the bee, as names of genera, are used for swarms and multitudes of those insects: "And it shall be in that day that Jehovah will hiss to the fly which is at the end of the rivers of Egypt, and to the bee which is in Assyria, and they shall come and rest all of them in the desolate valleys, and in the clefts of the rocks, and in all thorn-hedges, and in all pastures." In passages like the following, man is put for mankind: "As for man, his days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it and it is gone" (Ps. ciii. 15, 16). "Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward" (Job v. 7). Hand is sometimes put by the figure for the person; as, "My hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols ;" and "My hand hath found as a nest the wealth of the nations" (Is. x. 10, 14), for I have found them.

In expressions like the following, "The Indians hunt the buffalo, the bear, and the wolf," the genera are put for individuals of those animals. So also in numerous expressions used in common life; as, man tames the horse, the ox, the mule, the elephant; he cultivates the potatoe, the melon, the apple, and the orange, the genus is put for individuals in great numbers and multitudes.

The synecdoche is a verbal figure.

It is not

founded, like the metaphor, on resemblance; nor

like the metonymy, on the connexion of place with that which occupies it, of a cause with its effect, or of an instrument with the agent who uses it; but of the relation of a part of a thing, or one of a kind, to the whole, or of the whole to a part. It is used much less frequently even than the metonymy, and far less than the metaphor and simile.

What is the synecdoche? On what is it founded? How does it differ from the metaphor, simile, and metonymy? Give examples of it.

CHAPTER VI.

THE HYPERBOLE.

THE Hyperbole is an exhibition of things as greater or less in dimensions, more or less in number, or better or worse in kind than they really are as it is said of a large man he is a giant; of a small one he is a pigmy; of an elegant and expensive house it is a palace; and of a small, cheap, and unfashionable one it is a hovel. The figure is of rare occurrence in the sacred volume. There is an example (Job xl. 23), "He trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth." There are several in Isaiah; as, "Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots; their land also is full of idols" (chap. ii. 7, 8), where the land is said to be full of those objects, to denote that they were very abundant.

Expressions like the following-he is the first orator of the age; he is the greatest of the living poets; she is the most elegant woman of the time

-are often used of those who are only distinguished for oratory, poetry, and beauty, not the most eminent for them.

The objects to which the figure is applied actually have the qualities that are ascribed to them; as it is only those who are truly beautiful who are said to be most beautiful, only those who are large who are called giants, and only those who are dwarfish who are said to be pigmies; and the figure lies in representing their peculiarities as greater than they are. It differs, accordingly, from the comparison and metaphor, which are founded on resemblance; from the metonymy, which is founded on the relation of different things to one another; and from the synecdoche, which is founded on the relation of a part to the whole, or of the whole to a part.

What is the hyperbole? What is its peculiarity compared to the simile, metaphor, metonymy, and synecdoche Give examples

of it.

CHAPTER VII.

THE HYPOCATASTASIS.

A Hypocatastasis is a substitution, without a formal notice, of an act of one kind, with its object or conditions, for another, in order, by a resemblance, to exemplify that for which the substitute is used.

Thus a person attempting to accomplish something that, either from its nature or his condition, is impossible, or extremely difficult, is said to "undertake to force his bark against wind and tide:" a work of one kind which is known to be hopeless, being employed to exemplify the impracticableness of the other. In like manner, it is said of one who encounters strong opposing influences in the accomplishment of an object, "he is struggling against the current," or "he is trying to swim up stream ;" and of one who is endeavoring to effect an object without the requisite means, "he is attempting to make