"What's in a name? that which we call a rose,
By any other name would smell as sweet,"
and argue therefrom that the pronunciation of a word should make no difference so long as its meaning was understood. Amongst professional men, it has been observed that physicians and dentists are by far more prone than others to orthoepical errors. Attention is requested to a few of the more common of these in addition to those found in the preceding vocabulary connected with words that are alike used by the professional and the unprofessional, such as: abdomen, acclimated, albumen, animalcula arabic, citrate, embryo, excrescence, fetid, fetor, forceps, homeopathy, hydropathy, jugular, jujube, nasal, pharmacopœia, purulent, spasmodic, sulphurous, tragacanth, etc. The authorities appealed to are Dunglison, Thomas, Webster and Worcester. Notwithstanding the superior merit of Dunglison's Medical Dictionary, as far as the comprehensiveness and reliability of its definitions are concerned, it is evident that it is almost useless as an orthoepical guide. The principal accent is in many cases marked, but the pronunciation of preceding and succeeding syllables can not be determined, and there is no attempt at syllabication.
Dr. Thomas' dictionary, though less comprehensive, is equally reliable in its definitions, and is excellent authority in regard to orthoepy; though it is to be regretted that in some words important syllables are not sufficiently marked. For instance, take the words as-bes´tos and bis´muth; how can it be determined whether the first should be pronounced ăs-bĕs´toss or ăz-bĕs´tōz or the latter bĭz´muth or bĭss´muth? Webster and Worcester are undoubtedly good authorities for the pronunciation of the medical words they give. In the following vocabulary all of the authorities that mention the words may be considered as agreeing, unless notice is made of their disagreement.
MEDICAL AND DENTAL WORDS.
[In Latin and Latinized Greek words, the English sounds of the vowels are given as those used by the majority of professional men. If any one, however, prefers to adopt the continental method, sounding a as in father, y and i as e in veto, etc., and consistently applies it to all such words, no one, of course, has a right to object.]
Adipose—ăd´i-pōse, not ad´i-pōze.
Ala—ā´la, not ăl´a. Alæ, plural.
Alis—ā´lĭs, not ăl´ĭs. This as a termination of many words, such as abdominalis, digitalis, frontalis, lachrymalis, transversalis, etc., is often erroneously pronounced ăl´is.
Alumen—al-ū´men, not ăl´u-men.
Alveolus—al-vē´o-lus, not al-ve-ō´lus. Plural, alveoli (al-vē´o-lī). Alveolar—(al-vē´o-lar). Alveolus is the name given to the cavity in the jaw that is seen upon the removal of the root of a tooth, and it possesses no more tangibility than a pinch of air; almost daily, however, we hear dentists speak of extracting a tooth with a piece of the alveolus attached. What a curiosity for preservation in a museum is a tooth with a piece of a little hole fastened to the root! What is meant is a piece of the alveolar process, or portion of bone around the alveolus.
Anæmic—a-nĕm´ĭk, not a-nē´mĭk. Dunglison gives the latter.
Andral—ŏng-dräl´, not ăn´-dral.
Aphthæ—ăf´thē, not ăp´thē.
Aqua—ā´kwa, not ăk´wa.
Arcus Senilis—se-nī´lis, not sĕn´i-lis.
Areolar—a-rē´o-lar, not a-re-ō´lar.
Aris—ā´rĭs, not ăr´is in the termination of angularis, medullaris, palmaris, orbicularis, pulmonaris, etc.
Asarum—ăs´a-rum, not a-sā´rum.
Asbestos—ăs-bĕs´tŏss, not ăz-bĕs´tōz.
Attollens—at-tŏl´lenz, not at-tō´lenz.
Azygos—az´y-gos, not a-zy´gos.
Bagge—bäg´geh, not băg.
Bimana—bī-mā´na, not bī-mā´nĭ-a.
Bismuth—bĭz´muth, not bĭss´muth.
Bitumen—bĭ-tū´men, not bĭt´u-men.
Cadaver—ka-dā´ver, not ka-dăv´er.
Caries—kā´rĭ-ēz, not kā´rēz nor kăr´rēz.
