_Treacle._—A remarkable curiosity in the way of derivations is one traced by that indefatigable explorer, Archbishop Trench, which connects treacle with vipers. The syrup of molasses with the poison of snakes! Never was an odder relationship; yet it is a case of genuine fatherhood, and embodies a singular superstition. The ancients believed that the best antidote to the bite of the viper was a confection of its own flesh. The Greek word θηρταχή, flesh of the viper, was given first to such a sweetmeat, and then to any antidote of poison, and lastly to any syrup; and easily corrupted into our present word. Chaucer has a line— Christ, which that is to every harm triacle. Milton speaks of the “sovran treacle of sound doctrine.” A stuff called Venice Treacle was considered antidote to all poisons. “Vipers treacle yield,” says Edmund Waller, in a verse which has puzzled many a modern reader, and yet brings one close to the truth of the etymology, and shows that treacle is only a popular corruption of _theriac_. * * * * * _Wig._—This word may be cited as a good example to show how interesting and profitable it is to trace words through their etymological windings to their original source. Wig is abridged from _periwig_, which comes from the Low Dutch _peruik_, which has the same meaning. When first introduced into the English language, it was written and pronounced _perwick_, the _u_ being changed into _w_, as may still be seen in old English books. Afterwards the _i_ was introduced for euphony, and it became _periwick_; and finally the _ck_ was changed into _g_, making it _periwig_, and by contraction _wig_. The Dutch word _peruik_ was borrowed from the French _perruque_. The termination _uik_ is a favorite one with that nation, and is generally substituted in borrowed words for the French _uque_ and the German _auch_. The French word _perruque_ comes from the Spanish _peluca_, and this last from _pelo_, hair, which is derived from the Latin _pilus_. Hence the Latin word _pilus_, hair, through successive transformations, has produced the English word _wig_. * * * * * _Windfall._—Centuries ago a clause was extant in the tenure of many English estates, to the effect that the owners might not fell the trees, as the best timber was reserved for the Royal Navy; but any trees that came down without cutting were the property of the tenant. Hence was a storm a joyful and a lucrative event in proportion to its intensity, and the larger the number of forest patriarchs it laid low the richer was the lord of the land. He had received a veritable “windfall.” Ours in the nineteenth century come in the shape of any unexpected profit; and those of us who own estates rather quake in sympathy with our trembling trees on windy nights. ODD CHANGES OF SIGNIFICATION.