A

LIFT FOR THE LAZY.

olophon.-In Bibliography, the postscript contained in the last sheet of an early printed work (before the introduction of title-pages), containing the printer's name, date, &c., is so termed; from a fanciful allusion to a Greek satirical proverb, in which the people of Colophon, in Asia Minor, are reproached as being always the hindmost.

Round-robin.-From the French rond-ruban. A phrase originally derived from a custom of the French officers, who, on signing a remonstrance to their superiors, wrote their names in a circular form, so that it might be impossible to ascertain who headed the list. The first signer was, of course, the ring-leader-whence the origin of that term, now used to designate the prime mover of a mob or conspiracy.

6

Elgin Marbles-Suicides.

lgin Marbles.-These admirable works of ancient art were derived chiefly from the Parthenon, a temple of Minerva in the Acropolis at Athens, of which temple they formed part of the frieze and pediment, built by Phidias, about 500 B. C. Lord Elgin began the collection of these marbles during his mission to the Ottoman Porte, in 1802; they were purchased of him by the British government for £36,000 and placed in the British Museum, in 1816. Canova pronounced them to be the finest specimens of sculpture in the world.

Suicides.-A writer in the Annales d'Hygiène, who has examined about 9,000 judicial inquests in Paris, from 1796 to 1830, thinks himself warranted in assuming—1. That philosophical or premeditated suicide takes place in the night, or a little before day-break. 2. That accidental or unpremeditated suicide takes place during the day; because it is then that the occasional causes occur, such as quarrels, bad news, losses at play, intemperance, &c. At every age, man chooses a particular mode of committing suicide. In youth, he has recourse to hanging, which he soon abandons for fire-arms in proportion as his vigor declines, he returns to his former mode; and it is most commonly by hanging, that the old man perishes, who puts an

end to his existence.

The English courts have decided that where a policy of life-assurance excepted suicide from its risks, the

company would not be liable, though the assured killed himself during a fit of insanity: in this country, our courts hold to the contrary; on the ground that the insane man cannot be legally said to have died by his own hand.

Trivial. The Latin trivium (tres viæ) signifies a place where three roads meet; whence, their trivialis, common-like the highway-and, consequently, of little estimation.

Bull.-As applied to that which expresses something in opposition to what is intended, wished, or felt, derives its application from the contrast of humble profession with despotic commands of papal bulls. The word is used in such a sense, as early as Milton: "I affirm it to be a bull, taking away the essence of that which it calls itself.

Bottle-conjuror.-The famous imposition of this charlatan occurred at the Haymarket Theatre, London, January 16, 1748; he had announced that he would jump into a quart bottle, and so imposed upon a credulous multitude, that the theatre was besieged by ten thousand persons, anxious to gain admittance and witness the feat. The object of filling the house was accomplished; but the duped crowd (who really expected to see the man enter the quart bottle), in the storm of their indignation, nearly pulled the whole edifice down.

8

Guillotine-Boudoir.

uillotine.-At an early period of the French Revolution, when the National Assembly was occupied in its long discussions relative to the reform of the

penal code, one of its members, a physician named Guillotin, proposed the adoption of decapitation-up to that time used only for nobles-as the only method of capital punishment. From sentiments of humanity he recommended the employment of a machine long known and used in Italy, as well as in other countries, and somewhat resembling the instrument called the "Maiden of Halifax." The Assembly applauded the idea, and the machine was adopted, to which the French have given the name of Guillotine, and of which Guillotin is erroneously supposed to have been the inventor: it is equally a vulgar error that he was one of its victims. He died in 1814, after founding the French Academy of Medicine.

Coffee. All the coffee grown in the West Indies has sprung from two plants taken thither in 1726 by a French botanist from the botanic garden at Paris. On the voyage, the supply of fresh water became nearly exhausted, but so anxious was the Frenchman to preserve the plants, that he deprived himself of his allowance in order to water them.

Boudoir.-From bouder, to pout; in the same manner as parloir (parlor), from parler, to speak or con

verse.