OBSERVATIONS ON THE LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER. 451 
fessio Amantis and of Piers Ploughman is much to be desired. Passing by inflec- 
tions, many English words which now end in a consonant formerly ended in a 
vowel. When did the change take place? The shortening process seems to have 
begun by Chaucer’s time, but not to have been far advanced. The question has 
not been hitherto made of any importance, but it is of great consequence, and 
ought plainly not to be neglected in the new Dictionary of the Philological Soci- 
ety, from which so much is hoped. In the Rules prescribed by the Committee 
of this Society, collectors are enjoined in general terms to notice all the varieties 
of form that are now obsolete, but in a special rule they are told that * wode for 
wood and sunne for sun are unimportant.". Is it likely that, without more explicit 
directions, all the obsolete varieties of form will receive due attention 2 
Among Mr. Guest’s many contributions to our knowledge of the English lan- 
guage, there are very valuable remarks on Chaucer in the History of English 
Rhythms, and in the Proceedings of the Philological Society. I must also, while 
differing from some of the author's views, mention with great respect an essay on 
the Language of Chaucer, based on Tyrwhitt's text, by F. G. Gesenius (De Lingua 
Chauceri, a Doctor’s Dissertation, Bonn, 1847). Mr. Gesenius has continued his 
study of Chaucer, and has communicated papers deserving attention to the Archiv 
fiir das Studium der neueren Sprachen. 
Noration. — The numbers refer to the text of the Canterbury Tales, as printed 
in three volumes by the Percy Society. A reprint of this text in Cooke’s Universal 
Library was used for some time, on account of the convenience of having the whole 
in a single volume, and it is possible that there may be a few discrepancies between 
the two impressions. There are also a few errors in the numbering of the lines in 
the Percy Society edition, and now and then certain doubtful lines are not counted 
in the numbering, which nevertheless are here referred to in regular order. It can 
be only extremely seldom (if ever) that embarrassment will arise from any of these 
causes, and the matter is alluded to merely to forestall the suspicion of even a trifling 
carelessness. 
The prose parts of the Canterbury Tales are referred to by volume and page of 
the Percy Society edition. 
The sign f following a number denotes that the word referred to is the final 
word of the verse. S. denotes Anglo-Saxon, L. Layamon, O. the Ormulum, rh. 
rhymed with. . 
