From this it would appear that the rack is literally that which has been wrecked, and that it should be derived from wrac, past part. of wrikan, to wreak; in short, that it is identical with the word in the Tempest in the general sense of remains; in the present case, in its special application, meaning, as Steevens explains, "the last fleeting vestige[4] of the highest clouds" previous to their final disappearance. Had it ever been used with the general sense of vapour or exhalation, or even generally for a cloud or the clouds, the case would be different; but in fact, no examples can be produced by which it can be shown that such was ever its meaning; and in the absence of proof it will be noted as not a little remarkable that, not being used to represent the clouds, which already exist in the form of vapour or exhalations, it is only employed when a word is required descriptive of an effect of their dispersion.
[4] Indeed, the action of the winds is one and the same, whether upon clouds on the face of heaven, or upon bodies at sea; and the wrack of one and the other, broken into fragments, for a fleeting space remains behind to tell the tale.
SAMUEL HICKSON.
Minor Notes.
Book-keepers.
—There is a class of persons who fall under this denomination, and to whom the following lines may give a useful hint. Doubtless some of your correspondents, who are furnished with valuable libraries and works of reference, have suffered materially from a neglect of the rules herein laid down.
†.
Lines for the beginning of a Book.
1.
"If thou art borrowed by a friend,