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Title: Notes and Queries, Number 193, July 9, 1853 - A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, - Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc
Author: Various
Language: English
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generously made available by The Internet Library of Early
Journals.)
Transcriber's note: A few typographical errors have been corrected: they
are listed at the end of the text.
* * * * *
{25}
NOTES AND QUERIES:
A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES,
GENEALOGISTS, ETC.
"When found, make a note of."--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.
* * * * *
No. 193.]
SATURDAY, JULY 9. 1853..
[Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition 5d.
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
NOTES:-- Page
The Eye: its primary Idea 25
Gossiping History--De Quincey's Account of Hatfield 26
Notes upon the Names of some of the Early Inhabitants
of Hellas 27
Shakspeare Readings, No. IX. 28
Göthe's Author-Remuneration 29
MINOR NOTES:--Parallel Passages--Unpublished Epitaphs--
The Colour of Ink in Writings--Literary Parallels--
Latin Verses prefixed to Parish Registers-- Napoleon's
Bees 30
QUERIES:--
Was Thomas Lord Lyttelton the Author of Junius's
Letters? by Sir F. Madden 31
MINOR QUERIES:--Lord Chatham--Slow-worm Superstition--
Tangiers--Snail Gardens--Naples and the Campagna
Felice--"The Land of Green Ginger"--Mugger--
Snail-eating--Mysterious Personage--George Wood of
Chester--A Scale of Vowel Sounds--Seven Oaks and Nine
Elms--Murder of Monaldeschi--Governor Dameram--Ancient
Arms of the See of York--Hupfeld--Inscription on a
Tomb in Finland--Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on
Railway Travelling--Tom Thumb's House at Gonerby,
Lincolnshire--Mr. Payne Collier's Monovolume
Shakspeare 33
REPLIES:--
Wild Plants and their Names 35
Jacob Bobart, by H. T. Bobart 37
Heraldic Queries 37
Door-head Inscriptions 38
Consecrated Roses 38
Notes on Serpents 39
Photographic Correspondence:--Early Notice of the
Camera Obscura--Queries on Dr. Diamond's Collodion
Process--Baths for the Collodion Process 41
REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Mitigation of Capital
Punishment to a Forger--Chronograms and Anagrams--
Abigail--Burial in unconsecrated Ground--"Cob" and
"Conners"--Coleridge's Unpublished MSS.--Selling a
Wife--Life--Passage of Thucydides on the Greek
Factions--Archbishop King--Devonianisms--Perseverant,
Perseverance--"The Good Old Cause"--Saying of Pascal--
Paint taken off of old Oak--Passage in the "Tempest" 42
MISCELLANEOUS:--
Notes on Books, &c. 45
Books and Odd Volumes wanted 45
Notices to Correspondents 46
Advertisements 46
* * * * *
Notes.
THE EYE: ITS PRIMARY IDEA.
I do not remember to have remarked that any writer notices how uniformly,
in almost all languages, the same primary idea has been attached to the
eye. This universal consent is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the
connexion in question, though of course most appropriate and significant in
itself, hardly seems to indicate the most prominent characteristic, or what
we should deem to be _par excellence_ the obvious qualities of the eye; in
a word, we should scarcely expect a term derived from a physical attribute
or property.
The eye is suggestive of life, of divinity, of intellect, piercing
acuteness (_acies_); and again, of truth, of joy, of love: but these seem
to have been disregarded, as being mere indistinctive accidents, and the
primary idea which, by the common consent of almost all nations, has been
thought most properly to symbolise this organ is a spring--_fons_, [Greek:
pêgê].
Thus, from [Hebrew: `IYN], _manare, scatere_, a word not in use, according
to Fuerst, we have the Hebrew [Hebrew: `AYIN], _fons aquarum et
lacrimarum_, h. e. _oculus_. This word however, in its simple form, seems
to have almost lost its primary signification, being used most generally in
its secondary--_oculus_. (Old Testament Hebrew version, _passim_.) In the
sense of _fons_, its derivative [Hebrew: MA`YAN] is usually substituted.
Precisely the same connexion of ideas is to be found in the Syriac, the
Ethiopic, and the Arabic.
Again, in the Greek we find the rarely-used word [Greek: opê], a fountain,
or more properly the _eye_, whence it wells out,--the same form as [Greek:
opê], _oculus_; [Greek: ôps, opsis, optomai]. Thus, in St. James his
Epistle, cap. iii. 11.: [Greek: mêti hê pêgê ek tês autês opês bruei to
gluku kai to pikron].
In the Welsh, likewise, a parallel case occurs: _Llygad_, an eye, signifies
also the spring from which water flows, as in the same passage of St.
James: _a ydyw ffynnon o'r un llygad_ (from one spring or eye) _yn rhoi
dwfr melus a chwerw?_
On arriving at the Teutonic or old German tongue, we find the same
connexion still existing: _Avg_, _auga_,--_oculus_; whence _ougen
ostendere_--Gothis _augo_; and _awe, auge, ave, campus ad {26} amnem_.
(Vid. Schilteri, _Thes._, vol. iii. _ad voc._) And here we cannot help
noticing the similarity between these words and the Hebrew [Hebrew: Y'OR],
which (as well as the Coptic _iaro_) means primarily a river or stream from
a spring; but, according to Professor Lee, is allied to [Hebrew: 'WOR],
light, the enlightenment of the mind, the opening of the eyes; and he adds,
"the application of the term to water, as _running, translucid_, &c., is
easy." Here, then, is a similar connexion of ideas with a change in the
metaphor.
In the dialects which descended from the Teutonic in the Saxon branch, the
connexion between these two distinct objects is also singularly preserved.
It is to be found in the Low German, the Friesic, and the Anglo-Saxon. In
the latter we have _eá_, _eah_, _eagor_, a welling, flowing stream; _eah_,
_ægh_, _eage_, an eye, which might be abundantly illustrated.
We could hardly fail to find in Shakspeare some allusion to these connected
images in the old tongue; no speck of beauty could exist and escape his
ken. Thus:
"In that respect, too, like a loving child,
Shed yet some small drops from thy tender spring,
Because kind Nature doth require it so."
_Tit. And._, Act V. Sc. 3.
"Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring;
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you, mistaking, offer up for joy."
_Rom. and Jul._, Act III. Sc. 2.
Many of the phrases of the ancient tongues, in which the eye bears a part,
have been handed down to us, and are still preserved in our own. My space,
however, forbids me to do more than allude to them; but there is one very
forcible expression in the Hebrew [Hebrew: `AYIN B`AYIN], literally, eye in
eye, which we render much less forcibly--face to face. The Welsh have
preserved it exactly in their _llygad yn llygad_. Indeed, this is not the
only instance in which they are proud of having handed down the Hebrew
idiom in all its purity. Shakspeare twice uses the old phrase:
"Since then my office hath so far prevailed,
That face to face, and royal eye to eye,
You have congreeted."--_Hen. V._, Act V. Sc. 2.
And in _Tro. and Cres._, Act III. Sc. 3; but it appears now to be obsolete.
Before concluding, I cannot help noticing, in connexion with this subject,
the Old English term "the apple of the eye." I am unable to trace it beyond
the Anglo-Saxon. The Teutonic _sehandes ougen_, _pupilla oculi_, is totally
distinct; _seha_ being merely _medius punctus oculi_, whence _sehan_,
_videre_. In the Semitic languages, as well as in the Greek and Latin, the
origin of the term is the same, and gives no clue to the meaning of the
Saxon term. Thus, in the Hebrew [Hebrew: 'IYSHWON], dim. of [Hebrew:
'IYSH], _homunculus_, the small image of a person seen in the eye. In
Arabic it is the _man_ or _daughter of the eye_. In Greek we have [Greek:
korê, korasion, korasidon]; and in Latin, _pupa, pupula, pupilla_.
Has any light been thrown on the Anglo-Saxon term? Can it be that _iris_,
not the pupil, is taken to represent an apple? The pupil itself would then
be the eye of the apple of the eye.
H. C. K.
---- Rectory, Hereford.
* * * * *
GOSSIPING HISTORY--DE QUINCEY'S ACCOUNT OF HATFIELD.
In proof of the severity with which the laws against forgery were enforced,
I have been referred to the case of Hatfield, hanged in 1803 for forging
franks. It is given very fully in Mr. De Quincey's "Literary Recollections
of Coleridge" in the first volume of the Boston edition of his _Works_.
The story has some romance in it, and excited great interest fifty years
ago. Hatfield had lived by swindling; and, though he underwent an
imprisonment for debt, had, upon the whole, a long career of success. The
last scene of his depredations was the Lakes, where he married a barmaid,
who was called "The Beauty of Buttermere." Shortly after the marriage he
was arrested, tried, and executed. Mr. De Quincey afterwards lived in the
neighbourhood, dined at the public-house kept by Mary's father, and was
waited upon by her. He had the fullest opportunities of getting correct
information: and his version of the story is so truthlike, that I should
have accepted it without hesitation but for the hanging for forging a
frank. As that offence never was capital, and was made a felony punishable
with transportation for seven years by 42 Geo. III. c. 63., I was impelled
to compare the statement founded on gossip with more formal accounts; and I
send the result in illustration of the small reliance which is to be placed
on tradition in such matters. The arrival of Hatfield in a carriage is
graphically described. He called himself the Hon. Augustus Hope, brother of
the Earl of Hopetoun. Some doubts were felt at first, but--
"To remove suspicion, he not only received letters addressed to him
under this assumed name, but he continually franked letters by that
name. Now, _that being a capital offence_, being not only a forgery,
but (as a forgery on the Post-office) sure to be prosecuted, nobody
presumed to question his pretensions any longer; and henceforward he
went to all places with the consideration due to an earl's
brother."--P. 196.
The marriage with Mary Robinson, and the way in which they passed the
honeymoon, are described:
"They continued to move backwards and forwards, until at length, _with
the startling of a thunderclap to the_ {27} _affrighted mountaineers_,
the bubble burst; officers of justice appeared, _the stranger was
easily intercepted from flight_, and, _upon a capital charge_, he was
_borne away to Carlisle_. At the ensuing assizes he was _tried for
forgery on the prosecution of the Post-office_, found guilty, left for
execution, and executed accordingly."--P. 199.
"One common scaffold confounds the most flinty hearts and the
tenderest. However, it was in some measure the heartless part of
Hatfield's conduct which drew upon him his ruin; for _the Cumberland
jury_, as I have been told, _declared their unwillingness to hang him
for having forged a frank_; and both they, and _those who refused to
aid his escape when first apprehended_, were reconciled to this
harshness entirely by what they heard of his conduct _to their injured
young fellow-countrywoman_."--P. 201.
Hatfield was not "easily intercepted from flight." Sir Frederick Vane
granted a warrant to apprehend him on the charge of forcing franks.
Hatfield ordered dinner at the Queen's Head, Keswick, to be ready at three;
took a boat, and did not return. This was on October 6: he was married to
Mary on the 2nd. In November he was apprehended near Brecknock, in Wales:
so those who refused to aid his escape, if such there were, were not
"reconciled to the hardship by what they heard of his conduct to their
young fellow-countrywoman." The "startling of the thunderclap" was preceded
by an ordinary proclamation, describing the offender, and offering a reward
of 50l. for his apprehension. He was not "hurried away to Carlisle," but
deliberately taken to London on December 12; examined at Bow Street,
remanded three times, and finally committed; and sent to Carlisle, where he
was tried on August 15, 1803.
Three indictments were preferred against him: the first for forging a bill
of exchange for 20l., drawn by Alexander Augustus Hope on John Crump,
payable to George Wood; the second for a similar bill for 30l.; and the
third for counterfeiting Colonel Hope's handwriting to defraud the
Post-office.
The Cumberland jury did not "declare their unwillingness to hang him for
forging a frank," that not being a capital offence. I infer, also, that it
was one for which he was not tried. He was convicted on the first
indictment; the court rose immediately after the jury had given their
verdict; and the prisoner was called up for judgment at eight the next
morning. Trying a man under sentence of death for a transportable felony,
is contrary to all practice. Hatfield was executed at Carlisle on September
3, 1803.
Mary's misfortunes induced the sympathising public to convert her into a
minor heroine. She seems to have been a common-place person, with small
claims to the title of "The Beauty of Buttermere." A cotemporary account
says, "she is rather gap-toothed and somewhat pock-marked." And Mr. De
Quincey, after noticing her good figure, says, "the expression of her
countenance was often disagreeable."
"A lady, not very scrupulous in her embellishment of facts, used to
tell an anecdote of her which I hope was exaggerated. Some friend of
hers, as she affirmed, in company with a large party, visited
Buttermere a day or two after that on which Hatfield suffered; and she
protested that Mary threw on the table, with an emphatic gesture, the
Carlisle paper containing an elaborate account of the execution."--P.
204.
Considering the treatment she had received, it is not unlikely that her
love, if she ever had any for a fat man of forty-five, was turned into
hatred; and it was not to be expected that her taste would keep down the
manifestation of such feeling. When Hatfield was examined at Bow Street,
Sir Richard Ford, the chief magistrate, ordered the clerk to read aloud a
letter which he received from her. It was:
"Sir,--The man whom I had the misfortune to marry, and who has ruined
me and my aged and unhappy parents, always told me that he was the Hon.
Colonel Hope, the next brother to the Earl of Hopetoun.
"Your grateful and unfortunate servant,
"MARY ROBINSON."
I do not blame Mr. De Quincey, having no doubt that he believed what he was
told; but I have put together these facts and discrepancies, to show how
careful we should be in accepting traditions, when a man of very high
ability, with the best opportunities of getting at the truth, was so
egregiously misled.
My authorities are, _The Annual Register_, 1803, pp. 421. and 428.; _The
Gentleman's Magazine_, 1803, pp. 779. 876. and 983.; Kirby's _Wonderful
Magazine_, vol. i. pp. 309. and 336. _The Newgate Calendar_ gives a similar
account but not having it at hand, I cannot vouch it.
H. B. C.
U. U. Club.
* * * * *
NOTES UPON THE NAMES OF SOME OF THE EARLY INHABITANTS OF HELLAS.
I. I have never seen it yet noticed, that the names _Pyrrha_, _Æolus_,
_Xuthus_, _Ion_, are all names of _colours_. Is there anything in this, or
is it fortuitous?
II. In accordance with the above, I think we may refer most of the names of
the early inhabitants of Greece to words denoting _light_ or _colour_, or
the like.
(1.) _Pelas-gi._ The first part of this word is, by Mr. Donaldson,
connected with [Greek: mel-as], which is also, probably, the root of
_Mol-ossi_.
(2.) _Hellenes_, connected with _Helli_, _Selli_, [Greek: selas, heulê,
hêlios]. This derivation is made more probable {28} by the fact, that the
neighbouring Pelasgic tribes have a similar meaning; _e.g._,
_Perrhæbi_, alike to _Pyrrha_ and [Greek: pur]; _Æthices_, [Greek: aithô],
_Tymphæi_, [Greek: tuphô]; _Hestiæi_, [Greek: hestia]. Add to this, that
the name _Phthiotis_ seems indubitably to derive its name from _Phthah_,
the Egyptian _Hephæstus_, and to be a translation of the word _Hellas_.
N.B.--The existence of an Egyptian colony in that part is attested by the
existence of a Phthiotic _Thebæ_.
(3.) On the other hand, the word _Achæus_ seems to be connected with
[Greek: achos, achnumai], and [Greek: achlus] in the sense of gloom (of
[Greek: ouranion achos]). So the Homeric _Cimmerians_ are derived from
[Hebrew: KIMRIYRIY] (Job), denoting _darkness_.
(4.) Lastly, I submit with great diffidence the following examination of
the words _Dorus_ and the Æolian _Minyæ_, which I shall attempt to derive
from words denoting _sun_ and _moon_ respectively.
The word _Dorus_ I assume to be connected with the first part of the names
_Dry-opes_ and _Dol-opes_. The metathesis in the first case seems
sanctioned by the analogy of the Sanscrit _drî_ and Greek [Greek: deirô],
and the mutation of _l_ and _r_ in the second is too common in Greek and
Latin to admit of any doubt, _e.g._ [Greek: ar-galeos] and [Greek:
algaletos]; _Sol_ and _Soracte_. With this premised, I think we may be
justified in connecting the following words with one another.
