[From a note in Mr. Dent's interesting pamphlet, _A Treatise on
the Aneroid, a newly invented Portable Barometer; with a short
Historical Notice of Barometers in general, their Construction and
Use_, it appears that the word _aneroid_ has been the subject of
some philological discussion. "It is said to be derived from three
Greek words, [Greek: a], [Greek: neros], and [Greek: eidos], and
to signify _a form without fluid_. If so, it does not appear very
happily chosen, since it indicates merely what the instrument is
_not_, without at all explaining what it is."]
_Fox's Cunning._--Can any of your correspondents or readers give any
authentic information as to the fact having been witnessed by any one,
of the old story of the fox relieving itself of fleas by taking a
feather in its mouth, and gradually, though slowly enough, retrograding
itself into the water, first by legs and tail, then body, shoulders, and
head to the nose, and thus compelling the fleas, to escape from the
drowning element, to pass over the nose on to the bridge of the feather,
which is then committed to the stream.
Has any one actually seen this? Has any one heard it related by one who
has seen the ejectment performed?