"In this column, to decide questions concerning the current use
of words, ----'s Dictionary is consulted as arbiter.

"'N.H.R.,' Starkville, Miss.--'What is the meaning of the word
_Eothen_, and what is its derivation?'

"_Eoethen_ is Greek for 'it is used' or 'accustomed,' and is the
title of a celebrated work by Alexander Kinglake."--_American
Magazine_.

We fear that the lexicographer found his easy chair so easy that he
did not take the trouble to get out of it to consult the dictionary.

* * * * *

THE MIDGET.

As a result of the competition in cheap miniature two-seater cars we
anticipate several interesting developments and take the liberty of
extracting the following items from the newspapers of the future:--

FOR SALE.--Small two-seater car, fit gentleman five feet eleven inches
in height. Forty-two inches round the chest. Only been worn a few
times.

Why pay a thousand pounds for a large car when you can get the same
result with one of our hundred-pound Midget Cars? Our Midgets are
trained to make a noise like a six-seater touring car. We undertake
that you shall get the Park Lane feeling at suburban rates. Write for
a free sample, enclosing six penny stamps for postage.

One great attraction in the Midget Car is that you need not use a rug
to throw over its bonnet in cold weather. A tea-cosy will do.

WHAT OFFERS?--Advertiser, breaking up his collection, will sell his
stud of tame mice, two goldfish and several obsolete silkworms, or
would exchange for two-seater Midget with spanner.

DEAR SIR.--I have a small two-seater car. It is quite a young one. At
what age can I start feeding it on greenstuff? SMITH, MINOR.

PERSONAL.--Will the individual who was driving a Midget Car which ran
over old gentleman in the Strand be good enough to come forward and
pay for the watch-glass which he cracked?

BE ECONOMICAL.--Our Midgets only smell the petrol. It costs no more to
run a Midget than it does to run an automatic pipe-lighter.

_To the Midget Motor Car Company_.

GENTLEMEN,--With reference to the Midget Car you measured me for
recently, I ought to have mentioned that I wanted patch pockets on the
outside, in which to carry the tools. Yours, etc.

FOR SALE.--Owner whose two-seater car is a trifle tight under the arms
wishes to dispose of his pair of white spats.

* * * * *

"Prince Eitel Fritz has bee