Sept. 20. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



203 



although the rule for calcuhxting the epact, as just 

 reciteJ, is so extremely simple, yet even that 

 slight mental exertion may be spared to the mass 

 of those who might benelit by its apijlication to 

 current purposes ; because it mi^ht become an 

 object of general notoriety in each current year. 

 And I am not without liope that " Notes and 

 Queries" will next year set the example to other 

 publications, by making the current solar epact for 

 1852 a portion of its " heading," and by suffering 

 it to remain, incorporated with the date of each 

 impression, throughout the year. 



Let us now recur to the allotment of the regulars 

 at the beginning of Cede's description. Tlaced 

 in succession their order is as follows : — 

 April and July - - - i, or Sunday 



January and October - - ii, „ Monday 



ilay ----- III, „ Tuesday 

 August - - - . iiir, „ Wednesday 



March, Feb., and November v, „ Thursday 



June - - - - - VI, „ Friday 



September and December - vii, ,, Saturday 



There is no great difficulty in retaining this in 

 the memory ; but should uncertainty arise at any 

 time, it may be immedi.ately corrected by a mental 

 reference to the following lines, the alliterative 

 jingle of which is designed to house them as 

 securely in tiie brain as the immortal and never- 

 failing, " Thirty days hath September." The 

 order of the allotment is preserved by appropriat- 

 ing as nearly as possible a line to each day of the 

 week; while the absolute connexion here and 

 there of certain days, by name, with certain 

 months, forms a sort of interweaving that renders 

 mistake or misplacement almost impossible. 



" April loveth to link with July, 

 And the merry new year with October comes by, 

 August for Wednesday, Tuesday for RLiy, 

 March and November and Valentine's Day, 

 Friday is June day, and lastly we seek 

 September and Christmas to finish the week." 



Now, since we have ascertained, from the short 

 calculation before recited, that the solar epact of 

 this present year of 18.51 is 2, and since the regu- 

 lar of October is also 2, we have but to add them 

 together to obtain 4 (or Wednesday) as the com- 

 mencing day of this next coming month of October. 

 And, if we wish to know the day of the month 

 belonging to any other day of the week in October, 

 we have but to subtract the commencing day, which 

 is 4, from 8, and to the result add the required 

 day. Let the latter, for example, be Sunday; 

 then 4 from 8 leaves 4, wiiich added to 1 (or Sun- 

 day), shows that Sunday, in the month of October 

 1851, is either 5th, 12th, 19th, or 2Gth. 



This additional application is here introduced 

 merely to illustrate the great facilities alforded by 

 the purely numerical form of Hcde's " urg-iimen- 

 tum" — such as must gradually present themselves 



to any person who will take the trouble to become 

 thoroughly and practically familiar with it. 



A. E. B. 



Leeds, September, 1851. 



HYPHENISM, HTPHENIC, HYPHENIZATION. 



Where our ancestors wanted words, they made 

 them, or imported them ready made. But we are 

 become so particular about the etymological force 

 of newly coined words, that we can never please 

 ourselves, but rather choose to do without than to 

 tolerate anything exce[)tionable. We have to 

 learn again that a v/ord cannot be like Burleigh's 

 nod, but must be content to indicate the whole by 

 the expression of some prominent part, or of some 

 convenient part, prominent or not. 



Among the uses to which the " Notes and 

 Qderies" might be put, is the suggestion of words. 

 It very often happens that one who is apt at find- 

 ing the want is not equally good for the remedy, 

 and vice versa. By the aid of this journal the 

 blade might find a handle, or the handle a blade, 

 as wanteil, with the advantage of criticism at the 

 formation ; while an author who coins a word, 

 must commit himself before he can have much 

 advice. 



The above remarks were immediately suggested 

 by my happening to think of a word for a thing 

 which gives much trouble, and requires more at- 

 tention than it has received, but not more than it 

 may receive if it can be fitly designated by a single 

 word. A clause of a sentence, both by etymology 

 and usage, means any part of it of which the com- 

 ponent words cannot be separated, but must all 

 go together, or all remain together : it is then a 

 component of the sentence which has a finished 

 meaning in itself. The proper mode of indicating 

 the clauses takes its name from the means, and 

 not from the end : we say punctuation, not clausi- 

 Jication. This may have been a misfortune, for it 

 is ])Ossible that punctuation might have been bet- 

 ter studied, if its name had imported its object. 

 But there is ai\otlier and a greater misfortune, 

 arising from the total want of a name. In a sen- 

 tence,"not only do collections of words form minor 

 sentences, but they also form compound words: 

 sometimes eight or ten words are really only one. 

 When two words are thus compounded, we use a 

 hyphen : but those who have attempted to use 

 more ihau one hyi)lK'n have been laughed out of 

 the field ; thongli ])ersi)icuity, logic, aiul algebra 

 were all on their side. The Aforniug Pout adopted 

 this practice in former days ; and Horace Smith (or 

 James, as the case may be,) ridiculed them in a 

 parody which speaks of" the luit-a-bit-the-less-on- 

 that-accouut-lo-be-universally-detested monster 

 Buonaparte." It i.s I think, much to be regretted 

 that the use of the hyphen is so restricted : fgr 



