XXVIII] FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES 8i 



The next letter refers chiefly to an eccentric friend of his, 

 Mr. Morgan Kavanagh, author of a work on " The Origin of 

 Language and of Myths/' and always referred to by Purland 

 as " The Great O," on account of his fundamental idea that 

 (O) was the sign of the sun, the only permanently circular 

 object in nature, and that the word " O " was the original 

 name of the sun (from making the figure with the lips), and 

 was thus the origin of all language. The book, however, is 

 full of the most ingenious and suggestive derivations from 

 Sanscrit and the Eastern languages. 



"Sept. 24, 1872. 



" No ! can't be a bigger man than you — 19 stone. Will 

 warm the only bed we have — as spare ! But the nights are 

 fine, and a walk home after the Jaw won't hurt you. 



" You can grub if you like on what we have. As to the 

 great O, he was here on Saturday — Och Murther — as usual, 

 full of his diskivery — but it is all bosh. 



" The true thing is this. Originally, man spoke by signs, 

 and no wonder — Adam and Eve spoke by signs only, until 

 one day Adam refused to go round the corner for some hard- 

 bake, which put Eve into a passion, and in her rage she broke 

 Adam's head with the bedpost, which made him cry * O ! ' and 

 Eve, alarmed at opening his head and mouth at one blow, 

 cried ' O ' too. That's the origin of Language ! 



"Some think Adam said *0 Crikey,' but as he was 

 Crackey at the time it is uncertain. 



" Thine, 



" Naso." 



The last I have was an anecdote of animal sagacity, a 

 subject then being discussed in the papers, and of which he 

 had given me some examples. I give a print of it, as it 

 is a good example of his caricature drawing and of one of 

 his fantastic signatures. 



Our pleasant intimacy came to an end in a most absurd 

 manner. Dr. Purland was, as I have said, a powerful and 

 enthusiastic mesmerist, and had given his services for many 

 VOL. II. G 