Carminative—kar-mĭn´a-tive, not kar´mi-nā-tĭve.
Caryophillus—kăr-ĭ-o-phĭl´lus, not kăr-ĭ-ŏph´ĭl-lus.
Cerebral—sĕr´e-bral, not ser-ē´bral.
Cerebric—sĕr´e-bric, not ser-ē´bric.
Cerebrum—sĕr´e-brum, not ser-ē´brum. Dunglison gives both.
Cerumen—se-rū´men, not sĕr´ū-men.
Cheyne—chān or cheen, not shāne.
Choledochus—ko-lĕd´o-kus, not kŏl-e-dō´kus nor ko-lĭd´a-kus.
Cicatrix—si-kā´trix, not sĭk´a-trix nor si-kăt´rix. Plural, cicatrices (sĭk´a-trī´sēz), not sĭ-kăt´rĭ-sēz.
Cimicifuga—sĭm-ĭ-sĭf´u-ga, not sĭm-i-sĭ-fū´ga nor sĭm-ĭs´i-fū´ga.
Cochlea—kŏk´le-a, not kōk´le-a.
Conein—ko-nē´ĭn, not kō´ne-ĭn.
Conium—ko-nī´um, not kō´ni-um.
Cranium—krā´ni-um, not krăn´i-um.
Cynanche—sĭ-năn´kē, not sī-năn´chē.
Diastase—dī´as-tāse, not dī-as´tāze.
Diastole—dī-as´to-le, not dī´as-tōle.
Diploe—dĭp´lo-e, not dip-lō´e.
Dulcamara—dul-ka-mā´ra, not dul-sa-mā´ra. Webster gives dul-kam´a-ra also.
Duodenum—du-o-dē´num, not du-ŏd´e-num.
Dyspnœa—dĭsp-nē´a, not dĭs-nē´a.
Emesis—ĕm´e-sis,not em-ē´sis.
Epiploon—e-pĭp´lo-on, not ep-ip-lō´on.
Facial—fā´shal, not făsh´i-al.
Foramen—fo-rā´men, not fo-răm´en.
Fungi—fun´jī not fun´gī. Plural of fungus.
Galbanum—găl´ba-num, not gal-bā´num.
Gingiva—jĭn-jī´va, not jĭn´ji-va.
Glenoid—glē´noid, not glĕn´oid.
Glutæus—glū´tæ-us, according to Webster. The rest give glū-tæ´us.
Helleborus—hel-lĕb´o-rus, not hel-le-bō´rus.
Hyoscyamus—hī-os-sī´a-mus, not hī-os-sy-ăm´us nor hi-os-sy-ā´mus. Hyoscyamine (hī-os-sī´a-mĭn).
Impetigo—ĭm-pe-tī´go, not ĭm-pĕt´i-go.
Incisive—ĭn-sī´sĭv, not in-sĭs´ive.
Iodoform—ī-ŏd´o-form, not ī-ō´do-form. Dunglison gives ī´o-do-form.
Itis. According to Webster and Worcester this termination is pronounced ī´tĭs in bronchitis, pleuritis, gastritis, etc. Thomas and Dunglison do not specify, but the inference is that they intend the same. It is, however, so generally pronounced ē´tis, that many would object to the attention attracted by calling it ī´tis.
Jejunum—je-jū´num, not jĕj´u-num.
Juniperus—ju-nĭp´e-rus, not jū´ni-per-us nor ju-ni-pē´rus.
Laudanum—law´da-num, not lŏd´a-num.
Lentigo—len-tī´go, not lĕn´ti-go.
Lepra—lĕp´ra, not lē´pra. Dunglison gives the latter.
Leuwenhoek—lōō´en-hŏŏk or luh´wen-hŏŏk (U as in fur), not lōō´wen-hōke.
Levator—le-vā´tor, not le-văt´or.
Liquor (Latin)—lī´kwor, not lĭk´ur as in English.
Magendie—mä-zhŏng-dē´, not mā-jĕn´dē.
Malic—mā´lic, not măl´ic. Thomas gives the latter.
Matrix—mā´trix, not măt´rix.
Mistura—mĭs-tū´ra, not mĭs´tu-ra.
