420 < Miscellanies. 



« 



phuric acid, he succeeded in engraving upon glass, not only by means 

 of fossil bones from Stonesfield, from Montmartre, from the cave of 

 Kirkdale in Yorkshire, and from that of Gailenreuth in Franconia, but 



■ 



likewise with the bone of some quadruped that had been lying for a 

 long but unknown time exposed to the weather in the soil of the Bo- 

 tanic Garden, with the vertebra of an ox recently killed, and with hu- 

 man teeth of recent date. The tibia of a human subject gave indica- 

 tions almost as distinct as any even of the fossil bones operated upon. 

 Mem. and Proceedings of the Chemical Society, Part 8, p. 97. 



10. New Project for Reforming the English Alphabet and Orthog- 

 raphy. — On a former occasion, (Vol. xxxix, p. 197,) we stated the le- 

 gitimate objects of an improved English orthography, and noticed sev- 

 eral proposals for attaining this end. We proceed now to state the 

 plan of Rev. Ezekiel Rich, of Troy, New Hampshire, contained in a 

 memorial to Congress, and published in the Documents of the House 

 of Representatives, 28th Congress, 1st session, Doc. No. 126. 



1. Mr. Rich finds in the English language sixteen vowel sounds and 

 twenty four consonant sounds. Among the vowel sounds he reckons 

 u in duke, and i in pine ; and among the consonant sounds ch in church, 

 and j in just. Of course his object is not to discover the proper simple 

 sounds in the language. 



2. Instead of adopting one simple character for each simple sound 

 only, Mr. R. proposes simple characters also for the diphthongs ou and 

 oi, and the double consonants ks and gz, and even for whole words. 

 He thus mars the symmetry of his system. 



3. He employs a temporary character, such as the types now in use 

 would permit, to illustrate his principles. But his characters are ill 

 chosen, and indicate no special familiarity of the author with the prob- 

 lem before him. 



4. He says nothing of expressing analogous sounds by analogous 

 forms. He seems not to have directed his mind to this point. Yet it 

 is important. 



5. He thinks that in the choice of a new character, great regard 

 should be had to ease and convenience of writing ; but he makes no 

 suggestion as to their particular form. 



6. He endeavors to simplify the names of the letters by using the 

 sounds of the vowel for their names, and by using double names for 

 the consonants, according as they occur before or after the vowel of 

 the syllable ; as be for the initial sound in bad, and eb for the final 

 sound in rub. 



We ought to add that the reverend author is zealous in a good cause, 

 and has exhibited in a strong light the defects of our present orthogra- 

 phy, and the desirableness of a reformation. 



