H. EDWARDS.

[17] Reports from the Commissioners of Charities b. 235. 32nd
part 4.--696.

[18] Ibid.


_Derivation of "Calamity"_ (No. 14. p. 215.)--"Calamity" is from
the Latin _calamitas_, from _calamus_ a straw or stalk of corn,
signifying, 1st, the agricultural misfortune of the corn being beaten
down or laid by a storm; and thence, any other trouble or disaster:--

"Ipsa egreditur nostri fundi _calamitas_."

Ter. _Eun_. i. 1.

Upon which the commentator in the Delph. ed. has this note:--

"_Calamitas_ est grando et tempestas, quæ calamos segetum
prosternit et conterit. Unde Cicero Verrem vocat '_calamitosam
tempestatem_.'"

Ainsworth, quoting the above passage from Terence, adds:--

"Ubi Donatus. Proprie _calamitatem_ rustici vocant quod
comminuat _calamum_; h.e. culmen et segetem."

The etymology of its synonym, "_disaster_," is more direct--[Greek:
dhus hasthaer], a star of evil influence, or, as we say, "born under