Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/144

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io* s. i. FEB. e,

better than it is, did^ it not contain two examples of this faulty'locution :

" In my University Sermons there is a series of discussions upon the subject of Faith and Reason ; these again were the tentative commencement of a grave and necessary work, viz., an inquiry into the ultimate basis of religious faith, prior to the dis- tinction into Creeds." P. 73 (Longmans, 1890).

" It seemed to me as if he [Keble] ever felt happier, when he could speak or act under some such primary or external sanction ; and could use argument mainly as a means of recommending or explaining what had claims on his reception prior to proof." P. 290.

I doubt whether this expression occurs in Newman's earlier writings, and excuse it here on the score of haste and age, for he was over sixty when the 'Apologia' was com- posed in a few weeks, and doubtless was more absorbed in his matter than in his language. Since the publication of this book, "prior to" has become the darling of the minor writers of the press, who scorn the homely word before, bequeathed to us by our fathers. Hence we are told that " Mr. Chamberlain is spending his vacation, prior to entering upon his promised campaign in the autumn, at his residence, Highbury."

I quote from a provincial newspaper in which I have read the quotidian history of the world during the last twenty-five years. But I have seen the phrase in the Athenceum, and more than once, korresco referens I in 'N. & Q.,' but not used editorially, so to speak, in either case. It is rampant, saltant, visible, audible everywhere. Over the shop- front is the epigraph, " Great Sale prior to Removal," or, perhaps, "Genuine Sale pre vious to retiring from Business." Edwin say; to Angelina, "Dearest, prior to our being married we ,must have our house in apple pie order," and the fond creature, whos< knowledge of grammar is scanty, smiles approval, and is proud of her lover, who if going to bear all the expense without trou bling her old father, who has other daughter besides herself. Therefore she accepts anc adopts " prior to " as the equivalent of before and in due course, after (posterior to) the ceremony, when her pretty babe is cooing or her knee, she will try to make it utter, "semi hiante labello," what cannot be called swear ing, but is certainly " bad language." An so it comes to pass that violations of gram mar, which a servile spirit of imitation adopts, at last supersede proper and idiomati forms of expression (Marsh's ' Lectures on th English Language,' London, 1863, p. 460).

MR. JAMES PLATT in his admirable note in these pages shows how we have borrowec words from every tribe and people, which

ailing into the stream of our speech, have ieen polished and rounded and made a part ,f its bed ; but these ugly neologisms float >n the surface like " snags " on the Mississippi^

which the wary boatman gives a wide ' jerth, for he knows they are dangerous.

JOHN T. CURRY.

FROST AND ITS FORMS (10 th S. i. 67). As VI. L. B. has fruitlessly searched many volumes, one is tempted to suggest a refer- ence being made to the remarks on frosfc "orms by the late James Glaisher, F.R.S., also those by M. Guillemin in his (two) works on the forces of nature, and to the Proceedings of the Royal Meteorological Society (of which an index volume exists).

R. B.

Upton.

The beauty of the frosted pane is due to the predominant form of the ice-crystals deposited. Why that should be hexagonal is naturally beyond human ken ; but, given minute crystals, their electrical properties are assumed to account for their method of growth. The frond-like appearance is, of course, not unique. It may be imitated by evaporating some solutions, and this opera- tion, when watched under the microscope, is full of interest, for the curious deliberation and method evinced, and the plant-like forms which frequently result, lend the process, in many cases, a most deceptive air of being organic. J. DORMER.

CAPSICUM (9 th S. xii. 449 ; 10 th S. i. 73). MAJOR THORNE GEORGE says : " Surely ' chillies ' and the powder produced by crush- ing the dried pods were known to Rome in the time of the Csesars," but unfortunately he does not state under what name. Accord- ing to all botanists the Capsicum annuum was unknown in Europe before the discovery of America ; but I am open to conviction.

L. L. K.

EUCHRE (9 th S. xii. 484; 10 th S. i. 13, .77).

1 must knock another imaginary derivation on the head. The joker is not used in the game of euchre (which is correctly described in the ' H.E.D.'), but only in a particular variation, which was certainly not invented till after 1870, or perhaps even 1875. The employment of an extra card as a master card appears to have been introduced about the same time into the game of poker, but in neither game was it first known as the joker. In euchre it was called " the imperial trump" or "the best bower"; in poker, "mistigris." The card used was the blank