[78-L] Albums ^

[David Lennick]

On 10/9/2010 1:01 AM, D P Ingram wrote:
>    album, n.2
>
>      Add:    3. album graecum (grakm, gri-) [L. graecum, neut. sing. of graecus Greek], the excrement of dogs, hyenas, etc., after it has dried and whitened, formerly used medicinally.
>
> 1607 TOPSELL Foure-f. Beastes 189 The dung of dogges (called by the Apothecaryes Album Græcum) because the white is best,..is verye profitable..against inflamations in the brests of Women. 1804 SOUTHEY Let. 5 Mar. (1965) I. 355, I have called him [sc. Malthus] a dog by implicationhaving mentioned his album græcum. 1877 Encycl. Brit. VI. 353/1 Buckland's conjecture that they were of fæcal origin, and similar to the album græcum or excrement of hyænas, was confirmed by Dr Prout.


I always suspected there was more than a little truth to this. And to the often 
repeated dictum of how to predict a hit record: "Throw enough s**t against the 
wall and see what sticks."

And don't forget the other meaning of "broadcaster", i.e. a manure spreader.

dl