Numskull, _s._ (_numb_ and _skull_) 'a _Dullard_; a dunce; a dolt; a blockhead.' Numskulled, _a._ (from _Numskull_) 'dull; stupid; doltish.' Nun, _s._ 'a woman dedicated to the severer duties of religion, secluded in a cloister from the world.' The Nuns of London were _not_ employed in the severer duties of religion, which has nothing to do with severity. The institution of nunneries is the most atrocious insult upon human feelings, that ever disgraced the selfish and brutal policy of the Roman priesthood, and its consequences are the most shocking and criminal. The man who would palliate such an outrage on Christianity, deserves no quarter[153]. From this sample of his good sense and piety, one would hardly rank the Rambler above 'a domestic animal, that catches mice.' Jack is, '1. The diminutive of John. 2. The name of _instruments_, which supply the place of a boy, _as an instrument_ to pull off boots.' Bronchocele, _s._ 'a tumor of that part of the _aspera tertia_, called the _Bronchos_,' and this last word is wanting. Broom is 'a shrub;' and Brogue 'a kind of shoe.' See also Broomstaff, Broomy, Broth, Brothel, and Brothelhouse. Bubo, 'the groin from the bending of the thigh to the _scrotum_;' but the _scrotum_ is not explained. Snot. 'The mucus of the nose.' Nose. 'The prominence on the face, which is the organ of _scent_, and the emunctory of the brain.' He should have said the organ of _smell_, for we do not say the sense of _scenting_. But from what he says of them, it appears that he is ignorant of the distinction between these two words. If the nose were the emunctory of the brain (which every surgeon's apprentice knows that it is _not_), in that case snot could not be the mucus of the nose, but the mucus of the brain. It belongs to neither. It is entirely, or principally formed in the glands of the throat, as we see every day in coughing. To contradict such inconsistencies, would be below the dignity of any writer, if they were found in a book less famous than the English Dictionary. Rust. 'The red _Desquamation_ of old iron.' Desquamation. 'The act of scaling foul bones.' Sinew. '1. A tendon; the ligaments by which the joints are moved. 2. _Muscle_ or _nerve_!' Other metals rust as well as iron, and rust is not always red; that of copper for instance is blue or green. It is not quite clear why the word _Desquamation_ is introduced. But his account of _sinew_ exceeds every thing of the kind. Highflier. 'One that carries his opinion to extravagance.' The word relates to a particular set of men in this country, and to them only. A Dervise, a Friar, and a Bramin, profess extravagant opinions; but an English writer would not call them _Highfliers_, nor would he be understood if he did.