cesses of doing. This distinction is not always observed; but careful writers observe it. I. The leaves thicken with the advance of the season. II. The leaves thicken with the advancement of the season. In this example, "advance" is preferable to advancement; for the season is spoken of as moving, not as being moved, forward. I. All this goes a long way to secure advancement under the party system. II. All this goes a long way to secure advance under the party system. In this example, "advancement" is preferable to advance; for the office-holder is represented as being advanced, not as advancing. I. The citizen has little time to think about political problems. Engrossing all his working hours, his vocation leaves him only stray moments for this fundamental duty. II. The citizen has little time to think about political problems. Engrossing all his working hours, his avocation leaves him only stray moments for this fundamental duty. In this example, "vocation" is preferable to avocation; for the writer is referring to the regular business, or calling, of "the citizen," not to his by-work or amusement, that which occupies his "stray moments." "Heaven," says Thomas Fuller, "is his vocation, and therefore he counts earthly employments avocations." In modern English, there has been a disposition to use avocations in the sense of "vocations," — pursuits in the nature of business. It is so used by Macaulay and Buckle. Till very recently, our own Thanksgiving Proclamations recommended good citizens to "abstain from their usual avocations." Of late, however, the tendency to use avocations in the sense of "vocations seems to be less strong than it was; and it should not be encouraged. Concision, in the sense of "conciseness," is not without authority; but "conciseness" is the better word, not only because it has the best use in its favor, but also because "concision" has other meanings. I. Mr. S. is the helper of poor students. II. Mr. S. is the helpmate of poor students. Helpmate in the sense of "helper " is no longer in good Observation would imply that "the centenarian birthday" was not celebrated, but looked at. I. Though she gossiped with her neighbors, she did not like to be under their observation. II. Though she gossiped with her neighbors, she liked not to be under their observance. What she disliked was to be looked at with curiosity, not to be treated with ceremonious attention. I. When he proposed a second time to Elizabeth, his proposal was accepted. Though he had no relatives, he had many dear friends. The professor was lecturing on the domestic relations of the lower animals. Mrs. Smith was full of solicitude for the welfare of her husband. The influx of people of lower standards crushed out pleasant companionships and the stimulus of common aspirations after mental culture and moral excellence. II. When he proposed a second time to Elizabeth, his proposition was accepted. Though he had no relations, he had many dear friends. The professor was lecturing on the domestic relationships which exist among the lower animals. Mrs. Smith was full of solicitation for the welfare of her husband. The influx of people of lower standards crushed out the pleasant companionships and the stimulation of mutual aspirations after mental cultivation and moral excellence. Other nouns that are sometimes confounded with one another or that are otherwise misused are ability and capacity. adherence and adhesion. argument and plea. conscience and consciousness. egotism and egoism, egotist and egoist. emigration and immigration. enormity and enormousness. esteem, estimate, and estimation. falseness and falsity. identity and identification. invention and discovery. limit and limitation. negligence and neglect. Beware of misusing nouns. novice and novitiate. organism and organization. product and production. prominence and predominance. recipe and receipt. requirement, requisition, and re quisite. resort and resource. retraction and retractation. sewage and sewerage. site and situation. specialty and speciality. unity and union. 1 visitor and visitant. Nouns and Not Nouns. "Ready writers sometimes invent nouns for themselves, or adopt the inventions of other "ready writers." A despatch has been received A cablegram has been received from America. from America. "Telegram,” though objected to at first as an irregular formation, has established itself in the language as a convenient word. Cablegram has not yet established itself, and the necessity for its introduction is far from apparent. There is a further important difference between the two words: "telegram" is formed from two Greek words; cablegram is a hybrid, "cable" coming from the French, "-gram " from the Greek. I. This was a singular combination. II. This was a singular combine. There is no necessity, and there can be no excuse, for this use of combine. The word, so often seen in American journals, is rarely, if ever, found in English publications. "Really, combine," says "The Spectator" (March 12, 1892), "is a little too barbaric a word." I. There was a conflict between his duties and his pleasures. II. There was a confliction between his duties and his pleasures. Though confliction has been employed by at least one modern philosopher of distinction, it is not in good use. It sometimes appears in college compositions. Other examples of nouns that are not nouns in good use Collegiate was once a noun, but is now in good use as an adjective only. I. An elective course in foot-ball ought to be offered by the college. It is said that four new optional courses will be offered. II. An elective in foot-ball ought to be offered by the college. It is said that four new optionals will be offered. Elective exists as a noun in the dialect of some colleges, and optional in that of others; but neither is supported by the best usage. Other examples of the unwarrantable use of adjectives as |