X, XX, and XXX are signs used by brewers. The single X originally represented the ten shillings excise which beer of a certain quality had to pay, and so became a sign for that quality. Hence the other signs grew up as representing double or triple the strength of X ale. Among policemen the "X" is a method of arrest used with desperadoes, which consists in getting a firm grasp on the collar, drawing the captive's hand over the holding arm, and pressing the fingers down in a peculiar way, so that the arm can be more easily broken than liberated. Xmas, an abbreviation for "Christmas." X is the initial letter of the Greek name for Christ, Xpiorog, and the coincidence of its cruciform shape led early to its adoption as a figure and symbol of Christ. In the Catacombs X is frequently found to stand tor Christ. The earliest Christian artists, when making a representation of the Trinity, would place either a cross or an X beside the Father and the Holy Ghost. But the extension of the symbol to compound or derivative words like Xmas and Xtianity is an affectation which, though sanctioned by long usage, cannot be commended. Y. Y, the twenty-fifth letter in the English alphabet, with both a vowel and a consonant value. (See U.) As a vowel it is useless, representing nothing that could not be denoted by *. As a consonant it is a totally different letter of Saxon origin which has merged into the Latin sign. And in the archaic forms e, yat, etc., it represents a Saxon and Middle English sign for tht and should >e pronounced like th in the. Yankee, a term of dubious etymology and varied uses. The derivation accepted as most plausible by leading authorities makes it a slight corruption of the word "Yengeese," applied to the English by the Northern Indian tribes to whom they first became known,—a meritorious aboriginal attempt to pronounce "English." In Europe the word Yankee means an American from any portion of the United States; in the South it means an inhabitant of the Northern States; and in the North it retains its original specific application to the inhabitants of the New England States. z. Z, the twenty-sixth character in the English alphabet, and the last there, as in the later Roman alphabet. It was the seventh sign in the Phoenician and the sixth in the Grecian system. In America it is usually called "zee," in England "zed." An older name, "izzard," still survives locally. It has often been noticed that the stage names of female acrobats and circus-riders strangely affect the initial Z. C. G. Leland explains that names like Zazel, Zaniel, Zoe, are all derived from Hebrew or Yiddish words meaning "devil" or "goblin." Zero, the figure o, which stands for naught in the Arabic notation. From its double capacity of representing nothing as an individual and a decimal multiple when put in the right sort of company, it has afforded lots of fun to the humorist. The sort of fun may be gathered from the French epigram made when La Bruyere was rejected ty the Academy: Quand La Bruyere se presente, Pourquoi faut-il crier haro T Nc fallait-il pas un zero T (•' When La Bruyere presented himself, why object? To make up the number forty was not a zero necessary?") A more elaborate form of the same kind of drollery is presented in the following story. There was at Amadan a celebrated Academy whose first rule was framed in these words: "The members of this Academy shall think much, write little, and be as silent as they can." A candidate offered himself. He was too late : the vacancy had been filled. His merit was recognized, and all lamented their own disappointment in lamenting his. The president asked that the candidate should be introduced. His simple and modest air was in his favor. The president rose and presented him with a cup of pure water, so full that a single drop more would have made it overflow. Not a word did he add to this emblematical hint, but his countenance betrayed his emotion. The candidate understood that he could not be received because the number was complete. But, casting about him for a method of reply, he observed at his feet a rose. Picking it up, he detached a single petal, which he laid so gently on the surface of the water that not a drop escaped. The applause was universal. Every one recognized that he meant to imply that a supernumerary member would displace nothing, and would make no essential difference in the rule they had prescribed. He was at once presented with the register whereon successful candidates wrote their names. He wrote his name; then, as a delicate way of presenting thanks, he wrote on the slate the figures 100, representing the number of his new associates; then, putting a cipher before the x, he wrote, "Their value will be the same,—0100." The courteous and ingenious president was not to be baffled. He took the slate in his turn, substituted the figure 1 for the added zero, and wrote, "They will