Chapter II: Part 2

Where, however, we perceive in the last line the rhyme has destroyed the metre of the Latin poet, if the words be really a classical quotation, which I should wish to form into a Query for some of your readers.

But the emblem, as the famous _Triquetra_, is one of the most ancient and celebrated of antiquity. It figures on the oldest coins of Metapontum; and subsequently on many of those of Sicily, particularly on those of Palermo and Syracuse, as _island_ cities; for to islands, from one use of its name in the Greek word [Greek: CHÊLÊ], as a jutting promontory, a break-water, or a jetty, was it more especially appropriated. Hence it is even now borne in the Neapolitan blazon for Sicily: as Britain, if she followed the continental examples, would be entitled to quarter it in her full imperial escutcheon, not only for Man, but for Malta; by which latter it was early taken as the device. But under this distinctive name as _Chele_, it only figured the potency which all pointed or angular forms and substances possessed insensitively or in a triple degree. To understand this, we should consider the force that all pointed or sharp instruments possess: the awl, the wedge, the adze, are well known for their assistance to the mechanic; and the transference of the idea to non-physical aid was so easy, and so consonant to the human mind, that, when we speak of the acuteness of an intellect, the point of an epigram, the keen edge of a sarcasm, we are scarcely conscious that we indulge at all in the maze of metaphor.

Nor was the adaptation of the figure less suitable to the purposes of superstition, by which it {240} was seized on, both for the purpose of driving away the evil one or forcing him to appear: all edged tools, or angular forms, gave complete mastery over him. Therefore, the best method of obtaining sight of the otherwise invisible spirits of the air, is by putting the head beneath the legs, the human fork or angle--the true Greek _chele_--as it is also used by Saxo-Grammaticus in a dialogue between Bearco and Ruta, to see Odin riding on the whirlwind:

"_Bearco._ At nunc ille ubi sit qui vulgo dicitur Othin
Armipotens, uno semper contentus ocello;
Dic mihi Ruta, precor, usquam si conspicis illum?

_Ruta._ Adde oculum proprius et _nostras prospice chelas_,
Ante sacraturus victrici lumina signo,
Si vis presentem tuto cognoscere Martem.

_Bearco._ Sic potero horrendum Frigæ spectare maritum," &c.

So boys in the north put their heads between their legs to see the devil looking over Lincoln: and I am indebted to a mention of my _Shakspeare's Puck and his Folk-lore_ in the _Maidstone Journal_ for the proof that this belief still exists in Ireland from an anecdote told by Curran, who, in the absence of a Währwolf on which to try its efficacy, would prove it on a large mastiff by walking backwards to it in this posture, "while the animal made such a grip at the poor barrister's hinder region, that Curran was unable to _sit_ with any gratification to himself for some weeks afterwards."

Permit me to refer such readers as are curious to know more on this subject, to the above work, p. 73. But if you still can find room for a continental proof of the efficacy of a pair of shears as very powerful _chele_, not only for driving away Satan, but altogether banishing him from earth, allow me to adduce from a most excellent collection of tales, Traditions of the Bavarian Territories (_Sagenbuch der Baierischen Lande_), just published by Herr A. Schöppner, under the auspices of the ex-king, the following tale, No. 757, "Die Scharfe Scheere" (The Sharp Scissors):

"Outside the parish church of Münnerstadt, you see a gravestone with a
pair of shears sculptured on it. He who rests under it was a pious
tailor, who was often disturbed by the Devil in his devotions. The
latter appeared to him frequently, and whispered him to throw plenty of
cabbage into his hell (a technical German term for its receptacle, I
know not if usual amongst the English gentle craft), and otherwise
played him many insidious pranks. Our tired Schneider complained of the
evil to a pious hermit, who advised him, the next time the Prince of
Darkness made his appearance, to take the shears and _cut off his
tail_. The tailor resolved to follow his advice; and, on the next
visitation, he lopped the tail clean from his body. The Devil halloed
out murder! went off, and ever afterwards left the tailor in peace. But
the shears remained a long time as an heirloom in the family, and their
form was sculptured on his tombstone in remembrance. Since then, the
Devil walks through Münnerstadt without a posterial adornment, and
therefore not now recognisable; which is the reason that many people
assert that there is no longer any Devil."

Well might Herrick, in his _Hesperides_, inculcate:

"Hang up _hooks and shears_ to scare
Hence the hag that rides the mare."

WILLIAM BELL, Phil. Doc.

17. Gower Place.

* * * * *

"PIC-NICS."

(Vol. iv., p. 152.; Vol. vi., pp. 518. &c.)

Will you accept a French elucidation of the etymon of this word, which has sorely puzzled your correspondents? What saith the _Encyclopédie des Gens du Monde_, tom. xix. (1843):

"PIQUE NIQUE.--Expression empruntée de l'Anglais, où elle est formée de
_pick_, choisir, et _nick_, instant précis, et signifie choix judicieux
où tout se rencontre bien. On se sert aussi en Français de cette
locution pour désigner un repas où chacun paie son écot, ou bien auquel
chacun contribue en fournissant un des plats."

The word is in Ménage (_Dictionnaire étymologique_, folio, 1694):

"PIQUENIQUE.--Nous disons _faire un repas à pique-nique_, pour dire
faire un repas où chacun paye son écot: ce que les Flamans disent,
_parte bétal, chacun sa part_. Ce mot n'est pas ancien dans notre
langue; et il est inconnu dans la plupart de nos provinces."

_Picnics_ were known and practised in the reign of James I. An amusing description of one is given in a letter from Sir Philip Mainwaring, dated Nov. 22, 1618. The knight is writing to Lord Arundel from Newmarket:

"The Prince his birth-day hathe beene solemnised heare by those few
Marquises and Lords which found themselves heare, and to supplie the
want of the Lords, Knights and Squires were admitted to a consultation,
wherein it was resolved that such a number should meete at Gamiges, and
bring every man his dish of meate. It was left to their own choyces
what to bring: some strove to be substantiall, some curios, and some
extravagant. Sir George Goring's invention bore away the bell; and that
was foure huge brawny piggs, pipeing hott, bitted and harnised with
ropes of sarsiges, all tyde to a monstrous bag-pudding."

And on the 28th of the same month, Mr. Chamberlain wrote to Sir Dudley Carleton:

"We hear nothing from Newmarket, but that they devise all the means
they can to make themselves merry; as of late there was a feast
appointed at a farmhouse not far off, whither every man should bring
his dish. The king brought a great chine of beef, the Marquis of
Hamilton four pigs incircled with sausages, the Earl of Southampton two
turkies, another six partridges, and one a whole tray full of buttered
eggs; {241} and so all passed off very pleasantly."--Nichols's
_Progresses of James I._, vol. iii. pp. 495. 496.

W. M. R. E.

[MR. ARTHUR WILSON has written to us that this word is Swedish, and to
be found in Widegren's _Swedish and English Dictionary_. We may add
that it is also in Delens, but we do not believe it to be of Swedish
origin. We believe it will eventually be traced to a French
source.--ED.]

* * * * *

"CONINGER" OR "CONINGRY."

(Vol. vii., p. 182.)

The Latin word for a rabbit is _cuniculus_, as is shown in the following couplet of Martial:

"Gaudet in effossis habitare cuniculus antris:
Monstravit tacitas hostibus ille vias."--xiii. 60.

The rabbit appears to have been originally peculiar to Spain, Southern France, and the adjoining islands. Strabo (iii. 2. § 6.) says that it is found nearly over the whole of Spain, and in the Balearic islands; and that it reaches as far as Massilia. Polybius (xii. 3.) likewise states it to be a native of Corsica. It was unknown to the Greeks, and is not mentioned by Aristotle in his works on natural history (see Camus, _Notes sur l'Histoire des Animaux d'Aristote_, p. 278.); nor does it ever occur in the Æsopian fables, although the hare is frequently introduced. Hence it had no native Greek name; and Polybius borrows the Latin word, calling it [Greek: kuniklos] (compare _Athen._, ix. p. 400.). Strabo uses the periphrasis of "burrowing hares," [Greek: geôruchoi lagideis]. Ælian, again, employs the Latin name, which he considers to be of Iberian origin (_De Nat. Anim._, xiii. 15.). If this be true, the sense of _subterranean passage_, which _cuniculus_ also bears, is secondary, and not primary (compare Plin. _Nat. Hist._, viii. 81.).

The language of Varro _de Re Rust._ (iii. 12.) likewise shows that the rabbit was in his time peculiar to Spain, and had not been introduced into Italy. The meaning of the Hebrew word _Saphan_, which is translated _cony_ in the authorised version of the Old Testament (Lev. xi. 5.; Deut. xiv. 7.; Ps. civ. 18.; Prov. xxx. 26.), has been fully investigated by biblical critics and naturalists. (See Bochart's _Hierozoicon_, vol. ii. pp. 409-429., ed. Rosenmüller; Winer, _Bibl. Real-Wörterbuch_, in SPRINGHASE; _Penny Cyclopædia_, in HYRAX.) It is certainly _not_ the rabbit, which is not a native of Syria and Palestine: but whether this ruminant quadruped, which lives in the rocks, is the jerboa, or a species of hyrax, or some other small edible animal of a like description, is difficult to determine.

From the manner in which Strabo speaks of Spain and the Balearic islands being infested by large numbers of rabbits, it would appear (as Legrand d'Aussy remarks, _Vie privée des Français_, tom. ii. p. 24.) that the ancients did not eat its flesh. The rabbit is now so abundant in parts of the south of France, that, according to the same author, a sportsman in the islands near Arles who did not kill a hundred, would be dissatisfied with his day's sport. A Provençal gentleman, who in 1551 went out to kill rabbits with some of his vassals, and three dogs, brought home in the evening not less than six hundred.

From the Latin _cuniculus_ have been formed, according to the proper analogy, the Italian _coniglio_, the Spanish _conéjo_, and the French _conil_, sometimes modified into _conin_ (see Diez, _Roman. Gramm._, vol. ii. p. 264.). From the old French _conin_ was borrowed the English _coning_ or _conig_, afterwards shortened into _cony_: and from this word have been formed _conigar_ and _coningry_ or _conigry_, for rabbit-warren (see Halliwell's _Dict._, in CONIG). _Conillus_, for a rabbit-warren, occurs in Ducange; _conejár_ is the Spanish term.

The Germans, like the English, had no native name for the rabbit; an animal not indigenous in their country. Hence they borrowed the French name _conin_, which they altered into _kanin_; and have since formed the diminutive _kaninchen_. In Suabian, the form used is _küniglein_. See Adelung in v. The Dutch word is _konÿn_.

The rabbit was probably introduced into England from France. Query: When did that introduction take place? Also, when did the later term "rabbit" supersede the old name _cony_? and what is the etymology of _rabbit_? The French _lapin_, which has supplanted the old word _conin_, is said to be formed from _lepinus_, an adjective of _lepus_.

L.

Your solution of the etymology of this word, as coming from _Coney_-borough, is no doubt correct: but I apprehend the last syllable has a more specific derivation. On the opposite sides of the Lough of Belfast, there are two localities in which this old English word is preserved. This district was, as you are aware, colonised by English settlers about 1590 A.D., when large grants were made to Sir Arthur Chichester, ancestor of the present Marquis of Donegal. At Carrickfergus, on the north side of the bay, there is a spot called the _Connyberry_, which is a corruption of "Coneyborough;" but on the opposite side, at Holyward, there is a populous rabbit-warren, known as the "Kinnegar;" which I take to be the _conynger_ or _coningeria_ about which your correspondent asks.

J. EMERSON TENNENT.

* * * * *

NAMES AND NUMBERS OF BRITISH REGIMENTS.

(Vol. vii., p. 155.)

Z.'s _third_ application relative to the names and numbers of regiments has roused me into activity, {242} and I now forward you the required information, viz.:

Query 1. What was the origin of giving British regiments the name of certain officers, instead of numbering them as at present?

Regiments were numbered, but it was generally customary to designate them by the name of their colonel previous to 1751.

2. If in honour of an officer commanding the corps, was the name changed when that officer died or removed to another regiment, or what was the rule?

The name of the regiment changed by death or removal of the colonel.

3. When did the present mode of numbering regiments begin, and by whom was it introduced?

1st July, 1751, by royal warrant of George II., when the number of the regiment was directed to be embroidered on its standard; even after the numbering became general, the names of colonels were for some time retained.

4. What was the rule or principle laid down in giving any regiment a certain number? Was it according to the length of time it had been embodied?

In 1694 a board of officers assembled to decide the relative rank of regiments, and the regiments formed in England were placed by seniority of raising, but those from Scotland or Ireland on their being placed upon the English establishment.

5. What is the guide now in identifying a named with a numbered regiment; for example, at the battle of Culloden in 1746, Wolfe's, Barrett's, and Howard's Foot were engaged. Now, what is the rule for ascertaining the numbers of these and other old regiments in the British army at the present day?

The Army List with colonels of that date. In 1746 Wolfe's was the 8th Foot, Barrett's the 4th Foot, and Howard's the 3rd Foot. There were two Howards of the same date (1746), Green and the Buff Howards, known by their facings.

ARTHUR HAMILTON.

P.S.--I shall be happy to give further information and more details if required, and inclose my card to the Editor.

* * * * *

VICARS-APOSTOLIC IN ENGLAND.

(Vol. vi., pp. 125. 297. 400.)

I send the following as some answer to the inquiries made by your correspondent A. S. A. For the more ample account of Bishop Ellis, I am indebted to an article in the _Rambler_, vol. vii. p. 313., entitled "Collections illustrating the History of the English Benedictine Congregation."

Richard Smith, appointed Bishop of Chalcis, Feb. 4, 1625, and Vicar-Apostolic of England; he withdrew to France four years afterwards, and died in Paris in 1655, aged eighty-eight, in a house belonging to the English convent upon the Fossé St. Victor. He was probably buried in the convent chapel, where a monument to his memory was erected. See the Rev. Joseph Berington's _Memoirs of Panzani_, p. 109.

John Leyburn, consecrated Bishop of Adrumetum, and appointed Vicar-Apostolic of England, 1685: on the country being divided into four vicariats in 1688, he was appointed to the London, or southern district. On the breaking out of the revolution in the same year, he was committed to the Tower; but his peaceable and inoffensive conduct soon caused him to be discharged, and he was suffered to remain unmolested until his death, which occurred in 1703. He was greatly beloved and respected by his flock.

