28o 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



Dr. Miller justifies the use of the class 

 of words lo which I object because a 

 " good man}- like it." And he admits he 

 likes to use some of the words. He is 

 right in saying "a good many like it." 

 The multitude likes it. The more's the 

 pity. What we like is easy. We are 

 prone to it as the sparks to fly upward. 

 Facilis decensus Averni. The ease of it 

 is the evil of it. 



The language of the masses is rotten 

 with it. Its breeding place is in the 

 dens of thieves and in the holes reeking 

 with the fumes of alcohol and tobacco. 

 Its appearance in print is an echo from 

 such places. To our j'outh it is more 

 familiar than their mother-tongue. Even 

 our educated youth can hardly utter a 

 sentence without introducing it. Can 

 citizens, especially can parents, look upon 

 this condition of things and encourage its 

 continuance by using the same expres- 

 sions in public print ? Even the editor of 

 the Review is inclined to make an apol- 

 ogy for it, and the editor of Gleanings 

 fears to check it would prevent the prop- 

 er growth of the language, and quotes 

 approvingly, "It is language in gesta- 

 tion." Wouldn'tit be well to let it come 

 to maturity, rather than to force it to an 

 untimely birth ? The truth is, it nuist 

 have an luitimely birth or a still-birth. 



The editor of Gleanings, at page 590, 

 makes this cautious admission: " I grant 

 that I do once i?i a great ivhile use some 

 expressions that are not in the diction- 

 ary; but if I do so it is because they con- 

 vey for me a certain shade of meaning 

 that cannot be imparted by any of the 

 dignified .staid synonyms. " Italics mine. 

 He cites "scrooch," " sass ', and 

 " smoled." I cannot conceive how those 

 words can be held to convey any other 

 meaning than is conveyed by " crouch," 

 "sauce" and "smiled." I make no ob- 

 jection to a word that is needed, such as 

 " mugwump." 



The editor also asks me why I single 

 out Gleanings? Well, that's a delicate 

 cjuestion. When I used to go black- 

 berrying, I always found it the ea.siest 



picking where the berries were most 

 plentiful. He wants to know too why I 

 neglect to criticise the Review. Well, 

 Editors Root and York attend to that 

 thoroughly and sooner than I am able to 

 get into print. 



At last he says: " If some of my Eng- 

 lish is not as good as it might be, it is be- 

 cause all that I ' write ' for Gleanings is 

 dictated to a stenographer, often amid 

 frequent interruptions, and when I hard- 

 ly know how to spare the time even to 

 talk it ofT. ' ' This is indeed a sad state of 

 affairs. It would be sadder still if it 

 could not easily be remedied. What 

 could be of greater concern than the 

 editing of a journal that goes into thous- 

 ands of families and is eagerly read by 

 tens of thousands, old and young, inevi- 

 tably influencing their speech and lives ? 

 I should say, nothing should interrupt — 

 nothing should draw off attention from 

 such a work. 



I am afraid a blush covered my face, 

 when, in the account of Mr. Cowan's 

 visit, where that cultivated Englishman 

 would be sure to see it, I found the word 

 " canine " used for dog or puppy. 



.\ MISLEADING DESCRIPTION OF FOUL 

 BROOD. 



In the American Bee Journal, page 502, 

 is a description of foul brood in which I 

 find the statement that it " is a disea.se 

 that kills the young bee in the larva 

 [larval] state a/ter it has been cafyf^cd 

 over.'' Italics mine. This is a mistake 

 that may lead some astray. To be sure, 

 much of the brood lives till it is capped, 

 but sometimes a large proportion dies be- 

 fore it is ready for that operation, and 

 never is capped. 



HOW THE UNION MAY EFFECTINELY USE 

 WHAT STRENGTH IT HAS. 



In answer to certain questioiis put to 

 me, as to how the membership of the U. 

 vS. B. K's. U. could be increased so it 

 could do effective work, I replied, in sub- 

 stance, let it go ahead and use the strength 

 it has effectively, and its membership will 



