When I first began to write on Mythology, I followed the Germans in using _mythus_ for the Greek ~mythos~. I afterwards thought it would be better to Anglicise it, and, strange to say, I actually found that there was a rule in the English language without an exception. It was this: Words formed from Greek disyllables in ~os~, whether the penultimate vowel be long or short, are monosyllables made long by _e_ final. Thus, not only does ~bôlos~ make _bole_, but ~polos~ _pole_, ~poros~ _pore_, ~skopos~ _scope_, ~tonos~ _tone_, &c.; so also ~gyros~, _gyre_; ~thymos~, _thyme_; ~stylos~, _style_; ~kybos~, _cube_, &c.: I therefore, without hesitation, made an English word _m[=y]the_. Mr. Grote, in his _History of Greece_, has done the very same thing, and probably on the same principles, quite independently of me; for, as I am informed, he has never condescended to read my _Mythology of Greece and Italy_, perhaps because it was not written in German. We have had no followers, as far as I am aware, but Miss Lynn, in her classical novels, and Mr. J. E. Taylor, in his translation of the _Pentamerone_, &c. Meantime the English language had got another form of ~mythos~, namely, _m[)y]th_, which I believe made its first appearance in Mr. Cooley's _Maritime and Inland Discovery_, and so has the claim of priority, if not of correctness. This form has been so generally adopted, that it seems likely ere long to become a mere slang term. It is used for every kind of fiction whatever; indeed, I have seen it employed where the proper word would be _hoax_. Nay, to make matters worse, it is actually used of persons. Mrs. Harris, for instance, has been termed a _myth_, as also was Robin Hood, not long since, even in "N. & Q."! I wonder how Apolodorus would have looked, if he had heard Orion or Polyphemus called a ~mythos~! Do I then expect the people of England to surrender their glorious privilege of going wrong without let or hindrance, in matters of grammar and etymology? Far from me be such folly and presumption. All I venture to expect is, that men of learning and good sense will, when they are speaking or writing about those venerable fictions which once commanded the assent of polished nations, use the more dignified term _m[=y]the_, and the adjective _mythic_, instead of the hybrid _mythical_, leaving the poor unhappy little _m[)y]th_ to be bandied about at the popular will and pleasure. THOS. KEIGHTLEY. * * * * * WITCHCRAFT IN 1638. I inclose you an extract from an old document in my possession, which appears to be the examination of two witnesses against one Mary Shepherd for witchcraft. The nature of the offence is not {327} specified. Perhaps it may be interesting to some of your readers. _The Exa[=m] of Jone Coward of Wareham, taken upon Oath the 28 March, 1638._