Molecule—mŏl´e-kūle, not mō´le-kūle.
Mollities—mol-lĭsh´ĭ-ēz, not mŏl´lĭ-tēz.
Molybdenum—mŏl-ĭb-dē´num, not mo-lĭb´de-num.
Nasmyth—nā´smith, not năz´mĭth.
Nicolai—nee´ko-lī, not nĭk´o-lā.
Nucleolus—nu-klē´o-lus, not nu-kle-ō´lus.
Oris—ō´rĭs, not ŏr´is.
Ovale—ō-vā´le, not ō-văl´e.
Panizzi—pä-nĭt´see or pä-nēt´see, not pan-ĭz´zy.
Pepys—pĕps, not pē´pĭs nor pĕp´ĭs.
Pes Anserinus—pēz an-ser-ī´nus, not pĕz an-sĕr´i-nus. I once heard a professor describing the facial nerve to his class, and he dwelt upon this plexus for some time, calling it the "Pons Asinorum."
Podagra—pŏd´a-gra, not po-dā´gra. Worcester gives po-dăg´ra also.
Podophyllum—-pŏd-o-phyl´um, not po-dŏph´yl-lum.
Process—prŏs´ess, not prō´sess.
Prostate—pros´tāte, not prŏs´trāte.
Purkinje—pŏŏr´kĭn-yeh or pŏŏr´kĭn, not par-kĭn´jē.
Pylorus—pĭ-lō´rus, not pī-lôr´us.
Pyrethrum—pĭr´e-thrum, not pī-rē´thrum.
Quadrumana—quad-rū´ma-na, not quad-ru-mā´nia.
Rubeola—ru-bē´o-la, not ru-be-ō´la.
Sacrum—sā´krum, not săk´rum.
Sagittal—săj´it-tal, not sa-jĭt´tal. Danglison gives the latter.
Sanies—sā´nĭ-ēz, not sā´nēz nor săn´ēz.
Scabies—scā´bĭ-ez, not scăb´ēz nor scā´bēz.
Seidlitz—sīd´lĭtz, not sĕd´lĭtz, unless spelled Sedlitz.
Sinapis—si-nā´pis, not sĭn´a-pis.
Squamous—skwā´mus, not skwaw´mus.
Systole—sĭs´to-le, not sĭs´tōle.
Tinctura—tinc-tū´ra, not tinct´u-ra.
Titanium—ti-tā´ni-um, not ti-tăn´i-um.
Trachea—tra-kē´a or trā´ke-a, not trăck´e-a.
Tremor—trē´mor, not trĕm´-or. Webster allows the latter also.
Trismus—triss´mus, not trĭz´mus.
Umbilicus—um-bĭ-lī´kus, according to Worcester, Thomas and Dunglison. Webster gives um-bil´i-kus.
Variola—va-rī´o-la, not va-ri-ō´la.
Veratrum—ve-rā´trum, not ve-răt´rum.
Vertebral—vĕr´te-bral, not ver-tē´bral.
Virchow—fĭr´ko, not vïr´chow nor vïr´kow.
Zinci—zĭn´si, not zink´ī.
SENTENCES FOR PRACTICE.
The following extract is from the letter of a friend, to whom were sent some of the advance pages of this work: "I am absolutely filled with astonishment to see how many simple words I have been mispronouncing all my life, and would have kept on mispronouncing to the end of my days if my thoughts had not been directed to them. If I were in your place I would end the book with a story in which all the words would be used in the course of the narrative. I can imagine no amusement more instructive or interesting than for a social party to read in turns, under some penalty for each mistake."
I had myself conceived the idea of presenting the words untrammeled with explanation of the orthoepy, or marks of accent; but the form was not decided upon.
The effort to compose a narrative was abandoned after a fair trial; for to have a plot and also bring the words in natural position would require a large volume; otherwise, it made senseless jumble. In the trial sentences given the objects are gained in small space. Those objects are to allow readers to exercise the memory and test their friends; and at the same time to use the words syntactically. It is hoped that the reader will pardon any absurdities of context; as they can not be avoided where one is compelled to use so many selected words, and is obliged to force them into a small compass.
