2 22 Recoit Literature. (April 



— as in HcspcroDiis., — and linally the humerus itself may be 

 wanting, as in Diiwrnis giganteus, and we have tlie extreme 

 of degeneration in an absolutely wingless bird. 



Measurements. 



RECENT LITERATURE. 



The Ornithology of The Century Dictionary.'* — 'The Century Diction- 

 ary' is beyond doubt tJic literary monument of the age. It i.s the result of 

 seven years of arduous and unremitted work on the part of some forty ex- 

 perts, consisting of eminent specialists in every department of human 

 knowledge. " The plan of 'The Century Dictionary' includes three 

 things : the construction of a general dictionary of the English language 

 which shall be serviceable for every literary and practical use; a more 

 complete collection of the technical terms of the various sciences, arts, 

 trades, and professions than has yet been attempted; and the siddition to 

 the definitions proper of such related encyclopedic matter, with pictorial 

 illustrations, as shall constitute a convenient book of general reference." 

 The result is a collection of about 225,000 words with their definitions and 

 etymologies. Technical terms are a conspicuous feature, many thousands 

 having been gatbered which liave never before appeared in any general 

 dictionary, or even in special glossaries. These include not only names 

 of organs, structures, functions, and processes, but a large proportion of 



*The I Century Dictionary | An Encyclopedic Lexicon | of the English Lan- 

 guage I Prepared under the Superintendence of | William Dwight Whitney, Ph. D., 

 L L. D. I Professor of Comparative Philology and Sanskrit | in Yale University | In 

 Six Volumes. | Volume I [IV] | [Vignette] Published by | The Century Company. | 

 New York. [1889-90.] 



