&c. want the final m, so powerful as to render it absolutely ne cessary to resort to any other case than the accusative for the solution of the apparent difficulty which their termination involves. Of the facility with which the Romans, even in the most perfect state of their literature, dispensed with their final m, none can entertain any doubt who recals to mind the fact already alluded to, and familiar to the most ordinary scholar, its regular elision in every kind of verse, when the following word begins with a vowel. As this elision is universal, we cannot be persuaded to consider it as a poetical licence, nor an unauthorised innovation on the established pronunciation of Latium. The poet was taught it by the practice of his country, and merely adhered to a usage which he found he had neither the right nor the power to alter. Again, in regard to the final m of the accusative singular, genitive plural, &c. we may observe, that its obscure enunciation appears to have led to its exclusion from all inscriptions of very ancient date. Some contrivance, indeed, such as the apostrophe before s of the English genitive, may possibly in these cases have been employed to denote the absence of a letter, though none such, so far as I know, is mentioned by those who have examined, collected, and arranged the inscriptions that remain. Of the fact itself there cannot perhaps be adduced a stronger and more conclusive proof than that furnished by the inscription dug up about three centuries ago near the Porta Capena, commemorative of the reduction of Corsica and Aleria by L. Scipio, a son of Scipio Barbatus. It is thus exhibited by Sirmond and Aleander: and by Hobhouse, Illustrations, &c. p. 170. See also the preceding page of the same author, where he quotes another inscription equally illustrative of the opinion which we have advanced. Honc oino ploirume. cosentiunt. R. Luonoro. optumo fuise. viro Lucio M. Scipione filios Barbati Consol. Censor. Aidilis. hic fuet. Hic cepit Corsica Aleriaque urbe. Dedet tempestatibus. Aide mereto. These words in the orthography of a later age are as follows: Hunc unum plurimi consentiunt Roma bonorum optumum fuisse virum Lucium M. Scipionem. Filius Barbati, Consul, Censor, Edilis hic fuit. Hic cepit Corsicam Aleriamque urbem. Dedit tempestatibus adem merito.' The 'Sed et patet illud, quod dixi, ex antiquissima inscriptione L. Scipionis, ubi m in aliquot vocabulorum extremo omittitur, tanquam litera olim minus, at a posterioribus magis frequentata, vel certe adscititia, et ideo omission of the final m throughout this inscription cannot be accidental. The peculiarity which so strikingly attracts our attention, in contemplating this very ancient relique, gives a strong appearance of plausibility to the opinion which has been advanced; and when we consider that this explanation coincides perfectly with the signification which the words referred to bear, whilst all others deviate from it more or less, the evidence in favor of the origin for which we contend seems to be as clear, full, and consistent, as the philologist can reasonably expect. The termination om is well ascertained to be a more ancient form of the accusative than um in words of the second declension, nor can it for a moment create a doubt in the mind of any intelligent inquirer. On somewhat better grounds, however, it may be questioned how Quo can be a product of Quem; a position obviously assumed when we maintain that to all the words mentioned, in locum must be supplied to fill up the ellipsis in their construction. Whatever be the rationale of the declensions-whether, as many grammarians think, their number may safely be restricted to three, or whether they may be divided into five, as is uniformly done by the practical teacher of the language, or whether they may with still greater propriety be reduced to