Bonaventure Giffard, of the ancient Roman Catholic family of the Giffards of Chillington, Staffordshire, appointed Vicar-Apostolic of the Midland District, 1688. Like Bishop Leyburn, on the breaking out of the revolution, he was committed to the Tower, but was soon released, and on the condition of always making the place of his abode known to the government, he passed the remainder of his days unmolested. On the death of Bishop Leyburn in 1703, he was removed to the London, or southern district, where he died March 12, 1734, aged ninety. There is a good portrait of Bishop Giffard at the Roman Catholic College of Old Hall Green in Hertfordshire.

Philip Ellis, third son of Rev. John Ellis, Rector of Waddesden, Bucks, by his wife Susanna Welbore, whilst a pupil in Westminster School, was called to the Catholic faith, and to the grace of religion, in St. Gregory's Convent, Douay, where he made his profession, 30th November, 1670, æt. eighteen. After duly qualifying himself for the ministry, he was sent to labour in the English vineyard. His great abilities recommended him to the notice of King James II., who appointed him one of his chaplains and preachers; and when Innocent XI., on 30th January, 1688, signified his wish that his majesty would nominate three fit subjects to fill the newly constituted vicariats, midland, northern, and western (for Dr. John Leyburn, Bishop of Adrumetum, during the last three years had governed the whole of England), Father Ellis, then thirty-six years of age, was selected for the western vicariat, and was consecrated bishop on Sunday, 6th May, 1688, at St. James's, where the king had established a convent of fourteen Benedictine monks, by the title of Aureliopolis. In the second week of July, the new prelate confirmed a considerable number of youths, some of them recent converts, in the new chapel of the Savoy. (_Ellis Correspondence_, vol. ii. p. 62.) In his letter (ibid. p. 145.) to his brother John, dated from St. James's, 26th August, 1688, he describes the uneasiness of the court at the preparations making in Holland by the Prince of {243} Orange. We doubt if this vicar-apostolic attempted to visit his diocese; for, on the breaking out of the revolution at London in the ensuing November, he was apprehended and committed to Newgate (Macaulay's _History_, vol. ii. p. 563.), yet he was soon restored to liberty. Foreseeing but faint hope of serving the cause of religion in such turbulent times, he left England for the court of his exiled sovereign at St. Germains, and, after staying some time, obtained permission to visit the Eternal City. In 1693 Pope Innocent XII. made him an assistant prelate; and on the feast of St. Louis, six years later, he sung the high mass at Rome, in the French church, before many cardinals, invited and received by the Cardinal de Bouillon. The Prince of Monacho, ambassador of France, being then incognito, assisted in a tribune. Resigning his western vicariat, he was promoted by Pope Clement XI. to the vacant see of Segni, in the Campagna di Roma. There he originated a seminary, over which he watched with parental zeal and solicitude. In November 1710, he held a synod in the choir of his cathedral; about seventy of his clergy attended, all of whom he entertained with generous hospitality. In addition to his many meritorious works, he substantially repaired and embellished his palace, and to his cathedral he left a splendid mitre and some costly vestments; but the bulk of his property he bequeathed to his seminary. A dropsy of the chest carried him off on the 16th November, 1726, æt. seventy-four, and his remains were interred in the centre of the seminary church.

Seven sermons of this prelate, preached before James II. at Windsor and St. James's, were printed.

A beautiful portrait of the Bishop, engraved by Meyer, is prefixed to the _Ellis Correspondence_, published by the late Lord Dover, in two volumes 8vo., 1829.

James Smith was consecrated Bishop of Calliopolis, and appointed Vicar-Apostolic of the Northern District, 1688: he died May 20, 1711.

The following Vicars-Apostolic were nominated after the above four till the year 1750.

_Midland District._--George Witham, of the ancient Roman Catholic family of the Withams of Cliffe, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, was educated at Douay College, consecrated Bishop of Marcopolis, and appointed Vicar-Apostolic of the Midland District in 1703. He was removed to the Northern District in 1716, and died in 1725, at Cliffe Hall, the seat of his family.

_Western District._--Matthew Pritchard, a Franciscan Friar, Bishop of Myrinen: I have not been able to ascertain the date either of his consecration or death; the latter took place at Perthyre, Monmouthshire.[4]

_Northern District._--Thomas Williams, a Dominican friar, Bishop of Tiberiopolis, died at Huddlestone, Yorkshire, April 14, 1740.

J. F. W.

[Footnote 4: I have since learned Bishop Pritchard was consecrated in 1715.]