_Dores_, _Dryopes_ with [Greek: Seirios] (of [Greek: Sios] and [Greek:
Dios]) [Greek: Theros], the Scythian sun-god [Greek: Oito-surus], the
Egyptian _O-siris_, and perhaps the Hebrew [Hebrew: DWOR] and Greek [Greek:
dêros] (the course of the sun being the emblem of eternity).--_Dol-opes_
with _Sol_, [Greek: heilê], _Selli_, &c.
On the other hand, the neighbouring _Minyæ_ seem connected with [Greek:
minuthô, minuntha], _minus_,--all with the sense of _decreasing_ or
_waning_; hence referable, both in sense and (I fancy) in derivation, to
Greek [Greek: mên], and Latin _men-sis_.
J. H. J.
* * * * *
SHAKSPEARE READINGS, NO. IX.
"It lies as sightly on the back of him
As great Alcides' shoes upon an ass."--_King John_, Act II. Sc. 1.
"The ass was to _wear_ the shoes, and not to bear them on his back, as
Theobald supposed, and therefore would read _shows_. The 'shoes of
Hercules' were as commonly alluded to by our old poets, as the _ex pede
Herculem_ was a familiar allusion of the learned." (Mr. Knight in
1839.)
Fourteen years' additional consideration has not altered Mr. Knight's view
of this passage. In 1853 we find him putting forth a prospectus for a new
edition of Shakspeare, to be called "The Stratford Edition," various
portions from which he sets before the public by way of sample. Here we
have over again the same note as above, a little diversified, and placed
parallel to Theobald's edition in this way:
"It lies as sightly on the back of him
As great Alcides' _shows_ upon an ass."
"The folio reads 'Great Alcides' shoes.' Theobald says, 'But why
_shoes_, in the name of propriety? For let Hercules and his _shoes_
have been really as big as they were ever supposed to be, yet they (I
mean the _shoes_) would not have been an overload for an ass.'"
"The 'shoes of Hercules' were as commonly alluded to in our old poets,
as the _ex pede Herculem_ was a familiar allusion of the learned. It
was not necessary that the ass should be overloaded with the shoes--he
might be _shod_ (shoed) with them."
Now who, in reading these parallel notes, but would suppose that it is Mr.
Knight who restores _shoes_ to the text, and that it is Mr. Knight who
points out the common allusion by our old poets to the shoes of Hercules?
Who would imagine that the substance of this correction of Theobald was
written by Steevens a couple of generations back, and that, consequently,
Theobald's proposed alteration had never been adopted?
I should not think of pointing out this, but that Mr. Knight himself, in
this same prospectus, has taken Mr. Collier to task for the very same
thing; that is, for taking credit, in his _Notes and Emendations_, for all
the folio MS. corrections, whether known or unknown, necessary or
unnecessary.
Indeed, the very words of Mr. Knight's complaint against Mr. Collier are
curiously applicable to himself:
"It requires the most fixed attention to the nice distinctions of such
constantly-recurring 'notes and emendations,' to disembarrass the
cursory reader from the notion that these are _bonâ fide_ corrections
of the common text....
"Who cares to know what errors are corrected in" (the forthcoming
Stratford edition), "that exist in no other, and which have never been
introduced into the modern text?"--_Specimen_, &c., p. xxiv.
The impression one would receive from Mr. Knight's note upon Theobald is,
that Shakspeare had his notion of _the shoes_ from "our old poets," while
_the learned_ had _theirs_ from _ex pede Herculem_; but where the analogy
lies, wherein the point, or what the application, is not explained.
Steevens' original note was superior to this, in so much that he quoted the
words of these old poets, thereby giving his readers an opportunity of
considering the justness of the deduction. The only set-off to this
omission by Mr. Knight is the introduction of "ex pede Herculem," the merit
of which is doubtless his own.
But it so happens that the size of the foot of Hercules has no more to do
with the real point of the allusion than the length of Prester John's;
therefore _ex pede Herculem_ is a most unfortunate
illustration,--particularly awkward in a specimen sample, the excellence of
which may be questioned. {29}
It is singular enough, and it says a great deal for Theobald's common
sense, that _he_ saw what the true intention of the allusion must be,
although he did not know how to reconcile it with the existing letter of
the text. He wished to preserve _the spirit_ by the sacrifice of _the
letter_, while Mr. Knight preserves the letter but misinterprets the
spirit.
Theobald's word "shows," in the sense of externals, is very nearly what
Shakspeare meant by _shoes_, except that _shoes_ implies a great deal more
than _shows_,--it implies the assumption of the character as well as the
externals of Hercules.
Out of five quotations from our old poets, given by Steevens in the first
edition of his note, there is not one in which _the shoes_ are not provided
with _feet_. But Malone, to his immortal honour, was the first to furnish
them with _hoofs_:
"Upon an ass; _i.e._ upon the hoofs of an ass."--_Malone._
But Shakspeare nowhere alludes to feet! His ass most probably _had feet_,
and so had Juvenal's verse (when he talks of his "satyrâ sumente
cothurnum"); but neither Shakspeare nor Juvenal dreamed of any necessary
connexion between the feet and the shoes.
Therein lies the difference between Shakspeare and "our old poets;" a
difference that ought to be sufficient, of itself, to put down the common
cry,--that Shakspeare borrowed his allusions from them. If so, how is it
that his expositors, with these old poets before their eyes all this time,
together with their own scholarship to boot, have so widely mistaken the
true point of his allusion? It is precisely because they _have_ confined
their researches to these old poets, and have _not_ followed Shakspeare to
the fountain head.
There is a passage in Quintilian which, very probably, has been the common
source of both Shakspeare's version, and that of the old poets; with this
difference, that he understood the original and they did not.
Quintilian is cautioning against the introduction of solemn bombast in
trifling affairs:
"To get up," says he, "this sort of pompous tragedy about mean matters,
is as though you would dress up children with the _mask_ and _buskins_
of Hercules."
["Nam in parvis quidem litibus has tragoedias movere tale est quale si
_personam_ Herculis et _cothurnos_ aptare infantibus velis."]
Here the addition of the _mask_ proves that the allusion is purely
theatrical. The mask and buskins are put for the stage trappings, or
_properties_, of the part of Hercules: of these, one of the items was the
_lion's skin_; and hence the extreme aptitude of the allusion, as applied
by the Bastard, in _King John_, to Austria, who was assuming the importance
of Coeur de Lion!
It is interesting to observe how nearly Theobald's plain, homely sense, led
him to the necessity of the context. The real points of the allusion can
scarcely be expressed in better words than his own:
"Faulconbridge, in his resentment, would say this to Austria, 'That
lion's skin which my great father, King Richard, once wore, looks as
uncouthly on thy back, as that other noble hide, which was borne by
Hercules, would look on the back of an ass!' A double allusion was
intended: first, to the fable of the ass in the lion's skin; then
Richard I. is finely set in competition with Alcides, as Austria is
satirically coupled with the ass."
One step farther, and Theobald would have discovered the true solution: he
only required to know that _the shoes_, by a figure of rhetoric called
synecdoche, may stand for the whole character and attributes of Hercules,
to have saved himself the trouble of conjecturing an ingenious, though
infinitely worse word, as a substitute.
As for subsequent annotators, it must be from the mental preoccupation of
this unlucky "ex pede Herculem," that _they_ have so often put their foot
in it. They have worked up Alcides' shoe into a sort of antithesis to
Cinderella's; and, like Procrustes, they are resolved to stretch everything
to fit.
A. E. B.
Leeds.
* * * * *
GÖTHE'S AUTHOR-REMUNERATION.
The Note in your valuable Journal (Vol. vii., p. 591.) requires, I think,
so far as it relates to Göthe, several corrections which I am in the
position of making. The amount which that great man is said to have
received for his "works (aggregate)" is "30,000 crowns." The person who
_originally_ printed this statement must have been completely ignorant of
Göthe's affairs, and even biography. Göthe had (unlike Byron) several
publishers in his younger years. Subsequently he became closer connected
with M. _J. G. Cotta_ of Stuttgardt, who, in succession, published almost
all Göthe's works. Amongst them were _several_ editions of his complete
works: for instance, that published conjointly at Vienna and Stuttgardt.
Then came, in 1829, what was called the edition of the last hand (_Ausgabe
letzter Hand_), as Göthe was then more than eighty years of age. During all
the time these two editions were published, other detached new works of
Göthe were also printed; as well as new editions of former books, &c. Who
can now say that it was 20,000 crowns (_thalers?_) which the great poet
received for each various performance?--_No one._ And this for many
reasons. Göthe always remained with M. Cotta on terms of polite
acquaintanceship, no more: there was no "My dear Murray" in their strictly
business-like connexion. Göthe also never wrote on such things, even in his
biography or diary. But some talk was going around in Germany, that for
_one_ of the editions of his _complete_ works (there {30} appeared still
many volumes of posthumous), he received the above sum. I can assert on
good authority, that Göthe, foreseeing his increasing popularity even long
after his death, stipulated with M. Cotta to pay his _heirs_ a certain sum
for every new edition of either his complete or single works. One of the
recipients of these yet _current accounts_ is Baron Wolfgang von Göthe,
Attaché of the Prussian Legation at Rome.
A FOREIGN SURGEON.
Charlotte Street, Bloomsbury Square.
* * * * *
Minor Notes.
_Parallel Passages._--
"The Father of the gods his glory shrouds,
Involved in tempests and a night of clouds."--Dryden's _Virgil_.
"Mars, hovering o'er his Troy, his terror shrouds
In gloomy tempests and a night of clouds."--Pope's _Homer's Iliad_, book
xx. lines 69, 70.
UNEDA.
_Unpublished Epitaphs._--I copied the following two epitaphs from monuments
in the churchyard of Llangerrig, Montgomeryshire, last autumn. They perhaps
deserve printing from the slight resemblance they bear to that in Melrose
Churchyard, quoted in Vol. vii., pp. 676, 677.:
"O earth, O earth! observe this well--
That earth to earth shall come to dwell:
Then earth in earth shall close remain
Till earth from earth shall rise again."
"From earth my body first arose;
But here to earth again it goes.
I never desire to have it more,
To plague me as it did before."
P. H. FISHER.
_The Colour of Ink in Writings._--My attention was called to this subject
some years ago by an attempt made in a judicial proceeding to prove that
part of a paper produced was written at a different time than the rest,
because part differed from the rest in the shade of the ink. The following
conclusions have been the result of my observations upon the subject:
1. That if the ink of part of a writing is of a different shade, though of
the same colour, from that of the other parts, we cannot infer from that
circumstance alone that the writing was done at different times. Ink taken
from the top of an inkstand will be lighter than that from the bottom,
where the dregs are; the deeper the pen is dipped into the ink, the darker
the writing will be.
2. Writing performed with a pen that has been used before, will be darker
than that with a new pen; for the dry residuum of the old ink that is
encrusted on the used pen will mix with the new ink, and make it darker.
And for the same reason--
3. Writing with a pen previously used will be darker at first than it is
after the old deposit, having been mixed up with the new ink, is used up.
M. E.
Philadelphia.
_Literary Parallels._--Has it ever been noticed that the well-known
epitaph, sometimes assigned to Robin of Doncaster, sometimes to Edward
Courtenay, third Earl of Devon, and I believe to others besides: "What I
gave, that I have," &c., has been anticipated by, if not imitated from,
Martial, book v. epigr. 42., of which the last two lines are:
"Extra fortunam est, quicquid donatur amicis;
Quas dederis, solas semper habebis opes."
The English is so much more terse and sententious, besides involving a much
higher moral signification, that it may well be an original itself; but in
that case, the verbal coincidence is striking enough.
J. S. WARDEN.
_Latin Verses prefixed to Parish Registers._--On a fly-leaf in one of the
registers of the parish of Hawsted, Suffolk, is the following note in the
handwriting of the Rev. Sir John Cullum, the rector and historian of the
parish:
"Many old register books begin with some Latin lines, expressive of
their design. The two following, in that of St. Saviour's at Norwich,
are as good as any I have met with:
'Janua, _Baptismus_; medio stat _Tæda jugalis_
Utroque es felix, _mors_ pia si sequitur.'"
Can any of your correspondents contribute other examples?
BURIENSIS.
_Napoleon's Bees_ (Vol. vii., p. 535.).--No one, I believe, having
addressed you farther on the subject of the Napoleon Bees, the models of
which are stated to have been found in the tomb of Childeric when opened in
1653, "of the purest gold, their wings being inlaid with a red stone, like
a cornelian," I beg to mention that the small ornaments resembling bees
found in the tomb of Childeric, were only what in French are called
_fleurons_ (supposed to have been attached to the harness of his
war-horse). Handfuls of them were found when the tomb was opened at
Tournay, and sent to Louis XIV. They were deposited on a green ground at
Versailles.
Napoleon wishing to have some regal emblem more ancient than the
_fleur-de-lys_, adopted the _fleurons_ as bees, and the green ground as the
original Merovingian colour.
This fact was related to me as unquestionable by Augustin Thierry, the
celebrated historian, when I was last in Paris.
WM. EWART.
University Club.
* * * * *
{31}
Queries.
WAS THOMAS LORD LYTTELTON THE AUTHOR OF JUNIUS'S LETTERS?
In the _Quarterly Review_ for 1852 (vol. xc. No. 179.) appeared a clever
and speciously written article on the long debated question of the identity
of Junius, in which the writer labours at great length to prove that
Thomas, second Lord Lyttelton, who died in 1779, was the real substance of
the shadow of Junius, hitherto sought in vain. That this Lord Lyttelton was
fully competent to the task, I do not doubt; and that there are many points
in his character which may well be reconciled with the knowledge we possess
of the imaginary Junius, I also admit--but this is all. The author of the
review has wholly failed, in my opinion, to prove his case and the remark
he makes on Mr. Britton's theory (as to Col. Barré) may equally well apply
to his own, namely, that it affords "a [another] curious instance of the
delusion to which ingenious men may resign themselves, when they have a
favourite opinion to uphold!" The reviewer, indeed, admits that he has
"traced the parallel from the scantiest materials;" and in another passage
repeats, that but "few materials exist for a sketch of Thomas Lyttelton's
life." Of these materials used by the reviewer, the principal portion has
been derived from the two volumes of letters published in 1780 and 1782,
attributed to Lord Lyttelton, but the authorship of which has since been
claimed for William Coombe. The reviewer argues, that they are
"substantially genuine;" but evidence, it is believed, exists to the
contrary.[1] According to Chalmers, these letters were "publicly disowned"
by the executors of Lord Lyttelton; and this is confirmed by the notice in
the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1780, p. 138., shortly after the publication
of the first volume. Putting aside, however, this moot-point (which, I
trust, will be taken up by abler hands, as it bears greatly on the theory
advanced by the author of the _Review_), I proceed to another and more
conclusive line of argument. In the _Preliminary Essay_, prefixed to
Woodfall's edition of Junius, 1812 (vol. i. p. *46.), the following
statement is made in regard to that writer, the accuracy of which will
scarcely be doubted:
"There is another point in the history of his life, during his
appearance as a public writer, which must not be suffered to pass by
without observation: and that is, _that during a great part of this
time, from January 1769 to January 1772, he uniformly resided in
London, or its immediate vicinity, and that he never quitted his stated
habitation for a longer period than a few weeks._"
Now, do the known facts of Thomas Lyttelton's life correspond with this
statement or not? The reviewer says, p. 115.:
"For a period of three years after Mr. Lyttelton lost his
seat[2]--_that period during which Junius wrote his acknowledged
compositions_--we hardly find a trace of him in any of the
contemporaneous letters or memoirs that have fallen under our
observation."
But how is it, let me ask, that the author of the review has so studiously
avoided all mention of one work, which would at once have furnished traces
of Thomas Lyttelton at this very period? I allude to the volume of _Poems
by a Young Nobleman of distinguished Abilities, lately deceased_, published
by G. Kearsley: London, 1780, 4to. Does not this look much like the
_suppressio veri_ which follows close on the footsteps of the _assertio
falsi_? It is hardly credible that the reviewer should not be acquainted
with this book, for he refers to the lines spoken in 1765, at Stowe, in the
character of Queen Mab, which form part of its contents; and the existence
of the work is expressly pointed out by Chalmers, and noticed by Lowndes,
Watt, and other bibliographers. Among the poems here published, are some
which ought to have received a prominent notice from the author of the
review, if he had fairly stated the case. These are:
1. Lines "to G----e Ed----d Ays----gh, Esq., [George Edward Ayscough,
cousin to Thomas Lyttelton] _from Venice, the 20th July, 1770_."--P.
22.
