The Number Nine. 



of familiar nines that have been handed 

 down to us. A stitch in time saves nine. 

 Nine tailors make a man. A nine-days' 

 wonder. A cat has nine lives. A cat 

 o'nine tails. The nine days' fast. The 

 nine-days' prayer. Ninebark is the name 

 of a plant, Spir<za opulifolia, in which the 

 bark separates into several layers. Nine 

 killer is the name of a shrike, Collurio 

 borealis, which suspends several small 

 objects of prey upon thorns and twigs. 

 Nine-day fits is the name for a disease, 

 Trismus nascentium. Nine was the 

 number of books that the Sibyl laid be- 

 fore Tarquin. The Muses were nine. 



We can almost formulate a law that 

 when an exaggerator deals with numerals 

 ranging up to eight he instinctively finds 

 that the number nine represents the im- 

 aginative value of such numerals. One 

 can often take up a copy of a daily 

 newspaper and find that reporters are 

 fond of the number nine. The follow- 

 ing clippings are to the point. While 

 the number nine is used by various classes 

 of people hyperbolically, it is most often 