MELANGE.
The invalid came from Bremen to America and hoped to be soon acclimated, but was stricken down with a disease that was not amenable to treatment, although he had many physicians: allopathists, hydropathists and homeopathists. He said that the aim of allopathy was to poison him; of hydropathy to drown him; and of homeopathy to let him die unaided.
One of the combatants struck his opponent in the abdomen with a club, cut off an alder tree; he was carried under the shade of an ailantus and immediately expired.
Sophia found the egg under a piony near the shumac tree; but she broke it in carrying, and spilled the albumen all over her alpaca dress.
The dose for an adult is a dessert-spoonful.
It was a plain supper—nothing but aerated bread, Bologna sausage and radishes.
He told his demonstrative disputant that he did not wish to get into an altercation, but it only appeared to arouse his combativeness still more.
Why do you accent the antepenult of espionage?
He illustrated his proposition by cutting off the apex of the figure, and then exhibited his apparatus for the production of statical electricity.
Two-thirds gum-arabic and one-third gum-tragacanth make a good mucilage.
The archbishop dreamed that an archangel came to him and told him to have his architect send to an island in the Grecian Archipelago for white marble for the pilasters.
Search the archives of history and you will not find another such prodigy as Admirable Crichton.
When, after traversing the ocean, you find yourself in the arid desert of Sahara, where there is no aroma of sweet flowers, or anything at all to regale your exhausted energies; where there is no herb nor herbaceous plant near you; where you are almost famished for want of some potable fluid; where you are in constant fear of being harassed by truculent nomads—then will you realize that there are no joys comparable to those that exist around the hearthstone of your humble home.
When the contents of the museum were sold by auction, the antiquary bought a roll of papyrus filled with hieroglyphics, a kind of bellows used by the ancients for starting their fires, and a fine collection of trilobites.
The attempt at a reconnoisance in force had been unsuccessful; immediately after reveille, the commander of the fortress put it to vote amongst his officers, whether or not they should surrender. The ayes carried it, although some vehemently opposed on account of the excellent morale of the garrison.
The heroine of the melodrama sent to her betrothed Seignior an exquisite bouquet, composed of catalpa flowers, dahlias, marigold and thyme, and prayed his forgiveness for not allowing him the promised tête-à-tête at the trysting place; she had been suffering with the tic-douloureux, she said. He generously forgave her and sent her a sonnet, in which he said that her voice was sweeter than that of Piccolomini, or any other cantatrice; that no houri could be more beautiful than she; he called her a fair florist, and after extolling her naïveté, roseate cheeks and nymphean graces, he swore eternal homage and that he would love her forever and for aye.
The judge bade the desperado cease his badinage and answer his inquiries, and threatened that if he did not, he would punish him for his contumacy.
The vicar was one of the notable men of his day; his wife was a pattern of industry, a notable housekeeper. While the birds were chirping their matin song, she might be seen with her besom in her hand.
Is this a bona fide transaction, or is it a Machiavelian attempt to inveigle the prelate into an imbroglio?
A booth was erected at the fair where the pretty Misses Agnes and Rosalind with much complaisance dispensed gratis to the visitors, soda-water flavored with orgeat or sarsaparilla.
General Silvester and his protégé, Reginald, met with a casualty that nearly cost them their lives. The horses attached to their Brougham became frightened at a yacht and made a tremendous leap over a high embankment into a creek.
At the zoological garden was found nearly every animal extant, from a mouse to a camelopard.
The rendezvous of the topographical surveyors was at the camp of some hunters on a knoll near the banks of a cañon.
The monk concealed his features with his capoch and would have been irrecognizable if his discourse had not betrayed him.
The étagère stands cater-cornered in a recess and contains many beautiful ornaments that his predecessor gathered within the last decade of years; amongst which may be mentioned the heads of Beethoven, Béranger, Goethe, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and many other celebrities, cut in onyx.
The Caucasian races obtained their name on account of originating near Mount Caucasus.
The mischievous children got cayenne all over their chaps, by which they were sufficiently punished without any further chastening.