2. "An Irregular Ode, _wrote at Vicenza, in Italy, the 20th of August,
1770_."--P. 29.
3. "On Mr. ----, _at Venice, in J----, 1770_."
4. "An Invitation to Mrs. A----a D----, _wrote at Ghent in Flanders,
the 23rd of March, 1769_."--P. 41.
5. "_An Extempore, by Lord Lyttelton, in Italy, anno 1770_."--P. 48.
Admitting that these poems are genuine, it is evident that their author,
Thomas Lyttelton, was abroad in Flanders and Italy during the years 1769
and 1770; and consequently could not have been the mysterious Junius, who
in those years (particularly in 1769) was writing constantly in or near
London to Woodfall and the _Public Advertiser_. Of what value then is the
assertion so confidently made by the reviewer (p. 133.):
"The position of Thomas Lyttelton in the five years from 1767 to 1772,
is exactly such a one as it is reasonable to suppose that Junius held
during the period of his writings;"
or how can it be made to agree with the fact of his residence on the
Continent during the greater part of the time?
{32}
The reviewer, indeed, tells us that "just as Junius concluded his great
work, Thomas Lyttelton returned to his father's house, and Chatham was one
of the first to congratulate Lord Lyttelton on the event." This was in
February 1772; and in the _Chatham Correspondence_, vol. iv. p. 195., is
Lord Lyttelton's letter of thanks in reply. The reviewer would evidently
have it inferred, that Thomas Lyttelton had returned home like a prodigal
son, after a temporary estrangement, and from a comparatively short
distance; but surely, had the volume of _Poems_ been referred to, it might
or rather _must_ have occurred to a candid inquirer, that in February 1772
Thomas Lyttelton returned from his _travels on the Continent, after an
absence of nearly three years_! But, perhaps, the authenticity of the
_Poems_ may at once be boldly denied? Is this the case? Chalmers certainly
includes them with the _Letters_, as having been "disowned" by Lord L.'s
executors; but says, "as to the _Poems_, they added, '_great part whereof
are undoubtedly spurious_.'" It is certain, therefore, that _some_ of the
_Poems_ are genuine; and it is a pity that the exceptions were not
specified, as the discussion might then have been confined within narrower
limits. The editor of the _Poems_, in his address "To the Reader," writes
thus in vindication of them:
"There is scarcely a line in the collection which does not bear
testimony of its origin; the _places and dates_ are also strong
corroborations to such of his friends as he corresponded with _on his
last journey across the Alps_. His style was elegant, and his ideas so
animated, that _spurious productions would be immediately detected_."
This is the testimony of one who "had the honour of his friendship, which
terminated only with his death," and is not to be lightly rejected.[3] My
own conviction is in favour of the authenticity of the whole; but, at all
events, I shall be able to offer undoubted evidence as to the genuineness
of part of the volume, and additional proof that the author was abroad at
the precise time when, if he were Junius, he must have resided in this
country. By Thomas Lord Lyttelton's will (dated Oct. 30, 1777), he
appointed as his executors his brother-in-law Arthur Viscount Valentia, his
uncle William Henry Lord Westcote, and Wilson Aylesbury Roberts of Bewdley.
To the latter he left all his "letters, verses, speeches, and writings,"
with directions that, if published, it should be for his sole emolument.
The important Query therefore at once arises, _what became of these
manuscripts, and were they destroyed or preserved_?
The above Mr. Roberts was an intimate personal friend; and from his local
influence as bailiff and deputy-recorder of Bewdley, had no doubt
contributed towards Thomas Lyttelton's return for that borough in 1768. His
son continued to keep up a close connexion with the Valentia family at
Arley Hall[4]; and this fact, coupled with the close proximity of Bewdley,
Arley, and Hagley, and the circumstance of the co-executorship of Lord
Valentia and Mr. Roberts, would make us naturally look to the library at
Arley as a not unlikely place of deposit for Thomas Lyttelton's papers.
This is not mere conjecture, and brings me immediately to the point at
issue: for, at the sale of the Valentia Library at Arley Castle, in
December last, a manuscript volume made its appearance in a lot with others
thus designated:
"Original Diary of Travels [of Lord Valentia] 4 vols.; Five Memorandum
Books of Journeys and Travels; also _Two Old Folio Volumes of Original
Poetic Pieces_."
One of the folio volumes thus catalogued subsequently came into my hands,
and is evidently one of the manuscripts left by Thomas Lord Lyttelton's
will to the care of Mr. Roberts, since it consists wholly of pieces in
verse and prose of his composition, written either _in his own hand_, as
rough draughts, or copied (apparently by a female scribe) and afterwards
_corrected by himself_. Among the poetry in this MS. I find the greater
part of the long poem printed in the edition of 1780, p. 1., entitled "The
State of England in the year 2199," which is without date in the MS., but
in the edition bears date March 21, 1771; as likewise the "Invitation to
Miss Warb[u]rt[o]n," edit. p. 35., which appears in the MS. without any
name; and the "Extempore Rhapsody, March 21, 1771," edit. p. 37., also
undated in the MS., but which supplies the name of "Yates," expressed in
the edition by asterisks; and also six lines at the end, which were omitted
in the edition on account of their indecency. There are several variations
in the manuscript, which prove that some other copy was followed by the
printer; and many typographical errors in the edition may hence be
corrected. Besides these poems, the following pieces constitute the chief
contents of this manuscript volume:
Draughts of four letters _written by Thomas Lyttelton from Lyons, the
first of which is dated September_ 10, 1769.
Heads of a series of Dialogues, in imitation of "Dialogues of the
Dead," by his father George, first Lord Lyttelton.
Poetical Fragments, imitated from Lucretius.
{33} Two letters addressed by Thomas Lyttelton to his father; and a
third to "Dear George," probably his cousin George Edward Ayscough.
Some Latin lines, not remarkable for their delicacy.
Political letter, _written from Milan_, by Thomas Lyttelton; in which
indignant notice is taken of the commital of Brass Crossby, Lord Mayor,
_which took place in March, 1771_.
Fragment of a poem on Superstition, and various other unfinished
poetical scraps.
Private memoranda of expenses.
A page of writing in a fictitious or short-hand character, of which I
can make nothing.
Remarks, in prose, on the polypus, priestcraft, &c.
Poem in French, of an amatory character.
Portion of a remarkable political letter, containing some bitter
remarks by Thomas Lyttelton on the "first minister." He ends thus: "The
play now draws to a conclusion. I am guilty of a breach of trust in
telling him so, but I shall [not] suffer by my indiscretion, for it is
an absolute impossibility any man should divine who is the author of
the letter signed ARUSPEX."
It would appear from the water-mark in the paper of which this MS. is
composed, that it was procured in Italy; and there can be little or no
doubt it was used by Thomas Lyttelton as a draught-book, during his travels
there in 1769-1771; during which period, nearly the whole of the contents
seem to have been written. The evidence afforded therefore by this volume,
comes peculiarly in support of the dates and other circumstances put forth
in the printed volume of _Poems_; and leads us inevitably to the
conclusion, _that it was utterly impossible for Thomas Lyttelton to have
had any share in the Letters of Junius_. He has enough to answer for on the
score of his early profligacy and scepticism, without being dragged from
the grave to be arraigned for the crime of deceit. His heart need not,
according to the reviewer, be "stripped bare" by the scalpel of any
literary anatomist; but he may be left to that quiet and oblivion which a
sepulchre in general bestows. Before I conclude these remarks (which I fear
are too diffuse), I will venture to add a few words in regard to the
signature of Thomas Lord Lyttelton. In the _Chatham Correspondence_, a
letter from him to Earl Temple is printed, vol. iv. p. 348., the signature
to which is printed LYTTLETON, and the editors point out in a note the
"alteration adopted" in the spelling of the name; but it is altogether an
error, for the fac-simile of this signature in vol. iv. p. 29., as well as
his will in the Prerogative Court, prove that he wrote his name
_Lyttelton_, in the same manner as his father and uncle. As to the
resemblance pointed out by the author of the _Review_ between the
handwriting of Thomas Lyttelton and that of Junius, it exists only in
imagination, since there is really no similitude whatever between them.
Some Queries are now annexed, in reference to what has been above
discussed:
1. In what publication or in what form did the executors of Thomas Lord
Lyttelton disown the _Letters_ and _Poems_?
2. Is it known who was the editor of the _Poems_ published in 1780?
3. Can the present representative of the family of Roberts give any farther
information respecting Thomas Lord Lyttelton's manuscripts?
4. Lastly, Is any letter known to exist in the public journals of the years
1770, 1771, under the signature of ARUSPEX?
F. MADDEN.
British Museum.
[Footnote 1: I have been unable to refer to these letters, as no copy
exists in the British Museum library.]
[Footnote 2: As M.P. for Bewdley. He was returned in 1768, and unseated in
January, 1769.]
[Footnote 3: In the _Public Advertiser_ for January 1, 1779 [1780],
appeared a notice of the _Poems_, said to have been "published yesterday;"
and although two pieces are extracted at length, not a syllable of doubt is
expressed as to their genuineness.]
[Footnote 4: The estate at Arley was left to the Hon. George Annesley
(afterwards Earl of Mountnorris), son of Lord Valentia, by the will of
Thomas Lord Lyttelton, and Mr. Roberts was one of the trustees appointed.]
* * * * *
Minor Queries.
_Lord Chatham._--I would suggest as a Query, whether Lord Chatham's famous
comparison of the Fox and Newcastle ministry to the confluence of the Rhone
and Saone at Lyons (_Speech_, Nov. 13, 1755), was not adapted from a
passage in Lord Roscommon's _Essay on translated Verse_. Possibly Lord
Chatham may have merely quoted the lines of Roscommon, and reporters may
have converted his quotation into prose. Lord Chatham (then of course Mr.
Pitt) is represented to have said:
"_I remember_ at Lyons to have been carried to the conflux of the Rhone
and the Soane: the one a gentle, feeble, languid stream, and, though
languid, of no depth; the other, a boisterous and _impetuous_ torrent."
Lord Roscommon says:
"Thus _have I seen_ a rapid headlong tide,
With foaming waves the passive Saone divide,
Whose lazy waters without motion lay,
While he, with eager force, urg'd his _impetuous_ way."
W. EWART.
University Club.
_Slow-worm Superstition._--Could any of your correspondents kindly inform
me whether there is any foundation for the superstition, that if a
slow-worm be divided into two or more parts, those parts will continue to
live till sunset (life I suppose to mean that tremulous motion which the
divided parts, for some time after the cruel operation, continue to have),
and whether it exists in any other country or county besides Sussex, in
which county I first heard of it?
TOWER.
_Tangiers_ (Vol. vii., p. 12.).--I have not seen any opinion as to these
Queries.
A. C.
_Snail Gardens._--What are the continental enclosures called snail gardens?
C. M. T.
Oare.
_Naples and the Campagna Felice._--Who was the author of letters bearing
this title, which {34} originally appeared in Ackermann's _Repository_, and
were published in a collected form in 1815?
In a catalogue of Jno. Miller's (April, 1853), I see them attributed to
Combe.
Q.
Philadelphia.
"_The Land of Green Ginger_"--the name of a street in Hull. Can any of your
correspondents inform me why so called?
R. H. B.
_Mugger._--Why are the gipsies in the North of England called _Muggers?_ Is
it because they sell mugs, and other articles of crockery, that in fact
being their general vocation? or may not the word be a corruption of
_Maghrabee_, which is, I think, a foreign name given to this wandering
race?
H. T. RILEY.
_Snail-eating._--Can any of your correspondents inform me in what part of
Surrey a breed of large white snails is still to be found, the first of
which were brought to this country from Italy, by a member, I think, of the
Arundel family, to gratify the palate of his wife, an Italian lady? I have
searched Britton and Brayley's History in vain.
H. T. RILEY.
_Mysterious Personage._--Who is the mysterious personage, what is his real
or assumed lineage, who has, not unfrequently, been alluded to in recent
newspaper articles as a legitimate Roman Catholic claimant of the English
throne? Of course I do not allude to those _pseudo_-Stuarts, the brothers
Hay Allan.
W. PINKERTON.
_George Wood of Chester._--Of what family was George Wood, Esq., Justice of
Chester in the first year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 1558?
CESTRIENSIS.
_A Scale of Vowel Sounds._--Can any correspondent tell me if such scale has
anywhere been agreed on for scientific purposes? Researches into the
philosophy of philology are rendered excessively complex by the want of
such a scale, every different inquirer adopting a peculiar notation, which
is a study in itself, and which, after all, is unsatisfactory. I should
feel obliged by any reference to what has been done in this matter.
E. C.
_Seven Oaks and Nine Elms._--Can any reader of "N. & Q." inform me whether
there is any old custom or superstition connected with Seven Oaks and Nine
Elms, even to be traced as far back as the time of the Druids?
In some old grounds in Warwickshire there is a circle of nine old
elm-trees; and, besides the well-known Nine Elms at Vauxhall, and Seven
Oaks in Kent, there are several other places of the same names in England.
J. S. A.
Old Broad Street.
_Murder of Monaldeschi._--I will thank any of your correspondents who can
give me an account of the murder of Monaldeschi, equerry to Christina,
Queen of Sweden.
In the 2nd volume of Miss Pardoe's _Louis XIV_. (p. 177.), Christina is
stated to have visited the Court of France, and housed at Fontainebleau,
where she had not long been an inmate ere the tragedy of Monaldeschi took
place and in a letter to Mazarin she says, "Those who acquainted you with
the details regarding Monaldeschi were very ill-informed."
T. C. T.
_Governor Dameram._--I should be glad of any particulars respecting the
above, who was Governor of Canada (I think) about the commencement of the
present century. He had previously been the head of the commissariat
department in the continental expeditions.
TEE BEE.
_Ancient Arms of the See of York._--Can any correspondent enlighten me as
to the period, and why, the present arms were substituted for the ancient
bearings of York? The modern coat is, Gu. two keys in saltire arg., in
chief an imperial crown proper. The ancient coat was blazoned, Az. an
episcopal staff in pale or, and ensigned with a cross patée arg.,
surmounted by a pall of the last, edged and fringed of the second, charged
with six crosses formée fitchée sa., and differed only from that of
Canterbury in the number of crosses formée fitchée with which the pall was
charged.
TEE BEE.
_Hupfeld._--Can any correspondent of "N. & Q." tell me where I can see
Hupfeld, _Von der Natur und den Arten der Sprachlaute_, which is quoted by
several German authors? It appeared in Jahn's _Jahrb. der Philol. und
Päd._, 1829. If no correspondent can refer me to any place where the paper
can be seen in London, perhaps they can direct me to some account of its
substance in some English publication.
E. C.
_Inscription on a Tomb in Finland._--Can any reader of "N. & Q." explain
the meaning of the following inscription?
"IETATIS IN SUBDITOS
MARTYRI
.`IET:S CONIUGALIS
:: :::IV."
It appears on an old monument of considerable size in a Finnish
burial-ground at Martishkin near Peterhoff on the Gulf of Finland. The
letters are in brass on a stone slab. The dots before the IV., and in the
other word, are holes in the stone wherein the missing characters had been
fixed.
J. S. A.
Old Broad Street.
_Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway Travelling._--Having been
forcibly impressed by a {35} paragraph in a popular periodical (_The
Leisure Hour_, No. 72.), I am desirous of learning upon what authority the
statements therein depend. As, perhaps, it may also prove interesting to
some of the readers of "N. & Q." who may not already have seen it, and in
the hope that some of your contributors may be able to throw a light upon
so curious a subject, I herewith transcribe it:
"_Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway Travelling._--Sir Isaac
Newton wrote a work upon the prophet Daniel, and another upon the book
of Revelation, in one of which he said that in order to fulfil certain
prophecies before a certain date was terminated, namely, 1260 years,
there would be a mode of travelling of which the men of his time had no
conception; nay, that the knowledge of mankind would be so increased,
that they would be able to travel at the rate of fifty miles an hour.
Voltaire, who did not believe in the inspiration of the scriptures, got
hold of this, and said 'Now look at that mighty mind of Newton, who
discovered gravity, and told us such marvels for us all to admire. When
he became an old man, and got into his dotage, he began to study that
book called the Bible; and it seems, that in order to credit its
fabulous nonsense, we must believe that the knowledge of mankind will
be so increased that we shall be able to travel at the rate of fifty
miles an hour. The poor dotard!' exclaimed the philosophic infidel
Voltaire, in the self-complacency of his pity. But who is the dotard
now?--_Rev. J. Craig._"
The Query I would more particularly ask is (presuming the accuracy of the
assertions), What is the prophecy so wonderfully fulfilled?
