Phrases and Names: their Origins and Meanings. By Trench H.
Johnson. (T. Werner Laurie. 6s. net.)-This book may be best described by giving a few specimens. " Al " is explained by a reference to Lloyds "Registry of Shipping." "Abbey Laird" is unfamiliar; it is explained as an insolvent debtor seeking sanctuary in Holyrood. "Abernethy Biscuits are said to be named from the baker who invented them, not from the famous physician. "Abigail," we may remark, was not a "handmaid," though she so described herself in her humility, but the wife of a rich proprietor. "Academy," from the garden of Academus ; it would have been well to say that he was a local hero. "Adriatic Sea, from the Emperor Hadrian,"-certainly wrong. How does Horace more than a century before use the word Hadria ? Under "Amazon," the Greek for "breast" is maws, not mesa. "Apostles' Creed,"-the legendary origin should have been given. Many errors and defects may be found, but the book gives much out-of-the-way information.
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