saw the ghost who haunted the boy.'"

Such is Mrs. Bray's account of these very curious circumstances. The
ghost story inserted in Gilbert, as mentioned above, is altogether so
much in the style of De Foe, that a doubt remains whether, after all, he
may not have been the author of it. Can "D.S.," or any of your readers,
throw further light on the subject?

D.S.Y.

[Footnote 1: Of Landulph, Cornwall, the author of _Discoveries in
Asia Minor_, and the well-known _Visit to the Seven Churches of
Asia_. Mr. Arundell is now dead.]

* * * * *

PET-NAMES.

"Mary" is informed that "Polly" is one of those "hypocorisms," or
pet-names, in which our language abounds. Most are mere abbreviations,
as Will, Nat, Pat, Bell, &c., taken usually from the beginning,
sometimes from the end of the name. The ending _y_ or _ie_ is often
added, as a more endearing form: as Annie, Willy, Amy, Charlie, &c. Many
have letter-changes, most of which imitate the pronunciation of infants.
_L_ is lisped for _r_. A central consonant is doubled. _O_ between _m_
and _l_ is more easily sounded than _a_. An infant forms _p_ with its
lips sooner than _m_; papa before mamma. The order of change is: Mary,
Maly, Mally, Molly, Polly. Let me illustrate this; _l_ for _r_ appears
in Sally, Dolly, Hal _P_ for _m_ in Patty, Peggy; vowel-change in Harry,
Jim, Meg, Kitty, &c; and in several of these the double consonant. To