R. W.
_Tom Thumb's House at Gonerby, Lincolnshire._--On the south-west side of
the tower of the church of Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, is a curious
cornice representing a house with a door in the centre, an oriel window,
&c., which is popularly called "Tom Thumb's Castle." I have a small
engraving of it ("W. T. del. 1820, R. R. sculpt."): and a pencil states
that on the same tower are other "curious carvings."
I would ask, therefore, Why carved? From what event or occasion? For whom?
Why called "Tom Thumb's House?" And what are the other curious carvings?
G. CREED.
_Mr. Payne Collier's Monovolume Shakspeare._--I should be extremely obliged
to MR. COLLIER, if he would kindly give me a public reply to the following
question.
The express terms of the publication of his monovolune edition of
Shakspeare, as advertised, were--
"The text regulated by the _old copies_, and by the _recently
discovered folio of 1632_."
These terms manifestly exclude corrections from any other source than those
of _collation of the old copies_, and the _MS. corrections_ of the folio of
1632.
Now the text of MR. COLLIER'S monovolume reprint contains many of the
emendations of the commentators _not_ referred to in _Notes and
Emendations_. For example: in _The Taming of the Shrew_, where Biondello
runs in to announce the coming down the hill of the "ancient angel"
(changed by the corrector into _ambler_), two other alterations in the same
sentence appear without explanation in the _regulated text_, namely,
_mercatante_ substituted by Steevens for "marcantant" of the folios; and
_surely_ in lieu of "surly," which latter is the word of _the folio of
1632_.
I now ask MR. COLLIER, on what authority were these emendations adopted?
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
Birmingham.
* * * * *
Replies.
WILD PLANTS AND THEIR NAMES.
(Vol. vii., pp. 175. 233.)
Perhaps the following may prove of some use to ENIVRI, in reply to his
Query respecting the names of certain wild flowers.
1. Shepherd's Purse (_Bursa pastoris_). "Sic dict. a folliculis seminum,
qui crumenulam referre videntur." Also called Poor Man's Parmacitty, "Quia
ad contusos et casu afflictos instar spermatis ceti utile est." Also St.
James's Wort, "Quia circa ejus festum florescit," July 28th. Also called
Pick-purse.
2. Eye-bright, according to Skinner (_Euphrasia_), Teut. _Augentrost_;
"Oculorum solamen, quia visum eximiè acuit." Fluellin (_Veronica femina_),
"Forte a Leolino aliquo Cambro-Brit. ejus inventore."
3. Pass Wort, or Palsy Wort (_Primula veris_). "Herba paralyseos."
4. Guelder Rose (_Sambucus rosea_). "Quia ex Gueldriâ huc translata est."
Gueldria is, or rather was, a colony, founded by the Hollanders, on the
coast of Coromandel.
5. Ladies' Tresses, a corruption of _traces_. A kind of orchis, and used,
with its various appellations, "sensu obsc."
6. The Kentish term _Gazel_ is not improbably the same as _Gale_, which,
Skinner says, is from the A.-S. _Gagel_ (_Myrtus brabantica_).
7. Stitch Wort (_Gramen leucanthemum_, alias _Holostium pumilum_). "Sic
dict. quia ad dolores laterum punctorios multum prodesse creditur."
8. The term _Knappert_, for Bitter Vetch, is probably a corruption of Knap
Wort, the first syllable of which, as in Knap Weed and Knap Bottle, is
derived from the sound or snap emitted by it when struck in the hollow of
the hand.
9. Charlock (_Rapum sylvestre_); Anglo-Saxon _Cerlice_. {36}
10. London Pride or Tufts (_Armeria prolifera_). "Sic dict. quia flores
propter pulchritudinem Londini valdè expetuntur." (?)
11. Avens; also Herb Bennet (_Caryophyllata_). Skinner says, "Herba
Benedicta ab insigni radicis vulnerariâ vi." (?)
12. Mill Mountain, or Purge Flax (_Linum sylvestre catharticum_, or
_Chamælinum_). "Montibus gaudet."
13. Jack of the Buttery. "_Sedi_ species sic dict. quia in tecto galacterii
crescit." Pricket: "a sapore acri."
14. Cudweed or Cotton Weed; Live-long. "Quia planta perennis est."
15. Sun Spurge. "Quia flores ad ortum solis se aperiunt." Churn Staff, from
its similarity.
16. Welcome to our House (_Tithymalus Cyparissias_). "Ob pulchritudinem
suam omnibus expetitus."
17. Ruddes (_Fl. Calendulæ_). "A colore aureo." Wild or Corn Marigold. "Q.
d. aurum Mariæ, a colore sc. floris luteo." Gouls or Goulans, with a
half-suppressed _d_, may very well be supposed to indicate its natural
name--Gold. Another name of this plant is Lockron, or Locker Goulans.
18. Spurry (_Spergula_). "Sic dict. quia folia ejus octo, angusta,
stelliformia, radios calcaris satis exactè referunt."
19. Mercury Goose-foot. Probably a goose-foot resembling Mercury
(_Mercurialis_), a herb concerning which Skinner doubts, but suggests,
"Quia Mercurio, ut ceteræ omnes plantæ planetis, appropriata sit." Another
name is Good Henry,--I find not Good _King_ Henry--(_Lapathum unctuosum_),
"A commodo ejus usu in enematis." It is also called All-good, forasmuch as
it is useful, not only for its medicinal qualities, but also in supplying
the table with a substitute for other vegetables, such as asparagus.
A plant termed in this country Gang Flower is the same as Rogation Flower,
recalling the perambulation of parishes on one of those days. There is a
vast fund of interesting matter in these old names of wild flowers (mixed
up, of course, with much that is trifling); and I cordially agree with your
correspondent, that it is well worth a steady effort to rescue the
fast-fading traditions relating to them. It must be confessed, however,
that the obstacles in the way of tracing the original meaning and supposed
virtues, will in many instances be found very great, arising principally
from the fanciful translations and corruptions which our ancestors made of
the old names. Take, for instance, the following:
Loose Strife or Herb Willow, from _Lysimachia_, the original being
undoubtedly a man's name, Lysimachus.
Ale-hoof (_Hedera terrestris_). Anglo-Saxon _Al behófian_. "Herba [Greek:
panchrêstos], ad multos usus efficacissima."
Herb Ambrose has a Greek origin, [Greek: ambrotos], and is not indebted to
the saint of that name.
Comfrey or Cumfrey. "Herba vulnera _conferruminans_;" good for joining the
edges of a wound.
Calathian Violets. Simply cupped violets, from [Greek: kalathos].
Brank Ursin (_Acanthus_). "It. brancha, unguis ursinus."
Blood Strange; properly, _String_. To stanch.
Bertram. A corruption of [Greek: purethron] (_Pyrethrum_).
Spreusidany, Hair-strong, Sulphur Wort. Corrupted from _Peucedanum_.
Pell-a-mountain, Wild Thyme. From _Serpyllum montanum_.
Faceless. From _Phaseolus_, dim. of _Phaselus_; so called from its shallop
shape.
Stick-a-dove, French Lavender. From [Greek: stoichas, stoichados],
_Stoechas_; so called from the regularity of the petals.
Such instances might be multiplied to almost any extent.
There is, doubtless, a good deal of scattered information respecting old
English wild flowers to be met with, not only in books, but also among our
rural population, stored up by village sages. Contributions of this
description would surely be welcome in "N. & Q."
H. C. K.
---- Rectory, Hereford.
Herbs of all kinds were, some two hundred years ago, esteemed of much value
as medicine; for in a curious, and I believe rather scarce, pharmacopoeia
by Wm. Salmon, date 1693, I find some 414 pages devoted to their uses. This
pharmacopoeia, or _Compleat English Physician_, was dedicated to Mary,
second Queen of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, &c., and appears to
have been the first. The preface says "it was the first of that kind extant
in the world, a subject for which we have no precedent."
"I have not trusted," he says, "to the reports of authors, but have
wrote as an eye-witness in describing most things therein; and it is
nothing but what I know and have learnt by daily experience for thirty
years together, so that my prescriptions may in some measure plead a
privilege above the performances of other men."
1. _Capsella_ (_Bursa pastoris_) he describes as cold 1^o, and dry in 2^o,
binding and astringent. Good against spitting of blood or hæmorrhage of the
nose, and other fluxes of the bowels. The leaves, of which [dr.]j. in
powder may be given. The juice inspissate, drunk with wine, helps ague. A
cataplasm applied in inflammations, Anthony's fire, &c., represses them.
2. _Veronica Chamædrys_ he calls _Euphrasia_, _Euphrosunee_, and says it is
much commended by Arnoldus de Villa Nova, who asserts that it not only
helps dimness of the sight, but the use of it {37} makes old men to read
small letters without spectacles, who could scarcely read great letters
with spectacles before; but that it did restore their sight who had been a
long time blind. Truly a most wonderful plant; and, if he freely used it,
must have been a great drawback to spectacle-makers.
3. _Primula veris_, he says, more properly belongs to the primrose than
cowslip. The root is haumatic, and helps pains in the back. The herb is
cephalic, neurotic, and arthritic. The juice or essence, with spirits of
wine, stops all manner of fluxes, is excellent against palsy, gout, and
pains, and distempers of the nerves and joints. A cataplasm of the juice,
with rye meal, is good against luxations and ruptures. The flowers are good
against palsy, numbness, convulsions, and cramps, being given in a
sulphurous or a saline tincture, or an oily tincture, or an essence of the
juice with spirits of wine. The juice of the flowers, or an ointment of the
_flower_ or its juice, cleanses the skin from spots, though the worthy old
physician only gives a receipt for making essence as follows: Beat the
whole plant well in a mortar; add to it an equal quantity of brandy or
spirits of wine; close up tight in a large bolt-head, and set it to digest
in a very gentle sand-heat for three months. Strain out all the liquor,
which close up in a bolt-head again, and digest in a gentle sand-heat for
two months more. Rather a troublesome and slow process this.
4. _Geum urbanum_ he calls _Caryophyllata_, _Herba benedicta_, and _Geum
Plinii_, and should be gathered, he says, in the middle of March, for then
it smells sweetest, and is most aromatic. Hot and dry in the 2^o, binding,
strengthening, discussive, cephalic, neurotic, and cardiac. Is a good
preservative against epidemic and contagious disease; helps digestion. The
powder of the root, dose [dr.]j. The decoction, in wine, stops spitting of
blood, dose [dr.]ss to [dr.]jss. The saline tincture opens all obstructions
of the viscera, dose [dr.]j to [dr.]iij.
Should ENIVRI wish to know the medical virtues of our wild plants, I have
no doubt but that this worthy old physician will tell him what virtues they
were considered to possess in his day, at least by himself; and I can
assure him that 1195 of the _English Physician's_ pages ascribe marvellous
properties, not only to plants, but to animals, fish, and even the bones of
a stag's heart.
R. J. SHAW.
* * * * *
JACOB BOBART.
(Vol. vii., pp. 428. 578.)
I am exceedingly obliged for the information afforded by DR. E. F. RIMBAULT
concerning the Bobarts. Can he give me any more communication concerning
them? I am anxious to learn all I can. I have old Jacob Bobart's signature,
bearing date 1659, in which he spells his name with an _e_ instead of _a_,
which seems to have been altered to an _a_ by his son Jacob.
In _Vertumnus_ it says Bobart's _Hortes Siccus_ was in twenty volumes; but
the _Oxford Botanic Garden Guide_ only mentions twelve quarto volumes:
which is correct, and where is it? In one of my copies of _Vertumnus_, a
scrap of paper is fixed to p. 29., and the following is written upon it:
"The Hortus Siccus here alluded to was sold at the Rev. Mr.
Hodgkinson's sale at Sarsden, to Mrs. De Salis, wife of Dr. De Salis."
Is there any pedigree of the family?
In a letter of Jno. Ray's to Mr. Aubrey is the following:
"I am glad that Mr. Bobart hath been so diligent in observing and
making a collection of insects."
Is there any collection extant?
"He may give me much assistance in my intended Synopsis of our English
Animals, and contribute much to the perfecting of it."
Did he do so?
Is the print of old Jacob Bobart, by W. Richardson, _valuable_?
Where can I pick up a print of him by Loggan del., Burghers sculp.? There
is a portrait of Jacob Bobart the younger in _Oxford Almanack_ for 1719;
can I procure it?
H. T. BOBART.
* * * * *
HERALDIC QUERIES.
(Vol. vii., p. 571.)
CEYREP is informed, 1st, That a shield in the form of a lozenge was
appropriated exclusively to females, both spinsters and widows, in order to
distinguish the sex of the bearer of a coat of arms. It is of doubtful
origin, though supposed, from the form, to symbolise the spindle with yarn
wound round it; of good authority, and not of very modern date. Many
instances may be seen in Fuller, in the coats of arms appended to the
dedications of the various chapters of his _Church History_. In sect. ii.
book vi. p. 282. ed. 1655, he has separated the coats of man and wife, and
placed them side by side; that of the latter upon a lozenge-shaped
shield--Party per pale arg. and gules, two eagles displayed,
counterchanged.
2ndly, No one has a right to inscribe a motto upon a garter or riband,
except those dignified with one of the various orders of knighthood. For
any other person to do so, is a silly assumption. The motto should be upon
a scroll, either over the crest, or beneath the shield.
3rdly, I cannot find that it was ever the custom in this country for
ecclesiastics to bear their paternal coat on an oval or circular shield.
Forbidden, as they were, by the first council of {38} Mascon, Bingham, vi.
421., in the Excerptions of Ecgbright, A.D. 740, Item 154., and the
Constitutions of Othobon, A.D. 1268, can. 4., to bear arms for the purposes
of warfare, it is a question whether any below the episcopal order ought,
in strict right, to display any armorial ensigns at all. Archbishops and
bishops bear the arms of their sees impaled (as of their spouse) with their
own paternal coats; the latter probably only in right of their baronies. It
is worthy of remark that, since the Reformation, and consequent marriage of
bishops, there has been no official decision as to the bearing the arms of
their wives, nor has any precedence been granted to the latter.
H. C. K.
---- Rectory, Hereford.
* * * * *
DOOR-HEAD INSCRIPTIONS.
(Vol. vii., pp. 23. 190. 585.)
A few years ago I copied the following inscription from over the door of
the residence of a parish priest at Cologne:
"Protege Deus parochiam hanc propter
Te et S.S. tuum, sicut protexisti
Jerusalem propter Te et David servum
tuum. IV Reg. xx. 6.
A.D. 1787."
From the gateway leading into the Villa Borghese, just outside of the
"Porta del Popolo," at Rome, I copied the following:
"Villæ Burghesiæ Pincianæ
Custos hæc edico.
Quisquis es, si liber
legum compedes ne hic timeas.
Ite quo voles, carpite quæ voles,
Abite quando voles.
Exteris magis hæc parantur
quam hero.
In aureo sæculo ubi cuncta aurea
temporum securitas fecit
bene morato:
Hospiti ferreas leges præfigere
herus velat.
Sit hic pro amico, pro lege
honesta voluntas.
Verum si quis dolo malo, lubens, sciens
aureas urbanitatis leges fregerit,
Caveat ne sibi
Tesseram amicitiæ subiratus villicus
advorsum frangat."
On the entrance into the Villa Medici are the two following:
"Aditurus hortos hospes, in
summo ut vides
colle hortulorum consitos,
si forte quid
audes probare, scire debes
hos hero
herique amicis esse apertos
omnibus."
"Ingressurus hospes hosce quos
ingentibus
instruxit hortos sumptibus
suis Medices
Fernandus expleare visendo
licet:
atque his fruendo plura
Velle nondecet."
The following I copied from a gateway leading into a vineyard near the
church of San Eusebio, at Rome:
"Tria sunt mirabilia;
Trinus et unus,
Deus et homo,
Virgo et mater."
CEYREP.
* * * * *
CONSECRATED ROSES.
(Vol. vii., pp. 407. 480.)
I forward the accompanying observations on the origin of the Rosa d'Oro, in
compliance with the request contained at page 480. of the 185th No. of "N.
& Q.," in case they should not have come under your observation. They are
to be found in _Histoire de Lorraine_, par R. P. Dom. Calmet: Nancy, 1745.
