Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-14
NEW PUBLICATIONS.

A STANDARD DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE Upon Original Plans Destined to
the Light Of the Most Recent Advapces in
knowledge, and in the Readiest Form for
nunciation and Etymology Of ali the Words and
the Idiomatic Phrases In the Speech and Ltera-
ss Of By the E sbsa
and other scholars under the supervision Of
March lid % eonsasn. etSf
Daniel s. d GREGORY 3D. managing ed sdit to
John Denison Champlin, MA; Rossiter John
son. Ph.D., LID. Volume 1. New York: Funk
Wagnalls Company.
The immediate result of a vast outlay of
money and of time. and brain work almost
limitless. and If the second volume is as
good as the first-and the probabilities are
that 1t will be better-it will be difficult
to find a dictionary to equal this edition Of
Funk & Wagnalls STANDARD" The max
ing Of dictionary is task Of tremendous
magnitude. involving much wearisome philo-
logical research by experts, accurate COM
pilation, inerrant editing and proof-reading
and the exercise Of an abnormally compre-
hensive mind in general supervision Of
countless, yet essential, details. None of
these things are lacking in this volume. In
the more than four years that have elapsed
since the work Of preparation was COM
menced. 247 office editors and specialists
and nearly 500 readers for quotations have
been steadily employed. while hundreds of
other men and women were engaged in
rendering what was evidently effective SER
vice in various ways In the defining of
words or classes of words. The vo-
cabulary is all that the publishers claim
for it, extraordinarily rich and full"
The scientific alphabet. prepared and
promulgated by the American Philolog-
ical Association, and adopted by the
American Spelling Reform Association, has
been used in giving the pronunciation of
words; this alphabet makes exact pronun-
citation an easy possibility, and is one of
the extremely valuable features Of the die
tionary. The work is modern in every re-
spect. The names In geography are all to
be in precise accord with the conclusions
of the United States board on geographic
names; spelling is simplifed wherever sim
plification is reasonable and demanded by
authority; new quotations seem to have
displaced all the old ones, which for so long
a time have done service in the verification
Of words and the illustration of meanings.
Each set of words has been defined or pass
ed upon by a representative of the science
or art, or Of the handicraft. party, or class,
or religious denomination, to which the
terms respectively belong. To touch upon
all the novel and especially commendable
details would require many words and much
space 1t is sufficient to say that American
scholarship has produced nothing more use
full or more thoroughly satisfactory than
this dictionary. geographically it is be-
yond criticism, while the pictorial illustra-
tons are unique in their excellence, and
especially is this SO Of the colored plates
one of which, representing variety of
precious stones, Is a photographic marvel
Admirably bound and presenting In every
way a finished appearance. the STANDARD
seems to be as near perfection as any die
tionary of this age can possibly be.
SANDow ON PHYSICAL TRAINING; A Study on
the Perfect Type of the Human Form. Com
piled and edited under Mr.. Shadows direction
by G. Mercer Adams, x-captain Queens Own
Rifles, Q. n. New York: J. Selwin TAFT &
Sons.
Marvellous as is the strength Of this most
powerful Of modern men, it really seems
but little less than miraculous when
1t is remembered that upon a delicate foun-
dalton Sandow himself worked out the ply
steal development OF which he is Justly
proud, and which excites the wonder and
admiration Of all who are interested in the
cultivation of muscle. The processes by
which Sandow has succeeded in reaching
what would seem to be structural perfec-
ton cannot be otherwise than deeply in
health. The majority of those who devote
themselves to athletic pursuits rarely do
more than train one set of muscles and
this they do to such an extent as to cause
themselves real injury. The story of San
dow shows how even the weaklings of HUI
mainly may become sturdy. Strong arms
and strong legs are only temporarily valu-
able; Sandow shows how to achieve mus
cular superiority, and at the same time
strengthen every vital organ, until the en-
tire system is attuned to healthful pitch.
The popular idea of training is filled with
all manner of bugbears as to diet and bod
lily strain, but the system expounded by
Capt. Adam Is one at once comfortable and