Origin of Three Common Things.
Some of our most common symbols have interesting derivations. Take, for instance, the dollar sign ($), which every one knows and loves—to a more or less extent. Several explanations have been given of its origin. The most probable is that it is a modification of the figure 8, denoting the famous "piece of eight" of pirate lore, a Spanish silver piece of the value of our dollar. Another theory is that it represents the scroll and pillars depicted on certain Spanish coins. Still another makes us question whether it is not a monogram of the letters "U.S." It has even been stated that this mark at one time appeared on the flag of Saragossa, a city famous for its two months' siege by the French in 1808.
The symbol Rx, standing for recipe—take—was originally the symbol for Jupiter, a sign placed at the head of a medical formula to propitiate Jove, that the compound might act favorably. The character & is a corruption of the Latin word et, the letters being written as one.
Hunting Deer in California.
I wish you could see the picturesque spot where we are spending the summer. We are in a deep cañon, surrounded by the Santa Cruz Mountains, all of them over 2000 feet high. Llagas Creek, which abounds in cataracts, runs through the ravine. But the attractive feature of the place is that deer abounds on the hill-sides. The season opened on the 15th of July. At three o'clock on that morning thirteen hunters, dressed in leggings and corduroys, mounted their horses and started out, followed by a large pack of hounds, for the deer haunts.
The leader of the party in an hour's time had reached a convenient spot and divided his men into sets of two or three, stationing them in certain spots where the deer, scented by the dogs, would be likely to pass. Within three hours' time we heard the crack of rifles, and then the blowing of the horns brought us the joyful news that the hunters had been successful. By eight o'clock the party returned to the house, one of them leading on the back of a horse a fine buck weighing 100 pounds, exclusive of head and antlers. To-day we have been feasting from some choice bits, and feel that though we did not do the shooting ourselves, we were decidedly "in it."
Geraldine Scupham.
Llagas, Cal.
