THE LEXICOGRAPHER'S

EASY CHAIR

To decide questions concerning the correct use of words for this column, the Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary is consulted as arbiter.

Readers will please bear in mind that no notice will be taken of anonymous communications.

journal.-"A. K. S.," Chicago, Ill.-The origin of the term journal, as applied to machine bearings, is unknown. The term itself was introduced by Scottish millwrights early in the nineteenth century, journey being a variant form, and it first appeared in print in R. Buchanan's "Treatise on Millwork (1814), where it was defined as a "gudgeon subject to torsion.'

may, might.-"L. D. B.," Stony Creek Mills, Pa-The auxiliaries may and might denote respectively present and past time. In the clause."Trusting that I may be able to reinterest you," the inference is that the writer has present or future expectation of reinteresting the reader. In conditional construction the completed sentence should read, "Hoping that I might be able to reinterest you, I did so and so."

Mother Shipton.-"L. R. W.." Monrovia, Calif.-Mother Shipton is commonly supposed to be a mythical character said to have lived about the end of the fifteenth century in Yorkshire. The earliest exact date of which we have record is 1641, in which year there appeared anonymously the tract entitled The Prophecie of Mother Shipton in the Raigne of King Henry 8th, foretelling the death of Cardinall Wolsey, the Lord Percy, and others, as also what should happen in insuing Times."

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According to this work Wolsey, after having been raised to the Archbishopric of York, learnt that Mother Shipton had predicted that he would never visit the city of York. Thereupon he sent the Duke of Suffolk and Lords Percy and Darcy to York to threaten her with punishment if she did not retract her prophecy. The Dame stood firm and refused to retract, but entertained the envoys most hospitably, and at their request told them in mysterious phraseology their own future fortunes and other matters that would occur in the realm. Some of them were interpreted to predict civil wars, and one foretold the great fire of London of 1666. In 1667 Richard Head published "A Full Account of the Life and Death of Mother Shipton." He represented her as the daughter of the devil, and her hideous aspect as attesting fully to her paternity. She is said to have had a hooked nose and an upturned chin. Her grave was long supposed to be marked with a sculptured stone at a spot between Clifton and Skipton in Yorkshire.

separate; large. "E. W.," Richmond, Va.(1) The term separate is one of a class of words which are persistently misspelled. Note that it contains only two "e's," one in its first syllable and one in its last; and that "a" forms its second syllable. The form seperate, altho it was used by Bradshaw, Tindale, and Shakespeare, is illiterate.

(2) Large denotes extension in more than one direction, and beyond the average of the class to which the object belongs; we speak of a large surface or a large solid, but of a long line; a large field, a large room, a large apple, etc. A large man is a man of more than ordinary size; a great man is a man of remarkable mental power. Big is a more emphatic word than large, but of less dignity.-FERNALD, English Synonyms, Antonyms, and Prepositions."

"B. K.," Chicago, Ill.-(1) Hermione, in Greek mythology, was (a) the daughter of Menelaus and Helen; wife of Neoptolemus and Orestes, (b) the wife of Cadmus. (2) The three-letter word in Greek mythology ending in -no is Ino. This is the name of a daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia.

"J. M. L.," Eagle Grove, Ia.-Slang and incorrect English are by no means synonymous. "Isn't that the cat's whiskers?" is slang to the nth degree, but is colloquial English. Slang has been defined as "inelegant popular language consisting of words of low or illiterate origin or use, or of legitimate expressions used in grotesque (as the above), irregular, or metaphorical senses not approved by reputable usage and good taste."

the primitives, in this case, are many of them either compound words, or phrases consisting of several words, it is to be observed that the addition is made to the last term only. That is, of every compound ordinal number, the last term only is ordinal in form. Thus we say forty-ninth, and not fortieth-ninth; nor could the meaning of the phrase, four hundred and fiftieth, be expressed by saying, fourth hundredth and fiftieth; for this, if it means anything, speaks of three different numbers.

Unusual sturdiness of construction, adapta

items. Sixteen carloads of Lyon Steel Shelving-also Lockers, Boxes and other Lyon Storage Equipment-were required to fill the completed order.

This new equipment fits in perfectly with the Lyon Shelving bought over a period of years and installed in the factory at Cleveland and

in 65 White branches.

In efficiency, as in appearance, the stock rooms and stock-keeping methods at the factory and at the branches in the United States and Canada are similar. The order and availability made possible by Lyon Steel Storage Equipment is an important factor in helping to maintain, economically, the high standard of service set by this manufacturer. In other industries, too, manufacturers are obtaining the benefits of lower production costs and improved service through tool rooms and stock rooms equipped and planned by Lyon.

YON

complete standardization of parts are features of Lyon Steel Shelving that have made it the preferred type of steel shelving among

American manufacturers.

Many of them started their steel storage systems in a comparatively small way and gradually built them up. You can, too. Start with a section or two, if you wish, and know that, no matter in what direction your business expands, your storage equipment from Lyon will always be uniform in appearance and permanently efficient.

Lyon Engineering Service

If your storage problem is a difficult one Lyon Engineers will be glad to analyze it and present a definite plan to you in blueprint form-without cost to you. Whether your Steel Shelving needs be large or small, write for descriptive literature.