XII NOTES 15 V THE EDITOR. 



ish. If the origin of a word is obscure in Italian, we have only to 

 look to French and Spanish, and we shall generally receive some 

 useful hints to guide us in our researches. Where, except in these 

 modern dialects, can we expect to find a perfectly certain standard by 

 which, to measure the possible changes which words mav undergo 



f O 



both in form and meaning without losing their identity ? We can 

 here silence all objections by facts, and we can force conviction by 

 tracing, step by step, every change of sound and sense from Latin to 

 French ; whereas when we have to deal with Greek and Latin and 

 Sanskrit, we can only use the soft pressure of inductive reasoning." 



At the anniversary meeting of the Royal Society (Eng.), the Pres- 

 ident, Gen. Sabine, stated that the great work which has been going 

 on for some years under the auspices of the Society, viz : that 

 of preparing a Catalogue of the titles of all the papers and articles 

 contained in all the leading scientific Transactions and Journals for 

 the present century, was in the process of completion. The number 

 of titles of papers already copied exceeds 180,000, and the copy- 

 ing is to be brought down to 1803 inclusive. 



A manuscript catalogue in 8~2 volumes, with more to follow, con- 

 taining the titles of the several works in chronological order, is placed 

 for use in the Royal Society's Library. The next step will be a 

 printed catalogue of the whole number of titles, arranged alphabet- 

 ically according to authors' names, accompanied by an alphabetical 

 index of subjects ; and in this way there will be offered to scientific 

 inquirers in all parts of the world an easy means of reference to all 

 the important scientific subjects published during 63 years of the 

 present century, a century the most active and fruitful in scientific 

 results since the world began. 



The cost of printing this great catalogue will be generously as- 

 sumed by the British Government. A certain number of copies will 

 be presented to scientific institutions and public libraries in all parts 

 of the world ; and the remainder of the edition will be offered for 

 sale at the cost of printing and paper only. 



No Science of History. Mr. Froude, the well-known English his- 

 torian, in a recent lecture before the Royal Institution, on the Science 

 of History took the ground, that there can be no such thing as a sci- 

 ence of history, because of the impossibility of educing the laws of 

 human motives and actions, as in physical science the laws of natural 

 phenomena are educed by observation, and that which will be, can 

 be predicted from what has been. "Whether the end be seventy 

 years hence, or seven hundred," said the lecturer, in his peroration, 

 " be the close of the mortal history of humanity as far distant in the 

 future, as its shadowy beginnings seem now to lie behind us this 



