A Readable English Dictionary, by David Milne (Murray), is somewhat
of a novelty in the way of lexicons, and a commendable one. Its object is to afford to those who have little or no know- ledge of Latin and Greek, "an easy, interesting, and instructive method of obtaining a thorough knowledge of English words derived directly from these languages, or indirectly through French." The bulk of the book is composed of these derivatives, arranged under such titles as "Nouns of the First Declension," "Verbs of the First Conjugation." We cannot pretend to have gone very exhaustively into the question of Mr. Milne's accuracy, but his method is admirable, and his patience in working it out is very great. For example, under jiamnta, we learn that a flambeau is a lighted torch, that a flamingo is so called from the flame-like colour of the bird, and that an inflammatory address or publication is "calculated to excite people to fiery activity." Prefixed to the Readable Dictionary—this seems rather a misnomer, by-the-way—is an index of English words derived not only from classical but from Teutonic and other sources, with etymological details and supplementary definitions. The only fault we have to find with this dictionary is that the type of the preliminary portion is distressingly small. Being convenient in size and shape, it will be found an invaluable adjunct to the ordinary schoolroom library, and even to the ordinary "study."
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