and fibres of every tree, even where one would wish to see only the flowers and fruits.
“alciphron.
“These are the black demons, I suppose, upon your plantation of palms.
“eutyphron.
“A very necessary and useful race. We must treat them with mildness for, if they do too much, they do it with a good motive.”
In answer to some criticisms[1] that have been made upon the “Significance of the Alphabet,” such as that it is a dark hint, rather than a full elucidation of the subject, the history of the book may be given. It was merely the enlargement by Dr. Kraitsir of some notes taken by a hearer of one or two lectures of a series which he delivered in Boston to an audience of about a score of persons! This particular portion of the series, touching the true pronunciation of the Latin language, it was advised by the late John Pickering, should be put forth, to excite, if possible, a controversy that should be the means of introducing the whole subject to the public attention; and he promised to further it in the periodicals of the day. But the day it was published was the very day when that eminent philologist, having finished correcting the last proof of his Greek dictionary, said, “This is the last printed page I shall read.” The words were prophetic: in a few days he was, in fact, no more.
The book, however, is not so “dark a hint” as may be supposed by those who have not studied it. Even the notes are treatises. The note on mathematical phraseology, and which involves the reference of the words line and circle to the true standard of meaning, not only serves " to elucidate the life-principle of philology, but of mathematical discipline." So the note upon grammatical terms, and the last note on the appropriation of words, are only “dark with excessive bright.” In the notes, also, he has collected the authorities for the Latin pronunciation out of the ancient grammarians,
- ↑ A misprint on the last line of the 17th page, of formation for pronunciation, obscures the meaning of one of its most important paragraphs.
