Excerpt from A Dictionary of English Etymology The light which is thus thrown on the pedigree and relationship of races be yond the reach of history is however only an incidental result of linguistic study. For language, the machinery and vehicle of thought, and indispensable con dition of all mental progress, holds out to the rational inquirer a subject of as high an intrinsic interest as that which Geology finds in the structure of the Globe, or Astronomy in the movements of the heavenly bodies. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.