Belladonna, n.: In Italian a beautiful lady; in English a deadly poison. A striking example of the essential identity of the two tongues.

RUSSIAN, n. A person with a Caucasian body and a Mongolian soul. A Tartar Emetic.

PANTOMIME, n. A play in which the story is told without violence to the language. The least disagreeable form of dramatic action.

EJECTION, n. An approved remedy for the disease of garrulity. It is also much used in cases of extreme poverty.

Be as decent as you can. Don't believe without evidence. Treat things divine with marked respect — don't have anything to do with them. Do not trust humanity without collateral security; it will play you some scurvy trick. Remember that it hurts no one to be treated as an enemy entitled to respect until he shall prove himself a friend worthy of affection. Cultivate a taste for distasteful truths. And, finally, most important of all, endeavor to see things as they are, not as they ought to be.

MANNA, n. A food miraculously given to the Israelites in the wilderness. When it was no longer supplied to them they settled down and tilled the soil, fertilizing it, as a rule, with the bodies of the original occupants.

April fool, n. The March fool with another month added to his folly.