In a message dated 05/20/2001 9:37:26 AM Mountain Daylight Time, BMacKie1@compuserve.com writes: > There were British dictionaries written before Samuel Johnson's. > And the inventory said an "old" search. That probably meant an "old > dictionary." > > > > No--he's right--there really weren't any dictionaries. There were none in Shakespeare's time, for instance, early 1600s--and the earliest were so specialized that the idea of a backwoods (which Culpeper Co. was in those days) VA farmer having one is laughable. Now, I think this family was literate--at least they owned books- but James Mason only owned 200 acres at his peak--I don't think he would have owned one of those relatively rare dictionaries in 1779! And by 1779, this family had been in VA over 100 years--I think, if my "guesses" about the line are close. :) Karen

Please "search" for the history of dictionaries on the web. There are earlier dictionaries...

probe -- (a flexible slender surgical instrument used to explore wounds or body cavities) => surgical instrument -- (an instrument used in surgery),

Could be an old probe of some kind.