25 MAY 1901, Page 23

The Public School Word Book, By John S. Farmer. (Hirschfeld

Brothers. 21s. net.)—This "historical glossary" of words, obsolete or in use, that make up the "slang" of public schools and-Universities is, we are told, "privately issued for subscribers only." This spares us the trouble of speculating on the public for which it is meant. We should have thought each alumnus interested in his own dialect only, and too well acquainted with that to need a dictionary. To an outsider the book presents some curiosities, and suggests inquiries that might be worth pursuing. Is a" bounder" in University slang a "dog-cart" or an "objec- tionable young man" ?