CABBAGES, CONSEQUENCE, AND THE MANGOLD- WURZEL.
(To THE EDITOR or THE " SPECTATOR.")
Bta,—A few days ago I was myself discussing with a friend the correctness of the spelling " mongold-wurzel "; so when I was reminded of it by reading your correspondent's remarks on the subject I consulted the New English Dictionary, and the result may perhaps interest some of your readers who have net that great book within reach. We are told that " the cor- rupt form Mangel-wurzel' (in English now the prevailing form) suggested, or was suggested by, a pseudo-etymological association with the German Mengel, want,' whence in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the name was often mis- translated 'root of scarcity' (French racine de disette)." The correct German form Mangold was in earlier times Man golt, and the only suggestion offered as to its origin connects it with the personal name Manegolt, an explanation which, at any rate, does not appear far-fetched. The German Mangold wurzel is literally translated " beet root."—I am, Sir, &c.,
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