27 OCTOBER 1906, Page 13

[TO THR EDITOR OP TUE "SPECTATOR."]

SIR,—Has not the writer of your article on Liddell-and-Scott in last week's issue attributed to that lexicon a mistake, " condog," which did occur, as I was told sixty years ago, in the first edition of Ainsworth's Latin Dictionary ? The tale I beard was as follows. Ainsworth employed an amanuensis, and dictated to him walking up and down the room. When they reached " concurro," the scribe, anxious to be helpful, suggested : " To concur, I suppose, Sir P " Ainsworth, turning

fiercely, replied : " To concur, Sir ? To condog I " And the flustered man wrote it down, and it appeared in print. I am sure of the story I heard in 1845; but I never saw a copy with