"Le troisième monastère fondé par les parens de St. Leon est l'Abbaye
de Volfenheim, à deux lieues de Colmar, vers le Midi, et à deux lieues
environs d'Egesheim, château des Comtes de Dasbourg, aujourd'hui (1745)
inhabité, mais bien remarquable par ces vastes ruines, sur le sommet
des montagnes qui dominent sur l'Alsace.
"Volfenheim étoit un village considérable, à une lieue et demi de
Colmar. On voie encore aujourd'hui à une demi lieue de Sainte Croix
dans les champs, l'église qui lui servoit autrefois de paroisse.
L'abbaye étoit à quelque distance de là, au lieu où est aujourd'hui le
bourg de Sainte Croix.
"Volfenheim ayant étoit [_Quære_, été] ruiné par les guerres, les
habitans se sont insensiblement établis autour de l'abbaye, ce qui a
formé un bon bourg, connu sous le nom de Sainte Croix; parceque
l'abbaye étoit consacrée sous cette invocation. Le Pape Leon IX., dans
la Bulle qu'il donna à ce monastère la première année de son
pontificat, de J. C. 1049, nous apprend qu'il avoit été fondé par son
père Hughes et sa mère Heilioilgdis, et ses frères Gerard et Hugues,
qui étoient déjà décédés; il ajoûte que ce lieu lui étoit tombé par
droit de succession; il le met sous la protection spéciale du Saint
Siége, en sorte que nulle personne, de quelque qualité qu'elle soit,
n'y exerce aucune autorité, mais qu'il jouisse d'une pleine liberté, et
que l'abbesse et les religieuses puissent employer quelque evêque ils
jugeroient apropos pour les bénédictions d'autels, et autres fonctions
qui regardent le ministère épiscopal: que son neveu, le Comte Henri
Seigneur d'Egesheim, en soit la voue, et après lui, l'aîné des
Seigneurs d'Egesheim à perpétuité.
"Que si cette race vient à manquer, l'abbesse et le couvent choisiront
quelque autre de la parenté de ces {39} seigneurs, afin que l'avocatie
ne soit pas de leur race, et qu'après la mort de Kuentza, qui en étoit
abbesse, et à qui le Pape avoit donné la bénédiction abbatiale, les
religieuses choisissent de leur communauté, ou d'ailleurs, celle qui
leur paroîtra la plus propre, reservant toujours au Pape le droit de la
bénir. Et en reconnaissance d'un privilège si singulier, l'abbesse
donnera tous les ans au Saint Siége une Rose d'Or du poids de deux
onces Romaines. Elle l'envoyera toute faite, ou en envoyera la matière
préparée, de telle sorte qu'elle soit rendue au Pape huit jours
auparavant qu'il la porte, c'est-à-dire, le Dimanche de Carême, où l'on
chante à l'Introite, 'Oculi mei semper ad Dominum;' afin qu'il puisse
bénir au Dimanche 'Lætare,' qui est le quatrième du Carême. Telle est
l'origine de la Rose d'Or, que le Pape bénit encore aujourd'hui le
quatrième Dimanche de Carême, nommé 'Lætare,' et qu'il envoye à quelque
prince pour marque d'estime et de bienveillance. Ce jour-là, la station
se fait à Sainte Croix de Jérusalem. Le Pape, accompagné des cardinaux,
vetûs de couleur de rose, marche en cavalcade à l'eglise, tenant la
Rose d'Or à la main. Il la porte, allant à l'autel, chargé de baume et
de mare. Il la quitte au 'Confiteor,' et la reprend après 'l'Introite.'
Il en fait la Bénédiction, et après l'Evangile, il monte en chaise et
explique les propriétés de la rose. Après la Messe il retourne en
cavalcade à son palais, ayant toujours la Rose en main et la couronne
sur la tête. On appelle ce Dimanche 'Pascha rosata,' ou 'Lætare.'
"Nous avons encore un sermon du Pape Innocent III., composé en cette
occasion, an commencement du treizième siècle. Le Pape Nicholas IV., en
1290, dans le dénombrement qu'il fait des églises qui doivent des
redevances à l'église de Rome, met le monastère de Sainte Croix,
diocèse de Basle, qui doit deux onces d'or pour la Rose d'Or, qui se
bénit au Dimanche Lætere, Jérusalem."
P. P. P.
* * * * *
NOTES ON SERPENTS.
(Vol. ii., p. 130.; Vol. vi., p. 177.--Vol. iii., p. 490.; Vol. vi., pp.
42. 147.)
Loskiel, in his account of the Moravian missions to the North American
Indians[5], tells us that,--
"The Indians are remarkably skilled in curing the bite of venomous
serpents, and have found a medicine peculiarly adapted to the bite of
each species. For example, the leaf of the Rattlesnake-root (_Polygala
senega_) is the most efficacious remedy against the bite of this
dreadful animal. God has mercifully granted it to grow in the greatest
plenty in all parts most infested by the rattlesnake. It is very
remarkable that this herb acquires its greatest perfection just at the
time when the bite of these serpents is the most dangerous....
Virginian Snake-root (_Aristolochia serpentaria_) chewed, makes also an
excellent poultice for wounds of this sort.... The fat of the serpent
itself, rubbed into the wound, is thought to be efficacious. The flesh
of the rattlesnake, dried and boiled to a broth, is said to be more
nourishing than that of the viper, and of service in consumptions.
Their gall is likewise used as medicine."--P. 146.
Pigs are excepted from the dreadful effects of their bite; they will even
attack and eat them. It is said that, _if a rattlesnake is irritated and
cannot be revenged, it bites itself, and dies in a few hours_:
"Wird dieses Thier zornig gemacht, und es kann sich nicht rächen, so
beiszt es sich selbst, und in wenig Stunden ist es todt."--P. 113.[6]
"I have seen some of our Canadians eat these rattlesnakes repeatedly.
The flesh is very white, and they assured me had a delicious taste.
Their manner of dressing them is very simple.... Great caution,
however, is required in killing a snake for eating; for if the first
blow fails, or only partially stuns him, _he instantly bites himself in
different parts of the body, which thereby become poisoned_, and would
prove fatal to any person who should partake of it."--Cox's _Adv. on
the Columbia River_: Lond. 1832, p. 74.
"Dr. Fordyce knew the black servant of an Indian merchant in America,
who was fond of soup made of rattlesnakes, in which he always boiled
the head along with the rest of the animal, without any regard to the
poisons."--Rees's _Cyclopædia_.
"There is a religious sect in Africa, not far from Algiers, which eat
the most venomous serpents _alive_; and certainly, it is said, without
extracting their fangs. They declare they enjoy the privilege from
their founder. The creatures writhe and struggle between their teeth;
but possibly, if they do bite them, the bite is innocuous."
Mrs. Crowe, in the concluding chapter of her _Night-side of Nature_, gives
the testimony of an eye-witness to "the singular phenomenon to be observed
by placing a scorpion and a mouse together under a glass."
"It is known that _stags renew their age by eating serpents_; so the
phoenix is restored by the nest of spices she makes to burn in. The
pelican hath the same virtue, whose right foot, if it be put under hot
dung, after three months a pelican will be bred from it. Wherefore some
physicians, with some confections made of _a viper_ and hellebore, and
of some of the flesh of these creatures, _do promise to restore youth,
and sometimes they do it_."[7]
On reading any of our old herbalists, one would imagine that serpents (and
those of the worst kind) abounded in "Merrie Englande," and that they were
the greatest bane of our lives. It is {40} hard to stumble on a plant that
is not an antidote to the bite of serpents. Our old herbals were compiled,
however, almost entirely from the writings of the ancients, and from
foreign sources. The ancients had a curious notion relative to the plant
Basil (_Oscimum basilicum_), viz., "That there is a property in Basil to
propagate scorpions, and that the smell thereof they are bred in the brains
of men." Others deny this wonderful property, and make Basil a simple
antidote.
"According unto Oribasius, physician unto Julian, the Africans, men
best experienced in poisons, affirm, whosoever hath eaten Basil,
although he be stung with a scorpion, shall feel no pain thereby, which
is a very different effect, and rather antidotally destroying than
seminally promoting its production."--Sir Thomas Browne, _Vulgar
Errors._
An old writer gives the following anecdote in point:
"Francis Marcio, an eminent statesman of Genoa, having sent an
ambassador from that republic to the Duke of Milan, when he could
neither procure an audience of leave from that prince, nor yet prevail
with him to ratify his promises made to the Genoese, taking a fit
opportunity, presented a handful of the herb Basil to the duke. The
duke, somewhat surprised, asked what that meant? 'Sir,' replied the
ambassador, 'this herb is of that nature, that if you handle it gently
without squeezing, it will emit a pleasant and grateful scent; but if
you squeeze and gripe it, 'twill not only lose its colour, but it _will
become productive of scorpions_ in a little time."--_The Entertainer_:
London, 1717, p. 23.
Pliny tells us that a decoction from the leaves of the ash tree, given as a
drink, is such a remedy that "nothing so soveraigne can be found against
the poison of serpents;" and farther:
"That a _serpent dare not come neare the shaddow of that tree_. The
serpent will chuse rather to goe into the fire than to flie from it to
the leaves of the ash. A wonderful goodnesse of Dame Nature, that the
ash doth bloome and flourish alwaies before that serpents come abroad,
and never sheddeth leaves, but continueth green untill they be retired
into their holes, and hidden within the ground."
The ancient opinion respecting the rooted antipathy between the ash and the
serpent is not to be explained merely by the fact in natural history of its
being an antidote, but it has a deeply mythical meaning. See, in the _Prose
Edda_, the account of the ash Yggdrasill, and the serpents gnawing its
roots. Loskiel corroborates Pliny as to the ash being an antidote:
"A decoction of the buds or bark of the white ash (_Fraxinus carolina_)
taken inwardly is said to be a certain remedy against the effects of
poison," _i.e._ of the rattlesnake.
Serpents afford Pliny a theme for inexhaustible wonders. The strangest of
his relations perhaps is where he tells us that serpents, "when they have
stung or bitten a man, die for very greefe and sorrow that they have done
such a mischeefe." He makes a special exception, however, of the murderous
salamander, who has no such "pricke and remorse of conscience," but would
"destroy whole nations at one time," if not prevented. In this same book
(xxix.) he gives a receipt for making the famous _theriacum_, or treacle,
of vipers' flesh. Another strange notion of the ancients was "that the
marrow of a man's backe bone will breed to a snake" (_Hist. Nat._, x. 66.).
This perhaps, originally, had a mystic meaning; for a great proportion of
the innumerable serpent stories have a deeper foundation than a credulous
fancy or lively imagination.
Take, for instance, the wide-spread legend of the sea-serpent. Mr. Deane
says,--
"The superstition of 'the serpent in the sea' was known to the Chinese,
as we observed in the chapter on the 'Serpent-worship of China.' But it
was doubtless, at one time, a very general superstition among the
heathens, for we find it mentioned by Isaiah, ch. xxvii. 1., 'In that
day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall punish
Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent:
and He shall slay _the dragon that is in the sea_.'"
In _Blackwood's Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 645., vol. iv. pp. 33. 205., may be
found some interesting papers on the "Scrakin, or Great Sea Serpent."
Mr. Deane's _Worship of the Serpent_ (London, 1830); and _The Cross and the
Serpent_, by the Rev. Wm. Haslam (London, 1849), are noble works both of
them, and ought to be in the hands of every Christian scholar. In these two
words, "Cross" and "Serpent," we have an epitome of the history of the
world and the human race, as well as the ground-work for all our hopes and
fears. In them are bound up the highest mysteries, the truest symbolism,
the deepest realities, and our nearest and dearest interests.
Lord Bacon thus narrates the classical fable which accounts for the
serpent's being gifted with the power of restoring youth:
"The gods, in a merry mood, granted unto men not only the use of fire,
but _perpetual youth_ also, a boon most acceptable and desirable. They
being as it were overjoyed, did foolishly lay this gift of the gods
upon the back of an ass, who, being wonderfully oppressed with thirst
and near a fountain, was told by a serpent (which had the custody
thereof) that he should not drink unless he would promise to give him
the burthen that was on his back. The silly ass accepted the condition,
and _so the restoration of youth_ (_sold for a draught of water_)
_passed from men to serpents._"--_The Wisdom of the Ancients_
(Prometheus, xxvi.).
That this, as well as the whole of the legend relating to Prometheus, is a
confused account of an early tradition relative to the Fall of Man, and his
forfeiture of immortality, is obvious to any {41} unprejudiced mind. Lord
Bacon's explanation shows that he has been overreached by his fancy and
ingenuity.
In all the ancient mysteries, the serpent was more or less conspicuously
introduced, and always as a symbol of the invigorating or active power of
nature. The serpent was an emblem of the sun. _Solar_, _Phallic_, and
_Serpent_ worship, are all forms of a single worship.[8] The Hindu _Boodh_,
Chinese _Fo_, Egyptian _Osiris_, Northern _Woden_, Mexican _Quetzalcoatl_
(feathered serpent), are one and the same. (See the _American Archæological
Researches_, No. 1.; _The Serpent Symbol, and the Worship of the Reciprocal
Principles of Nature in America_, by E. G. Squier: New York, 1851.)
In Hindostan, to this day, we have the _Chaudravanasas_ and the
_Snaryavanasas_, worshippers of the moon, the aqueous or female; and of the
sun, the igneous or male principle. The _Saivas_ conjoin the two. Clemens
Alexandrinus has a curious remark, referring to the calling on _Evoe_ or
_Eva_ in the orgies of Bacchus; he says:
"The symbol in the orgies of Bacchus is a consecrated _serpent_; and,
indeed, if we pay attention to the strict sense of the Hebrew, the name
_Evia_, aspirated, signifies _female serpent_."
In my list of saints who are represented with a dragon or serpent beneath
their feet, I omitted St. Hilary:
"He is usually represented with three books. In Callot's _Images_ he is
treading on serpents, and accompanied by the text Numb. xxi. 7. Both
these emblems allude to his opposition to Arianism; the books
signifying the treatises he wrote against it, and the serpents the
false doctrines and heresies which he overthrew." _Calendar of the
Anglican Church Illustrated_: London, 1851, p. 37.
In Didron's splendid work (the _Iconographie_) we have several references
to ancient representations of our blessed Lord treading the dragon under
foot; and sometimes the lion, the asp, and the basilisk are added. (See Ps.
xci. 13.)
_The Conception_ is usually represented in Christian art by a figure of
Mary setting her foot, as second Eve, on the head of the prostrate serpent
(in allusion to Gen. iii. 15.), and thus we find it in Callot's _Images_.
"Not seldom, in a series of subjects from the Old Testament, the
pendant to Eve holding the apple is Mary crushing the head of the
fiend: and thus the bane and antidote are both before us." (See Mrs.
Jameson's _Legends of the Madonna._)
EIRIONNACH.
[Footnote 5: The title of this curious book is, _Geschichte der Mission der
evangelischen Brüder unter den Indianern in Nordamerika_, durch Georg H.
Loskiel: Barby, 1789, 8vo., pp. 783. Latrobe's translation of this book was
published Lond. 1794.]
[Footnote 6: This reminds one of the notion respecting
"The scorpion girt with fire,"
immortalised by Lord Byron's famous simile.]
[Footnote 7: _Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art and Nature; being the
Summe and Substance of Naturall Philosophy methodically digested_: London,
1661.]
[Footnote 8: In O'Brien's work on _The Round Towers of Ireland_, London,
1834, may be found much curious matter on this subject; and a good deal of
light is thrown on the horrors of Serpent or Boodhist worship. It is,
however, a wild and irreverent book, and by no means to be recommended to
the general reader, independently of the nature of its details. Mr. Payne
Knight's book is too well known to need mention here.]
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.
_Early Notice of the Camera Obscura._--I send you an early notice of the
camera obscura, which is to be found in vol. vi. of the _Nouvelles de la
République des Lettres_ for September, 1686, p. 1016. It is taken from a
letter of Mons. Laurenti, médecin, of Boulogne, "Sur l'érection des espèces
dans une chambre optique."
"C'est ainsi qu'on nomme one chambre exactement fermée partout, si ce
n'est dans un endroit par où on laisse entrer la lumière, afin de voir
peints, et situés à rebours, sur un morceau de papier blanc, les objets
de dehors qui respondent à ce trou, auquel il faut mettre un verre
convexe. On a souhaité, pour donner plus d'agrément à ce spectacle, que
les objets se peignissent sur ce papier selon leur véritable situation;
et pour cet effet on a cherché des expédiens qui redressassent les
espèces avant qu'elles parvinssent au foier du verre, c'est-à-dire, sur
le papier. L'auteur raporte '10' de ces expédiens, et trouve dans
chacun d'eux quelque chose d'incommode, mais enfin il en raporte un
autre, qui est exempt de toutes ces incommoditéz, et qui, par le moien
d'un prisme, au travers duquel il faut regarder les images peints sur
le papier, les montre dans leur situation droite, et augmente même la
vivacité de leurs couleurs. C'est le hazard qui a découvert ce
phénomène."