The chivalric Don Quixote, having become a monomaniac on the subject of chivalry, bestrode his Rosinante, and, attended by his squire, started out to perform chivalrous deeds.
Lord C. has been absent since February, 1870; it is said that he has been traveling incognito, but it is certain that in Italy he has retained his cognomen. He is now at Modena awaiting the recovery of his Cicerone, when he intends to visit Genoa and Milan.
The obesity of the florid-faced prebendary is observed to increase with his prebend.
I have heard much of the gamins of Gotham, but I never realized what the gallows-deserving rascals were till I settled in New York City. I opened business as a pharmaceutist on a corner that was a favorite haunt of theirs. Such a crowd of tatterdemalions as stood in front of my show-window the first day I made my display of Parisian fancy goods, baffles description. One had the hooping cough, and every now and then would hoop till the perspiration rolled down his face; then he would shriek out the daily newspapers, in a voice like a calliope. One dirty-faced gourmand ate papaws till he had to gape for breath, and would shoot the seeds and throw the skins at his hundred comrades, half of them coming in my front door. Another, dressed in ragged jean, his face covered with soot, played the jew's-harp hour after hour, with as much pride in his ability as Paganini at his violin. Another, a tall, jaundice visaged youth with an embryo beard of about a dozen hairs, covered nearly to his heels with his great-grandfather's surtout, in the lapel of which was pinned a death's-head, danced upon the iron cellar door till it roared like distant artillery.
Then there were many other "partners" bearing such sobriquets as "Sore Snoot," "Pig Eye," "Limpy," etc., improvising irrational songs, boxing, wrestling, indulging in raillery and ribald jests, pitching quoits, meawing like cats, howling at my patrons and driving reputable patronage away. Every now and then they would send in little, saucy, precocious urchins, who offered to patronize me by asking for two cents' worth of jujube paste, tolu or licorice, or some Samaritan salve for Jim Biles' sore nose. At last, when the sun had reached the horizon, as a finale of the day's progress, one of the young villains hurled a bowlder through my French plate-glass, which, after its flight through a lot of citrate of magnesia, cochineal and quinine, finally spilled a large bottle of red ink all over my new pharmacopœia. Springing over the débris, I rushed to the door with implacable anger flashing from my eyes. But one glance at that imperturbable crowd showed me how impotent I was. One of them with placid countenance and stolid indifference simply accosted me with, "Say, Mister, are you going to see the 'Naiad Queen' to-night?"
I left that store in less than a fortnight.
The comptroller was appointed by the government upon the supposition that he was conversant with the details of finance; but he was only a mediocre financier and was not aware of the deficit in the finances, until the conscience-stricken defalcating officer acknowledged his defalcation.
The emigrants to the frontier chose a beautiful spot for their settlement; but they found that the wells dug there and on the contiguous prairies had a saline taste; so they were obliged to bring water from the mountainous region beyond, by means of a conduit.
From the congeries presented to the professor, he, at his leisure, isolated each genus and gave generic names to each; and at the next meeting of the lyceum, he solicited attention to his data and the truths he had deduced.
The handsome contour of Madame G's face has been spoiled by an excrescence like a raspberry on her nasal organ.
Young Philemon after reading Lalla Rookh, Lara, Don Juan, The Giaour, the productions of Mrs. Hemans, and a few others, was seized with the determination to become a poet; but he has only succeeded in becoming a poetaster, without any ideas of prosody. More metrical excellence and sense can be found in the distich:
"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?"
