9'- s. ix. MAY IT, 1902.) NOTES AND QUERIES.
399
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