This letter is to be found at length in the _Miscellanea Curiosa, sive
Ephemeridum Medico-Physicarum Germanicarum Academiæ Naturæ curiosorum
decuria II. annus quartus, anni 1685 continens celeberrimorum Virorum
observationes medicas_: Norimbergæ, 1686, in 4to. It may perhaps be worth
consulting, if it were only to know what the ten rejected expedients are.
ANON.
_Queries on Dr. Diamond's Collodion Process._--Will you oblige me by
informing DR. DIAMOND through your valuable publication, that I am, in
common with many others, extremely indebted to him for his collodion, and
would esteem it a favour if he would answer the following Queries, viz.:
1st. He says, in answer to a previous Query, that "nitrate of potassa" is
_not_ formed in his process. Now I wish to ask if (as the iodide of silver
is redissolved in iodide of potassium) it is _not_ formed when the plate is
plunged into the nitrate silver bath, as the nitrate decomposes the iodide
of potassium?
2nd. How long will the collodion, according to his formulæ, keep, as
collodion made with iodide of silver generally decomposes quickly.
3rdly. Why does he prohibit _washed_ ether?
4thly. Does he think cyanide of potassium would do as well as the iodide,
to redissolve the iodide of silver, iodide of potassium being at present so
dear?
{42}
5thly. In his paper process, does not the soaking in water after iodizing
merely take away a portion of iodides of silver and potassium from the
paper; or, if not, what end is answered by it?
W. F. E.
_Baths for the Collodion Process._--Having lately been assured, by a
gentleman of scientific attainments, that the sensitiveness of the prepared
collodion plate depends rather upon the strength of the nitrate of silver
bath than on the collodion, I am desirous of asking how far the experience
of your correspondents confirms this statement. My informant assured me,
that if, instead of using a solution of thirty grains of nitrate of silver
to the ounce of water for the bath, which is the proportion recommended by
Messrs. Archer, Horne, Delamotte, Diamond, &c., a sixty grain solution be
substituted, the formation of the image would be the work of the fraction
of a second. This seems to me so important as to deserve being brought
under the notice of photographers--especially at this busy season--without
a moment's delay; and I therefore record the statement at once, as, from
circumstances with which I need not encumber your pages, I shall not have
an opportunity of trying any experiment upon the point for a week or two.
Upon referring to the authorities on the subject of the best solution for
baths, I have been struck with their uniformity. One exception only has
presented itself, which is in a valuable paper by Mr. Thomas in the 6th
Number of the _Journal of the Photographic Society_. That gentleman directs
the bath to be prepared in the following manner:
Into a 20 oz. stoppered bottle, put--
Nitrate of silver 1 oz.
Distilled water 10 oz.
Dissolve.
Iodide of potassium 5 grs.
Distilled water 1 dr.
Dissolve.
On mixing these two solutions, a precipitate of iodide of silver is formed.
Place the bottle containing this mixture in a saucepan of hot water, keep
it on the hob for about twelve hours, shake it occasionally, now and then
removing the stopper. The bath is now perfectly saturated with iodide of
silver; when cold, filter through white filtering paper, and add--
Alcohol 2 drs.
Sulphuric ether 1 dr.
The prepared glass is to remain in the bath about eight or ten minutes.
Now, is this bath applicable to all collodion, or only to that prepared by
Mr. Thomas; and if the former, what is the rationale of its beneficial
action?
A BEGINNER.
* * * * *
Replies to Minor Queries.
_Mitigation of Capital Punishment to a Forger_ (Vol. vii., p. 573.).--If
your correspondent H. B. C. really wishes to be released from his hard work
in hunting up the truth of my and other narratives of the _mitigation of
capital punishment to forgers_, I shall be happy to receive a note from him
with his name and address, when I will give him the name and address of my
informant in return. By this means I may be able to relieve his shoulder
from a portion of its burden, and myself from any farther imputations of
"mythic accompaniments," &c., which are unpalatable phrases even when
coming from a gentleman who only discloses his initials.
ALFRED GATTY.
Ecclesfield.
_Chronograms_ (Vol. v., p. 585.) and _Anagrams_ (Vol. iv., p. 226).--Though
we have ceased to practise these "literary follies," they are not without
interest; and you will perhaps think it worth while to add the following to
your list:
"Hugo Grotius, his _Sophompaneas_.
By FranCIs GoLDsMIth."
has no date on the title-page, the real date of 1652 being supplied by the
chronogram, which is a better one than most of those quoted in "N. & Q.,"
inasmuch as all the numerical letters are employed, and it is consequently
not dependent on the typography.
James Howell concludes his _Parly of Beasts_ as follows:
"Gloria lausque Deo sæCLorVM in sæcVla sunto.
A chronogrammaticall verse which includes not onely this year, 1660,
but hath numericall letters enow [an illustration, by the way, of
_enow_ as expressive of number] to reach above a thousand years
farther, untill the year 2867."
Query, How is this made out? And are there any other letters employed as
numerical than the M, D, C, L, V, and I? If not, I can only make Howell's
chronogram equivalent to 1927.
The author, in his _German Diet_, after narrating the death of Charles, son
of Philip II. of Spain, says:
"If you desire to know the yeer, this chronogram will tell you:
fILIVs ante DIeM patrIos InqVIrIt In annos,"
which would represent the date of 1568.
The same work contains an anagram on "Frere Jacques Clement," the murderer
of Henry III. of France: "C'est l'enfer qui m'a créé."
J. F. M.
_Abigail_ (Vol. iv., p. 424.; Vol. v., pp. 38. 94. 450.).--Can it be shown
that this word was in general use, as meaning a "lady's maid," before the
time of Queen Anne. It probably was so used; {43} but I have always thought
it likely that it became much more extensively employed, after Abigail
Hill, Lady Masham, became the favourite of that queen. She was, I believe,
a poor cousin of Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, and early in life
was employed by her in the humble capacity of lady's maid. After she had
supplanted the haughty duchess, it is not unlikely that the Whigs would
take a malicious pleasure in keeping alive the recollection of the early
fortunes of the Tory favourite, and that they would be unwilling to lose
the opportunity of speaking of a lady's maid as anything else but an
"Abigail." Swift, however, in his use of the word, could have no such
design, as he was on the best of terms with the Mashams, of whose party he
was the very life and soul.
H. T. RILEY.
_Burial in unconsecrated Ground_ (Vol. vi., p. 448.).--Susanna, the wife of
Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., of Busbridge, in Surrey, died at Bath in March,
1756, and was, at her own desire, buried with two of her children in a cave
in the grounds at Busbridge; it being excavated by a company of soldiers
then quartered at Guildford. Their remains were afterwards disinterred and
buried in Godalming Church.
H. T. RILEY.
_"Cob" and "Conners"_ (Vol. vii., pp. 234. 321.).--These names are not
synonymous, nor are they Irish words. It is the pier at Lyme Regis, and not
the harbour, which bears the name of the _Cob_. In the "Y Gododin" of
Aneurin, a British poem supposed to have been written in the sixth century,
the now obsolete word _chynnwr_ occurs in the seventy-sixth stanza. In a
recent translation of this poem, by the Rev. John Williams Ab Ithel, M.A.,
this word is rendered, apparently for the sake of the metre, "shore of the
sea." The explanation given in a foot-note is, "Harbour _cynwr_ from _cyn
dwfr_." On the shore of the estuary of the Dee, between Chester and Flint,
on the Welsh side of the river, there is a place called "Connah's Quay." It
is probable that the ancient orthography of the name was _Conner_.
_Cob_, I think, is also a British word,--_cop_, a mound. All the ancient
earth-works which bear this name, of which I have knowledge, are of a
circular form, except a lone embankment called _The Cop_, which has been
raised on the race-course at Chester, to protect it from the land-floods
and spring-tides of the river Dee.
N. W. S. (2.)
_Coleridge's Unpublished MSS._ (Vol. iv., p. 411.; Vol. vi., p.
533.).--THEOPHYLACT, at the first reference, inquired whether we are "ever
likely to receive from any member of Coleridge's family, or from his friend
Mr. J. H. Green, the fragments, if not the entire work, of his
_Logosophia_." Agreeing with your correspondent, that "we can ill afford to
lose a work the conception of which engrossed much of his thoughts," I
repeated the Query in another form, at the second reference (_supra_),
grounding it upon an assurance of Sara Coleridge, in her introduction to
the _Biographia Literaria_, that the fragment on Ideas would hereafter
appear, as a sequel to the _Aids to Reflection_. Whether this fragment be
identical with the _Logosophia_, or, as I suspect, a distinct essay,
certain it is that nothing of the kind has ever been published.
From an interesting conversation I had with Dr. Green in a railway
carriage, on our return from the Commemoration at Oxford, I learned that he
has in his possession, (1.) A complete section of a work on _The Philosophy
of Nature_ which he took down from the mouth of Coleridge, filling a large
volume; (2.) A complete treatise on _Logic_; and (3.) If I did not mistake,
a fragment on _Ideas_. The reason Dr. Green assigns for their not having
been published, is, that they contain nothing but what has already seen the
light in the _Aids to Reflection_, _The Theory of Life_, and the _Treatise
on Method_. This appears to me a very inadequate reason for withholding
them from the press. That the works would pay, there can be no doubt.
Besides the editing of these MSS., who is so well qualified as Dr. Green to
give us a good biography of Coleridge?
C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.
Birmingham.
_Selling a Wife_ (Vol. vii., p. 602.).--A case of selling a wife actually
and _bonâ fide_ happened in the provincial town in which I reside, about
eighteen years ago. A man publicly sold his wife at the market cross for
15l.: the buyer carried her away with him some seven miles off, and she
lived with him till his death. The seller and the buyer are both now dead,
but the woman is alive, and is married to a _third_ (or a _second_)
husband. The legality of the transaction has, I believe, some chance of
being tried, as she now claims some property belonging to her first husband
(the seller), her right to which is questioned in consequence of her
supposed alienation by sale; and I am informed that a lawyer has been
applied to in the case. Of course there can be little doubt as to the
result.
SC.
_Life_ (Vol. vii., pp. 429. 608.).--Compare with the lines quoted by your
correspondents those of Moore, entitled "My Birthday," the four following
especially:
"Vain was the man, and false as vain,
Who said[9], 'Were he ordain'd to run
His long career of life again,
He would do all that he had done.'"
Many a man would gladly live his life over again, were he allowed to bring
to bear on his {44} second life the _experience_ he had acquired in that
past. For in the grave there is no room, either for _ambition_ or
_repentance_; and the degree of our happiness or misery for eternity is
proportioned to the state of preparation or unpreparation in which we leave
_this world_. Instead of many a man, I might have said most good men; and
of the others, all who have not passed the rubicon of hope and grace. The
vista of the past, however, appears a long and dreary retrospect, and _any_
future is hailed as a relief: yet on second and deeper thought, we would
mount again the rugged hill of life, and try for a brighter prospect, a
higher eminence.
JARLTZBERG.
[Footnote 9: Fontenelle.]
* * * * *
"Immo Deus mihi si dederit renovare juventam,
Utve iterum in cunis possim vagire; recusem."
Isaac Hawkins Browne, _De Animi Immortalitate_, lib. i., near the
end.
(See _Selecta Poemata Anglorum Latina_, iii. 251.)
F. W. J.
_Passage of Thucydides on the Greek Factions_ (Vol. vii., p. 594.).--The
passage alluded to by SIR A. ALISON appears to be the celebrated
description of the moral effects produced by the conflicts of the Greek
factions, which is subjoined to the account of the Corcyræan sedition, iii.
82. The quotation must, however, have been made from memory, and it is
amplified and expanded from the original. The words adverted to seem to be:
[Greek: mellêsis de promêthês deilia euprepês, to de sôphron tou
anandrou proschêma, kai to pros hapan xuneton epi pan argon.]
Thucydides, however, proceeds to say that the cunning which enabled a man
to plot with success against an enemy, or still more to discover his
hostile purposes, was highly esteemed.
L.
_Archbishop King_ (Vol. vii., p. 430.).--A few days since I met with the
following passage in a brief sketch of Kane O'Hara, in the last number of
the _Irish Quarterly Review_:
"In the extremely meagre published notices of O'Hara (the celebrated
burletta writer), no reference has been made to his skill as an artist,
of which we have a specimen in his etching of Dr. William King,
archbishop of Dublin, in a wig and cap, of which portrait a copy has
been made by Richardson."
This extract is taken from one of a very interesting series of papers upon
"The Streets of Dublin."
ABHBA.
_Devonianisms_ (Vol. vii., p. 544.).--_Pilm_, _Forrell_.--_Pillom_ is the
full word, of which _pilm_ is a contraction. It appears to have been
derived from the British word _pylor_, dust. _Forell_ is an archaic name
for the cover of a book. The Welsh appear to have adopted it from the
English, as their name for a bookbinder is _fforelwr_, literally, one who
covers books. I may mention another Devonianism. The cover of a book is
called its _healing_. A man who lays slates on the roof of a house is, in
Devonshire, called a _hellier_.
N. W. S. (2.)
_Perseverant, Perseverance_ (Vol. vii., p. 400.).--Can MR. ARROWSMITH
supply any instances of the verb _persever_ (or _perceyuer_, as it is spelt
in the 1555 edition of Hawes, M. i. col. 2.), from any other author? and
will he inform us when this "abortive hog" and his litter became extinct.
In explaining _speare_ (so strangely misunderstood by the editor of
Dodsley), he should, I think, have added, that it was an old way of writing
_spar_. In Shakspeare's Prologue to _Troilus and Cressida_, it is written
_sperr_. _Sparred_, quoted by Richardson from the _Romance of the Rose_,
and _Troilus and Creseide_, is in the edition of Chaucer referred to by
Tyrwhitt, written in the _Romance_ "spered," and in _Troilus_ "sperred."
Q.
Bloomsbury.
"_The Good Old Cause_" (Vol. vi., _passim_).--Mrs. Behn, who gained some
notoriety for her licentious writings even in Charles II.'s days, was the
author of a play called _The Roundheads, or the Good Old Cause_: London,
1682. In the Epilogue she puts into the mouth of the Puritans the following
lines respecting the Royalists:
"Yet then they rail'd against _The Good Old Cause_;
Rail'd foolishly for loyalty and laws:
But when the Saints had put them to a stand,
We left them loyalty, and took their land:
Yea, and the pious work of Reformation
Rewarded was with plunder and sequestration."
The following lines are quoted by Mr. Teale in his _Life of Viscount
Falkland_, p. 131.:
"The wealthiest man among us is the best:
No grandeur now in Nature or in book
Delights us--repose, avarice, expense,
This is the idolatry; and these we adore:
Plain living and high thinking are no more;
The homely beauty of _The Good Old Cause_
Is gone: our peace and fearful innocence,
And pure religion breathing household laws."
Whence did Mr. Teale get these lines? Either _The Good Old Cause_ is here
used in a peculiar sense, or Mr. Teale makes an unhappy use of the
quotation.
JARLTZBERG.
_Saying of Pascal_ (Vol. vii., p. 596.).--In reply to the question of W.
FRASER, I would refer him to Pascal's _sixteenth_ Provincial Letter, where,
in the last paragraph but one, we read,--
"Mes révérends pères, mes lettres n'avaient pas accoutumé de se suivre
de si près, ni d'être si étendues. _Le peu de temps que j'ai eu a été
cause de l'un et de l'autre. Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que
parceque je {45} n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte._ La
raison qui m'a obligé de hâter vous est mieux connue qu'à moi."
R. E. T.
_Paint taken off of old Oak_ (Vol. vii., p. 620.).--About twenty-six years
ago, by the adoption of a very simple process recommended by Dr. Wollaston,
the paint was entirely removed from the screen of carved oak which fills
the north end of the great hall at Audley End, and the wood reassumed its
original colour and brilliancy. The result was brought about by the
application of soft-soap, laid on of the thickness of a shilling over the
whole surface of the oak, and allowed to remain there two or three days; at
the end of which it was washed off with plenty of cold water. I am aware
that potash has been often tried with success for the same purpose; but, in
many instances, unless it is used with due caution, the wood becomes of a
darker hue, and has the appearance of having been charred. It is worthy of
remark, that Dr. Wollaston made the suggestion with great diffidence, not
having, as he said, had any practical experience of the effect of such an
application.
BRAYBROOKE.
_Passage in the "Tempest"_ (Vol. ii., pp. 259. 299. 337. 429.).--As a
parallel to the expression "most busy least" (meaning "least busy"
emphatically), I would suggest the common expression of the Northumbrians,
"Far over near" (signifying "much too near").
H. T. RILEY.
* * * * *
Miscellaneous.
NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.
The Committee appointed by the Society of Antiquaries to consider what
improvements could be introduced into its management, has at length issued
a Report; and we are glad to find that the alterations suggested by them
have been frankly adopted by the Council. The principal changes proposed
refer to the election of the Council; the having but one Secretary, who is
not to be a member of that body; the appointment of Local Secretaries; the
retirement annually of the Senior Vice-President; and lastly, that which
more than anything else must operate for the future benefit of the Society,
the appointment of a third Standing Committee, to be called _The Executive
Committee_, whose duty shall be "to superintend the correspondence of the
Society on all subjects relating to literature and antiquities, to direct
any antiquarian operations or excavations carried on by the Society, to
examine all papers sent for reading, all objects sent for exhibition, and
to assist the Director generally in taking care that the publications of
the Society are consistent with its position and importance." It is easy to
see that if a proper selection be made of the Fellows to serve on this
Committee, their activity, and the renewed interest which will be thereby
awakened in the proceedings of the Society, will ensure for the Thursday
Evening Meetings a regular supply of objects for exhibition, and papers for
reading, worthy of the body--and therefore unlike many which we have too
frequently heard, and to which, but for the undeserved imputation which we
should seem to cast upon our good friend Sir Henry Ellis, might be applied,
with a slight alteration, that couplet of Mathias which tells--
"How o'er the bulk of these _transacted_ deeds
Sir Henry pants, and d----ns 'em as he reads."
We have now little doubt that better days are in store for the Society of
Antiquaries.
The Annual Meeting of the Archæological Institute commences at Chichester
on Tuesday next, under the patronage of the Dukes of Norfolk and Richmond,
and the Bishop of Chichester, and the Presidentship of Lord Talbot de
Malahide. There is a good bill of fare provided in the shape of Lectures on
the Cathedral, by Professor Willis; excursions to Boxgrove Priory,
Halnaker, Godwood, Cowdray, Petworth, Pevensey, Amberley, Shoreham, Lewes,
and Arundel; excavations on Bow Hill; Meetings of the Sections of History,
Antiquities, and Architecture; and, what we think will be one of the
pleasantest features of the programme, the Annual Meeting of the Sussex
Archæological Society, in the proceedings of which the Members of the
Institute are invited to participate.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--_A Glossary of Provincialisms in Use in the County of
Sussex_, by W. Durrant Cooper, _second edition_: a small but very valuable
addition to our provincial glossaries, with an introduction well worth the
reading. We shall be surprised if the meeting of the Institute this year in
Sussex does not furnish Mr. Cooper with materials for a third and enlarged
edition.--_The Traveller's Library_, No. 44., _A Tour on the Continent by
Rail and Road_, by John Barrow: a brief itinerary of dates and distances,
showing what may be done in a two months' visit to the Continent.--No. 45.
_Swiss Men and Swiss Mountains_, by Robert Ferguson: a very graphic and
well-written narrative of a tour in Switzerland, which deserves a corner in
the knapsack of the "intending" traveller.--_The Essays, or Counsels Civil
and Moral, by Francis Bacon, Viscount St. Alban_, edited by Thomas Markby:
a cheap edition of this valuable "handbook for thinking men," produced by
the ready sale which has attended _The Advancement of Learning_ by the same
editor.--_Reynard the Fox, after the German Version of Göthe_, with
Illustrations by J. Wolf, Part VII., in which the translator carries on the
story to _The Outlawry_ in well-tuned verse.--_Cyclopædia Bibliographica_,
Part X. This tenth Part concludes the first half of the volume of authors
and their works; and the punctuality with which the Parts have succeeded
each other is a sufficient pledge that we shall see this most useful
library companion completed in a satisfactory manner.
* * * * *
BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES WANTED TO PURCHASE.
MOORE'S MELODIES. 15th Edition.
WOOD'S ATHENÆ OXONIENSES (ed. Bliss). 4 vols. 4to. 1813-20.
THE COMPLAYNTS OF SCOTLAND. 8vo. Edited by Leyden. 1804.
SHAKSPEARE'S PLAYS. Vol. V. of Johnson and Steevens's edition, in 15 vols.
8vo. 1739.
CIRCLE OF THE SEASONS. 12mo. London, 1828. (Two Copies.)
JONES' ACCOUNT OF ABERYSTWITH. Trevecka, 8vo. 1779.
{46} M. C. H. BROEMEL'S FEST-TANZEN DER ERSTEN CHRISTEN. Jena, 1705.
COOPER'S ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC RECORDS. 8vo. 1832. Vol. I.
PASSIONAEL EFTE DAT LEVENT DER HEILIGEN. Basil, 1522.
LORD LANSDOWNE'S WORKS. Vol. I. Tonson, 1736.
JAMES BAKER'S PICTURESQUE GUIDE TO THE LOCAL BEAUTIES OF WALES. Vol. I.
4to. 1794.
SANDERS' HISTORY OF SHENSTONE IN STAFFORDSHIRE. J. Nichols, London, 1794.
Two Copies.
HERBERT'S CAROLINA THRENODIA. 8vo. 1702.
THEOBOLD'S SHAKSPEARE RESTORED. 4to. 1726.
*** _Correspondents sending Lists of Books Wanted are requested to send
their names._
*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, _carriage free_, to be
sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet Street.
* * * * *
Notices to Correspondents.
J. M. G., _who writes respecting the Leigh Peerage, is informed that we
have a private letter for him. How can it be addressed to him?_
W. W. (Malta) _has our best thanks for his letter of the 25th of June. His
suggestion will be adopted; but we shall shortly have the pleasure of
addressing a_ private _communication to him._
SHAKSPEARE CRITICISM. _We have to apologise to many friends and
Correspondents for the postponement of their communications. As Soon as the
Index to_ Vol. vii. _is published, we shall take steps to get out of these
arrears._
C. P. F. _The_ Ch _in the name of _Ch_obham is soft. There is a _C_obham
within a few miles of the Camp._
IODIDE (June 24th). _There is much care required in iodizing paper; we have
no hesitation in saying at present the subject has not met with sufficient
attention. When the iodized paper is immersed in water, it is some time
before it assumes a yellow colour. This may be accelerated by often
changing the water. The brightness of the colour is by no means an index of
its degree of sensitiveness--on the contrary, paper of a bright yellow
colour is more apt to brown than one of a pale primrose. Too bright a
yellow would also indicate an insufficient soaking; and suffering the paper
to remain longer than is needful not only lessens its sensitive powers, but
does much damage by removing all the size._
H. N. (Kingston). _Violet-coloured glass, ground on one side, may be
obtained at 11d. per square foot of Messrs. Forest and Brownley, Lime
Street, Liverpool. It may also be had in London, but the price charged is
much higher. This glass obstructs just a sufficient degree of light, and is
most agreeable to the sitter; not much advantage accrues from the use of
large sheets, and it is objectionable for price. No doubt such an
application as you mention would be useful; but, from the difficulty there
is in keeping out the wet from a glass roof, it would be very
objectionable. Beyond a reference to our advertising columns, we cannot
enter upon the subject of the prices of chemicals and their purity. In
making gun cotton, the time of immersion in the acids must be the same for
twenty grains as for any large quantity: when good, there is a peculiar
crispness in the cotton, and it is_ quite _soluble in the ether. If our
Correspondent (who expresses so much earnestness of success) will forward
his address, he shall receive a small portion made according to_ DR.
DIAMOND'S _formulary, which we find extremely soluble; and he can compare
it with that of his own production._
F. M. (Malta). _1st. We are informed by_ DR. DIAMOND _that however
beautiful the results obtained by others in the use of Canson's paper, in
his hands he has found no certainty in its action, and, for iodized paper
for negatives, far inferior to the best English papers. If the salts of
gold are to be used, deep tints are very readily obtained by the French
papers. The propriety of using gold is very questionable, not only as
affecting the after permanence of the picture, but from the strong
contrasts generally produced being very offensive to an artist's eye.
2ndly. Xyloidine may be iodized precisely the same as collodion, but no
advantage whatever is gained from its use. A collodion for the taking of
positives on glass should be differently made to one for negative pictures.
There should be less of the iodides contained in it, and it should be more
fluid. When this is the case, the image is never washed out by the hypo.,
and the delineation is equal in minuteness to any Daguerreotype on metal
plates, as has been shown by the specimens of the reduction of printing
exhibited by Mr. Rosling at the Society of Arts' Exhibition, where the
letters were reduced to 1-750th of an inch, or less than half the diameter
of a human hair. If the protonitrate of iron_ properly prepared _be used in
the development, the deposit assumes the beautiful appearance of dead white
silver, having none of the reflecting qualities of the metal plates._
C. E. F. (June 13th). _The spots in the specimen sent depend upon minute
substances in your collodion not receiving the action of the nitrate of
silver bath; and you will find this upon looking through a prepared plate
after it has been in the nitrate bath, and previously to its ever having
been in the camera. They may be iodide or iodate of silver, or small
crystals of nitrate of potash. If the former, add a little piece of iodide
of potassium, say ten grains to two ounces of collodion; or if the latter,
it would depend upon a defective washing of the gun cotton by which all the
soluble salts have not been removed: thus more care must be used. We would
recommend you to use an entirely new bath and stronger, four ounces of
hypo. to a pint: it is evident that your very nice specimens have been
spoiled by the stains of the bath. Allow us again to draw your attention to
the process given by_ MR. POLLOCK; _we have seen most satisfactory pictures
produced by it._
R. H. CHATTOCK (Solihull). _The "freckled" appearance which you mention in
your positives in all probability depends upon the action of the light upon
the silver, which still remains in your proof. We have often found it to be
the case when old hyposulphite of soda is used, and when the strength of
the bath is becoming weak and doubtful. It is certainly a safe process to
soak the picture in clean water for an hour or two,_ the light being
excluded _previous to the immersion into the hypo.; and the water
extracting a large portion of the solutions remaining on the paper, the
after application of the hypo. need not be so long continued, whereby the
tone of the picture is not so much lowered. Your own observation, that a
piece of Whatman's paper being merely divided, and one point exhibiting the
defects and the other not, at once negatives the idea that the size in the
paper has been affected._
_The_ Index _to our_ SEVENTH VOLUME _will be ready on Saturday next, the
16th._
_A few complete sets of_ "NOTES AND QUERIES," Vols. i. _to_ vi., _price
Three Guineas, may now be had; for which early application is desirable._
"NOTES AND QUERIES" _is published at noon on Friday, so that the Country
Booksellers may receive Copies in that night's parcels, and deliver them to
their Subscribers on the Saturday._
* * * * *
The Twenty-eighth Edition.
NEUROTONICS, or the Art of Strengthening the Nerves, containing Remarks on
the influence of the Nerves upon the Health of Body and Mind, and the means
of Cure for Nervousness, Debility, Melancholy, and all Chronic Diseases, by
DR. NAPIER, M.D. London: HOULSTON & STONEMAN. Price 4d., or Post Free from
the Author for Five Penny Stamps.
"We can conscientiously recommend 'Neurotonics,' by Dr. Napier, to the
careful perusal of our invalid readers."--_John Bull Newspaper, June 5,
1852._
* * * * *
WANTED, for the Ladies' Institute, 83. Regent Street, Quadrant, LADIES of
taste for fancy work,--by paying 21s. will be received as members, and
taught the new style of velvet wool work, which is acquired in a few easy
lessons. Each lady will be guaranteed constant employment and ready cash
payment for her work. Apply personally to Mr. Thoughey. N.B. Ladies taught
by letter at any distance from London.
* * * * *
BENNETT'S MODEL WATCH, as shown at the GREAT EXHIBITION, No. 1. Class X.,
in Gold and Silver Cases, in five qualities, and adapted to all Climates,
may now be had at the MANUFACTORY, 65. CHEAPSIDE. Superior Gold London-made
Patent Levers, 17, 15, and 12 guineas. Ditto, in Silver Cases, 8, 6 and 4
guineas. First-rate Geneva Levers, in Gold Cases, 12, 10, and 8 guineas.
Ditto, in Silver Cases, 8, 6, and 5 guineas. Superior Lever, with
Chronometer Balance, Gold, 27, 23, and 19 guineas. Bennett's Pocket
Chronometer, Gold, 50 guineas; Silver, 40 guineas. Every Watch skilfully
examined, timed, and its performance guaranteed. Barometers, 2l., 3l., and
4l. Thermometers from 1s. each.
BENNETT, Watch, Clock, and Instrument Maker to the Royal Observatory, the
Board of Ordnance, the Admiralty, and the Queen,
65. CHEAPSIDE.
* * * * *
SPECTACLES.--WM. ACKLAND applies his medical knowledge as a Licentiate of
the Apothecaries' Company, London, his theory as a Mathematician, and his
practice as a working Optician, aided by Smee's Optometer, in the selection
of Spectacles suitable to every derangement of vision, so as to preserve
the sight to extreme old age.
ACHROMATIC TELESCOPES, with the New Vetzlar Eye-pieces, as exhibited at the
Academy of Sciences in Paris. The Lenses of these Eye-pieces are so
constructed that the rays of light fall nearly perpendicular to the surface
of the various lenses, by which the aberration is completely removed; and a
telescope so fitted gives one-third more magnifying power and light than
could be obtained by the old Eye-pieces. Prices of the various sizes on
application to
WM. ACKLAND, Optician, 93. Hatton Garden, London.
* * * * *
{47}
PHOTOGRAPHIC PICTURES.--A Selection of the above beautiful Productions
(comprising Views in VENICE, PARIS, RUSSIA, NUBIA, &c.) may be seen at
BLAND & LONG'S, 153. Fleet Street, where may also be procured Apparatus of
every Description, and pure Chemicals for the practice of Photography in
all its Branches.
Calotype, Daguerreotype, and Glass Pictures for the Stereoscope.
*** Catalogues may be had on application.
BLAND & LONG, Opticians, Philosophical and Photographical Instrument
Makers, and Operative Chemists, 153. Fleet Street.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHIC APPARATUS MANUFACTORY, Charlotte Terrace, Barnsbury Road,
Islington.
T. OTTEWILL (from Horne & Co.'s) begs most respectfully to call the
attention of Gentlemen, Tourists, and Photographers, to the superiority of
his newly registered DOUBLE-BODIED FOLDING CAMERAS, possessing the
efficiency and ready adjustment of the Sliding Camera, with the portability
and convenience of the Folding Ditto.
Every description of Apparatus to order.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHY.--HORNE & CO.'S Iodized Collodion, for obtaining Instantaneous
Views, and Portraits in from three to thirty seconds, according to light.
Portraits obtained by the above, for delicacy of detail rival the choicest
Daguerreotypes, specimens of which may be seen at their Establishment.
Also every description of Apparatus, Chemicals, &c. &c. used in this
beautiful Art.--123. and 121. Newgate Street.
* * * * *
Just published, price 1s., free by Post 1s. 4d.,
THE WAXED-PAPER PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESS of GUSTAVE LE GRAY'S NEW EDITION.
Translated from the French.
Sole Agents in the United Kingdom for VOIGHTLANDER & SON'S celebrated
Lenses for Portraits and Views.
General Depôt for Turner's, Whatman's, Canson Frères', La Croix, and other
Talbotype Papers.
Pure Photographic Chemicals.
Instructions and Specimens in every Branch of the Art.
GEORGE KNIGHT & SONS, Foster Lane, London.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHY.--Collodion (Iodized with the Ammonio-Iodide of Silver).--J. B.
HOCKIN & CO., Chemists, 289. Strand, were the first in England who
published the application of this agent (see _Athenæum_, Aug. 14th). Their
Collodion (price 9d. per oz.) retains its extraordinary sensitiveness,
tenacity, and colour unimpaired for months; it may be exported to any
climate, and the Iodizing Compound mixed as required. J. B. HOCKIN & CO.
manufacture PURE CHEMICALS and all APPARATUS with the latest Improvements
adapted for all the Photographic and Daguerreotype processes. Cameras for
Developing in the open Country. GLASS BATHS adapted to any Camera. Lenses
from the best Makers. Waxed and Iodized Papers, &c.