one, appears on this occasion to be a question which it is of little consequence to investigate. That the same word assumes the garb sometimes of one declension, sometimes of another, is a fact of too ordinary occurrence to be denied; and the simple mention of this circumstance is sufficient to account for the apparent anomaly observable in attempting to derive Quo from Quem. Quo, qua, quo, in the ablative; quorum, quarum, quorum, and queis, in the genitive and dative plural, with other cases as analogically formed as these, clearly demonstrate the relation subsisting between Qui and words of the first and second declension; whilst Quibus, the obsolete nominative plural ques, quem, cui, &c. evince its affinity to the third. The forms cuimodi and cuicuimodi too, which are decidedly genitives, refer us at once to Quus, or Cuus, a, um, as their nominative, and prove the regular inflexion of this word in ancient times, either as an adjective of the first and second declensions, or of the third, at the pleasure of the writer. From this Quus then is formed in the accusative Quum, or Quom, or Cum, addi modo, modo omitti, solita. Denique colligitur id ex eo etiam, quod sola hæc consonans in metro, sequente vocali, eliditur. Perizon. in Sanct. Min. p. 487. Ed. Amstel. 1714. which grammarians denominate adverb, conjunction, or preposition, according to the place it holds, and the duty it performs, in a sentence.' There can be no doubt, then, that the accusative was anciently quom; and, if this is admitted, we have only to contend for the facility with which the elision of the final m is effected to establish a perfect coincidence between the form of the word and its appropriate and characteristic meaning. This correspondence between the origin and the meaning—a correspondence which ought to be the groundwork of every philological investigation-cannot, on any principle with which we are acquainted, be reconciled with the formation of these words from any other case than that to which we have referred them. If such be the origin of Quo, the other words mentioned are so obviously formed on the same principle as to need no farther illustration or comment. Edinburgh, April, 1824. A. R. C. DE QUANTITATE SYLLABARUM ANCIPITUM IN Fortuitus, Gratuitus, Pituita. "Gratuitus sicut et fortuitus, auctoritate Horatii contra vulgum, penultima producta." Chr. Becmani Bornensis Manuductio ad L. L. necnon de Origg. L. L., Hanoviæ 1629. p. 514. "A forte est fortuitus; ut a gratis, gratuitus. Fortuito non tam adverbium est, quam quasi adverbium. Nam intelligitur casu. Interdum tamen junctim legas, Casu et fortuito. Sed tum potius fortuitu scribendum, ut est in melioribus libris. --Ex gratiis autem factum gratis xarà σuyxony: a quo gratuitus; ut a forte, fortuitus." Jo. G. Vossii Etym. L. L. 66 Fortuitus, pænultima producitur ab Horatio Od. 2, 15, 17. The preposition, as it is called, seems to imply time, and intimates that some act or condition is contemporaneous with another mentioned. It is spelt quom in an inscription quoted by Lanzi, p. 154. Dr. Butler's derivation from ov or ou is not, we think, probable. See his Praxis, &c. But this subject would require a dissertation. Nec fortuitum spernere cespitem Leges sinebant. Sic Phædrus 2, 4, 4. Auson. in vII Sap. de Solone v. 3. At Manil. 