The reply of E. H. A. to my Query about these Vicars-Apostolic is rather unsatisfactory. I admit his correction of _Chalcedon_ for _Chalcis_, but wish that he had been more explicit in his notices of both those Vicars-Apostolic appointed in 1685-88, as well as of those since nominated. When did _Smith_ and _Ellis_ die? and what was the see in Italy to which the latter was nominated? Who were the _consecrators_ of Giffard, Ellis, and Smith? Bishop Leyburn was, I think, one, and is said to have been "assisted by two _Irish_ prelates." Who were they? E. H. A. also refers, as his authority, to a tract by the Rev. L. Darwall, in _Christian's Miscellany_: but he does not give the date of that publication, nor did I ever hear of it. Surely some ecclesiastical reader of "N. & Q." will answer some, at least, of these inquiries of mine. I know many of your subscribers can do so if they choose. I am desirous of possessing the names and dates of consecration and death of every Roman Catholic Vicar-Apostolic appointed for England since 1689, and also of those for Scotland, if possible.

A. S. A.

Wuzzeerabad.

* * * * *

SMOCK MARRIAGES.--SCOTCH LAW OF MARRIAGE.

(Vol. vii., p. 191.)

To a certain extent, the information MR. F. H. BRETT got from his Scotch friend is correct. An idea does exist in some parts of Scotland, that children born out of wedlock must be "under the apron string" at the solemnisation of the marriage of their parents, before they can be legitimated _per subsequens matrimonium_. How this notion originated, I do not pretend to say; but it is easy to speculate as to its origin. But MR. BRETT'S friend showed a blessed ignorance of the laws of his native country, if he ever said that "in the Scotch law of marriage there is a clause providing that all 'under the apron string,' at the time of the marriage, shall be considered legitimate." The Scotch law of marriage is not statutory, and, consequently, it has no clauses.

I have often felt sore at the ignorance displayed, even in well-informed circles in England, as to the real principles of the Scotch law of marriage; and I am encouraged by the comprehensive terms of MR. BRETT'S Query, to hope that you will permit me to say a word or two which may serve to dissipate some of the delusions that prevail as to both the constitution of a Scotch marriage, and its effects.

In Scotland, as in every country whose system of jurisprudence is based on the civil law, {244} marriage is dealt with as _a purely civil contract_; and its constitution may be established by the same proof as would establish any ordinary civil contract, viz. by writing, by the testimony of witnesses, or by the judicial confession of the parties. It is true, that, in deference to the natural feeling that the blessing of God should be invoked upon the constitution of a relation so important and so solemn, and from other considerations of public policy and morality, the law has prescribed that a "regular marriage" can be performed only by a clergyman, after due proclamation of the banns; and that it punishes an "irregular" constitution of the contract by fines and other penalties. But it never loses sight of the principle, that the contract is purely civil; and irregularity in point of _form_, though punishable, does not vitiate the contract, which is binding and valid if its _substance_ be proved, in the same way as any other contract may be proved. Such a contract is binding, if entered into in accordance with the _lex loci contractus_, although that law should differ from the law of the domicile of the parties. The sole privilege of the smith of Gretna Green consisted in his smithy being the nearest place to the English border, at which witnesses to the constitution of the contract could be obtained. Now-a-days, I suppose, a runaway couple, unable to hire a special train, would take the express; and I would advise them to take their tickets to Ecclefechan--the first Scotch station at which the express stops--and to confer on the station-master and porter there the dignity of high priests of Hymen: for they, or any other two witnesses you meet in Scotland, can help you to tie the knot as firmly as the Gretna smith. After what I have said, I need hardly add that these functionaries had no warrant for their certificate that their marriages were performed "according to the forms of the Church of Scotland." To those who look upon marriage as a purely civil contract, the mock ceremony at Gretna is a marriage; to those who look upon it as a sacrament, or who think that a religious ceremony affects its constitution in the slightest degree, a Gretna Green marriage is, in plain words, neither more nor less than a _legalised concubinage_; and, surely, I need not say, that the spouses in such a marriage, though, _quoad omnem civilem effectum_, on the same footing with persons regularly married _in facie ecclesiæ_, are not--in Scotland, at least--allowed to obtrude themselves into respectable society. So much for the constitution of the contract of marriage under the law of Scotland.

As for its effects, in so far as involved in MR. BRETT'S Query, no such provision exists, or ever did exist, in the Scotch law of marriage, as that children, to be legitimatised _per subsequens matrimonium_, must be under their mother's apron strings. In its effects, as well as in its constitution, the contract of marriage in Scotland is ruled by the principles of the civil law; and _all_ the children of the spouses, born before marriage, are legitimated _per subsequens matrimonium_, whether, at the time the ceremony is performed, they be "under the apron strings" or not. The old theory was, that marriage being a consensual contract, the constitution of the rights and obligations arising from it drew back to the date of the consent; which, in the case of parties who had previously had connexion, was presumed in law to be the date of the connexion. This theory has of late been somewhat impaired by the decision of the Court of Session, in the case of Kerr _v._ Martin. See Dunlop Bell and Murray's _Reports of Cases decided in the Court of Session_, vol. ii. p. 752. The soundness of that decision is still matter of controversy in the profession; but I may refer MR. BRETT to it as containing a full and able discussion of the whole principles on which the Scotch law of marriage is founded.