* * * * *
PHOTOGRAPHIC PAPER.--Negative and Positive Papers of Whatman's Turner's,
Sanford's, and Canson Frères' make. Waxed-Paper for Le Gray's Process.
Iodized and Sensitive Paper for every kind of Photography.
Sold by JOHN SANFORD, Photographic Stationer, Aldine Chambers, 13.
Paternoster Row, London.
* * * * *
CLERICAL, MEDICAL, AND GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY.
* * * * *
Established 1824.
* * * * *
FIVE BONUSES have been declared: at the last in January, 1852, the sum of
131,125l. was added to the Policies, producing a Bonus varying with the
different ages from 24½ to 55 per cent. on the Premiums paid during the
five years, or from 5l. to 12l. 10s. per cent. on the Sum Assured.
The small share of Profit divisible in future among the Shareholders being
now provided for, the ASSURED will hereafter derive all the benefits
obtainable from a Mutual Office, WITHOUT ANY LIABILITY OR RISK OF
PARTNERSHIP.
POLICIES effected before the 30th June next, will be entitled, at the next
Division, to one year's additional share of Profits over later Assurers.
On Assurances for the whole of Life only one half of the Premiums need be
paid for the first five years.
INVALID LIVES may be Assured at rates proportioned to the risk.
Claims paid _thirty_ days after proof of death, and all Policies are
_Indisputable_ except in cases of fraud.
Tables of Rates and forms of Proposal can be obtained of any of the
Society's Agents, or of
GEORGE H. PINCKARD, Resident Secretary.
99. _Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London._
* * * * *
UNITED KINGDOM LIFE ASSURANCE COMPANY: established by Act of Parliament in
1834.--8. Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, London.
HONORARY PRESIDENTS.
Earl of Courtown
Earl Leven and Melville
Earl of Norbury
Earl of Stair
Viscount Falkland
Lord Elphinstone
Lord Belhaven and Stenton
Wm. Campbell, Esq., of Tillichewan
LONDON BOARD.
_Chairman._--Charles Graham, Esq.
_Deputy-Chairman._--Charles Downes, Esq.
H. Blair Avarne, Esq.
E. Lennox Boyd, Esq., F.S.A., _Resident_.
C. Berwick Curtis, Esq.
William Fairlie, Esq.
D. Q. Henriques, Esq.
J. G. Henriques, Esq.
F. C. Maitland, Esq.
William Railton, Esq.
F. H. Thomson, Esq.
Thomas Thorby, Esq.
MEDICAL OFFICERS.
_Physician._--Arthur H. Hassall, Esq., M.D., 8. Bennett Street, St.
James's.
_Surgeon._--F. H. Tomson, Esq., 48. Berners Street.
The Bonus added to Policies from March, 1834, to December 31, 1847, is as
follows:--
---------+----------+--------------------+----------
Sum | Time | Sum added to | Sum
Assured. | Assured. | Policy | Payable
| +--------------------+ at Death.
| | In 1841. In 1848. |
---------+----------+---------+----------+----------
£ | | £ s.d.| £ s.d.| £ s.d.
5000 | 14 years | 683 6 8 | 787 10 0 | 6470 16 8
* 1000 | 7 years | - - | 157 10 0 | 1157 10 0
500 | 1 year | - - | 11 5 0 | 511 5 0
---------+----------+---------+----------+----------
* EXAMPLE.--At the commencement of the year 1841, a person aged thirty took
out a Policy for 1000l., the annual payment for which is 24l. 1s. 8d.; in
1847 he had paid in premiums 168l. 11s. 8d.; but the profits being 2¼ per
cent. per annum on the sum insured (which is 22l. 10s. per annum for each
1000l.) he had 157l. 10s. added to the Policy, almost as much as the
premiums paid.
The Premiums, nevertheless, are on the most moderate scale, and only
one-half need be paid for the first five years, when the Insurance is for
Life. Every information will be afforded on application to the Resident
Director.
* * * * *
PURE NERVOUS or MIND COMPLAINTS.--If the readers of NOTES AND QUERIES, who
suffer from depression of spirits, confusion, headache, blushing,
groundless fears, unfitness for business or society, blood to the head,
failure of memory, delusions, suicidal thoughts, fear of insanity, &c.,
will call on, or correspond with, REV. DR. WILLIS MOSELEY, who, out of
above 22,000 applicants, knows not fifty uncured who have followed his
advice, he will instruct them how to get well, without a fee, and will
render the same service to the friends of the insane.--At home from 11 to
3.
18. BLOOMSBURY STREET, BEDFORD SQUARE.
* * * * *
WESTERN LIFE ASSURANCE AND ANNUITY SOCIETY.
3. PARLIAMENT STREET, LONDON.
Founded A.D. 1842.
_Directors._
H. E. Bicknell, Esq. | T. Grissell, Esq.
T. S. Cocks, Jun. Esq., M.P. | J. Hunt, Esq.
G. H. Drew, Esq. | J. A. Lethbridge, Esq.
W. Evans, Esq. | E. Lucas, Esq.
W. Freeman, Esq. | J. Lys Seager, Esq.
F. Fuller, Esq. | J. B. White, Esq.
J. H. Goodhart, Esq. | J. Carter Wood, Esq.
_Trustees._--W. Whateley, Esq., Q.C.; George Drew, Esq., T. Grissell,
Esq.
_Physician._--William Rich. Basham, M.D.
_Bankers._--Messrs. Cocks, Biddulph, and Co., Charing Cross.
VALUABLE PRIVILEGE.
POLICIES effected in this Office do not become void through temporary
difficulty in paying a Premium, as permission is given upon application to
suspend the payment at interest, according to the conditions detailed in
the Prospectus.
Specimens of Rates of Premium for Assuring 100l., with a Share in
three-fourths of the Profits:--
Age £ s. d. | Age £ s. d.
17 1 14 4 | 32 2 10 8
22 1 18 8 | 37 2 18 6
27 2 4 5 | 42 3 8 2
ARTHUR SCRATCHLEY, M.A., F.R.A.S., Actuary.
Now ready, price 10s. 6d., Second Edition, with material additions,
INDUSTRIAL INVESTMENT and EMIGRATION: being a TREATISE ON BENEFIT BUILDING
SOCIETIES, and on the General Principles of Land Investment, exemplified in
the Cases of Freehold Land Societies, Building Companies, &c. With a
Mathematical Appendix on Compound Interest and Life Assurance. By ARTHUR
SCRATCHLEY, M.A., Actuary to the Western Life Assurance Society, 3.
Parliament Street, London.
* * * * *
{48}
MURRAY'S RAILWAY READING.
This Day, new and revised Edition, post 8vo., 2s. 6d.
ANCIENT SPANISH BALLADS: Historical and Romantic. Translated, with Notes,
by JOHN GIBSON LOCKHART, ESQ.
Also, fcap. 8vo., 2s.
A MONTH IN NORWAY, during the Summer of 1852. By JOHN G. HOLLWAY, ESQ.
The former Volumes of Murray's Railway Reading are--
LIFE OF LORD BACON. By LORD CAMPBELL.
WELLINGTON. By JULES MAUREL.
FALL OF JERUSALEM. By DEAN MILMAN.
STORY OF JOAN OF ARC. By LORD MAHON.
LITERARY ESSAYS AND CHARACTERS. By HENRY HALLAM.
LIFE OF THEODORE HOOK.
THE EMIGRANT. By SIR F. B. HEAD.
CHARACTER OF WELLINGTON. By LORD ELLESMERE.
MUSIC AND DRESS. By a LADY.
POPULAR ACCOUNT OF NINEVEH. By A. H. LAYARD.
BEES AND FLOWERS. By a CLERGYMAN.
"THE FORTY-FIVE." By LORD MAHON.
ESSAYS FROM "THE TIMES."
DEEDS of NAVAL DARING. By EDWARD GIFFARD.
THE ART OF DINING.
JOURNEY TO NEPAUL. By LAURENCE OLIPHANT.
THE CHACE, TURF, AND ROAD. By NIMROD.
Just ready,
HISTORY, AS A CONDITION OF SOCIAL PROGRESS. By SAMUEL LUCAS. Fcap. 8vo.,
price 6d.
JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street.
* * * * *
DUTCH LANGUAGE.--Werninck's Dutch Dictionary, 1824 (published at 12s.), bd.
5s.--Van der Pyl's Dutch Grammar, 8vo. 1819, bds. 6s.;--and a variety of
other Dutch Works for sale at
BERNARD QUARITCH'S,
16. Castle Street, Leicester Square.
*** B. Q.'s Catalogue, containing an extensive stock of Books in all the
Languages of the World, may be had for 6d.--B. Q.'s Monthly Catalogues are
sent for a year on receipt of Twelve Postage Stamps.
* * * * *
TO ALL WHO HAVE FARMS OR GARDENS.
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE AND AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE,
(The Horticultural Part edited by PROF. LINDLEY)
Of Saturday, July 2, contains Articles on
Aloes, to water, by Mr. Burgess
Analyses of roots
Ants, black
Banana, by Mr. Bidwell
Beetles, to kill
Begonia Prestoniensis
Books noticed
Botanic Garden, Glasnevin, fete in
Calendar, horticultural
---- agricultural
Celery, to blanch, by Mr. Bennett
Chopwell Wood
Digger, Samuelson's
Drainage, land
Farming on Dartmoor
Fences, land occupied by
Fir, miniature Scotch, by Mr. McPherson
Forests, royal
Fruit, to pack
Grapes, to pack
---- at Chiswick
Grape mildew
Grasses for lawns
Grubbers or scufflers
Horticultural Society's garden
Law of fixtures
Lawn grasses
Lisianthus Russellianus
Lycoperdon Proteus, by Mr. Richardson
Mangold Wurzel
Manuring, liquid, by Professor Hay
Mildew, grape
Newbury Horticultural Show
Packing fruit
Peaches, to pack
Pear disease (with engraving)
Pelargoniums, to bed out
---- window
Poultry literature
Rhubarb wine
Root crops
Roots, best size of, by Mr. Hamilton
Royal Botanic Gardens
Scufflers or grubbers
Seeding, thin
Societies, proceedings of the Horticultural, Agricultural of England
Turnip crops
Wine, rhubarb
THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE and AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE contains, in addition to
the above, the Covent Garden, Mark Lane, Smithfield, and Liverpool prices,
with returns from the Potato, Hop, Hay, Coal, Timber, Bark, Wool, and Seed
Markets, and a _complete Newspaper, with a condensed account of all the
transactions of the week_.
ORDER of any Newsvender. OFFICE for Advertisements, 5. Upper Wellington
Street, Covent Garden. London.
* * * * *
ARCHÆOLOGICAL INSTITUTE
OF
Great Britain and Ireland.
ANNUAL MEETING, CHICHESTER, 1853.
PATRONS.
His Grace the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Marshal, K.G.
His Grace the Duke of Richmond, K.G., Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, and Custos
Rotulorum.
The Lord Bishop of Chichester, D.D.
PRESIDENT.
The Lord Talbot de Malahide, M.R.I.A.
PRESIDENTS OF SECTIONS.
_History._--The Earl of Chichester.
_Antiquities._--The Hon. Robert Curzon, Jun.
_Architecture._--The Very Rev. the Dean of Chichester.
The ANNUAL MEETING will commence at CHICHESTER on TUESDAY next, July the
12th.
All persons who propose to communicate Memoirs, or to send Antiquities,
&c., for Exhibition, are requested to make known their intention forthwith.
GEO. VULLIAMY, Sec.
_26. Suffolk Street, Pall Mall._
* * * * *
MADVIG'S GREEK SYNTAX, BY ARNOLD AND BROWNE.
In square 8vo., price 8s. 6d.
SYNTAX OF THE GREEK LANGUAGE, especially of the Attic Dialect, for the Use
of Schools. By PROFESSOR MADVIG. Translated from the German by the REV. H.
BROWNE, M.A., and edited by the REV. T. K. ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of
Lyndon, and formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. With an Appendix
on the GREEK PARTICLES, by the Translator.
RIVINGTONS, St. Paul's Church Yard, and Waterloo Place.
* * * * *
ARNOLD'S EDITIONS OF THE GREEK DRAMAS, WITH ENGLISH NOTES.
Just published, price 3s.
THE MEDEA of EURIPIDES; with ENGLISH NOTES, from the German of Witzschel.
Edited by the REV. THOMAS KERCHEVER ARNOLD, M.A., late Rector of Lyndon,
and formerly Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge.
RIVINGTONS, St. Paul's Church Yard, and Waterloo Place.
Recently published in this Series:
1. EURIPIDIS BACCHÆ, 3s.--HIPPOLYTUS, 3s.--HECUBA, 3s.
2. SOPHOCLIS OEDIPUS COLONEUS, 4s.--OEDIPUS TYRANNUS, 4s.--PHILOCTETES,
3s.--AJAX, 3s.--ANTIGONE, 4s.
3. ECLOGÆ ARISTOPHANICÆ. (CLOUDS), 3s. 6d.--(BIRDS), 3s. 6d.
* * * * *
Now ready, with Woodcuts, Post 8vo., 10s. 6d.
THE STORY OF CORFE CASTLE, and of many who have lived there. Collected from
Ancient Chronicles and Records; also from the Private Memoirs of a Family
resident there in the Time of the Civil Wars, which include various
particulars of the Court of Charles I., when at York, and afterwards at
Oxford. By the RIGHT HON. GEORGE BANKES, M.P.
JOHN MURRAY, Albemarle Street.
* * * * *
THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for JULY, 1853, being the First of a New Volume,
contains:--1. Memoirs of Thomas Moore. 2. Wanderings of an Antiquary, from
York to Godmanham (with Engravings). 3. Female Novelists. 4. A Political
Caricature, temp. Charles I. 5. A Midland Town (Leicester) in the Reign of
George III., and Mr. Gardiner's Anecdotes of T. Moore. 6. Historical Notes
on the Retaining of Counsel. 7. Roman Antiquities found at Kingsholm, near
Gloucester. 8. Remains of Norman Cross at Birstall, co. York (with an
Engraving). 9. The Bourne Stream near Croydon. 10. Dr. Guest on the
Etymology of Stonehenge. Correspondence of Sylvanus Urban: The Itinerary of
Richard of Cirencester.--The Roches and Viscounty of Fermoy.--Recent
repairs of Lambeth Church.--Early state of St. James's Park.--Postmen,
temp. Charles I., &c. &c. With Notes of the Month, Reviews of New
Publications, Historical Chronicle, and OBITUARY, including Memoirs of the
Earl of Ducie, Lord Dacre, Sir John Hope, Bart., Sir Charles A. Elton,
Bart., Lt.-Gen. Sir R. Arbuthnot, Vice-Adm. Sir F. Mason, Sir Richard B.
Comyn, Culling C. Smith, Esq., J. L. Dampier, Esq., Ludwig Tieck, &c. Price
2s. 6d.
NICHOLS & SONS, 25. Parliament Street.
* * * * *
Now ready, price 4s. 6d. By Post, 5s.
THE PRACTICE OF PHOTOGRAPHY. A Manual for Students and Amateurs. By PHILIP
DELAMOTTE, F.S.A. Illustrated with a Photographic Picture taken by the
Collodion Process. This Manual contains much practical information of a
valuable nature.
JOSEPH CUNDALL, 168. New Bond Street.
* * * * *
Printed by THOMAS CLARK SHAW, of No. 10 Stonefield Street, in the Parish of
St. Mary, Islington, at No. 5. New Street Square, in the Parish of St.
Bride, in the City of London; and published by GEORGE BELL, of No. 186.
Fleet Street, in the Parish of St. Dunstan in the West, in the City of
London, Publisher, at No. 186. Fleet Street aforesaid.--Saturday, July 9,
1853.
* * * * *
Corrections made to printed original.
page 25, "awe, auge, ave, campus": 'campres' in original (Errata, Issue
194).
page 26, "the Coptic iaro": 'iars' in original (Errata, Issue 194).
page 28, "connecting the following words with one another": 'word' in
original.
page 35, "any other source than those": 'that those' in original.
page 36, "the regularity of the petals.": 'irregularity' in original
(Errata, Issue 194).
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Notes and Queries, Number 193, July 9, 1853 - A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, - Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc" ***
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