means to influence; as, "His ideas will affect the character of the reform." For other meanings see a dictionary.

Effluvium. The plural of this word is effluvia. It is a common error with those that have no knowledge of Latin to speak of "a disagreeable effluvia," which is as incorrect as it would be to talk about "a disagreeable vapors." And then, as effluvium means noxious exhalation, it is tautological to qualify the word with the adjective disagreeable. The ultrapurist would avoid using the word at all.

Effort without Effect. "Some writers deal in expletives to a degree that tires the ear and offends the understanding. With them everything is excessively, or immensely, or extremely, or vastly, or surprisingly, or wonderfully, or abundantly, or the like. The notion of such writers is that these words give strength to what they are saying. This is a great error. Strength must be found in the thought, or it will never be found in the words. Big-sounding words, without thoughts corresponding, are effort without effect." -William Cobbett. See FORCIBLE-FEEBLE.

"Give me

Either. This word means, strictly, the one or the other of two. Unlike both, which means two taken collectively, either, like each, may mean two considered separately; but in this sense each is the better word to use. either of them" means, give me the one or the other of two. "He has a farm on either side of the river" would mean that he has two farms, one on each (or either) side of the river. "He has a farm on both sides of the river" would mean that his farm lies partly on the one side of the river and partly on the other. The use of either in the sense of each, though biblical and defensible, may be accounted little if any better than an affectation. "There is a window at either end of the room." No; there is a window at each end of the room.

Neither is the negative of either. Either is responded to by or, neither by nor; as, "either this or that," neither this nor that." Either and neither should not, strictly, be used in relation to more than two objects. But though both either and neither are strictly applicable to two only, they have been for a very long time used in relation to more than two by many good writers; and as it is often convenient so to use them, it seems probable that the custom will prevail. When more than two things are referred to, any and none should be used, instead of either and neither; as, any of the three," not "either of the three"; 66 no one of the four," not "neither of the four."

"By the almost universal consent [correctly, in the almost universal opinion] of grammarians," says Dr. Hodgson, “either, as a distributive adjective, always retains the notion [idea] of duality; any one, therefore, should take its place in the following sentences:

"I should think myself happy if I could be admitted into your service as house steward, clerk, butler, or bailiff, for either of which places I think myself well qualified.'

"There have been three famous talkers in Great Britain, either of whom would illustrate what I say about dogmatists.'

Concerning the usage [use] of either and neither as conjunctions," says Hodgson, "it seems to be generally conceded that these words, although originally contemplating no more than duality, may be freely extended to any number of objects, as in:

"As for Baynard, neither his own good sense, nor the dread of indigence, nor the consideration of his children, has been of force sufficient to stimulate him,'" etc.

On the use of either instead of each, a correspondent

of the Birmingham Daily Press, in a letter quoted by Di Hodgson, says:

"Either refers to one of two things; each to two thing taken severally. One chair I may place on either side of the table I please. If I have two chairs, I may place one on each side of the table. Yet we continually see such phrases as, 'either side of the street was lined with police'; 'on either side of the throne was a chair of state'; 'on either side of her Majesty stood,' etc. Surely in all these cases the word each should be used, and not either."

Either alternative. The word alternative means a choice offered between two things. An alternative writ, for example, offers the alternative of choosing between the doing of a specified act or of showing cause why it is not done. Such propositions, therefore, as, “You are at liberty to choose either alternative," "Two alternatives are presented to me,' ," "Several alternatives presented themselves," and the like, are not correct English. The word is correctly used thus:

"I am confronted with a hard alternative: I must either denounce a friend or betray my trust."

"I was driven to the alternative of either surrendering the Union, and with it the Constitution, or of laying strong hands upon the colored element."-Lincoln.

"It was a fearful alternative which [that] was presented before them. There was starvation on the one hand, and the union, with all its miseries, on the other. They fled, as Nature dictated to them, from the one, and consented to take refuge in the other."-John Bright. See ALTERNA

TIVE.

Elder. See OLDER.

Electricute. Professor March says that this is the correct form for this word.

Elegant. Professor Proctor says: "If you say to an American, 'This is a fine morning,' he is likely to reply, 'It is an elegant morning,' or perhaps oftener by using simply the word elegant. This is not a pleasing use of the word." This is not American English, professor, but popinjay English. In fact, careful speakers in America use the word elegant but rarely.

Eliminate. This word, which means to put out, to exclude, is sometimes erroneously used in the sense of elicit, attain, elucidate, separate, rid, elaborate, distinguish, alienate, and so on.

"Mr. Horsman's 'first proposal is to eliminate the bishops.' If ever any one skilled in the [use of the] English language is destined to die of a word in philologic pain, that dreadful word eliminate will be the death of some of us. If Mr. Horsman meant to say that he wanted to banish, to get rid of, to expel the bishops, why didn't he say so? He does not want to eliminate them, but to turn them out; and to turn them out is easier to understand than to eliminate."-Saturday Review.

Here are some examples of the correct use of eliminate: "Culture, in [omit] so far as it affects the relation of the mind to the objects of thought, may be said to consist in the continual elimination of the accidental from the necessary."

'The preparatory step of the discussion was an elimination of these less precise and [less] appropriate significations, which, as they could at best only afford [afford only] a remote genus and difference, were wholly incompetent for the purpose of a definition."

Eliminating the cases of insanity and sudden passion, we find an immense mass [a great number] of deliberate suicides."

"The salts and compounds of urea are eliminated hy other surfaces than those of the kidneys."

"Of course, what I blamed is wholly eliminated [i. e., thrown out]."

"M. Comte's subjective synthesis consists only in elimi nating from the sciences everything that he deems worthless."

Here are some examples of the incorrect use of eliminate:

"Miss Brontë found it needful to eliminate [keep out or exclude] the supernatural, though she once or twice admits the preternatural in her pictures." Dr. Hodgson cites this, in his Errors in the Use of English (English edition), as an example of the correct use of the word.

"Results which [that] hardly any one could have clearly anticipated [foreseen], and yet in which, when once eliminated [obtained?], no thinker can hesitate to acquiesce." Acquiesce in results!! Worse writing than this is rarely met with, yet the sentence is from the Quarterly Review.

"To eliminate [separate] the real effect of art from the effects of the abuse with which it was associated."-Ruskin.

"All we can do is to select the salient points of the work and present them in such juxtaposition and contrast as may seem to be best adapted to the elimination [elucidation] of their significance."

"Never before was [had there been] so much genuine poetry eliminated by such a process of gradual accumulation and repeated touches." What this means tell who

can.

"His mission was to eliminate [rid, purge] religion of all such kindred rubbish."