190 



bell-shaped flower ;* the convolvulus, or revolver ; the heliotrope, or 

 sun-turner.f 



Sometimes we have a very considerable amount of historical and other 

 information embodied in these names, as the very word cherry at once 

 reminds us of the original home of that fruit, Cerasus, from whence 

 LucuUus introduced it to Rome ; currants, of Corinth, from whence 

 they come ; peach, (i.e. malum Persicum,) of its oriental origin. 



The names of metals and precious stones also form an interesting 

 subject of etymological enquiry. J 



It is now time to bring this essay to a close, and I think I cannot do 

 80 better than by giving an instance of the manner in which, I conceive, 

 a series of peculiarly interesting lessons may be hung round a single 

 root. Let us take as an example the root PI.§ Round this one 

 root we may, as I have already paitly shown, group as it were, the 

 names of animals, such as pike, porcupine, ecAinus and urc/tm,|| wood- 

 pecker, &c. ; the names of trees, fruits, flowers, and vegetables, as pine, 

 Jir, pe&r, pyracanthus, spinach, &c. ; the names of places and features of 

 the land, as Spttzbergen, Serra-do-Espinhazo, Drey-herra-Spitz, Ortler 

 Spitz, Furca, Pyrenees, Pyramid, Peak ; the names of instruments, such 

 as pin, pike, spike, spit, pick-axe, spear, poker, spoke, poniard, fork, &c. 

 We may also recognize the same root in a great number of other words, 

 such as pain, pwngent, poignant, piquant, penetrate, pierce, &c., in 

 which we may learn much, by investigating where and how the root is 

 incorporated in each separate word, what changes it undergoes, and 

 what signification it imparts. IT 



• Bells having beeu invented at Nola, in Campania, were called by the Romans campanoe. 

 Hence campanula, the bell-shaped flower. 



+ So the son-flower in French is called toume-sole. 



t It is curious that in most names of precious metals the stem ar is found, as in aur-um, 

 ar-geutum, <er-&, ore, erz, or, ir-on, and /lier-ro, /er-rum. 



§ The similarity between the roots PI and AC present some carious analogies. Thus we 

 have 7riicpoc=ac-utus, pon-iard=ac-iuaces, /)to=a^-ulha. (Cape J^ulhas, in Africa, has 

 the same derivation as our "Needles," and as 5pttzbergen.) 



II We have already seen that the interchange of ch and p, as in rapes and roche, appro- 

 priare and approach, is by no means uncommon, and thus we have spine ajid chine related, 

 and eehinus and urcAin synonymous with porcupine and hedgehog. 



f Other stems, such as AC, sharp, ST, stable, RAC, break, RO, red, will well bear an 

 examination. The latter we have already seen in the names of animals, as roe-buck, roach, 

 rudd, roan ; in the names of flowers and fruits, as rose, r/tododendron, russet; in the titles 

 of places, as iiutland, iJugby, &c. ; and we may also trace it in proper names, as iJufus, 

 iJttssell, jRuddimann, Uousseau, Barba-ro»«a, Barbarowar, Rob Roy, O'Connor Boe ; and also 

 in such words as ru-by, rw-bric, ri*-ddy, rust, rou^^e, roast, &c. 



