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 9'- s. ix. MAY IT, 1902.) NOTES AND QUERIES.

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surate labour, eleven volumes will be added to the twenty-four constituting the ninth edition. The whole will, it is calculated, form the tenth edition, final so far as the present generation is con- cerned. The additions will consist of 10,000 articles by 1,000 contributors, 2,500 new maps, plates, por- traits, and other illustrations, in all about 7,000 pages of the same size as those in the previous edition. Such a work is necessarily an inestimable boon to the student and, indeed, to all serious readers and searchers after information. Great as is the outlay incurred, it is guaranteed beforehand, the number of subscribers to what must now be con- sidered the preliminary portion rendering it certain that the concluding portion will be in immediate demand. Not wholly satisfactory from the English standpoint are the statistics supplied concerning the subscription to the ninth edition. According to these the United Kingdom has taken 50,000 copies, against upwards of 400,000 copies dispersed through the United States. For well on to 500,000 probable subscribers the management has accord- ingly to cater. The editors of the new volumes represent, to a certain extent, three or more great corporations, Sir Donald Mackenzie Wallace being officially connected with the Times, Dr. Arthur T. Hadley being the president of Yale University, and Mr. Hugh Chisholm a former scholar of C.C.C., Oxford. In addition to these, who are principally responsible for the work, there are four associate editors, two sub-editors, and nineteen departmental editors of varying degrees of capacity or fame.

Vol. I. of the present publication extends from 1 Aachen ' to ' Australia,' thus all but covering the letter A. The first article of importance is ' Abyssinia,' for the history of which Count Gleichen is responsible, the geography being by Prof. A. H. Keane. This article, which is accom- panied by a map, is typical of the kind of changes that have been made since the appearance of the ninth edition of the ' Encyclopaedia. Recent years have witnessed the disastrous Italian campaign and the subsequent arrival of various European missions, including that of Sir Rennell Rodd, to which the preponderating influence of England in Abyssinian councils is due. The centre of interest has shifted, as Count Gleichen says, from the northern to the southern provinces. What will be the future of the country depends on who is the successor of the "present enlightened emperor." Completely modern is Mr. Hibbert's account of 'Accumulators.' An important contri- bution on 'Acoustics' is by Prof. J. H. Poynting. Under 'Admiralty Administration,' 'Admiralty Jurisdiction,' &c., is much information not easily accessible elsewhere. Recent legislation upon adul- teration of food is fully described under ' Adultera- tion,' as are the scientific attempts to combat inter- ference. ' Aeronautics ' is profusely illustrated with views of gliding and flying machines, including pic- tures of the flight of the balloon of M. Sautos-Dumont over Nice. Sir Alfred Lyall deals with the history of Afghanistan, of which also a map is furnished. In the case of Africa, on which, naturally, much advance in knowledge is observable, Mr. Heawood deals with the geography, Dr. Scott Keltic with the history, and Prof. A. H. Keane with the ethno- logy. Under the last heading the professor holds, with M. A. Dumont and Sir John Evans, that the origin of man in Mauritania "must be set back to an age which deranges all chronology and confounds the very fables of the mythologies." Negroes claim

a separate heading, as do South, Central, and East Africa. ' Agnosticism,' as a term, is correctly attri- buted to Huxley, whose views an anonymous opponent is allowed to answer. ' Agriculture ' and 'Agricultural Machinery,' two very important articles, are in the hands of Americans. The illus- trations to these are the best executed, the most striking, and the most serviceable in the volume. ' Algebraic Forms ' are treated by Major MacMahon, F.R.S. 'America,' an enormous subject, is dealt with by American writers, the anthropological section being allotted to Prof. 0. T. Mason. 'Anthropology' itself is in the admirably com- petent hands of Prof. Tylor. It is chiefly supple- mentary to what appeared in the previous volumes. ' Classical Archaeology ' gives the results of recent discoveries. Under articles such as 'Athens,' ' Eleusis,' &c., information must be sought as to the conclusions of modern research, which, under this heading, are treated principally in regard to sculpture and art generally. This portion of the volume is profusely illustrated, though the designs are in some cases less clear than might have been desired. ' Architecture ' is also profusely illustrated, the designs being principally of modern edifices. Under 'Armour' much novel and im- portant information is furnished, especially as to the results of the trial of armour plates. ' Astro- nomy' is also a contribution of highest import- ance. No task of greater difficulty than that of giving an insight into or estimate of the claims of an encyclopaedia can well be devised. To deal with almost every question demands a separate expert. We may not, accordingly, go further into the merits of the work. As regards the new features, the most important consist of the illustrations and maps, which add greatly to the utility of the work. Some of the illus- trations, like those supplied in a selection of specimen pages which accompanies the first volume, give a good idea of the wealth which will be found in the entire work. The account of ' Colour Printing' is deeply interesting ; the picture of the Okapia johnstonii, discovered By SirH. H. Johnston in the Semliki Forest, is beautiful ; and the repro- ductions of designs by Sir E. Burne- Jones in the Kelmscott Chaucer, of book-plates. &c., are of special value and interest. Not a few of the portraits are excellent. The editors pride themselves on the addition of biographies of men still living or recently dead. These as a rule are hardly up to the level of the other contributions. They scarcely seem to form an indispensable portion of an encyclopaedia, and would not be necessary if we had any thing approaching to an adequate biography of contemporaries. There is some justice in the view that before dealing with the characters of yesterday and to-day it is expedient to get an his- torical perspective in which your poet, novelist, or so-called statesman is sure of his immortality, or likely to present himself to our successors in the same light in which he is seen by us. It is, how- ever, well for the encyclopaedia, as for other things, to give us too much rather than too little. A hedge is more easily pruned than fostered. A worthy, important, and necessary undertaking is spiritedly and admirably begun, and will doubtless be brought to a satisfactory termination.

THE Quarterly Review for April is a strong number. It contains eleven articles of real merit. We regard " The Sacred Books of the East" as one