15 SEPTEMBER 1906, Page 15

"SENIOR" AND " NATU MAJOR."

ITo THE EDITOR OF THE "SescrAroa.-] SIR,—Mr. Sloman's distinctions are logical enough (Spectator; September 8th). I doubt whether they are practical. The first quotation, co. " natu " in Facciolati, is " Consurgit P. Scaptius de plebe magno natu." Could not Livy have used senex with exactly the same meaning P Possibly he did not, use that word because of the distinction between the senioruni and " iuniorum centuriae." The words diurnus and guotidianus supply a parallel. Logically, diurnus means "what belongs to day," as opposed to nocturnus ; but it is very frequently used in the sense of "day by day."—I am,