ment'—the Marchioness de Brinvilliers, Inventress of the 'Application of Alteratives to the Digestive Faculty'—and the Rev. F. Gustrell (the being who cut down Shakspeare's mulberry-tree), leader of the 'Association for the Refinement of Literary Taste.' Afterwards enter, on the other side, Sir Isaac Newton's little dog 'Diamond,' carrying in his mouth a half-burnt roll of manuscript. He pointedly avoids the procession and the banner, and marches past alone, serene in the consciousness that he, single-pawed, conceived and carried out his great 'Scheme for throwing fresh light on Mathematical Research,' without the aid of any Association whatever.]
Min. Nostra, the plural of nostrum, 'a quack remedy'; and damus, 'we give.' It is a suggestive name.
Nos. And, trust me, it is a suggestive book that I now lay before you. 'Syllabus—'.
Min. (interrupting) You mean 'a Syllabus', or 'the Syllabus'?
Nos. No, no! In this railroad-age, we have no time for superfluous words! 'Syllabus of Plane Geometry, prepared by the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching.' Fourth Edition, 1877.
Min. How do you define a Right Line?
Nostradamus reads.
P. 7. Def. 5. 'A straight line is such that any part will, however placed, be wholly on any other part, if its extremities are made to fall on that other part.'
Min. That looks more like a property of a Right Line than its essence. Euclid makes an Axiom of that property. Of course you omit his Axiom?
