chackets?), _schofel_ (name for a hansom-cab), etc.[5]. Especially during the last decades, America has strongly influenced the development of the English language. _Americanisms_ are to be found in great number both in colloquial English, and also in slang and cant. The _grammar_, as well as the _phonology_, of _cant_ differs in many respects from that of the literary language. Analogy plays an important rôle, and the anomalisms and divergencies are often of the same nature as those found in the language of children. The inflection is, accordingly, very much simplified, but, on the other hand, vulgar language has preserved several old forms which do not exist in the speech of the cultivated. The best way to study Cant and Slang is, of course, to listen to the speaking individual himself. But, for several reasons, this must, as a rule, be left to natural-born Englishmen. Another way is to study literature, especially the English and American humorists. Whoever has tried to make himself at home in this special branch of English literature has undoubtedly had some reason to complain of the insufficiency of the philological aids within his reach. He will often search in vain for the information he wants in the most detailed grammars; the dictionaries of slang and cant may stand him in good stead, but they are all insufficient, and they do not always agree with one another; in particular, their classification is very inconsistent and often erroneous. On the whole, it may be truly stated that this important part of the English language is, as yet, but imperfectly investigated. A GRAMMATICAL SURVEY I. A Few Phonetic Notes. As regards phonetics, Jerome’s language shows us the usual characteristic alterations and abbreviations of vulgar speech. The uncultivated individual instantly and invariably unmasks himself by dropping his »_h_’s», however he may struggle to avoid it. On the other hand, an _h_ not existing in ordinary pronunciation, is sometimes heard _before a vowel_, especially in _pathetic_ speech. _Heven_ money on the Purple _Hemperor_! (Three Men On The Bummel, 74. 10.) The lean girl said she had »erd on me». The fat girl remarked genteelly that she too had »heard _h_of me». with _emphasis_ upon the »hof». (P. Kelver II. 68. 6.) A man’s wife orter be to ’im a gawdess, a _h_angel, a — —. (Novel Notes 212. 31.) Mar is quite _h_anxious to see you. (P. Kelver II. 64. 30.) Thank you, I don’t _h_eat cocoanuts that have been shied at by anybody. (P. Kelver II. 64. 16.) Another characteristic of non-culture, often ridiculed in comic papers, is the pronunciation of _u_: