GROOMBRIDGE & SONS, 5, PATERNOSTER ROW; 1869. *** The Editor hereby expresses his best thanks to all those Authors and Publishers who have so kindly and courteously allowed him to make extracts from their copyright works. He feels especially indebted to the following authors, some of whom have kindly favoured him with their approval of the selection made:-The Poet Laureate, Sir J. Herschel, Professors Playfair and Huxley, and Charles Knight, Esq.; as also to Messrs. Longmans, Green & Co., Messrs. A. & C. Black, Messrs. Smith, Elder & Co., Messrs. Macmillan & Co., Messrs. Chapman & Hall, Messrs. Moxon & Co., and Messrs. Griffin & Co.; as also to the Editors of "The Athenæum" and "The Times." Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. The IT has been already shown that ours is a composite language, that is, made up from a variety of sources. Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, Latin, Greek, and some other languages, supply us with words and forms of construction. The English of to-day is not exactly the language of the last generation; still less is it that of the time of Queen Elizabeth, or of the early Norman barons. Some hundreds of words, however, with only a modified orthography, may be found running through all periods of our history to the present time. Yet every age, and almost every year, has seen some additions to our growing language. Some of these additions are to us entirely new words; brought, in some cases, as loot, tomahawk, pemmican, wigwam, gong, Hyson, etc., from far-off eastern or western K |