jEFORE referring to the most important of the changes in
the present edition, it' may be as well to refer to several
minor , points as to which I often receive inquiries.
First, as to the “catch-line” names which appear in the
book. In the first edition the first entry for each surname was
so distinguished for mere purposes of ready reference, or perhaps
even—for it was not my own idea—by the desire of the printers
to make an “ artistic ” page. Their efforts and labour to that end have been
unceasing, beyond even my own desires. But even before the completion of
the first edition the fatal objection had become apparent that the addition of
an entry for the same surname but with a Christian name earlier in the
alphabet involved the displacement of the catch-line from the one paragraph
to the other, and the resetting of both. The catch-lines were therefore
abandoned ; but I did not consider their importance, in or out, was worth
the cost of resetting in order to provide for their deletion. Consequently
those which were then standing in the type were allowed to remain until
such time as other alterations necessitated a disturbance in ...