HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Times, 1895-01-04, Page 7DICTIONARY MAKING.
THE EFFORT$ OF THE EARLY ENG -
DISH PHILOLOGISTS,
Some of the Definitions Are Quite Amus-
ing---Iiow Words Were Taught Before
Books Were Trinted—The First and Sub-
sequent Dictionaries Down to Johnson's.
i There was a time when there were no
'dictionaries. Then the master sat in the
inidat of his pupils, and explained to them
the mysteries of words, aril taugnt thein
r jhow to preserve the words in manuscript.
But as people multiplied, and the demand
for knowledge increased, pupils became
anasters in distant lauds, far from the
schools and their teachers, where 'their
+only reference was the precious manuscript
-of their own copying.
The pupil master met with great difficult-
] iiiii res and many failures in his efforts to
change the master tongue into the language
.or dialeoa familiar to the pupils who sur-
rounm, ason theffi-
oulties and failures he was forced to study
,out the beat manner of expressing the mys-
terious characters, and having suooeeded
in this, he would write the meaning, or
,gloss, as it was termed, in his manuscript,
.above the word or phrase that had. given
Ilii trouble. And the very first word thus
:marked, or glossed, by the first of these
•
:pupil masters, was the first seed sown from
which grew all the dictionaries that fol-
lowed.
The making of manuscripts advanced
with the spread of knowledge, until they
became beautiful works of art, and the ad-
.dition of glosses here and there, written
in large, bold, red letters, did not add to
their appearaiYce, To avoid this deface-
ment, the glossed words were written at
•one side, in a column, separate from the
manuscript; This was the first form of a
.dictionary.
As the languages grew in numbers, and
'the different teachers gave their own ren -
'There were many of these glossaries print-
ed as soon as printing became a possibil-
ity,.while many others remained for cen-
turies in the original manuscript.
Up to the beginning of tete sixteenth
,century the sole aim of all the word books
was the explanation 0f rare, difficult, or as
they were aptly called, "hard" words. For
-centuries English lexicographers advanced
very slowly. Their word books were con-
structed in a quaint, rambling, delightful
style.
The first rein dictionary was compiled by
.John of Genoa, and printed by Guttenberg
himself, in 1400: The first English die•
denary was written by Richard Francis, a
.Norfolk man. It was a very small affair,
. with but few pages, and was called "The
.Little Expositor, <r the Little Discloser."
.It coutained only nouns and verbs, the
.•nouns in one list and rhe verbs in another.
This was followed ny "The Catholieou
,Anglieutn;" tinted 1483, which remained
'in manuscript form nutil a few years ago,
when the Earl English Text Society was
.granted the privilege of publishing it. A
:more pretentious word book was compiled
by Rsuhard Hulvet in 1552. It was divid-
-ed into sections, English, Latin, and
French. The English was printed in blank
letter, the Latin in roman, and the French
,in italics. In certain oases where the author
utas ignorant of the French definition, he
.apologized and omitted it.
"'The Mauipultis Vocahularum," con -
Mining, seventy-seven leaves. was publish-
-ad in 1570. The author's exense for pub-
.lishing another dictionary, when there
were so many already in use, is unique:
"While the larger and more costly books
Are suitable for the more advanced students
who are richable, mine is fitted for begin-
ners and them who are pourable, who can
,afford no better."
Fee had a department of rhyme words
which he said was "for scholars as use to
-write in English metre."
In 1573 John Bane published a diotion-
ary whish he called "The Alveria—the Bee
Hive," His pupils, whom he called his
•" diligent hers," gathered the material for
:the work during the r•onrhs of their studies.
It was a quadruple thetionary, leaving an
English, Lahti, French and Greek depart-
:ment. He apologizes for the omission of
.certain Greek words in this quaint mnan-
nor:
pnbliehed a French and English dictionary,
"I could not joins the Greeko with
•every Latin word for lecke of Greeke let -
tern, which the printer had not leisure to
provide."
$eine of the word books already men-
u .tioned had double columns eu•ranged alpha-
betically, with beadings at the top of the
page in this aryls: "1'i, ante—A, B, attic
—E, B, ante—I," eta In 1611 Cotgrave
• which gave the three index letters at time
head of each column, as used at the present
time. The author called it "A Bundle of
5 •words."
A genuine English dictionary, ditninu-
' . time in size and curious in construction,
was published in 1616. A girlie described
.es a "roe -buck of two years," and a column
.and a half is given to the description of a
•crocodile, closing i.m this way: "It will
weep over a man's Head, after devour
the body, and thea devour the head also.'
