tran{mutation powerfully excited his curi- 
‘ofity. Attributing it to the virtue of 
fome of ‘the plants growing on that iflet, 
he immediately began to rub another gold 
ring with each of thofe which he had ga- 
thered ; but he had the mortification to 
find himfelf deftitute of the particular plant 
wiich had produced-fo wonderful an effect. 
He earnefily withed to return to the iflet, 
and made the propofal to his fellow-paflen- 
gers and to the fkipper: but they, ftupid 
ignorant beings who felt no curiofity for 
the wonders of nature, refuled to comply 
with his withes.”” 
Such, Mr. Editor, is the account given 
by a writer who does not, in other parts of 
his work, appear to deal in romance, and 
who refided many years in the Greek 
iflands in a public character. ‘That many 
of your'readers will treat the whole as a 
fable, I have not adoubt. For my own 
part, I do not profefs implicitly to believe 
it: yet, when I confider how various and 
unaccountable the wonders of nature; 1 
ihould deem it prefumption to condemn the 
fiory as falfe, merely becaufe it furpaffes 
my comprehenfion. At all events—whe- 
ther the mifchievous plant can ever again 
be difcovered which deteriorates gold to 
filver—lI fuppofe the truth or falfty of the 
other.ciscumfance may eafily be afcertain- 
‘el by fome of our Levant-traders, who 
may, upon enquiry, learn whether the ifle 
of Cephalonia really does contain goats 
with oilded teeth 5 and, if it does, whether 
they be a particular race of goats which 
enjoy that diftinétion by hereditary defcent, 
or whether any common white-toothed 
goat, after having fed during a certain 
period in a particular pafture, has the co- 
lor of its teeth changed to a golden hue. 
Now. 26. Iam, Sir, yours, &c. 
W.W. 
——_ Sa 4 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
DESULTORY COMMENTS on” MASON’S 
SUPPLEMENT {9 JOHNSON’S DICTIO- 
NARY. 
(Continued from Page 101.) 
DACTYLE. 
7THIS way of fpelling is adopted by 
i Johnfon; but it is more ufual to 
omit the final e, and to write da&yl, 
wiich better accords with pronunciation, 
It would have been convenient for the me- 
njory, if all our names of poetic feet had 
themfelves been examples of the feet de- 
fignated. In this cafe; we muft, have 
written Pyzric, Jamb, Trochy, Tribra- 
chys, Anapeft, Dattylus, Spondee, Mo- 
lofiofe, &c. 
Dadi,——Dado fignifies a die in Italian. 
Comments on Mafon’s Subplemer 
bf 
bua | J 
Fohnfan’s Didtionary, [ Nov. 1, 
It is therefore (1) a fguere compartment 
in wain{cotting, and (2) any compart- 
ment, whether fquare or oblong, Mr. 
Mafon: defines it ‘* the plain part of a 
fide of a room between the bafe and a 
cornice.”” My carpenter fays it is never 
applied to ** the plain part of a fide of a 
room”’ above the wainfcotting and below 
the cornifh, unlefs the wall be divided into 
pannels ; but that it is applied to 
«¢ the plain part of a fide of a room’’ 
above the foot-board, and below the 
cornifh of the wainfcotting. It feems 
then applicable cnly to framed {paces.’ 
Deati-praGiifed.—A compound word, 
which ought to mean practifed in death, 
and might (uit a bad phyfician, a good 
general, or an old carronade. The ule of 
it by Shakefpeare was an abufe, even in 
Shakefpeare’s time, when pradi/e meant 
mal-practice. 
Decanter.—This every-day word does 
mean, as Mr. Mafon cblerves, ‘* a glais, 
vefiel for holding decanted liquor :”’ it is, 
however, an anomalous word. Decanter 
ought to fignify he who decants 3; as giver, 
he who gives ; /kinker, he who pours out; 
drinker, he who drinks: it ought to be 
nearly fynonimous with butler. 
And how fhould the recipient of de- 
canted liquor have been called? In order 
to afcertain this point, recourfé muft be 
had to the technical Latin of thofe alche- 
milts or chemifts, out of whofe writings 
the word has flidden into ufe. . l have read 
many.a page of Lord Bacon in order to 
find it, but in vain. I cannot read Van 
Helmont and Paracelfus. Was it perhaps 
decantatorium? If fo, it would be better to 
write decantor, or decantery. — . 
Decard.—An anomalous word properly 
fuperfeded by. difcard: the like may be 
faid of decrowan, which is fuperfeded by 
dijcrown. | 
Defeul.—A. hybrid coinage of Spen« 
fer’s, neither Englifh, nor of any other 
language: perhaps it is a mere error of 
the printer, and the poet wrote yfouled, the 
old paft participle formed with the aug- 
ment. 
Defray. 
Flere, in this bottle, faid the forry maid, 
I put the tears of my contrition, 
Till to the brim I have it full defrayed. _~ 
In this paffage of the Fairy Queen 
(b. vi. c. 8. ft. 24.) fays Mr. Mafon, te 
defray means to fill up, which is a Gaili- 
ciim. Why not call it. an impurity, a 
blunder? Gallicifms may be worthy of 
imitation. ‘There is no initance in French 
of the verb defrayer having any fuch tig” 
nification. According to . Menage, its 
etymon , 
SS eS er ae eed 
