Acc.

Mensam, a table

Acc.

Mensas, tables

Voc.

Mensa, O table!

Voc.
Abl.

Mensae, O tables!

Abl.

Mensa, by a table

Mensis, by tables

ENGLISH-LATIN.

The plants flourish; the storm injures the plant; plants are injured by the storm; frogs are swallowed by the stork; the earth produces plants: plants are produced by the earth; O plants! how beautifully are you produced by the earth; I praise abundance of water; the storm moves the waters; the waters are moved by the storm.

After having learnt each vocabulary, you will do well to try to ascertain what words in it have representatives in English. Mensa is thus seen to consist of two parts. These two are words in English derived more or less directly from the These English representatives (denoted by the initials E. R.) parts are the stem mens, and the case-endings. To the stem mens add the several case-endings, and you form the several corresponding Latin words. Thus, from aqua we have E. R. cases. Thus, if to mens you subjoin am, you obtain the accu-B. R. herb; from praeda we have E. R. prey; from terra we aquatie; from copia, we have E. R. copious; from herba we have sative singular; if to mens you add arum, you obtain the have E. R. terrene, &c. You will soon acquire skill in disgenitive plural; and so on with the rest. gain an aid to memory, as well as an insight into the exact covering the E. R. in all cases, and in the discovery you will original meaning of many English words. Indeed, you should never allow a Latin word to pass you without endeavouring to ascertain whether it has any E. R., and if any, whether one or more, what they are, and what their signification. This you will see exemplified in the following example : Adjectives in the feminine gender are declined like mensa. DECLENSION OF SUBSTANTIVE AND ADJECTIVE. FIRST DECLENSION, FEMININE GENDER, Singular.

Before you proceed further, you should make yourself perfectly master of the case-endings and the example. Exercise yourself in giving from memory any case-ending you may please to require; also in giving the corresponding English sign.

Observe that in the example, after the word mensa, qe, stand 1 and fem. Here 1 with a noun denotes the first declension, as

afterwards 2 with a noun will denote the second declension, 3
with a noun the third declension, and so on; f.or fem. denotes the
feminine gender, and intimates that mensa is a noun of the femi-
nine gender. It may appear strange to you that a thing which in
English is of the neuter "gender," as being without sex, should
in Latin be of the feminine gender. So, however, it is. In Latin,
one way of determining gender is by the termination. Thus
all nouns ending in a (with an exception which will be
pointed out by-and-by), are of the feminine gender. And as
all nouns ending in a are of the first declension, so all nouns
of the first declension are of the feminine gender.
EXERCISES: Like mensa, a table, decline aquila, an eagle;
puella, a girl; columba, a dove; alauda, a lark; and insula,
an island. I mean that you should write these out like the
example mensa, from memory, distinguishing the case-endings
and subjoining the English to each case of each noun.

VOCABULARY.

Aqua, water; ciconia, a stork; copia abundance; herba, an herb; planta, a plant; praeda, prey; procella, a storm; rana, a frog terra, the earth; coaxo, 1, croak; dévoro, 1, I devour; turbo, 1, I disturb; noceo, 2, I injure; gigno, 3, I produce; pulchre, adv. (adverb), beautifully; saepe, adv., often; quam, adv., how! a, pre. preposition), by; note that a becomes ab, for the sake of sound, efore a vowel or a silent 4.

EXERCISES.-LATIN-ENGLISH.

Rana coaxat; rana saepe est praeda ciconiae; ciconia nocet ranae; ciconia devorat ranam; O rana, coaxas; aqua turbatur a ranâ: plantae florent; terra vestitur copia plantarum; procellae nocent plantis; terra gignit plantas; O plantae, quam pulchre ornatis terram! terra vesitur plantis.

On this exercise, I must give a few words of explanation. In the sentence ciconia nocet ranae, you have the object in the dative case. Generally the object is in the accusative case, but noceo is one of the verbs which govern their object in the dative instead of the accusative case, as will be more fully set forth hereafter.

After the passive verb turbatur, you have the instrument rand with the preposition a, whereas after the passive verb vestitur, you have copia without the preposition. The reason is that in Latin when the instrument is a person or living creature, the preposition a is usual; but it is not used when, in the second case, the instrument is a thing, that is, something without life.

Vestitur is not given in the vocabulary to this declension, because it has been given before. Here, as in other instances, words, the English of which has been previously stated, are repeated without the English, in order to secure attention and to assist the memory by repetition.