.possibly from this comes the expression,
"crocodile tears."
Tho first dictionary that aimed to give
-the derivation of words and the regulation
,of feeents, was published in 1017, and the
first dictionary that was written with a
• purpose Was published in 1623. The an-
thor says; "I believe that ladies and gen-
tlemen desirous of a refined and elegant
speechded will alsoBy likerean Engoflish expositorsedi
ill.of vulgar words, mock words and .fustian
• terms, in order that they may be able to
:express themselves properly."
He describes the betide es "a ilsh that
Will not meddle with the bait until with
Icer tails she have ntihooked it front the
Woke."
Two ye•"m•"t ,tt;er Thomas Meant pub.
Dished the "tiro ssottra•thta"; Edward Phil-
ipet the son of M lion's ulster, published
"The 1'7ew 1�u.l•l of Words." Ile copied
lo freely Brom "Gloseographiu," blunders
T 14.E i%rINi tai H A NI M h , JANUARY 4, 1s95,
anti mU1, that it caused a quarrel between
the two authors,
In 172i Matthew Baily wrote "Tbe Vol,
versa' Etymological Engltah Dictionary,"
which appears to have been the pioneer
cyclopedia, He was a popular eehoolmas.
ter and yet he described the see unicorn
Inglis exaggerated stylet ".A, fish, eigh-
teen feet long, haviug a head like tt horse,
with scales as large as a crown piece; six
large fins like the end of a galley oar, and
a horn issuing out of the forehead nice
feet long and so sharp as to pierce the
hardest bodies,"
John Wesley comes next with bis dic-
tionary of 100 pages, In the preface he
says: ''The author assures yon that he
thinks this is the best dictionary in the
world, Manly are the mistakes in all the
other dictionaries which I have seen,
whereas I can truly arty I know of none in
this,"
And thus are we led up through the ig•
noranoe and gradual awakening of the
tithes to Johnson. He was a solider, with
the dreams of a poet, but he awoke to the
needs of the public end wrote a dictionary,
Although he was charged with snaking
4,300 blunders, it wag the best that had
yet been written. It is said that tile vol-
umes grew so bulky that students were
frightened away, and it is net surprising,
when we learn that when lie had arrived
at the word "lexicographer," he had filled
two large volumes that were half a yard
high, a foot wide and a finger thick, weigh-
ing nanny pounds. When his work was
completed it represented eight years of
solid labor himself and a small army of as-
sistants.
Johnson had many successors of all sorts.
A PRODUCTIVE MUSHROOM BED.
It Costs but a Trifle and Will Produce for
Two Tears.
According to the Muses des Families,
the following, is a very simple and cheap
method
of preparing a Mushroom bed that
will yield a crop all the year round.
Ina
pine box About twenty inches in
depth and three feet square, place a four -
knob thick stratum of a mixture of three
parts of dry cow manure and one part of
garden
soil. Having proonred some mush-
room spawn, break it up and soev it in a
second
stratum of manure and earth two
inches
in depth. Slightly compress time
whole
and cover with an eight inch layer
of earth, which should be kept damp by
watering through a fume hose.
In six or eight weeks the first crop of
mushrooms will appear at the surface, and
will continue to do so for at least two
years,
provided the bed is kept clamp.
A small quantity of aqua ammonia add-
ed to
the water with which the bed is
moistened will hasten the appearance of
the fnm
hinge
The box should be placed by preference
in a place where he light is not ton bright,
say in
a cellar in whittle the temperature is
moderate and equable, or in a dark part of
a stable.
The Light Wheel Problem.
FACTS iN FEW PS.
4a4tggregetton or Xnteres,g items ter
Busy iteader:
Lemon juice, squeezed California,
treated with a preservativ•irocesa and
sent esst by the barrel; now sold in
earthen jugs oontMuing from Alf a gallon
to ten gallons, It is used all sorts of
domestic purposes, for letu. de, .and for
making mixed dl'inke at the r and in the
clues,
A Japanese novelist h produced a
story galled "The Roman of a Dog,"
Which is to a'lpear in 108 v Ines. issued
at short intervals at a popu price, This
is said to be the longest till t a dog on
record.
Experiments are now be made with
compressed hay for paving oaks. The
hay, after being pressed, soaked in a
drying oil, which, it is chit.a, renders it
indestructible.
There are forty-eight diff•nt materials
used in constructing a p o, laying no
fewer than sixteen different . ntries under
contribution and employing rty-five dif-
ferent hands.
Henry Mr, Longfellow. tel oet, was de-
scended from John Alden al 'riscilla Mo -
lines, whose names have be in
mortaliz-
ed in the poet's "Courtship
es Stand-
ish."
ta dism."