than in any of the products of his brain that he has given us. His brothers, Eben and Philander, have become stage-struck, and expect to excel in the Protean art. Their guardian, himself a great lover of drama, having foolish confidence in their success, grants them plenary indulgence in all their whims. They are habitués of the theatre, and have fitted up a suite of apartments next to a suit of rooms occupied by some stock actors, with whom they are bound in indissoluble bonds of friendship. There they spend the day in practice, and if you should call at any hour, there is no telling what will present itself to you. Perhaps Macbeth with the glamour of his eyes, viewing the imaginary gouts of blood; or Banquo with his gory locks; or some knight with his cuirass on and his visor down, plunging, without a qualm, his carmine-stained poniard into the jugular of some patriot. Possibly, Othello the Moor, King John with the Magna Charta, or a legendary warrior of frightful mien with his falchion drawn, will admit you. Or you may see a viscount with falcon, a rampant villain, a jocund host, or an irate, splenetic old man with spectacles, pronouncing with senile vehemence a curse upon some fragile female in negligee before him, who beseeches the aid of an immobile statue in a niche in the wall. You may get there in the nick of time to save Desdemona by an exposé of Iago'so villainy, to rescue Pythias whom Damon holds by the nape of the neck on the threshold of eternity, or to restrain the suicidal design of the Montague by informing him that the fair Capulet is only under the influence of a soporific—not dead. You may arrive soon enough to arouse the womanhood in the docile Kate, making her less docible, and talk woman's rights to Petruchio, making him more lenient.
And you will find the guardian of these promising youths, sitting there all day shouting encore to their absurdities, and not rational enough to see his indiscretion in permitting their frivolity.
The ennui, recently complained of, was relieved by an invitation to a party given by the Mesdames B., the same you met at the conversazione of the church guild. The ladies received their guests with their usual suavity. Their niece, Rosamond, recently from Madrid, was the attraction of the evening; she wore an elegant moire antique with a profusion of valenciennes; she had a beautiful set of jewelry—opal and diamonds. It was marvelous how her tiny hands flew over the piano-forte. She sings very sweetly too; her voice is a sort of mezzo-soprano. The naïve Miss Ursula was present, nearly smothered in black silk and guipure. She looks much prettier in dishabille. The little piquant Miss Irene, with her plaited hair, sang with a voice like a paroquet her favorite, "Tassels on the Boots." That disgusting young Leopold was there, feeling as important as a Rothschild, making his salams, and palavering sotto voce to all the girls, circulating his monogram cards and sporting his paste pin with its dazzling facets. He thinks he cuts a wide swath.
Late in the evening those that were fond of Terpsichorean amusement were ushered into a room where the tapestry was covered and there spent several hours in minuets, waltzes, quadrilles, etc.
The topics of conversation amongst the more sensible during the evening were the object of the visit of the new prelate, and the recent speeches of Disraeli and Thiers.
Madame B. caused a good deal of merriment by describing an improvement in her cuisine that had been introduced that day. Bridget, a late importation from Belfast, who had charge of the culinary department, was told to send for some vermicelli to put in the soup, but she ordered spermaceti instead.
There was an old superstition that when the sacristan caused the bell in the cupola to toll its dolorous funeral notes, the manes of former friends joined in the solemn cortege, and gathering around the grave moved their lips in inaudible requiem, and wrote in invisible letters upon the tomb, omega.
The great desideratum in the successful argument of disputable points, is the possession of an equable temper.
Alphonso, while out hunting partridges, fell into a slough. Being clothed only in nainsook, he took a severe cold, which soon resulted in febrile symptoms.
Dr. Mastiff's posthumous monograph on "Rabies" will soon appear. The frontispiece represents a group of dogs. Next to the preface is a memoir of the author. It was his own design to have "Finis" placed upon a cut of a tombstone. It almost seems that he had a presentiment of his death.
Suffice it to say that the dentist gave the patient enough letheon to produce unconsciousness, and then applied his forceps to the offending tooth. Letheon, accented on the first syllable, and lethean are derived from Lethe, the name of a river described in mythology, a draught from which caused forgetfulness.
Sulphurous acid is gaseous, not liquid.
It is reported in the Pall Mall Gazette that Basil S., whom you met several years ago at Leipsic, is dead. He lived the life of a roué for some years in Paris and London, and turned out to be a most perfidious villain. In the latter city he committed many heinous offenses and acts of subtle knavery that were almost without precedent. He was engaged for a long time in the manufacture of spurious money by a new process, in which dies were taken from gutta-percha impressions. He had purchased the services of an experienced professor of metallurgy, and the produce of their crime would have been immense, if some of his other crimes had not been betrayed. Placards, offering a large reward for his arrest, were posted all over the city. He fled to Venice where he was soon afterward drowned by falling from a gondola, thus cheating the gibbet of its dues.
