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"I got eight bills for a barefoot bucket of bolts that was down on its knees with 38 on the clock, and two dozen for a loaded cream puff with a few dings." I was reminded of some more lingo that one might encounter between two used-car dealers when I read your Oct. 13 article on the adman's jargon: "Dog, lemon, roach, bucket of bolts, Southern beauty, Detroit taxicab," etc. (a used car in very poor condition); "piece, piece of iron" (any car); "heat and music" (radio and heater); "bill" ($100); "dozen" ($1,200) "cream puff" (a used car that was well taken care of) ; "dings" (minor dents) ; "down on its knees" (bad front end) ; "on the clock" (on the speedometer) ; "barefoot, no rubber, no shoes" (wornout tires); "stick and no box" (aerial but no radio).
WILLIAM B. REED
Maiden, Mass.
Seed into Stone
Sir:
Re the contraceptive, gromwell [TIME, Oct. 6]: may I say that this business of scientists working their heads off trying to discover something the old Shoshone Indians have known for ages is discouraging enough in itself, but why don't these myopic researchers take a course in simple Latin and discover what the old Roman botanical titles of these herbs meant in the first place? Even a schoolboy can tell at a glance that Lithospermum officinale means "seed petrified in the laboratory" . . . Gromwell indeed ! . . .
POLLARD GARRISON Hollywood, Calif.
Sir:
It is interesting to note in connection with your article on the herb, gromwell, that the scientific name Lithospermum officinale may well be translated "stone sperm." This would indicate that the taxonomist who tacked the name to the species was aware of its fertility-inhibiting properties . . .
It appears that the name was given to the herb by Joseph Pitton Tournefort [1575-1626], an eminent botanist of the pre-Linnaean era. Tournefort, it may be noted, studied medicine for two years; could it be that in Europe the qualities were known as well as they were to the Shoshone Indians?
MARY TRAVIS ARNY
Montclair, N.J.
Sir:
... I would like to get some of this gromwell extract. Our cat is only five years old, but she has had 48 kittens. In the future, I would be satisfied with about four or eight kittens a year.
ROGER DORR
El Cerrito, Calif.
A Page from the Past
Sir:
I was very interested in your Oct. 6 review of Recollections of Three Reigns. Fifty years ago I was a page boy in the Naval and Military Club in London. I paged Sir Frederick Ponsonby, calling his name, as it was then, "Colonel Ponsonby," but no response. Back at the desk the caller said: "I know he is in; try again." I made a second round of the rooms, calling "Colonel Ponsonby." This time a sharp voice responded: "Boy! I am General Ponsonby." He had been listed general in that same morning's Gazette. An example of protocol if ever there was one.
(THE REV.) THOMAS J. BUCKTON Alton, 111.
The Word of God
Sir: