SLSL Intro: Prickly Pig

[David Morris]

--- s~Z <keithsz at concentric.net> wrote:
> OED:
> 1589 PUTTENHAM Eng. Poesie II. xi. [xii.] (Arb.) 118 The Purpentines nature
is, to such as stand aloofe, to dart her prickles from her.

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I could a tale unfold whose lightest word
Would make each particular hair stand on end
Like quills upon the fretful porpentine 
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http://www.m-w.com/wftw/01jun/060701.htm
Well, Shakespeare's fretful porpentine (nowadays, porcupine) is, linguistically
speaking, a porcine cousin. In Latin (that's classical Latin, not pig Latin),
porcus meant "pig." The word porpentine was formed by pairing porcus with
spina, the Latin word for "thorn." 

The pig also has etymological kin in the lovable porpoise. The classical Latin
name for the small whale was porcus marinus (literally, "pig of the sea"); in
Medieval Latin it was also referred to as porcus piscis, or "pig fish." 

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The OED line above about the "nature" of the porpentine may be informative. 
"Stand aloofe" meaning it digs its feet in and takes an "I'm not moving"
attitude.  It is not an active or aggressive stance, more of a stance of
stubborness.  When this nature is applied to one of two characters "duking out
the fate of Europe" one could then describe the "nature" of one side of that
fight.

The same is true for a mole, a creature we're much more familiar with in the
realm of international struggles.

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http://www.moletunnel.net/
Like (but not related to) gophers, ground-squirrels and mole-rats, moles live
most of their lives beneath the surface of the ground. These insectivores are
wonderfully adapted to fossorial (underground) existence,  having broad
front-feet with outward facing palms to aid in burrowing, pinhead sized eyes
(sometimes covered with skin!) and no external ears. 
----------

Is this refference of any value?
The unit "mole" was introduced into chemistry around 1900 by Ostwald, and he
originally defined this unit in terms of gram. Gram is a unit of mass; but what
is the mole a unit of? Ostwald did not say;3 however, several years later, he
did make it clear that the concept of mole should be linked to the ideal gas. 4


Footnotes 
3"...the molecular weight of a substance, expressed in grams, shall henceforth
be called mole [. . . das in Grammen augedruckte [. . .] Molekulargewicht eines
Stoffes soll fortan ein Mol heissen]" Ref. 7). 

4 "That amount of any gas that occupies a volume of 22414 mL in normal
conditions is called one mole [eine solche Menge irgendeines Gases, welche das
Volum von 22412 ccm im Normalzustand einnimt nennt man ein Mol]" (Ref. 8) 


David Morris


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