`                                                             December 19, 2002

                  THE DREYFUS PREMIER THIRD CENTURY FUND, INC.

                 Supplement to Prospectus dated October 1, 2002



     At a special meeting of shareholders held on December 18, 2002, Fund
shareholders approved certain changes to the Fund's investment restrictions to
permit the Fund to lend its portfolio securities. Accordingly, the following
information supplements the information contained in the section of the Fund's
Prospectus entitled "Main Risks."

     The Fund may lend its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other
financial institutions. In connection with such loans, the Fund will receive
collateral from the borrower equal to at least 100% of the value of the loaned
securities. Should the borrower of the securities fail financially, the Fund may
experience delays in recovering the loaned securities or exercising its rights
in the collateral.

                                                             December 19, 2002

                  THE DREYFUS PREMIER THIRD CENTURY FUND, INC.

                Supplement to Statement of Additional Information
                              dated October 1, 2002



     At a special meeting of shareholders held on December 18, 2002,
shareholders approved certain changes to the Fund's investment restrictions to
permit the Fund to invest in other investment companies and engage in lending
portfolio securities as described below. Accordingly, the following information
supplements and supersedes any contrary information contained in the Fund's
Statement of Additional Information.

Certain Portfolio Securities

     Investment Companies. The Fund may invest in securities issued by other
investment companies. Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the
"1940 Act"), the Fund's investment in such securities, subject to certain
exceptions, currently is limited to (i) 3% of the total voting stock of any one
investment company, (ii) 5% of the Fund's total assets with respect to any one
investment company and (iii) 10% of the Fund's total assets in the aggregate.
Investments in the securities of other investment companies may involve
duplication of advisory fees and certain other expenses. The Fund also may
invest its uninvested cash reserves or cash it receives as collateral from
borrowers of its portfolio securities in connection with the Fund's securities
lending program, in shares of one or more money market funds advised by the
Manager. Such investments will not be subject to the limitations described
above, except that the Fund's aggregate investment of uninvested cash reserves
in such money market funds may not exceed 25% of its total assets. See "Lending
Portfolio Securities."

Investment Techniques

     Lending Portfolio Securities. The Fund may lend securities from its
portfolio to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions needing to borrow
securities to complete certain transactions. In connection with such loans, the
Fund remains the owner of the loaned securities and continues to be entitled to
payments in amounts equal to the interest, dividends or other distributions
payable on the loaned securities. The Fund also has the right to terminate a
loan at any time. The Fund may call the loan to vote proxies if a material issue
affecting the Fund's investment is to be voted upon. Loans of portfolio
securities may not exceed 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund's total assets
(including the value of all assets received as collateral for the loan). The
Fund will receive collateral consisting of cash, U.S. Government securities or
irrevocable letters of credit which will be maintained at all times in an amount
equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. If
the collateral consists of a letter of credit or securities, the borrower will
pay the Fund a loan premium fee. If the collateral consists of cash, the Fund
will reinvest the cash and pay the borrower a pre-negotiated fee or "rebate"
from any return earned on the investment. The Fund may participate in a
securities lending program operated by Mellon Bank, N.A., as lending agent (the
"Lending Agent"). The Lending Agent will receive a percentage of the total
earnings of the Fund derived from lending its portfolio securities. Should the
borrower of the securities fail financially, the Fund may experience delays in
recovering the loaned securities or exercising its rights in the collateral.
Loans are made only to borrowers that are deemed by the Manager to be of good
financial standing. In a loan transaction, the Fund will also bear the risk of
any decline in value of securities acquired with cash collateral. The Fund will
minimize this risk by limiting the investment of cash collateral to money market
funds advised by the Manager, repurchase agreements or other high quality
instruments with short maturities.

Investment Restrictions

     Investment Restriction Nos. 5 and 9 now read as follows:

               The Fund may not:

               5. Purchase securities of other investment companies, except to
               the extent permitted under the 1940 Act.

               9. Lend any securities or make loans to others, except to the
               extent permitted under the 1940 Act (which currently limits such
               loans to no more than 33-1/3% of the value of the Fund's total
               assets) or as otherwise permitted by the Securities and Exchange
               Commission. For purposes of this Investment Restriction, the
               purchase of debt obligations (including acquisitions of loans,
               loan participations or other forms of debt instruments) and the
               entry into repurchase agreements shall not constitute loans by
               the Fund. Any loans of portfolio securities will be made
               according to guidelines established by the Securities and
               Exchange Commission and the Fund's Board.

     Investment Restriction No. 5 is now a non-fundamental policy which may be
changed by the Fund's Board members at any time without shareholder approval.
The Fund and the Manager have received an exemptive order from the Securities
and Exchange Commission which, among other things, permits the Fund to use cash
collateral received in connection with lending the Fund's securities and other
uninvested cash to purchase shares of one or more registered money market funds
advised by the Manager in excess of limitations imposed by the 1940 Act.

                                  * * * *

     At such special meeting of shareholders, Fund shareholders elected David W.
Burke, Whitney I. Gerard, Arthur A. Hartman, and George L. Perry as additional
Board members of the Fund to commence serving on January 1, 2003. Accordingly,
the following information supplements the information contained in the Statement
of Additional Information under the section entitled "Management of the
Fund-Board Members of the Fund."


                                                                             

                         Principal Occupation
Name (Age)*              During Past 5 Years                   Other Board Memberships and Affiliations


David W. Burke (66)      Corporate Director and Trustee        John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, DIRECTOR
                                                               U.S.S. Constitution Museum, DIRECTOR
                                                               Board member of 59 funds in the Dreyfus Family
                                                                  of Funds

Whitney I. Gerard (68)   Partner of Chadbourne & Parke LLP     Board member of 16 funds in the Dreyfus Family
                                                                  of Funds

Arthur A. Hartman (76)   Chairman of First NIS Regional Fund   APCO Associates, Inc., SENIOR CONSULTANT
                             (ING/Barings Management) and      Board member of 16 funds in the Dreyfus Family
                             New Russia Fund                       of Funds
                         Advisory Council Member to Barings
                             Vostok

George L. Perry (68)     Economist and Senior Fellow at        State Farm Mutual Automobile Association, DIRECTOR
                             Brookings Institution             State Farm Life Insurance Company, DIRECTOR
                                                               Board member of 16 funds in the Dreyfus Family of Funds





_______________________
*    None of the persons elected to serve as Board members are "interested persons" of the Fund as defined in the 1940 Act.