The foolish lover, Ivan, rendered desperate because his rival Darius had gained the precedence in Marion's esteem, resolved to commit suicide and rushed toward the quay and plunged into the water. Some fishermen rescued him with their seine, poured some potheen down his throat, and carried him home on a piece of tarpaulin. His sousing cured him of his folly, but was a poor guerdon for his faithfulness.
The Saracens, taking advantage of the strategic point, made a sudden dash into the territory of the usurper; while a detachment houghed the horses of the enemy's cavalry, the rest proceeded on a predatory raid characterized by rapine and terror, and after the spoliation of the villages, and the burning of the granaries, returned to their own possessions.
Lionel, prejudiced against the world on account of onerous cares, concluded to make a sacrifice of his wealth and position and become a recluse. His little hovel on the heather, whitened with lime which he himself slaked, and the little flower garden redolent of spring, present a strange contrast with his former mansion and magnificent grounds.
Eva answered the inquiry of the French gentleman, "Parlez-vous français?" with a "Oui;" but when she came to converse with him, he understood about as much of her patois as he did of Hindoostanee.
There is a fabulous report that the upas tree exhales a subtile vapor that is fatal to animal life.
Since Joshua has obtained his lucrative sinecure, he spends his time in riding about in his phaeton and reading romances. He is loth to acknowledge that he was ever a plebeian and did all kinds of servile work. He is confident that his genealogy, if known, would show that he was unto a manor born, and that some supposititious child robbed him of his rights.
The knight dropped his wassail cup and sprang to the assistance of the ladies. "Gramercy," quoth they, simultaneously.
The veterinary physician said that the disease was murrain.
An infinitesimal quantity of yeast excited the fermentation.
Augustine studied microscopy just long enough to learn that a monad is one of the simplest kind of minute animalcules; he then tried chemistry and mineralogy, but he could not master the nomenclature; he then took a fancy for telegraphy, but soon abandoned the idea of becoming a telegraphist. At last accounts, he apprenticed himself to a druggist, but was told to vamos soon after making up a lot of Seidlitz powders with oxalic instead of tartaric acid.
Artemas has applied for a patent on an improved turbine wheel.
Mr. B., recollecting the precedent services of his servant, advanced him money enough to lift the lien on his dwelling.
The lithographer had only a poor melanotype to copy from, but he succeeded in making an excellent print.
"Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing," is found in the sixth verse of the fifth psalm.
At the examination in orthoepy, Deborah had the following words given to her: contumely, crinoline, feudal, fetid, fetor, gerund, gneiss, gyrfalcon, harem, Hawaiian, hygiene, lariat, leverage, nonillion, obligatory, platina, platinum, psalmody, psychical, purulent, pyrites, recherché, résumé, sacerdotal, sacrament, schism, shekel, stearine and troches.
The objective, me, is often erroneously used instead of the nominative, I, in answer to the question—"Who is there?"
In the dramatis personæ of "Midsummer Night's Dream," Oberon and Titania, king and queen of the fairies, are introduced.
At the examination in geography, Ada was required to draw a map of Asia, which would have been well done, if she had not drawn Persia, Afghanistan and Beloochistan nearly twice their proper size. She was then asked to give the location and length of the Altai and Vosges mountains, and the height of their principal peaks; a description of the Aral, Adriatic and Caribbean seas; the course and length of the Amoor and Yang tse-kiang; and the location and population of Valparaiso (Chili), Bantam, (Java), Norwich, (Eng.), Pesth, Quebec, Valenciennes, Neufchatel, Nantes and Aix-la-Chapelle.
Her sister, Frances, was told to draw maps of Buenos Ayres and Otaheite, and to bound Venezuela and Arkansas; to give the length and direction of the Araguay, Juniata, Kankakee, Barbados and San Joaquin; the location of Cape Agulhas; the situation and population of Bingen, Calais, Canton, Acapulco, Chuquisaca, Delhi, Dubuque, Jeddo, Quereturo, Truxillo, Leicester and Vevay, and a description of Sumatra, Zanzibar, Barbadoes and the Antilles.
Sigismund has just returned from Yosemite Valley.
