ON ERRATA RECEPTA. 147 



sary at modern examinations we see the modification begin which shews 

 us how letters and figures have arrived at their present forms. The 

 ** rune " for root ( ^/) appears to be a written r exaggerated and rent 

 asunder to gain room for the index of the quantity sought. The 

 symbol peculiar to the Integral Calculus (/) is a relic of the 

 fluents of Newton. 



The Zodiacal and Planetary signs have become considerably dis- 

 guised. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Sagittarius, Aquarius, and Pisces still 

 speak, in some manner, for themselves. But it requires the aid of an 

 acute imagination to see a crab in Cancer, a lion in Leo, a virgin 

 {query Proserpine, the Kora) with the ears of wheat in Virgo, the 

 scales in Libra, a scorpion in Scorpio, a piscicaudal goat in Capricorn. 



In Saturn we dimly discern \hefalx of Chronos ; in Jupiter Jove 

 seated with the eagle at his feet ; in Mars the shield and spear ; in 

 Venus her mirror ; in Mercury his caduceus ; in Ceres her sickle ; in 

 Pallas the gilded spear-h'ead of Athene ; in Juno her peacock in its 

 pride ; Earth, Uranus, Sun, and Moon are self-interpreting. Vesta is 

 a picture confessed, of her ea-rta with the eternal fire thereon. 



If planets are still to be represented by symbols, the invention of 

 man is threatened with exhaustion, for asteroids are discovered in al- 

 most every year. They now amount to seventy-two. — The ascending 

 and descending Node (a, ?j) is a dragon, having apparently the 

 geometric caterpillar's habit of progression. 



There is nothing of the picturesque about the notation in Music. 

 Sounds and sentiments are interpreted to the eye by bold points at 

 various altitudes in respect to a system of horizontal lines, by spa- 

 cings and slurs, and a number of arbitrary marks. 



II. I arrive at Errata Recepta that appear in the shape of contrac- 

 tions and abbreviations. 



1. And ('first) of contractions. 



There are conventional contractions which in themselves are rational 

 enough ; but in some instances we have been taught to use them so 

 early, that we live for many years without detecting that they are any- 

 thing more than mere symbols. 



It has been perhaps not an uncommon experience to use for some 

 years cwt, diot, for hundredweight, pennyweight, without realizing 

 their intrinsic composition. 