have eleven times the value they had,—1100." Zouaves, a famous French military corps. The word is corrupted from Zouaoua, a terrible welter of vowels, proudly borne as the name of a warlike Kabyle tribe in Africa. These had always maintained a practical independence. They made excellent mercenaries, selling valor and fidelity to their buyers at reasonable market rates. The first levy of Zouaouas was raised in 1830, by General Clausel. It consisted of two battalions, and was originally composed of native African soldiers, with French officers and soldiers. Gradually roving adventurers from Paris and other large cities crowded out the native soldiers. Finally all the European members of the corps other than French were removed from the Zouaves and were formed into the Foreign Legion. Later still, at the summons of Abd-el-Kader, large numbers of the native Zouaves deserted from the colors and joined the ranks of their compatriots; in consequence of which the proportion of Frenchmen in the corps was greatly increased. In 1841 a third battalion was raised, the corps was entirely remodelled, and it was decreed that thereafter there should be only one company of African natives in each battalion. From that time even that reduced proportion of natives steadily decreased, until in the end the Zouaves consisted of Frenchmen only. INDEX OF CROSS-REFERENCES. A is an angel of blushing eighteen, 43. Aaron's rod, 519. Abecedarian psalms, 11. Abingdon law, 571. Absolute monarchy tempered by songs, 79. Achilles and the tortoise, 855. Acknowledge the corn, 192. Acquaintance, scrape an, 990. Actions of the just, 987. Adam and Eve, 311. Adam and of Eve, son of, 323. Adam looked when from the garden, thus, 531- Admirable Crichton, 196. Admire nothing, 805. Advertising epitaphs, 325. iEneas, Pius, 307 JEsop dancing and his monkey playing, 536. Age cannot wither her, 360. Agnes, I love but thee! 506. Albums, 72. Aldines, 96. Ales, church or holy, 156. Alexandrian library, 659. All men have their price, 946. All my eye, 352. Allured to brighter worlds, 916. Alone, so heaven has willed, we die, 567. Alter et idem, 986. Amber, fly in, 379. Ambiguity in epitaphs, 330. America, 800. Another and the same, 986. Anticipation, 9x3. Ape, to, 334. Ape of humankind, 310. Apella, credat Judaeus, 196. Apres nous le deluge, 228. Arithmetical curiosities, 824. Armed, thrice is he, 187. Ashes may be made, from his, 1077. Aspiring youth, 348. Ass, Buridan's, 134. Ass, who would not see an, 311. Assume a virtue, 437. Auch ich war in Arkadien geboren, 66. Augustine, St., and the child, 153. Avarice, a good old gentlemanly vice, 565. B. Back seat, take a, 1045. Badger State, 1039. Balances, a pair of, 5x9. Balloon hoax, 471. Baptism of fire, the, 370. Bar sinister, 519. Barbarian, gray, 344. Barnaby, Bishop, 606. Baseless fabric of this vision, 1000. Battalions, heaviest, 4x9. Bear licks her cubs, 631. Beautiful Snow controversy, 165. Beauty draws us with a single hair, 438. Beauty unadorned, 1012. Bed, we laugh in, 534. Beginning of the end, 282. Beginnings, meet the, 920. Begot by butchers, 37. Behring Sea, 516. Belgrade, siege of, 8. Bell the cat, 140. Ben trovato, 991. Berkeley said, when Bishop, 7x8. Berners Street hoax, 475. Best, corruption of the, 192. Better the day better the deed, 215. Bifrons atque custos, 305. Billet, 123. Bill-posting, 24. Bird that fouls its own nest, ill, 2x5, 239. Birth and death on same day, 174. Birth, crying at, 208, 305. Birth nothing but death begun, 105. Bishop who has finished his studies, 1036. Bite, 141. Black Maria, 691. Blasted with excess of light, 635. Blazing ubiquities, 4x6. Blessings brighten as they take their flight, 9X3- Bookful blockhead, ignorantly read, 6*3. Bragg, a little more grape, Captain, 4*8. Bread and butter, smell of, 10x5. Brother Jonathan, 1070. Bugle horn, one blast upon his, 495. Burning bridges and ships, 1005. Cadmus and the alphabet, 41. Caesar did never wrong, 125. Cain and Abel, fraternity of, 629. Calumet, 891. Cambridge, books to, 530. Candle to the devil, 229. Candle to the sun, 1040. Canossa, we are not going to, 775. Care to our coffin adds a nail, 6x6. Carlos, Don, 465. Carolina, governors of, 426. Carthage, how built, 141. Carthago, delenda est, 268. Castle, man's house is his, 496. Cat will jump, how, 365 Cat's away, mice will play, 345. Cathay, cycle of, 344. Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coute, 920. Cent, for a, 33. Centos, 744. C'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre, 684. Charbonnier est maitre chez soi, 496. Chess, life like a game of, 1032. ^534\ . Complexion, to this, 3x7. Conjectural emendation, 277. Conscience docs make cowards, 961. Constanune's dream. 