The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1913-06-10

erence to SEQ II the source of tho
misrepresentation could DO found Muir
rays Dictionary. The Century. Web
ster, The Standard. the New Interna-
iional Encyclopedias, Tho Britannica
ana such others rs we examined ali
state the matter correctly. and we
own ourselves at a loss 10 discover
now our friends were rnlsled on the
subject. and should DO pleased TO have
one or them cite any reference WORK
or standing which differs in statement
from those named. We do not SEQ
how the writer OF the letter above
supposed that we said tina, no one
knew the meaning" OF tho little Latin
phrase. The original query was.
Please tell mo what the mons asin
Drum is. and why 1T is so calicd.r anu
the answer was. THE proposition OF
plane geometry that tho angles AT
the base OF an isoscelcs triangle arc
equal. No one knows" rho English
equivalent OF 'pons asinorum" was not
in question. and we assumed that the
original qucrst was quite as able 10
translate as we. What was IN cues
ton was the application of the phrase
TO the NTH proposition tof the FIRST
= book of Euclid, and the reason for
this we declared that nobody knew
The matter OF tho difficulty Of the
proposition would not affect the case,
n. q,
for the sake Of argument. the diiiicult,
might be admitted But a bridge is
not a difficulty; IL is rather the means
of surmounting difficulty. and Che
observation or old Beckham that
bridge OF asses" ought 10 be trap
OF asses" is quite in point. as is the
"Epigram' OF date 1850.
IF this be rightly called the bridge
OF asses.
He's not the fool that sticks hut he
that passes
go far as We now recall there
is but one English colioquialisrr.
in which bridge" is synonymous
with difficulty" and that is the
proverb about crossing bridges be
fore one comes to them. In all
other uses, the bridge that helped
him over" burn his bridges abuse
the bridge etc. the idea Is that OF
a help In trouble, and TO apply the
WORD to difficulty" would be folly.
No assistance may be found In any
Latin usage, though Euclid lived long
enough before the classic period for
the phrase, had It existed. to have got
fixed among Roman students OF his
works. There is plenty OF Greek ref
ercnce to the stupidity and clumslness
Of the ass. and hence, much deprecin-
tory suggestion. but there Is not ons
word, so far as we know. connecting
the ass and the bridge. Neither. does
there seem to he any help in the Mid
die Age fables. and folk tales about
asses. UP 10 1890, virtually all pro-
verbal and folk reference to the ass
was scriptural, and suggested patience
and industry rather than dizziness, and
IL is not till 1907 that the latter init
nation may be found, when Topsell, in
mis- -Four Footed Beasts" says that
"a dull scholar not apt 10 learn is
bid to sell an ass to signify his block
ishness."
1t is quite likely that there was
some wcll-known story about an ass
that would not cross bridge, much
as now among our Southern Gag
oners exists a belief that a mule
mas far more sagacity than horse
about the safety of bridges, and that
he feels the flooring gingerly before
ne trusts it with his fun weight. But
this story. if it existed, is HroT>e
in the gunroom, and no one seems to
be able to suggest what it is, and so
no one appears to have the least no
ton of the reason why the gcometri
cal proposition in question is called
the "pons asinorum'