There is an oak tree on = highway
from Warwick to Learning , England,
which is said to hark the e centre of
England, It is between 300 cl 400 years
old.
A. novel mowing machine ''eing built
for use on the Erie canal t is to run
over the bottom of the canal d and out
the long grass which grows t e.
The Vatican at Rome cont= a marble
statue with natural eyelash It repre-
sents Ariadne asleep at th•.oment she
was deserted by Theseus.
The deed for what is now a rn Penn-
sylvania, given by the Duk York to
William Penn, is for the to of 10,000
years, at five shillings rent.
The descendants of Queen otoria are
either now in possessiou of, o 'ill in the
natural course of events, nom to occupy
seven thrones in Europe.
The Egyptians were such h drinkers
that they served boiled cabins with salt
mnattt, as the first dish at a meld order to
stimulate their thirst.
The largest farin in the Uni States is
situated in Louisiana, it bein 00 miles
one way and 25 the other. feuciug
alone for it cost $00,000.
A certain kiutl of inushroaArown in
northeastern Asia will produwutoxiea-
tien if it is eaten. It is also simulant
to muscular exertion.
Olio of the new rifles used bye Italian
soldiers sends a bail with forte -lough to
go through ' five inches of sc oak at a
distance of 4.000 feet.
If America were as densely palated as
Europe it would contain as m e people
its tuere are iu the world at ; present
time.
There are eevemlteeu•iransaela , oables.
but of these only seven areyitsetlie other
ten having given out free} vatic causes,
As a fuel for vessels•° oil is ittt one-
quarter cuenueretUan coal, aecor g to ex-
periments recautly made at Chic ..
There are 280 iron and steel mafactur-
ing esteblisllunemts in Pennstiv,i, with
an invested capital of over $M0,t',000.
Sugar was unknown in liu•a before
the Christian era. and only crime to com-
mon use in the seventeenth cisme,
The largest bronze statue irtht orkl is
that of Peter the Great at Sr.c Pe1liurg,
which weighs about 1,100 tort,
Prof. Masso, tee Italian seihti is au-
thority for the statement thattl'aiood is
a9 poisotluns as viper's ven(Ltli,
An attempt is beirmae
flowers frow Australia frigjmtti
as beef and milkta,etreated.
Queen Viet fe will is (gro ed on
velltuu, mu ms bound as ei'oltt re and
seenred fa private lock.
T, shots per minute can t fir
The light wheel problem, which this
year more than ever is absorbing the atten-
tion of cyclists, is a pretty difficult one to
solve satisfactorily. Everybody wants to
ride a light wheel, but everybody does not
want to ride one that will not stand the
pounding of a rutty road or an occasional
ttunble. Wood rims are beine extensively'
ridden, but they are not as strong as metal
rims and never can be. A great many
wheels that weigh from eighteen to twenty- I
four pounds are being ridden over all
kinds of roads this season, in Brooklyn
and out on Long Island, and a large per- 1
centage of thein are coming to grief. The
rider of one has to. be as careful of his ,
mount as if it were a delicate racehorse.
Universal use of feather•weignt wheels
will scarcely come until the roads are far
better than they average to -day. England
has had the light wheel craze and has
gotten pretty well over it. American
wheelmen like the light machine and don't
want to give it up. Hence they are crying
for good roads and are accomplishing
much in that direction. It is maintained
by many good riders that over an ordinary
road a 30 pound wheel is easier and faster
riding than a 20 -pounder, because it is
easier and steadier and does not lose way
in bounding over a hummock or a rut.
There are many who predict either better
roads or a return. to heavier wheels next
year, or else a more extensive use of alumi-
num in the construction of bicycles.—
Brooklyn Eagle.
Taught the Doctor ea Lesson.
A certain well-known physician of the
south side was a vietitn of his own "pre-
viousness" the other day. He had suc-
cessfully treated a wealthy lady's daughter
for diphtheria and the lady was extremely
grateful for it. When the child was thor-
oughly well, mother and daughter appeared
at the physician's office. The little girl
slyly handed the physician a neat little knit
puree, while the lady went on to say : "For
having saved my child, doctor, I cion to
present you with this purse."
But, said the physician, after an em-
barroesin1 pause, 'I have sent you a bill
for X300."
The lady flushed; then said quietly;
"Let me have the purse, please."
She took two $100 bills out of ib and
returned it to him with the remark:
"There aro $800 in there now, so your bill
is paid," and left the room. •
Now the doctor is eursing his clumsy
tongue for the bad break it made, That
little speech post him $200. ---St. Louis Re-
public.
