PREFACE

    HIS little volume was written for
Tno reason on, earth and with no
     earthly reason. It just simply
happened, on the principle, I suppose
that "murder will out."  Murder is a
bad thing and so are nonsense rhymes.
There is often a valid excuse for mur-
der; there is none for nonsense rhymes.
They seem to be a necessary evil to
be classed with smnallpo.r, chicken-pox,
yellow fever and other irruptive dis-
eases. Thea are also o01 the order of
the boomerang and even tually rebound
and inflict much suffering on the un-
lucky verse-slinger. So A-Ol see non-
sense, like a little learni)ng is a dan er-
ous thing and should be handled with
as much care as the shot gun which is
never known to be loaded.
  A man who writes nonsense mav
become in time a big gunt. But this