The Old and the New.

Taranaki Herald, Volume L, Issue 12204, 3 March 1903, Page 6

The Old and the New.

': The fulness with which "THE CENTURY DtCXiONAR^ & CYCLOPAEDIA &' ATLAS treats technical terms is -in admirable contrast ,tq the .system , adopted by the /makers" ot the; did dictionaries. Dr: Johnson perdeived that technical "terms, ought .to be' included, tiut> he declared, that it was impracticable to perform so. for- > niidable a task. His confession of 'want in his dictionary is 'worth reading" >— ' ■ , ■ . "That many terms both of art *andmanufacture are omitted- must be >.. frankly acknowledged, but for this de--\ feet I "may boldly allege .that it was ] unavoidable. I could not visit caverns to learn the miner's language, nor , take a voyage to perfect my | skill in the dialect of navigation. n<sr - visit the. warehouses bf . merchants and shops of artificers to gain' '; the names of-wares, tools, and operations of wliicb no mention is found ,in books. -What fayourable accident oe easy enquiry brought 1 within my reach has not been neglected ; but it had been; a • hopeless labour %o 'glean up words, by courting living- information,' and contesting with, the sullen— ftess of one, and the roughness of another/-' ■ • ' Johnson's "larger" dictionary contained 40,000 words. "THE CEN--TIJRY' r - contains .225,000 .words. and; , 50,000 word ' compounds?' Such has been the growth of the English language, and such, too, the enlargement of our conception of what a dictionary ought to .be. The fac\ that all otherf dictionaries; ,. conbined , cannot * take the place ol "THE CENTURY" is due to. the. ong-' inal plan upon which thisr; great work was constructed. All ojher , dictionar- , jes were based upon the theory that specialists needed special -dictionaries Of' technical- words,*; But "THE "CENTURA" is at once a litterary and a technical work. As a Dictionary, an Encyclopaedia arid an Atlas it fully moets the requirements <pf all ~ men in-, every' trade and profession;', while -the liberal terms offered by "The Times" brings; it within. the reach of all..