As the English sign of the dative is to or for, so you must use the one or the other as the sense requires. And as the English sign of the ablative is by, with, or from, so must you use either hy, or with, or from, according as the English idiom requires.

Magna, great; ancilla, a maid-servant; augusta, sacred; mihi, to me; est mihi, I have; tibi, to thee; est tibi, thou hast, the a word; the Latin word an is employed in asking a question, and Latin word ne is employed in asking a question, and is placed after is placed before a word or sentence; non ne asks a question with not included, as non ne vituperas? dost thou not blame mea means my; tua, thy.

EXERCISES.-LATIN-ENGLISH.

In dea, a goddess, and filia, a daughter, the dative and the ablative end in abus, instead of is; thus, deabus, to or by the goddesses; filiabus, to or by the daughters. This change is made in order to distinguish the dative and ablative cases of these feminine nouns from the same cases of the corresponding masculine nouns, viz., deus, a god; which has deis or diis, in the dative and ablative; and filius, a son, which has filiis.

Nouns of the first declension which denote male beings are of the masculine gender (denoted by m). This fact remains a fact though the termination of those nouns should happen to be feminine. Thus nauta, a sailor, is masculine, though its termination is the same as that of mensa, a table, and puella, a girl. Masculine nouns of the first declension are declined like feminine nouns of the first declension. Observe, however, that they take their adjectives in the masculine; that is the adjectives agree not in form but in sense with these mascu line nouns of the first declension, as in the following example:

N. amplus ampla amplum G. ampli amplae ampli bello, to war D. amplo amplae amplo bellum, war Ac. amplum amplam amplium bellum, O war V. ample ampla amplum bello, by war Ab. amplo amplo ampio

i

This form and other similar forms I advise you to learn by heart in three ways; first vertically, that is from top to bottom; you will thus see the identity in form of the adjective with the corresponding noun. Then learn it from the left hand to the right; thus amplus, ampla, amplum; learning the singular first and then the plural. Finally learn the caseN. G. D. Ac. V. Ab. endings in the same two ways; thus us, i, o, um, e, 0 ; and N. us, a, um, &c. You cannot bestow too much pains in making yourself perfectly familiar with each declension, each example, each form, as you go forward. There is a good Latin maxim which says "festina lente," literally hasten slowly, or as the English proverb says "slow but sure." In grammatical studies the observance of the proverb is very serviceable. The adjective liber, free, is declined like the noun puer. The adjective pulcher, fair or beautiful, is declined like the noun ager. Liber in the feminine gender is libera, and libera is declined like mensa. In the neuter gender, it is liberum, and liberum is declined like bellum. I will give you the forms in full of both liber, libera, liberum, and pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum.

ADJECTIVES OF THREE TERMINATIONS.

EXAMPLE:-Liber, free.

flies are (there are flies) in the beautiful garden; thou intrustest the horse to the field; good scholars are honoured. O my son. temples are intrusted to the gods and goddesses; O, Antony, the gods and goddesses are worshipped in temples; O good God! thou art worshipped in the fruitful fields; good men are honoured by their sons and their daughters.

QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION.

What English words are formed from the Latin words employed in this lesson? For what Latin words, employed in this lesson, are the following English words?-namely, cultivate; agriculture; variety; liberal; amplify; scholar; master; amicable; epistolary : horticulture; puerile; laud; nautical; error; poetical; ancillary; vitupe ration; copiousness; exemplary. Ascertain by the aid of the Latin the exact meaning of each of these English words. What is the gender of the nouns of the first declension? State the exceptions. What is the gender of nouns ending in us, and nouns ending in um? When is the instrument after a passive verb accompanied by the preposition a? and when does it stand without that nautae, and bono nauta? What is the meaning of est mihi? What preposition? Why do you find in this lesson such forms as boni is the vocative singular of filius and of deus?

Plural. liberae

liběra

Singular.
liběra liběrum liběri
liběra liběri

liběris

liběris

liberis

liberos

liberas

liběra

LESSONS IN BOTANY.-No. II.