Training The Senses,
The eye always sees what it wants to see,
and the ear hears what it wants to hear.
If I stn intent upon bird's nests in my
walk, I find birds' nests everywhere. Some
people see four-leaved clovers wherever
they look iii the grass, A friend of mine
picks up Indian relics all about' the fields,
he has Indian relies hi his eye. I have
seen hien tura out of the path at right
angles, as a dog will when he scents some-
thing, and walk straight away several rode,
and pick up an Indian pounding•atone.
He saw it out of the corner of his eye. I
find that without eonsefoue effort I see
and hear birds with like tate. Eye and
ear are Always on the alert. -John Bur-
rows iu the Century.
export
them,
1 ,pith
the+ rupp 130 -ton gun, and eh di ohmage.
of the nmachime costs $1,000.
In Persist the women of faslii ornmurent
thee. faces by painting upon sum floras
of bugs and sickle animals.
The British mint hes co4 gold tnd
silver to the value of more tit $2,000,-
000,000 during Victoria's reig;•
'aha largest tobacco warelise in the
world is at Louisville, Ky., ant will hold
about 7,000 hogsheads.
A Frederick, 1114., man has!old boiler
which he claims belonged to t first boat
propelled by steam.
The ancient Egyptians conm3red it un-
healthy to •wash a child u it was at
levet it year old.
Iu Q mebee the ardent lover s a wood.
emi abed from his eweethemar keep his
telttceo ism.
General Booth claims that t Salvation
Artny converts to Cltristianityb,000 peo-
ple every year. l
The thinnest, and at the smy, time one
of the tongheat leathers tonna( a frog's
akin.
The population of New Yo"as shown
by the new directory just issue is 1,937,-
035,
A Wisconsin man failed to 1 his wife
because her corsets stopped tiMilet.
China raises and consuutest,re ducks
than any country in the world'
There are now in Japan &Christian
churches, and 643 missionarie
The pecan trees of Texas ad every
year 0,000,000 pounds of nuts..
Pennsylvania prodnees 84,(000 bar-
rels of petroleum oil mutually.
Nearly three pet cent of tcleaths in
Prance aro from apoplexy.
In all Persia there are only taty tunes
of railroad.
K. D. 0. PIU S Ton: AND BEOULATR
TIUi I3ow1:LS,
1Rem onebex inEgr.roYears of the Pass -
r,
There has been just one stainless,
perfect life on the earth and no other.
True, through a blessed possession of
a calm and even temperament, there
I have been those who have possessed
their souls in great peace and with-
out the turmoil and trial that sooner
or later overtake the great majority
of men and women. In the busiest
world there is bound to be emulation
land unrest. It is of the family we -
think chiefly new. Let all the mis-
takes and shortcoming of the fading
year help toward greater faithfulness -
j and fidelity in the untredden paths
that be just ahead. Glorify the old
' familiar duties by meeting each and
every one not as some mere happen-
ing or accident floating to us for
attention, but as a direct appointment
sent into our lives from God. Re-
member errors of the passing year
merely to profit by them. Unwhole-
some brooding never yet mended a
rtob on Pmhettinatlo Tri
A Springfield clergyman hasdivered ax
sermon on the bicycle. Ilse ft for his
text Job xxx, 2N: "'Thou out me to
ride upon the wind." Proltvhieh it
would appear that they posted for
thele wheels in Springfield. -Bun 'Titus.
fault, never built a sound stair on
which to ascend to better things. Be I
strong ; be of good courage. Take 1
leave stanchly of the old year,
thankful for its blessing, thankful,
too, for its griefs and burdens, thank-
ful for the swift forgiveness its, mks -
takes may find, thankful we can
leave its every day and hour trust-
ingly in the hands of God.—Christian;
Work.
Gems of Thought.
The root of all discontent is self-
love.
Get people to think right and they
will try to do right.
It is not what we earn, but what
we save that makes us rich.
ii til i t;li;,r m ty be rare,' but it
exists in the heat. They only deny
its worth and power who never
loved a friend nor labored to make a
friend happy.
Gentleness in society is like the
silent influence of light, which gives
color to all natures ; it is far more
powerful than loudness or force, and
far more fruitful.
The Plain Truth Tells.
Constipation, Headache, Biliousness,
and Bad Blood are promptly cured by
Burdock Blood Bitters, which acts upon
the stomach, liver, bowels, and blood,
curing all their diseases.
�_",,One great trouble in doing a mean
action is that you are compelled to
associate with yourself afterwards.