540. Contentment 688. Continental damn, 147. Convey the wise it call, 368. Convincing thought of, 238. Cook your goose, 423. Cooks, cannot live without, 260. Cor ne edito, 260. Corrector, Alexander the, 33. Cosa fatto capo ha, 922. Cosmopolite, 162. Cotton, King, 587. Counx chickens before they are hatched, 151. Coute que coute, 397. Coward conscience, 186. Crapaud, Jean, 570. Crazy-bone, 402. Creation, had I been present at the, 26. Credite experto, 350. Crocodile syllogism, 856. Cromwell guiltless of his country's blood, 758. D. M., 3x5. Daggers, speak, 1023. Dalhousy, the great god of war, 82. Dam and damn, 147. Dark, leap in the, 621. Darwinism, 62. Dash above a dot, 534. Davy Jones, 580. Daws to peck at, 456. Day in thy courts, 345. Days, lucky and unlucky, 1072. De gustibus, 146. De in French names, 518. De mortuis, 348, Dead as Chelsea, 151. Dead, nothing but good of the, 348. Deaf as an adder, 16. Dear me! 836. Death borders upon birth, 195. Death in itself is nothing, 621. Decalogue in rhyme, 609. Deceived, people wish to be, 9x1. Deeds, not years, 345, 740. Deer, stricken, 1036. Defer not till to-morrow, 921. Deja! 467. Delays have dangerous ends, 921. Delaware and Blue Hen's chickens, xo8. Delenda est Carthago, 268. Denicheur de merles, 35X. Desert of the mind, X074. Despotism tempered by assassination, 985. Devil builds a chapel there. 156. Devil catch the hindmost, 345. Devil, Death, and Sin, 309. Diamonds, nine of, 805. Diamonds, valley of, 337. Dido dumb, 539. Dido's bargain, 141. Die, how to, 154. Die, and go we know not where, 621. Diem perdidi. 215. Dieu me pardonnera, 984. Differ, agreeing to, 32. Dining, live without, 260. Dining with Duke Humphrey, 500. Dinner-bell, the tocsin of the soul, 565. Dirt, to throw, 752. Discharge Bible, 9s*. Do noble things, not dream them, 423. Doctors Quiet, Diet, and Merryman, 616. Dodo, 336. Doe, John, 078. Dog, hair of*, 1012. Dog, living, and dead lion, 651. Dog, scalded, 135. Dog, try it on the, 366. Dollar, almighty, 40. Done, what's, we partly may compute, 499. Done when 'tis done, 102. Don't give up the ship, 1005. Door was open, wind blew it in, 1089. Doubts are traitors, 961. Dragons, 336. Dress, a sweet disorder in the, 1013. Drink deep or taste not, 622. Drops of water, little, 713. Drowning and hanging, 449. Drums, funeral, 456. Dude-and-pharisee, 752. Duke Humphrey, 500. Dulce et decorum est, 193. Dunce abroad and at home, 623. Dust, half deity, half, 741. Dutch mail hoax, 470. Dwarf on giant's shoulders, 414. £. Ears-to-ear Bible, 92. Earthquake's birth, a young, 759. Easy Street. 627. Eat your cake and have it, 138. Editorial, 620. Eel of science by the tail, 542. Egg, from the, 8. Egg-problem, 858. Eggs, teach grandmother to suck, 428. Elegant sufficiency, 689. Eleven, the number, 830. Elginbrodde, Martin, 323. Ell, an inch and an, 541. Eloquence of eyes, 1010. Elzevirs, 96. Emperor of Germany, 518. Emptor, caveat, 145. Encore! 397. Enemy, we have met the, 1005. England, with all thy faults, 194. English history in rhyme, 705. English spoken here, 508. English traits, 789. Enough as good as a feast, 690. Ephesian dome, 348. Equal, all men born free and, 706. Equality, 629. Equivoques, 574. Erasmus, that great injured name, 109a. Err, to, is human, 498. Es nrt der Mensch, 498. Esprit? can a German have, 4x3. Esprit de corps, 397. Et ego in Arcadia, 66. Eternal Now, 822. Eve, fairest of her daughters, 125. Even tenor of their way, 944. Eveque, etymology of, 103. Evil communications, z8x. Eye hath not seen, 944. Eye» light my pipe at your, 890. Eyes, babies in the, 76. Excusing of a fault, 878. Expect, suspect, 5x7. Faber est quisque fortunae suae, 67. Face is like the Milky Way, 457. Fain would I climb, yet fear I to fall, 528. Faint praise, damn with, 2x1. Fair, fat, and forty, 395. Fair maid, you need not take the hint, 537. Fairest things foulest by foul deeds, 193. Faith and credulity, 146. Faith, for modes of, 916. Father and child, 152. Fathers and fathers, 356. Fatti maschi, parole femine, 14. Faultless piece, 357. Fears his fate too much, 961. Federation of the world, 162. Fences, mending, 707. Festina lente, 33. Feu, 398. Fico for the phrase, 368. Fiction, names in, 785. Fiction, real people in, 949. Fights and runs away, 239. Figurate poems, 270. Figures, curiosities of, 824. Finger, to be pointed out by the, 237. Fire, walking on, 541. Fish, pretty kettle of, 582. Five, blocks of, xo6. Five, its mystic qualities, 828. Flectere si nequeo superos, 220. Floundering and foundering, 696. Flowers growing from corpses, 1078. Folly as it flies, 1006. Folly at full length, 530. Fool hath said, There is no God, 70. Fool thinks he is wise, 592. Fool with judges, 1093. Foot of the table, 454. Footprints on the sands of time, 988. Forgiveness, 168, 39X. Forked radish, 505. Formosa, 767. Fortsas catalogue, 474. Fortunatam natam me consule Romam, 995. Fought on, nor knew that he was dead, 756, Four-in-hand, 492. Four, its mystic qualities, 8a8. Fours, all, 34. Fowls of the air, behold the, 637. Fraternity, 6m Free and equal, 706. French traits, 789. |