1, 182. Petron. Sat. c. 135 Juvenal. Sat. 13, 225. et alii corripiunt: nisi malis ad synæresim recurrere, et trisyllabam vocem facere: quod tamen durius esse videtur." Forcellini Lex. tot. Latin. "Gratuitus, pænultima syllaba brevis est, Stat. Silv. 1, 6, 16. Quidquid nobile Ponticis nucetis, Quod ramis pia germinat Damascus, Largis gratuitum cadit ruinis. Posse tamen produci quidam putant, exemplo rou fortuitus ap. Horat. Od. (1. c.)" Forcellin. "Fortuito, mediam ut plurimum producit, Plaut. Aul. 1, 2, 41. Horat. Od. (l. c.) Nec fortuitum spernere cespitem. Sic gratuitus, pituita." Ph. Parei Lex. Cr. "Gratuita opera, Cist. 4, 2, 74. penultima longa, ut ap. Horat. fortuitum." Pareus. "Fortuitus,' inquit Serv. in Æn. 6, 179. Itur in antiquam silvam etc. ab eundo est et a fortuna compositum.' Quod vanum: itus est terminatio, ut in gratuitus. Sed illud recte, quod ibidem ait, 'Producit autem I, et corripit,' laudatque Juvenal. Sat. 13. extr. Non quasi fortuitu nec ventorum rabie, sed Iratus cadat in terras, et vindicet ignis. Et contra Horat. Carm. (1. c.) Hic enim nisi I litera longa sit, non stat versus. Hactenus ille. Versus Horatii est alcaicus dactylicus; tui secundus pes est iambus. Sic corripitur Manil. 1, 182. Nam neque fortuitos ortus surgentibus astris: producitur in illo trochaico Auson. VII Sap. Solon., Non_erunt honores unquam fortuiti muneris." Gesner. Thes. L. L. "Gratuitus, quantitas tertiæ syllabæ prorsus est anceps, eodem modo ut in fortuitus, cujus tertiam Horatius produxit (1. c.) Stat. Silv. 1, 6, 16. Et quas præcoquit Ebosita cannas, Largis gratuitum cadit rapinis. Sunt phaleuci." Gesner. "Fortuitus, anceps est; usitate autem corripitur. Plautus, Horatius, Ausonius, Buchananus, et Heinsius produxerunt: Manilius contra et Juvenalis corripuerunt; quorum tamen in locis qui cum Olao Borrichio in Parnasso in Nuce ad v. 830. Guritnow comminiscuntur, quasi for tui tus tribus syllabis longis: ultima nempe ob sequentis vocabuli incipientem consonantem per positionem longa: dicti hi poetæ posuissent, temere nituntur contra. Analogia enim, quæ est in gratuitus, de quo paulo post, huic figmento obstat; si enim Papinius Statius penultimam in gratuitus corripit, cur non similiter eadem in fortuitus corripi queat? Cf. Poet. Giess. 71. et Voss. Art. Gramm. 297." Noltenii Ler. Anti-Barbarum 1,275. “Gratuitus, anceps; usitate autem corripitur. VOL. XXIX. CI. JI. NO. LVIII. Dousa qui 2 A dem 1. 1. Præcidaneorum in Petron. 16. produci tantum debere contendit; sed contra Statii, luculentissimi poetæ, auctoritas est 1. 1. Silv. Carm. ult., ubi legas v. 16. Largis gratuitum cadit rapinis. Neque enim hic comminiscenda Guvinois est, quasi gratuitum tribus syllabis dixerit. Nusquam enim Papinius in phalæcis in hac regione, spondeo est usus, quod Catullus sibi permisit. Rectius igitur statuetur penultima anceps, ut eadem in fortuitus, de quo supra. Nam si Papinius tertiam in gratuitus corripuit, cur non similiter tertia in fortuitus corripi queat? Ac si Plautus, Horatius, Ausonius tertiam in fortuitus produxere, cur non ad illud exemplum tertiam quoque in gratuitus producere liceat?" Noltenius 1. c. p. 283. "At anceps est penultima in fortuitus: quod aliqui semper corripi putarunt. Sed tantum abest, ut evincant quod volunt, ut ne illud quidem, corripi eam posse, solide probent. Juvenalis versum adducunt, cui tres primæ syllabæ constituant dactylum. Locus est Sat. 13. Non quasi fortuitus, nec ventorum rabie, sed Iratus cadat in terras, et vindicet ignis. Ita enim ex Aldina et Ms. nostro legendum, non judicet, ut in vulgatis et altero est Ms. nostro. Sed profecto argumentum hoc invalidum est, cum dici possit secundam et tertiam in fortuitu s. fortuitus, (utrumque in Mss. legas,) contrahi xarà ouvinow: quomodo et Horat. dixit Ep. 1, 1. Præcipue sanus, nisi cum pituita molesta est. Nam produci primam, liquet ex illo Catulli ad Furium, (23, 17.) A te sudor abest, abest saliva, Mucusque et mala pituita nasi. Sane pene ultimam in trochaicis istis liquido producit Plaut. Post mediam ætatem, qui mediam ducit uxorem domum, Quid dubitas, quin sit paratum nomen puero Postumus? Nec fortuitum spernere cespitem Et ap. Auson. in Ludo Sapientum est iste trochaicus, Estque scriptores hosce secutus Alciatus, cum scripsit 1. 2. Frustra putavit esse te, Virtus, datam, Quæ fortuitis serviebas casibus. Nec in fortuitus tantum, sed in gratuitus quoque eos fugit |