s I, 'tis German;
And I'll try it with some beer!
The landlord asked what bothered me so,
And at once he made it clear.

It's _half-and-half_, the gentleman means;
Don't you see he talks of _score_?
That's the bit of memorandum
That we chalk behind the door.

_Semi-definite_'s outlandish;
But I see, in half a squint,
That he speaks of the lubbers who call for a quart,
When they can't manage more than a pint.

Now I'll read it into English,
And then you'll answer me this:
If it isn't good logic all the world round,
I should like to know what is?

When you call for a pot of half-and-half,
If you're lost to sense of shame,
You may leave it _semi-definite_,
But you pay for it all just the same.
* * * * * *

I am unspeakably comforted when I look over the above in remembering that
the question is not whether it be Pindaric or Horatian, but whether the
copy be as good as the original. And I say it is: and will take no denial.

Long live--long will live--the glad memory of William Hamilton, Good,
Learned, Acute, and Disputatious! He fought upon principle: the motto of
his book is:

"Truth, like a torch, the more it's shook it shines."

There is something in this; but metaphors, like puddings, quarrels, rivers,
and arguments, always have two sides to them. For instance,

"Truth, like a torch, the more it's shook it shines;
But those who want to use it, hold it steady.
They shake the flame who like a glare to gaze at,
They keep it still who want a light to see by."

{344}

ANOTHER THEORY OF PARALLELS.

Theory of Parallels. The proof of Euclid's axiom looked for in the
properties of the Equiangular Spiral. By Lieut-Col. G. Perronet
Thompson.[721] The same, second edition, revised and corrected. The
same, third edition, shortened, and freed from dependence on the theory
of limits. The same, fourth edition, ditto, ditto. All London, 1840,
8vo.

To explain these editions it should be noted that General Thompson rapidly
modified his notions, and republished his tracts accordingly.

SOME PRIMITIVE DARWINISM.

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation.[722] London, 1840, 12mo.

This is the first edition of this celebrated work. Its form is a case of
the theory: the book is an undeniable duodecimo, but the size of its paper
gives it the look of not the smallest of octavos. Does not t