Cecily, Chloe and Viola have just passed their examination in biography. The names presented to them were the following: N. S. Adam (Fr.), G. Adam (Ger.), Beatrice Cenci, Blucher, Boccaccio, Anne Boleyn, Marco Bozzaris, Joseph Buonaparte, D'Aubigné, Daubigny, Drouyn de Lhuys, Juarez, Lavater, Marat, Marion, Catherine de Medici, Moultrie, Ovid, Pliny, Ponce de Leon and Richelieu.
VIOLATED RULES OF GRAMMAR.
Many, who claim to be good grammarians, are occasionally guilty of the violation of certain important rules. Attention is solicited to a few of the more common errors of this nature.
NUMBER.
Certain compounds change the form of the first word in pluralizing, as: court-martial, brother-in-law, sister-in-law. Plural, courts-martial, brothers-in-law, etc. "John has three brother-in-laws," then, is incorrect.
But tea-spoonful, table-spoonful, cupful, pocketful, etc., are not considered such compounds; therefore, "two tea-spoonsful of medicine" and "two-cupsful of flour," should be, "two tea-spoonfuls of medicine," and "two cupfuls of flour."
When name and title are given, with a numeral adjective prefixed, the name is pluralized. "Are the two Misses Wilson at home?" should be, "Are the two Miss Wilsons at home?" But when the numeral is omitted the title must be pluralized. "Were the Dr. Browns there?" should be, "Were the Drs. Brown there?" The rule has been given that the name only of married ladies is pluralized, but there appears to be no reason except that of euphony: the Mrs. Clarks certainly sounds more agreeably than the Mistresses Clark. In giving the plural of such titles as: Hon., Rev., Squire and Capt., euphony is also often considered; but in such cases it would doubtless be better to add the numeral, as: the three Hon. Jacksons.
EACH OTHER—ONE ANOTHER.
Each other applies to two; one another to more than two. "The three witnesses contradicted each other," and "the two men accused one another," are incorrect.
NEITHER, NOT—NOR.
Neither and not are followed by nor, not or. "Neither James or Charles will come," and "it is not white or black," are incorrect.
TO BE, UNITING WORDS.
Words united by to be, referring to the same person, must be of the same case.
"It is me," "It may have been him," "It could not be her," and "It was not them," are not correct: it, in each of the sentences, is nominative and the other pronouns should be I, he, she and they. "I took it to be he," and "I understood it to be they," are also wrong; for it is objective in both instances, and the following pronouns should be him and them.
THAN, AS.
Than and as implying comparison, have the same case after as before. "He loses more than me," "John knows more than him" and "James is not so tall as her," should be, "He loses more than I" (lose), "John knows more than he" (knows) and "James is not so tall as she" (is tall).
WHO.
Errors connected with the use of this word are very common, even amongst good speakers.
"Who did you see?" "Who do you know?" and "Who did you hear?" are wrong: whom should be used, for it is the object of the transitive verbs, see, know and hear. Who in such sentences as: "Who are you looking at?" and "Who are you writing to?" should likewise be changed into whom, for it is the object of the prepositions at and to.
ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS.
Adjectives are often erroneously used for adverbs in sentences like the following: "This is an uncommon good portrait," "It is a miserable poor painting. "Uncommonly good and miserably poor are right.
Adverbs are still more commonly used for adjectives. "Mary looked beautifully at the party," and "Janauschek looked majestically on the stage," are incorrect, for it is intended to describe the appearance of Mary and Janauschek, not their manner of looking; therefore the adjectives beautiful and majestic should be used.
When two objects are compared, the comparative degree should be used. "William is the heaviest of the two," and "Which is the most desirable—health or wealth?" ought to be, "William is the heavier of the two," and "Which is the more desirable—health or wealth?"
THESE, THOSE.
The plural demonstratives these and those are often erroneously used with singular nouns, as: "I don't like these kind of people," and "Those sort of things are very embarrassing." Kind and sort are singular and should have this and that.
INTO.
Into, not in, is used to show the relation between verbs expressing motion, entrance, change of state, etc., and an objective case, as: "Come into the house," "Step into the carriage," and "Look into the room."