If you only could have nothing to do
with a man who was guilty of such
meanness, it would be a relief.
Dyspepsia seldom causes death, but
permits its victims to live on in misery.
Hood's Sarsaparilla cures dyspepsia and
all stomach troubles.
A library is a sort of mental
chemist's shop, filled with the erys-
tals of all forms and hues which
have come from the union. of individ-
ual thought with local circumstances
or universal principles.
YOUNG -
PEOPLE'S
PAP.ER.-
A New Journal for the Youth
of Canada.
Young people will read; the only ques-
tion is, what are they to read? Their
peculiar wants are not fully met by any
general newspaper. In the United States
several excellent periodicals are prepared
for their benetit, but they Are all expen-
sive. Harper's Young People (New York)
ousts $2 a year; The Youth's Companion
(Boston) $1.75; Golden Days (Philadel-
phia) 83; and St. Nicholas (New York)
33. They are worth the money, but they
are Iuxuries.
Tlie Yonso Pieorr.a's PAPER is a weekly
(eight -page) journal just commenced in
Kingston, Canada, designed for the peru-
sal of young persons of both sexes be-
tween the ages of ten and twenty, with
a department for children, and issued at
a price within the reaoh of all. It will
contain the cream of all the leading
American periodicals of the same class
es well as the many publications of like
nature to be found in England, in midi -
tion to a due proportion of original
matter. Young people like stories, and
these will be given in abundance. Among
the miscellaneous contents of the paper
Mlstla he monti�nA1 'a .,+conte. of _ tr
a
S1NC LEE'S GEO. SHAW
CHINESE • CUTS DOWNTl#EPOKEOF RI
� i�DAlh1,
LAUNDRY.
The undersigned has opened a Laundry in the ,
BRICK BUILDING JUST NORTH OF
CHI$UOLM'S DRUG STORE,
Wingham, and is prepared to do
ALL KINDS of LAUNDRY WORK
in the best style and at the cheapest rates.
Parcels culled for and delivered.
STEAK, 10C. PER LB:
and other meats in low proportion.
PORK SAUSAGE
also on hand.
Lam prepared to pay the highest price
for ail kinds of fowl, They must be drawn
and well dressed.
Please call and try our wo GEO. SHAW
Wingham, Oct. 10th, 1803,
wingitarn, Nov, 2, 1894,
G��T�E11�
EN
very highest.
Price, SOo a year; trial trip. for two i
mouths, 10 cents. The beat way to remit 1
lie by postal order at a crest of two eoate,
' though email silver is carried safely
enough if wrapped in soft paper. Ad-
dress T. J. Shanks, 03 Rideau i9t,, Xing.
Ston, Oat.
SING LEE.
If you want your
FALL AND WINTER
� Z
made in the latest style, go to
BANK of A jflLTON
WINGHAM.
Capital, 11,200,000. Reit, 1650,000.
President—Jolt: (=WART.
Vioe.President—A. l r. 11,A,iaAY,
:DIRECTORS
ipuni PRocroa, Oen. itoacst, Wee (1ti a:. 81 P, A. r
WOOD, A. 13. Lias (Toronto).
Cashier—J. TURNBULJ. -
savings Bank—iinure. to to a; iaturdays, 10
L Deposits et and upwards reeeh ed and inters..
allowed.
Special Deposits also received at current',
rases of interest.
Drafts on Great Britain and the United Stat
bought and sold_
B, WILLSON, Atli
E. L. DICKINSON, Solicitor,
• IT ' `�A E d,03 PRINTING
• ` 9 l NCLUDING Books, Pamphlets, Posters, Bit
Heads, Circulars, ace., ate., executed im, the beef,,
� :style of the ort, at moderate prices, and on shut%
notice. Apply or itJdress
opposite Bank of Hamilton,1t. 1:LLIOTT,
'husks mace, Winghanl.,
W IN G. IAlf
THE TAMES ASD WEEKLY MBE
From now till the end of 1895,
DIAMOND TEA CO.
`'CTBT 1 t G-
TEA IN PERFECTION__,.
1
from the Tea Plant
to the Tea Cup, in its
Native Purity, un -
tampered with; sup-
plied to the public at
Strictly Wholesale-. n
Prices ; all modle%
and profits saved.
WW1. 1"--ILBOICIPINTIC3
Famous Selections of the pure Tea of
CEYLON, CHINA AND JAPAN -
are
are guaranteed to be of the highest quality. All who appreciate a cup or
really fine Tea, possessing pungency, briskness and flavor, are invited to call
or write for samples and contrast with other Tea. The prices range from.
20e. upwards.
4'