invalid." We are still in a mainly Latin region, the words that have the prefix "in." Dr. Murray• mentions a curious example of the change of meaning in words. "Instance" was originally employed to signify a case adduced in objection to a universal assertion. This use has become obsolete, and we now employ the word to signify a case adduced in support.