SIR,—Mr. Nicolson's knowledge of Latin is not adequate, since he
knows only two words for mental deficiency. Meredith in Chap. 34 of Rhoda Fleming, "Father and Son," brought another Latin word into English literature. Horace's "Cerritus fuit" is quoted from the Satires, II, 3, 278. The father is a rich banker and a baronet. His son is a hard-headed young man at the Bar, and his brains are always in good order. So when he explains that he intends to marry a farmer's daughter with no money, his father is vexed and surprised that he should " steer on the rocks." He must be cerritus, " crazy." Plautus in the Menaechmi joins the word with larvatus,--" bewitched," as possible explanations of odd behaviour. " Lunatic " in the New Testament is from the Latin lunaticus, " moonstruck "; see the Vulgate, Matt. XVII, 15.—Yours faithfully, VERNON RENDALL. Oxenwood, California Lane, Bushey Heath.
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