Exact Information is fatal to the philo
sophical temperament. A phili>sopher
U a man who can make solemn and
profound remarks about a*fc matter
whatsoever without knowing anything
about it. As soon ns he learns some
thing about a matter he is to that ex
tent excluded from philosophizing
about It. He Is no longer a pure phil
osopher; he is now.part scientist. This
explains why there nre so few promt- I
nent and prosperous philosophers these
days. With the vast development of
our means of communication, the mul- !
tlplloation of books and newspapers
and the obtrusiveness of reformers. It
Is almost impossible'to get through the
world without picking up n great deal
of correct Information, and conse
quently It Is well nigh Impossible to be
a philosopher.—I.lfe.
That "Dead Man’s Chest."
The rendering of the first line of
Stevenson's immortal song as "Fifteen
men on a dead man's chest" spoils the
significance of the phrase, writes a
correspondent. License Is permitted
to poets, but no fifteen men could ever
find room on the chest of any man,
dead or alive, unless they were Lilli
putians on the top of a Gulliver. The
actual phrase is "the Dead Man's
Chest," which Is the name of one of
the Virgin Islands, lying to the east of
Porto Itlco. It is said that when Co
lumbus discovered the group he named
them after St. Ursula and some of her
mythical virgins, but the Kngllsh buc
caneers rechristened them in homelier
terms, such as "Dutchman's Cap,”
"Broken Jerusalem." “Rum Island”
and "The Dead Man's Chest." Kings
ley refers to the matter In the first vol
ume of “At Last.” and Stevenson ac
knowledged. in his account of "Treas
ure Island,” that he had lifted the
phrase from the older novelist's pages.