AN ADVOCATE.

I remember that my brother, when curate of a parish in Lincolnshire between 1838 and 1844, married a woman enveloped only in a sheet. He was of course startled at the slenderness of her apparel; but as all the requisitions of the law had been complied with, he did not feel himself at liberty to refuse. He contented himself, therefore, with addressing the numerous congregation on the behaviour he expected from them at a religious ordinance, and all went off well. The reason for the bride so presenting herself, was of course the popular opinion, that her new husband would not be liable for her debts.

ANON.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES AND QUERIES.

_Mr. Weld Taylor's Process._--As I presume the object of publishing Photographic Notes, &c., is to aid those who are _not proficients_ in the processes indicated, MR. WELD TAYLOR must not take umbrage at his first communication being misunderstood, whether unavoidably or wilfully, as I am sure the former must have been the case with all novices in the photographic art at least; however, I had no intention whatever of offering any annoyance to MR. TAYLOR in my remarks, which were intended solely with a view to produce an effect which has partially been successful, that of exciting a more definite explanation of his meaning. That MR. WELD TAYLOR may "enlighten" me is not only possible, but very probable, and I can only say I shall be much obliged to him for so doing.

With reference to his process for iodizing Canson's paper, I presume his meaning to be as follows, viz.: Mix half an ounce of a _forty-grain_ solution of _nitrate of silver_ with an equal quantity {245} of a _fifty-grain_ solution of _iodide of potassium_, by which a precipitate of iodide of silver will be formed, the supernatant fluid containing the excess of iodide of potassium and the nitrate of potash formed by the decomposition. _Add_ drop by drop a solution of the cyanide of potassium, until the iodide of silver is redissolved, and the liquid becomes limpid, and then _four ounces_ more of distilled water, making up five ounces altogether. The paper should then be washed over with the above and _dried_, after which it may be floated on water slightly acidulated with sulphuric acid for a few minutes, and after being again dried, either wholly, or else partially with blotting-paper, may be rendered sensitive with a weak solution of nitrate of silver. Here are two or three points admitting doubt: first, Would it not be better to wash away the nitrate of potash and free iodide of potash first, and then dissolve the iodide of silver in solution of cyanide of potassium? Secondly, Would not a slight soaking in plain water after the acidulated bath be of advantage? Thirdly, Is it better to dry the paper again before rendering it sensitive? and fourthly, What strength of nitrate of silver solution should be used to render it sensitive; and ought it to have any acetic or gallic acid, or both?

GEORGE SHADBOLT.

_Animal Charcoal in Photography._--Perhaps you or one of your photographic correspondents would inform me whether the animal charcoal, recommended for the aceto-nitrate of silver solution, should be used as a filter, or simply allowed to remain in the bottom of the bottle?

A. B. C.

Oxford.

_Sir W. Newton on Use of Common Soda and Alum._--In reply to W. ADRIAN DELFERIER, who is desirous of knowing the "_rationale_ of the _action_ of the _common soda_ and powdered alum, &c.," my motive for using _common soda_ to cleanse the _negatives_ is, that it not only removes the hyposulphite of soda more readily, but any impurities which may be in the paper, as well as the _whole_ of the _size_, such being absolutely necessary for the after _waxing_ process; which, when done, the negative should appear nearly as transparent as glass.

The reason why I prefer _alum_ for the positives is, that while it has the effect of removing the hyposulphite of soda and other impurities in the paper, it does not act upon the _size_, which in this instance it is desirous to retain.

I have been induced to make a series of experiments, with a view to prevent the _fading_ of the _positives_, or, indeed, that any portion should be, as it were, _eaten away in parts_; and since I have adopted the foregoing, in no one instance has any change taken place whatever.

W. J. NEWTON.

6. Argyle Street.

_Difficulties in Photographic Practice._--Having met with some of the difficulties that your correspondent G. H. mentions in his communication (Vol. vii., p. 218.), I beg to offer a few hints which I think will be of service to those who are trying the waxed-paper process.

With regard to the spots, it is not easy to know whether they are produced by particles of iron in the paper, or by the oxide of silver. Le Gray says: "If spots should form, produced by the oxide of silver, they may be removed by pouring over the negative some acetic acid, and passing a brush lightly over it."

The second difficulty, want of depth of tone or intensity in the negative, may have been caused by too short an exposure in the camera, or not having used the proper proportion of developing solution. Try the following:

4 oz. dist. water.
8 grains gallic acid.

When this solution has been filtered, add to it ½ drachm of the aceto-nitr. of silver solution, and 1 drachm of acetic acid. I have generally put a little camphor in the gallic acid solution, as recommended by Laborde. It prevents the decomposition of the gallic acid, and renders the image clearer and free from spots. A piece about the size of a pea for four or five ounces of solution.

