In all essential points this edition of The Study of Words is the same
book as the last edition.  The aim of the editor has been to alter as
little of Archbishop Trench's work as possible.  In the arrangement of
the book, in the order of the chapters and paragraphs, in the style, in
the general presentation of the matter, no change has been made.  On the
other hand, the work has been thoroughly revised and corrected.  A great
deal of thought and labour has of late been bestowed on English
philology, and there has been a great advance in the knowledge of the
laws regulating the development of the sounds of English words, and the
result has been that many a derivation once generally accepted has had
to be given up as phonetically impossible.  An attempt has been made to
purge the book of all erroneous etymologies, and to correct in the text
small matters of detail.  There have also been added some footnotes, in
which difficult points are discussed and where reference is given to
recent authorities.  All editorial additions, whether in the text or in
the notes, are enclosed in square brackets.  It is hoped that the book
as it now stands does not contain in its etymological details anything
inconsistent with the latest discoveries of English scholars. 

A.  L.  MAYHEW.