ABNORMAL, adj. Not conforming to standard. In matters of thought and conduct, to be independent is to be abnormal, to be abnormal is to be detested. Wherefore the lexicographer adviseth a striving toward a straiter resemblance to the Average Man than he hath to himself. Who so attaineth thereto shall have peace, the prospect of death and the hope of Hades. ABORIGINES, Persons of little worth found cumbering the soil of a newly discovered country. They soon cease to cumber; they fertilize. ABRACADABRA. By Abracadabra we signify An infinite number of things. 'T is the answer to What? and How? and Why? And Whence? and Whither?--a word whereby The Truth (with the comfort it brings) Is open to all who grope in night, Crying for Wisdom's holy light. Whether the word is a verb or a noun Is knowledge beyond my reach. I only know that't is handed down From sage to sage, From age to age-- An immortal part of speech! Of an ancient man the tale is told That he lived to be ten centuries old, In a cave on a mountain side. (True, he finally died.) The fame of his wisdom filled the land, For his head was bald and you 'll understand His beard was long and white And his eyes uncommonly bright. Philosophers gathered from far and near To sit at his feet and hear and hear, Though he never was heard To utter a word But "Abracadabra, abracadab, Abracada, abracad. Abraca, abrac, ahra, ab!" 'T was all he had, 'T was all they wanted to hear, for each Made copious notes of the mystical speech Which they published next-- A trickle of text In a meadow of commentary. Mighty big books were these, In number, as leaves of trees; In learning, remarkable--very! He 's dead, As I said, And the books of the sages have perished, But his wisdom is sacredly cherished. In "<i>Abracadabra</i>" it solemnly rings, Like an ancient bell that forever swings. Oh, I love to hear That word make clear Humanity's General Sense of Things. Jamrach Holobom. ABRIDGE, v. t. To shorten. "When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for a people to abridge their king, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."--Oliver Cromwell. ABRUPT, adj. Sudden, without ceremony, like the arrival of a cannonshot and the departure of the soldier whose interests are most affected by it. Dr. Samuel Johnson beautifully said of another author's ideas that they were "concatenated without abruption." ABSCOND, v. i. To "move" in a mysterious way, commonly with the property of another. Spring beckons! All things to the call respond; The trees are leaving and cashiers abscond. Phela Orm.