_Will O' the Wisp_ (Vol. v., p. 511.).--Will O' the Wisp still lives by the banks of Trent; but alas! his reign is almost over. Fifty years ago he might be seen nightly dancing over bog and brake; but since the process of warping has been discovered, which has made valuable property of what was before a morass, nearly the whole of the commons between Gainsborough and the Humber have been brought into cultivation, and the drainage consequent thereon has nearly banished poor Will. Any person wishing to make his acquaintance would probably succeed, if he were to pass a night next November on Brumby or Scotton common. K. P. D. E. * * * * * Miscellaneous. NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC. A late eminent scholar was in the habit of advising his friends, when in doubt which of two books to buy: "If one of them is a Dictionary, always buy the Dictionary:"--and the noble library which he bequeathed to the public shows that he himself always acted upon this principle. What he said of Dictionaries generally, will apply with particular force to the very admirable _Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art; comprising the History, Description, and Scientific Principles of every Branch of Human Knowledge, with the Derivation and Definition of all the Terms in General Use_, edited by Professor Brande and Dr. Cauvin, with the assistance of many eminent literary and scientific gentlemen, of which the second edition is now before us. Our impression on opening it was, that NOTES & QUERIES would find its occupation gone: and, although it is obvious that such cannot be the case, we feel sure that if all Querists upon ordinary subjects would turn to this excellent compendium of general information before transmitting to us many such inquiries as we now receive, they would at once be put in possession of the information of which they are in search; and we should be spared a very considerable amount of labour. The object which the proprietors proposed to themselves in the one closely printed volume of which the {575} book consists, has been to supply the place of those large Encyclopædias and Dictionaries of modern times which are either too voluminous or too special for ready reference and general use; and to produce, in a form which should admit of its being carried about, a work which, without entering into long details of theories, &c., should exhibit an _abstract of the principles of every branch of knowledge, and a definition and explanation of the various terms in Science, Literature, and Art_, which occur in reading or conversation, with that facility of reference and precision of statement which ought to be the distinguishing features of a useful Dictionary. Thanks to the knowledge and good judgment of the editors and their assistants, this object has been so successfully accomplished, that Brande's _Dictionary of Science, Literature, and Art_, may be pronounced as at once a valuable substitute