Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-20

ent" we are told that although the
English say different to-" the correct
form is different FROM" and that
different than" can be defended on no
theory.
If one wishes to know the shades OF
difference among synonyms the book
Will give one the desired information.
Under wander" we are told how to
use diverge, stray, range, roam,
deviatc, ramble, swerve, and when not
to use wander.
The definitions and derivations are
good as a rule, but there are some m
excusable omissions. "Darwinism' Is
defined as ''the evolutionary theory OF
Charles Darwin" and II one looks
under evolution" for a further eluci-
dntion one does not find 1t. Larousse.
however, does better. This little
abridged dictionary by Frenchman
says that "Darwinism has revived the
fundamental idea of the transformation
OF species previously developed In
France by Lamarck and Geoffrey Saint
fiillaire; and is an attempt to provide
rational and methodical explanation.
The struggle for existence, which per-
mits the survival Of only those species
best adapted to the exigcncies of their
environment, and natural selection,
which In the same species tends to the
perfection of the average type Of the
individuals - these, according to the
doctrine Of Darwin, are the two prin-
cipal factors in the evolution of organ
lied creatures" This definition tells
something. whereas the Funk & Wag-
nails definition leaves the reader as ig.
norant as he was before he read 1t.
If one wishes to know what funic-
ular railway is one will have to look
elsewhere than In this new dictionary,
for funicular is defined as pertaining
to or like funicle," and funicle Is
"a small cord or fiber a ligature."
Inrousse, however, says that funic-
lilar railway is a railway ascending a
heavy grade by an inclined plane and
with the cars drawn by n cable. After
reading this one knows what sort Of q
railway ascends Mt. Vesuvius, visitors
to which always explain that they went
up by the funicular. The definition oi
hangar is equally unsatisfactory, for II
Is defined merely as "a shed for the
storage Of vehicles. aeroplanes, etc."
Hangar is one of the most inter-
csfing cords in any language.
WHEN 1t first came into use in this
w country consulted Litre's great
French dictionary to find out what II
meant. In modern French 1t is merely
the name for the open shed on farm
for storing tools and agricultural mn
chinery. So when the French talket
about running the airplane into tho
hangar they merely meant that they
were running it into the shed. Th,
word was brought over into English al
| though 1t were term invented espe.
cially to describe an airplane shelter
Litre explains that 1t goes back to thu
Greek word "ansel," which originally
meant merely messenger. The mes.
sengers or couriers sent out from Rome
into Gaul built for themselves tempo
rary shelters for the night, which wer;
described by corrupt form Of the word
angel, the name of the occupant of the
shelter being transferred to the shelter
itself. In the course of time this word
describing an open shelter came to be
used to describe any form Of shed,
and its root is still seen in the word
hangar. the modern French for a shed.
So in the course Of centuries the Greer
word for a human messenger has been
transformed into meaning an angel or
messenger of God, n shelter for human
messenger, a shed for farm tools and
now into n protecting house for flying
machine which rivals the angels in the
speed and precision of its movements.
If there Is not romance in this word
then I do not know what romance
means. But there is no hint of this In
the new dictionary. Perhaps the plan
on which 1t was arranged prevented 1t.
But in spite of its defects 1t is so
far superior to any other American die
tionary of its size that 1t will be well
coined by every one who wants handy
reference book, which combines in itself
many of the features of an encyclo-
pedia, a dictionary of synonyms. a bio
graphical dictionary as well as die
tionary of the English language.
GEORGE w. DOUGLAS.