As to the third difficulty, I believe nothing but replacing the porcelain dishes by glass ones will prevent the dirty marbled appearance in the bottom of the dishes made of porcelain; they are generally rough and uneven on the surface, and there are often what is called "kiln-cracks" in the angular parts. Two months ago I bought two glass dishes; although they are more than double the price of porcelain, I expect the annoyance of dirty dishes is prevented. The glass ones are made quite round at the sides and ends, and of course will be easily cleaned. I am informed they are made in France, but they could be had of English manufacture.

The animal charcoal in the sensitive solution must be shaken up in the aceto-nitrate solution; and when it has become quite clear, the solution before using must be filtered into the dish.

R. ELLIOTT.

Penslur Iron Works.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_The Countess of Pembroke's Letter_ (Vol. i., pp. 28. 119. 154.; Vol. vii., p. 154.).--None of your correspondents seem to be aware that the paper in the _World_ (No. XIV. April 5, 1753), in which this questioned letter first appeared, was written by Horace Walpole, and was afterwards reproduced by him in his _Royal and Noble Authors_. These facts may help to guide inquirers, {246} but they seem to me not to testify much for the authenticity of the piece. This, among many publications in the _World_, would certainly prove nothing; but Walpole's venturing to reproduce it in an acknowledged work to which he attached considerable importance, is no doubt of some weight.

C.

_Ethnology of England_ (Vol. vii., p. 135.).--In reference to that portion of the Query by ETHNOLOGICUS which asks "Whether it is yet clearly settled that there are types of the heads of Ancient Britons, Saxons, Danes, and other races, to be referred to as standards or examples of the respective crania of those people?" I beg to say that beneath the chancel of the church of St. Leonard, Hythe, there is a crypt containing a vast number of skulls and other human bones, which, according to Jeake, the historian of the Cinque Ports, are--

"Supposed by some to be gathered at the shore after a great sea-fight
and slaughter of the French and English on that coast; whose carcases,
or their bones, after the consumption of the flesh, might be cast up
there, and so gathered and reserved for memorandum."

Speaking of these relics, Walker, in his _Physiology_, says:

"These skulls at Hythe are not of one race, either Saxon or British,
but of several; two forms of skull, very distinct from each other,
predominate: one, a long narrow skull, greatly resembling the Celtic of
the present day; the other, a short broad skull, greatly resembling the
Gothic.... Another kind of skulls, fewer in number, are evidently Roman
skulls."

ROBERT WRIGHT.

_Drake the Artist_ (Vol. vi., p. 555.).--Searching a series of catalogues of the Society of Artists of Great Britain, from 1760 to 1780, I find that Mr. Drake at York, F.S.A. (Fellow of that Society), in 1773 exhibited at their New Room, near Exeter Change in the Strand,--

No. 89. "A Family IN LITTLE."

Is this to be interpreted by Hamlet's sarcasm upon the sycophants of his uncle's court, who paid "Forty, fifty, nay, one hundred ducats, for his portrait _in little_?" Small full-lengths were in vogue at the period, but our Yorkist has a delicate diminutive of his own. Again, in 1775, we have three works of Drake--

72. "View of a Gentleman's Seat in Yorkshire, with two Gentlemen going out a-hawking."

73. "Sacarissa with Amoret and Musidora." From Thomson's _Seasons_, 4to. edition, 1730.

74. "A Winter Piece."

And in 1776:

23. "A Madonna and Child." Mr Drake, F.S.A., York.

There is _no_ trace of him at the Royal Academy. Thus we have him in portraiture, in landscape, in sacred history, and in the poetical imaginative. This is beyond what G. reckons upon; and now, having contributed thus much, I hope some of your readers may assist in carrying the inquiry further.

J. H. A.

_Sparse_ (Vol. vi., p. 554.; Vol. vii., p. 51.), said to be an Americanism.--I have in my possession an edition, printed in 1611, of the _Whole Book of Psalms, collected into English Metre_, by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others. In the paraphrase of Psalm xliv. v. 10. is the following:

"Thou madest us fly before our foes,
And so were overtrod.
Our enemies rob'd and spoyl'd our goods
When we were _sparst_ abroad."

The word here used in 1611 was evidently no American one; and yet it is singular that neither Bailey (1740), Johnson (1755), or Barclay (1800), have the word in their dictionaries; but Knowles (1835) and Blackie's _Imperial_ (1850) both mentioned it; and have _sparse_, _sparsed_, _sparsedly_, and _sparsing_, all meaning "dispersed" or "scattered."

JOHN ALGOR.

Eldon Street, Sheffield.

_Genoveva of Brabant_ (Vol. vii., p. 212.).--There is a ballad on her legend in an obscure volume of verses published by Masters, 1846, fantastically entitled _Echoes from Old Cornwall_.

