Page:EB1911 - Volume 26.djvu/250

 Life, by Lecky, in his Leaders of Public Opinion, by G. P. Moriarty, J. Churton Collins (1893), Max Simon (1893), Henriette Cordelet (1907) and Sophie Shilleto Smith (1910). The anecdotes of Swift related in Spence, Laetitia Pilkington, Wilson’s Swiftiana, Delany’s Autobiography, &c., though often amusing, can hardly be accepted as authentic.

The collective editions of Dr Hawkesworth (various issues, 1755–1779), T. Sheridan (1785), John Nichols (1801, 1804, 1808), Scott (1814 and 1821) and Roscoe (2 vols., 1849) have been in most respects superseded by the edition in Bohn’s Standard Library in fourteen volumes (including the two subsequently issued volumes of Poems) (1897–1910); arranged as follows: I. Biog. Introduction by W. E. H. Lecky; Tale of a Tub; Battle of the Books; Critical Essay upon the Faculties of the Mind; The Bickerstaff Pamphlets, &c., ed. Temple Scott. II. Journal to Stella, ed. F. Ryland (two portraits of Stella). III. and IV. Writings on Religion and the Church, ed. Temple Scott. V. Historical and Political Tracts—English, ed. Temple Scott. VI. Historical and Political Tracts—Irish, ed. Temple Scott. VII. The Drapier’s Letters, ed. Temple Scott. VIII. and XI. Literary Essays, including Gulliver’s Travels (ed. G. R. Dennis); A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue; Hints towards an Essay on Conversation; Character; Directions to Servants; and Autobiographical Fragment, ed. Temple Scott. IX. Contributions to the Examiner, Tatler, Spectator, &c., ed. Temple Scott. X. Historical Writings, including the Four Last Years; Abstract of English History; and Remarks on Burnet, ed. Temple Scott. XII. Essays on the Portraits, &c., Bibliography by W. Spencer Jackson, and Index. Twelve portraits of Swift are included in the work, in addition to two portraits of Stella and one of Vanessa. XIII. and XIV. Poems, ed. W. Ernst Browning.

Translations and editions of Gulliver’s Travels have been numerous. "Valuable Notes for a Bibliography of Swift" were published by Dr S. Lane Poole in The Bibliographer (November 1884).

SWIFT, a bird so called from the extreme speed of its flight, which apparently exceeds that of any other British species, the Hirundo apus of Linnaeus and Cypselus apus or murarius of modern ornithologists. Swifts were formerly associated with s (q.v.) in classification, but whilst the latter are true Passeres, it is now established that swifts are Coraciiform birds (see s) and the sub-order Cypselus has been formed to include them and their nearest allies, the humming-birds. The four toes are all directed forwards, whereas in the Passeres the hallux is directed backwards and by opposing the other three makes the foot a grasping organ. In the swifts, moreover, the middle and outer digits have only three joints and the metatarsi and even the toes may be feathered. Swifts are divided into three sub-families: Macropteryginae, the true swifts, of tropical Asia, which form a nest gummed by saliva to branches of trees; Chaeturinae, building in rocks or houses, and with an almost world-wide range: it includes Chaetura palagica, the "chimney-swallow" of the United States, Collocalia fuciphaga wich obtained its specific name from the erroneous idea that its edible nests were formed by partly digested seaweed; Cypselinae, also world-wide and containing Cypselus apus, the common European swift. All the swifts are migratory. Well known as a summer visitor throughout the greater part of Europe, the swift is one of the latest to return from Africa, and its stay in the country of its birth is of the shortest, for it generally disappears from England very early in August, though occasionally to be seen for even two months later.

The swift commonly chooses its nesting-place in holes under the eaves of buildings, but a crevice in the face of a quarry, or even a hollow tree, will serve it with the accommodation it requires. This, indeed, is not much, since every natural function except sleep, oviposition and incubation, is performed on the wing, and the easy evolutions of this bird in the air, where it remains for hours together, are the admiration of all who witness them. Though considerably larger than a swallow, it can be recognized at a distance less by its size than by its peculiar shape. The head scarcely projects from the anterior outline of the pointed wings, which form an almost continuous curve, at right angles to which extend the body and tail, resembling the handle of the crescentic cutting-knife used in several trades, while the wings represent the blade. The mode of flight of the two birds is also unlike, that of the swift being much more steady, and, rapid as it is, ordinarily free from jerks. The whole plumage, except a greyish white patch under the chin, is a sooty black, but glossy above. Though its actual breeding-places are by no means numerous, it extraordinary speed and discursive habits make the swift widely distributed; and throughout England scarcely a summer’s day passes without its being seen in most places. A larger species, C. melba or C. alpinus, with the lower part dusky white, which has its home in many of the mountainous parts of central and southern Europe, has several times been observed in Britain, and two examples of a species of a very distinct genus Chaetura, which has its home in northern Asia, but regularly emigrates thence to Australia, have been obtained in England (Proc. Zool. Soc., 1880, p. 1).

 SWIMMING (from “swim,” A.S. swimman, the root being common in Teutonic languages), the action of self-support and self-propulsion on or in water; though used by analogy of inanimate objects, the term is generally connected with animal progression and specially with the art of self-propulsion on water as practised by man. Natation (the synonym derived from Lat. natare) is one of the most useful of the physical acquirements of man. There have been cases in which beginners have demonstrated some ability in the art upon their first immersion in deep water, but generally speaking it is an art which has to be acquired. For many years Great Britain held the supremacy in this particular form of athletics, but conti- nental, Australian and American swimmers have so much improved and have developed such speedy strokes, that the claim can no longer be maintained. English swimmers have, however, the satisfaction of knowing that in a great measure through them has come about the very great interest which is now taken in the teaching of swimming throughout the world, and more particularly on the continent of Europe, where they have made frequent tours and given instructive displays of swimming, life-saving (see ), and (q.v.); the latter a water game entirely British in its origin.

The teaching of swimming has been taken up in schools, and where the work is well done it is customary to use a form of land drill so as to impress upon the pupils some idea of the motions which have to be made in order to progress through the water. This drill is the preliminary practice to the teaching of the breast stroke. This stroke is about the most useful of all the known forms of swimming, more particularly when any one is thrown overboard in clothes; and though speed swimmers look upon it as obsolete, it is undoubtedly the best for a long-distance swim, such as across the English Channel, or other similar feats. A knowledge of it, as well as of the back stroke, is essential to the effective saving of life.

When learning the breast stroke, the first thing to avoid is undue haste and rapidity in the movements. It is this fault, probably born of nervousness, which causes many to aver that though eager to do so, they have never been able to learn to swim. Rapid action of the arms only exhausts the learner, whose breathing then becomes hurried and irregular, and as a consequence he fails to preserve the buoyancy necessary for carrying him along the surface. When starting for the first stroke the beginner should draw the elbows nearly to the side, at the same