are a class of Enigma generally formed by the first, sometimes the
first and last, letters of words, or of transpositions of letters, or
additions to words. Dr. Johnson, however, represents Rebus to be a
word represented by a picture. And putting the Doctor's definition and
our own explanation together, the reader may glean a good conception
of the nature of the Rebus of which the following is an example:
The father of the Grecian Jove;
A little boy who's blind;
The foremost land in all the world;
The mother of mankind;
A poet whose love-sonnets are
Still very much admired;--
The _initial_ letters will declare
A blessing to the tired.
Answer--_S_aturn; _L_ove; _E_ngland; _E_ve; _P_lutarch.
The initials form _sleep._
The excellent little work mentioned in para. 63, entitled "Philosophy
and Mirth united by Pen and Pencil," has this novelty, that many of
the Enigmas are accompanied by enigmatical pictures, so that the eye
is puzzled as well as the ear.
[GLASS FIRST BROUGHT TO ENGLAND A.D. 668.]