n the "School-boy Magazine" has gathered together the
following dictionary words as defined by certain small people:

Bed-time--Shut eye time.

Dust--Mud with the juice squeezed out.

Fan--A thing to brush warm off with.

Fins--A fish's wings.

Ice--Water that staid out in the cold and went to sleep.

Monkey--A very small boy with a tail.

Nest-Egg--The egg that the old hen measures by, to make new ones.

Pig--A hog's little boy.

Salt--What makes your potato taste bad when you don't put any on.

Snoring--Letting off sleep.

Stars--The moon's eggs.

Wakefulness--Eyes all the time coming unbuttoned.

The following specimens from scholars' examinations in making sentences
to illustrate the definitions of words, found in their small
dictionaries, will have a familiar sound to some of our readers:

Frantic = Wild: I picked a bouquet of frantic flowers.

Retorted = Returned: We retorted home at six o'clock.

Summoned = Called: I summoned to see Mary last week.

Athletic = Strong: The vinegar was too athletic to be used.

Poignant = Sharp: My knife is very poignant.

Ordinances = Rules: We learned the ordinances for finding the greatest
common divisor.

Turbid = Muddy: The road was so turbid that we stuck fast in the mud.

Tandem = One behind another: The scholars sit tandem in school.

Akimbo = With a crook: I saw a dog with an akimbo in his tail.

Atonement = Satisfaction: There is no atonement in boat-riding in a cold
day.

Composure = Calmness: The composure of the day was remarkable.

We have the authority of the late Dr. Hart as to the genuineness of the
following extracts, taken from the papers of a class seeking admission
into a high-school, to which had been given a list of words for their
meanings and applications:

Fabulous--Full of threads: Silk is fabulous.

Accession--The act of eating a great deal: John got very sick after
dinner by accession.

Atonement--A small insect: Queen Mab was pulled by atonements.

Develop--To swallow up: God sent a whale to develop Jonah.

Circumference--Distance through the middle: Distance around the middle
of the outside.

Mobility--Belonging to the people: The mobility of St. Louis has greatly
increased.

Adequate--A land animal: An elephant is an adequate.

Gregarious--Pertaining to idols: The Sandwich-Islanders are gregarious.

Fluctuation--Coming in great numbers: There was a great fluctuation of
immigrants.

Alternate--Not ternate.