BOOK BE VIEWS. 765 



hit the populai' fancy and taste. After publishing a half dozen volumes, all 

 diverse in subject, yet alike in popular treatment, he remains in demand by 

 the best readers, and his new work on Oratory and Orators will be sought 

 for with as much avidity and read with as keen a relish as any of those that 

 have preceded it. 



The present work is devoted to the consideration of the significance, use 

 and abuse of words under various headings, such as The Morality in Words, 

 The Secret of Apt Words, The Fallacies in Words, The Common Improprieties 

 of Speech, etc., etc., all of which are treated in an attractive and practical 

 manner, well adapted to make a lasting impression upon the reader's mind. 



His illustrations of the derivations of certain words and phrases are 

 most copious and interesting — this chapter alone being well worth the price 

 of the book. Few politicians are aware that the term ''caucus," so often 

 used by them, is derived from Gaiocawas, a council-board among the Checa- 

 hamania Indians ; not all teachers know and practice upon the knowledge 

 that "education" is derived from educare and not from educere ; few christians 

 are aware that the Bacchanalian exclamation "hip, hip, hurrah !" is made up 

 from the first letters of the words Hierosolyma est perdita! being originally a 

 ■war-cry adopted by the stormers of a German town, in putting the van- 

 quished Jews to the sword ; and not many Londoners will be willing to give 

 up the story of Whittington and his cat for one which converts the cat into 

 the French achat or acat, simply meaning trade or barter. 



In some of these exercises the Doctor's derivations seem pretty far-fetched 

 and the words capable of easier explanations. For instance he expends a 

 page in tracing the expression of "apple-pie order" to its origin, and finally 

 concludes that it is derived from chapel (printing office) pie order, which is 

 either good order or disorder, as the case may be ; when it would be quite 

 as easy and equally plausible to attribute it to a slight misapplication and 

 mispronunciation of the French "cap a pie." He also errs occasionally in 

 the spelling of a word used as an illustration, as for instance, carryvan for 

 caravan, megalosaurius for megalosaurus, but such things are very rare, and 

 we conclude as we began, with saying that it is a most entertaining, useful 

 and instructive work. 



As is the case with all of S. C. Griggs & Go's publications, the typog- 

 raphy, paper and binding are of the best quality. 



The Price Current Annual Eeview; 1877. This is an exhaustive and 

 comprehensive exhibit of the business of Kansas City for the year 1877 ; 

 one which reflects equal credit upon the city and upon Messrs. Hasbrook & 

 {Simmons, who have devoted so much time and pains to its compilation. 



Proceedings of the Poughkeepsie Society of Natural Sciences. Vol. I, 



Part 1 : 1875. 



The Poughkeepsie Society of Natural Science was organized September, 

 1874. and this volume contains a selection from the various papers read be- 



