The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-03-19
Odd Things in the Alphabet.
From the Detroit Free Press.

score or so handy sounds, which we call
an alphabet, has proved to be the most
arduous enterprise on which the human
intellect has ever been engaged. Its
achievement tasked the genius of the three
most gifted races of the ancient world. 1t
was begun by the Egyptians, continued by
the Semites, and finally perfected by the
| Greeks
Writing began with kilograms (pictures
representing either things or thoughts, }
which afterward developed into phone
grams (the graphic symbols of sounds: }
Although our own writing has reached the
alphabetic stage, yet we still employ
number of Photographic and Geographic
signs. The digits, l., H., Ill, stood as
pictures of fingers. The V. was from the
fingers collected and the thumb apart;
! w. or Y. represents the two hands,
while ". and VI are only pictures Of the
hand. with the subtraction or addition Of
a finger kilograms 6, 600 years old, and
which we are showing no possibility OF
improving on, are such printers signs as
the index, exclamation and parallel.
IF the history of any one of our Alpha
bette symbols be traced back, it will be
found to resolve itself ultimately into the
conventionalized picture of some object.
The letter NJ, for instance, was the picture
of an owl, the conventionalizing process OF
&, 600 years having left only the two
peaks. which are the lineal descendants of
! the two ears of the owl, still retaining be-
tween them not inapt representation OF the
beak. while the vertical strokes are all that
remain of the outlines of the breast.
Tle letter is derived from the horned
Egyptian asp, the two bars being the sur
vival of the two horns. while the vertlc al
stroke represents the body.
! The letter + descended from the same
picture. too. the two horns and body being
retained. Then, too. in those days there
was four horned asp, which has come
! down to rs in the letter W. the four strokes
necessary to its making representing the
| four horns although 5000 years seem to
| have been few too many for the body,
! vet that of Il Kansas erasshopper may be
found supplemented by the people 5000
| Years from now.
The letter \ was originally the picture
Of an eagle Egypt being the eagle ; real
homeland, and r. was taken from a pic
ture of the human mouth. d was evolved
from II picture of the hand, and 50 on
/ through the pictorial origin of all our let
! tiers.
The immediate parentage Of our Eng
/ fish alphabet is most difficult to determine
/ By 4 series of easy steps the forms OF the
very letters the reader sees before him ON
! this printed page may be traced back for
some twenty five centuries. These ''Ro-
man types as they are appropriately
called. have not varied appreciably in their
forms from the types used at Rome and
/ Venice by the Italian printers Of the fif-
tecnth century.
The puzzle of all English literature is
oivin" twentv-six letters an arrangement
by which they will present some new I'M
preston to the mind The more brilliant
that arrangement the more successful the
writer. The writers of the English die
tionary alone have been able to fit more
than 10. 600 words constructed from these
/ letters without much effort: the language
/ is said to contain 100. 000. The coniu-
/ sion of English sounds and letters Is well
! illustrated by spelling coffee without one
correct letters-Kauphy. which spelling"
is nearer the original than the one IN use.
for IA pamphlet was printed in Oxford IN
| 1859 on The Nature of the Drink kan-
I ply. ~ coffee.
Many eccentric devices Of literature
I depend upon the peculiar arrangement OF
| letters. Some Of these have fine sounding
names. and are recognized as famous rec
reationS of the learned The palindrome
which is ii line that reads backward and
forward is one Of the most difficult OF all
teats Of letter Juggling, and has engaged
/ the attention of the world cleverest brains.
While in exile, Napoleon was asked by
an Englishman if he thought he could
have sacked London, and replied Able
/ wa, ere | saw Elba the most skilful
palindrome on record Run the letters OF
/ the reply backward if you would test It,.
\ famous Latin example is the lawyer 5
motto Isl Nummi immunis. The
following sentence is not only palindrome,
but extraordinary in other respects ''Sa-
tor arepe tenet opera rotas.
This spells the same backward and for
ward; all the first letters of the words spell
the first word, and 50 on through the sec
ond third fourth and fifth. The last
letters spell the last word, the next to the
last of each word spell the next word, and
SO on to the beginning.
The anagram has occupied Il most pre-
tentious place in literature Wits and
wiseacres Of the olden times looked into
the names and places for satires and fol
omens. Several astronomers have used
al agrams to secure the credit of discover
les which they did not wish to reveal.
Louis NIII, retained in his service an an
a.rammatist named Thomas Bullion, with
ii pension of l, 200 livres 1t was deemed
il prophecy of fate when it was found that
the name of Louis de Boucherat could be
transposed to est la couche do roi (ls
the mouthpiece of the king;) that OF
Francis de veloys to de facon suis royal
| (of royal strain The fascinating Marie
Touchet procured a liberal pension for the
writer who deduced from her name ''Je
charme tout I charm alb.