CURRENT LITERATURE.
An Old and Middle English Reader : on the Basis of Professor Julius Zupitect's Alt- and Mittelenglisches Obungsbuch. By George MacLean, Ph.D. (Macmillan and Co.)—The character of the present work is sufficiently explained by its title. The extracts, thirty-four in number, extend from the seventh to the fifteenth century, and include specimens of prose and verse, in all the more important dialects. The introduction and glossary are very full, and occupy altogether more than two-thirds of the volume ; a short essay on versification being contributed by Oscar L. Triggs, M.A. It is not, however, a book which is intended to be used by students without reference to grammars, &c., concerning which full information is given in the " Suggestions for Teachers and Pupils." We may mention that the terms " Anglo-Saxon " and " Semi-Saxon " are discarded, as both incorrect, and of modern origin ; and by " Old English " Dr. MacLean understands English from the English Conquest to about 1100; and by " Middle English," the period from 1100 to 1500.
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