It would take a brave soul to read a collection
of schoolboy howlers in mass : but there can be few more engaging books to dip into. In Mr. H. Cecil Hunt's anthology, Howlers (Bean, 1s. 6d.), the old classical examples are all included : trans- lations such as De mortuis nil nisi bonunt, In the dead there is nothing but bones ; Du jambon cru, What was thought to be ham ; • Un grand anglais avec son habitue! sang froid, A tall Englishman with his usual beastly cold ; and explanations such as "felo de se—found drowned—it is the French for fell in the sea." The book is divided into many sections, perhaps the most amusing of which are the sections containing scientific and Biblical howlers. " A thermometer," we read, " is for measuring how much water there is in milk ; a hydrometer for measuring how much milk there is in water." There is a very practical view shown in the answer of the child who was asked, " What is the outward visible sign or form in baptism ? " and replied " The baby."
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