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Periodical Works on Natural History. 305 



speak of is downright scandalous. Should you^ Mr. Editor, 

 ever attempt to treat us in this mean, pettifogging, huckster-like 

 manner, you may depend upon it, you shall hear from me on 

 the occasion, if I am in the land of the living ; and, if not, be- 

 ware lest my troubled spirit haunt and torment you. Hitherto, 

 I must do you the justice to say, you have acted in a way the 

 very reverse of that which I complain of; but, in the course 

 of time, as the love of money is apt to increase with the ac- 

 quisition, there is no knowing but you may grow covetous, 

 grasping, and insolent; therefore, I warn you beforehand 

 to continue on your good behaviour. Of this crying abuse I 

 must proceed, even at the risk of being thought tedious, to 

 give a few particular examples. One editor has the effrontery 

 to print, in rather conspicuous characters, on the cover of his 

 Reg ***** — his work, I mean, for I am not going to name 

 the book — " No. XII. of Volume XIV., price four shillings, 

 coloured ; with an appendix, price one shilling." On receiv- 

 ing my copy, I could find nothing like an Appendix, unless it 

 were the titlepage and index, which I am not accustomed to 

 hear called by that name ; and it occurred to me that this 

 appendix might possibly be, like the postscript of a lady's let- 

 ter, the most pithy and important part of the whole. Con- 

 cluding, therefore, that my copy was imperfect, I ordered the 

 bookseller to procure for me the appendix. No such thing, 

 however, was forthcoming; and I was informed that the 

 " appendix " meant the titlepage and index, occupying just 

 two pages octavo, price one shilling ! Will the editor main- 

 tain that he is guilty of no misnomer here ; but that he is 

 strictly correct^ according to the etymology of the word " ap- 

 pendix," i. e. something appended or added on to another ? 

 If so, he should be told that " the meaning of a word is what 

 it signifies ; " and that the word " appendix " does not, in 

 common English, signify titlepage and index. Another gen- 

 tleman has the face unblushingly to send forth his titlepage, 

 dedication, preface, list of books referred to, and index, 

 stitched up in a cover by themselves, with all the self-import- 

 ance of a regular number of the work, price 2s. 6d. ! — half a 

 crown sterling ! — more than two thirds of the price of one 

 of your Magazines ! Think of that, Mr. Editor ! Two shil- 

 lings and sixpence lawful money of the realm for a plain, 

 unadorned, typographical titlepage, dedication, preface, list 

 of books referred to, and index (indices 1 ought to say, for 

 there are two), the whole comprised in eight pages octavo ! 

 Is it enough for these gentlemen to say, " We never e?igaged 

 to give you a titlepage and index without paying for them ? '' 

 True ; they never did : but I ask whether any one purchaser, 