FLOWERS.

liberorum liberarum liberorum FLOWERS are among the most exquisite objects of the vegeta-
ble world. How various their forms, how beautiful their
tints, how delightful their perfumes. No two are exactly
alike, even when they are of the same species, and grow on
the same stalk. Then flowers do not all unfold at once, but
appear in a wisely-ordered succession; and thus, short-lived
as they are, we have them almost all the year round. First
comes the snow-drop, which presents its modest milk-white
flower to our notice early in February; next the crocus
appears, but in its timidity, keeps close to the earth; then
rises the violet, arrayed in beauty and breathing fragrance,
with the polyanthus and auricula as her courtly attendants;
afterwards rainbow-headed tulips spring forth richly, and
anemonies follow in their train; while the ranunculus, the
lily, the carnation, and the queen-like rose, with others too
numerous to be told, close the gay and lovely procession.
of the vegetable system. Whether we contemplate the beauty
Flowers are not only the last, but the most elaborated organs
of their forms, the splendour of their colours, or the delicious
fragrance they everywhere breathe around us; or whether,
penetrating beneath the surface, we survey the delicacy of
their structure, and investigate the peculiar functions they
perform, we cannot but feel the greatest admiration of the
skill with which, in a compass so small, and by means
apparently so simple, such a series of actions, terminating in
results so varied and important, can at once be combined and
regulated.

EXERCISES.-Form, according to the models just given, pulcher hortus, a beautiful garden; femina bona, a good woman; exemplum bonum, a good example; vir magnus, a great man; ovum magnum, a large egg; ager fecundus, a fruitful field; liber puer, a free boy; scriba bonus, a good writer.

Filius, a son, makes in the vocative singular fili, and meus in the vocative singular makes mi, as, O mi fili! O my son! but filia, a daughter, makes in the vocative singular filia, and meum in the neuter makes meum, as, O mea filia! O my daughter! O meum officium! O my duty!

Proper names ending in us have i in the vocative singular, as Tullius, O Tulli; Virgilius, O Virgili; Mercurius, O Mercări; Antonius, O Antoni,

Deus, God, has in the vocative singular deus; in the plural it is thus declined: N. dii, G. deorum, D. diis, Ac. deos, V. dii, Ab. diis.

VOCABULARY.

Equus, -i, m., a horse; fecundus, -a, -um, fruitful; frumentum, -i, n.. corn; granum, -i, n., a grain; juba, -ae, f., a mane; musca, -ae, f., a fly; molestus, a, um, troublesome: varius, -a, -um, various; vireo, 2, I become green, or I become strong; colo, 3, I cultivate, I honour, or I worship; committo, 3, I intrust; curro, 3, I run; hinnio, 4, I neigh; celeriter, swiftly; longus, -a, -um, long; rego, 3, I guide, or I rule; templum, -i, n., a temple.

Man alone, of all sentient beings, appears peculiarly formed to derive pleasure from a sense of the graceful and beautiful, and from inhaling a delicious perfume, Flowers, therefore, seem to be almost exclusively formed for his benefit, considering them as a mere source of innocent gratification. It is true that the eyes of other creatures are often more acute what is beautiful or nutritious in their food; while to the than those of the human species in distinguishing between same objects their olfactory nerves are remarkably alive. But, whatever enjoyment flowers may yield them, there are delicate sensations connected with the mental faculties, and heightened by agreeable associations, arising from the brilliancy and harmony of colours, from elegance of form, and from sweetness of odour, to which they must be insensible.

In addition, however, to the pleasures thus yielded by flowers to the human faculty, these lovely and curious pro

⚫ There are a few exceptions to the rule as given in the text; but in this general outline they are not given, in order that the student's mind may trot be confused. Those who wish to enter more minutely into the subject may find the information in Zumpt's Latin Grammar, translated by Schmitz. See also the author's "Latin Made Easy," fourth edition (just ready), price

English-Latin vocabulary of all the words, as well as a general index of

The field is fruitful; are the fields fruitful? wars are not fruit-3s. 6d. The work contains copious examples, with a Latin-English and an
ful; fields are cultivated; you honour (worship) the gods; the
gods are honoured by Tully (Tullius); the horse and the mare
are guided by the man· boars run swiftly; do goats run swiftly?

subjects, forming a complete introduction to the reading and writing of Latin prose. It is published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., of London and may be procured through any respectable bookseller.

Many instances, however, occur in which the neuter gender is employed in speaking of these things.

For masculine nouns, we substitute the pronouns he, his, or him; for feminine nouns, she, hers, or her; for neuter nouns, the pronouns it or its. In the plural number the pronoun, they,

1. By placing another noun before or after the word, or by theirs, them, has no distinction to mark gender. prefixing the pronoun he or she; as,