Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.

OBSERVATORY, n. A place where astronomers conjecture away the guesses of their predecessors.

WHEAT, n. A cereal from which a tolerably good whisky can be made; . . . also for bread. The French are said to eat more bread "per capita" of population than any other people, which is natural, for only they know how to make the stuff palatable.

A king's staff of office, the sign and symbol of his authority. It was originally a mace with which the sovereign admonished his jester and vetoed ministerial measures by breaking the bones of their proponents.

RIMER, n. A poet regarded with indifference or disesteem.

Immortality: A toy which people cry for, And on their knees apply for, Dispute, contend and lie for, And if allowed Would be right proud Eternally to die for.

ENTERTAINMENT, n. Any kind of amusement whose inroads stop short of death by injection.