CORIOLANUS.

N.B. These _Echoes_ do not appear to have resounded far or wide.

_God's Marks_ (Vol. vii., p. 134.).--In the register-book of St. Margaret's, Westminster, occurs this entry, under the year 1556:

"Junii vij^o die. Item, Elizabeth Helhe, of the ague with Godd's
marks."

Shakspeare adopts the saying,

"They have the plague ...
For the Lord's tokens on you do I see."
_Love's Labour's Lost_, Act V. Sc. 2.

quoted in _Memorials of Westminster_, ch. iv. p. 152. They were the first spots which showed that the infection had been caught.

M. W.

_Segantiorum Portus_ (Vol. vii., p. 180.).--I know not what PRESTONIENSIS means by Ptolemy's _History of Britain_, but there can be little doubt as to the whereabouts of what is called, in the _Palatine MS._, _Segantiorum Portus_, or _Setantiorum Portus_ in Berthius's great edition of Ptolemy's _Geography_, ch. iii., tit. Albion, tab. 1.

It is curious that the place _immediately_ preceding in Ptolemy's _Catalogue_ that inquired about, affords, in the vast multitude enumerated in that work, the closest approach to identity between the ancient and modern names, viz. [Greek: Morikambê Eischusis], {247} Morecambe Æstuarium, still called, _totidem literis_ and _idem sonans_, _Morecambe Bay_, in which Ulverston is the chief town, so that of this point there can be no doubt. Then comes _Setantiorum Portus_, of which Montanus, Bertius, and subsequent geographers give _Winandermere_ as the modern name, meaning of course the mouth of the river through which Lake Windermere discharges itself into Morecambe Bay. But I doubt this, for there is no town of Windermere, nor indeed any other, that Ptolemy could have called a harbour (_portus_), till we come to Lancaster, which I therefore incline to believe was the _Portus Setantiorum_. After this _portus_ comes _Belisama Æstuarium_, by which all interpreters understand the mouth of the Ribble, which is probably the point that interests PRESTONIENSIS, as Preston stands on that river. The conjecture that Lancaster was the _Portus Setantiorum_ is corroborated by the latitudes and longitudes given by Ptolemy, which, though not to be absolutely relied on, are not to be disregarded, and which give to the three places, _Morecambe Æstuarium_, _Setantiorum Portus_, and _Belisama Æstuarium_, nearly the relative positions in which we find Ulverston, Lancaster, and the Ribble.

C.

_Rubrical Query_ (Vol. vi., p. 509.).--QUÆSTOR inquires the meaning of the words "if occasion lie" in the Rubric immediately before the Offertory in the Communion Service. I am under the impression that "if occasion lie" here simply means, _in case there is necessity to do so_; and for the origin of this parenthetical clause I would refer to the Rubric of 1549 (Keeling, _Lit. Br._, edit. of 1842, p. 178.), which provides:

"That in cathedral churches, or places where there is daily communion,
it shall be sufficient to read this exhortation once in a month, and in
parish churches on the week days it may be left unsaid."

Showing clearly the mode in which the exhortation was intended to be used. The real difficulty, however, is not noticed by your querist, which is, as to when "Public warning of the Communion" is to be given. One Rubric says that this notice is to be given "immediately after the Nicene Creed;" another prescribes that when this warning is to be given, it shall be done "immediately after sermon." On this point see Sharpe on _Rubrics_, p. 62.; and Wheatly on _Common Prayer_, chap. vi. sect. viii. § 3.

ENIVRI.

_Rosa Mystica_ (Vol. vii., p. 182.).--I do not remember to have ever heard of such an institution; but _Rosa Mystica_ is one of the many appellatives of the Virgin Mary in the Roman Catholic "Litanies of the Virgin."

C.

_Portrait of Charles I._ (Vol. vii., p. 185.).--It may be confidently asserted that Vandyke never painted in enamel; the enamels referred to were at best only "after Vandyke." Nothing more frequent, in both earlier and present times, than the copying large oil portraits in enamel.

C.

"_Time and I_" (Vol. vii., p. 182.).--I cannot answer MR. BLACKISTON'S Query fully, but he will find, I think, in the miscellaneous correspondence usually printed in Pope's and Swift's works, the following anecdote, that some one having quoted to Robert, Lord Oxford, the adage,

"Time and I 'gainst any two,"

his Lordship replied, impromptu,

"Chance and I 'gainst Time and you."

C.

_The Word "Party"_ (Vol. vii., p. 177.).--I can furnish a more ancient example of the use of this word than the one given by your correspondent.

In an old MS. "Booke of Recepts," in my possession, of the year 1681-2, there occurs the following singular prescription:

"_The Powder of Buggs._--Take the buggs and wash them well in white
wine, and putt them in a new earthen pott, and set them in an oven till
they be dry enough for powder; then beat them, and sift them, and give
ye party as much as will lye upon a groate every morning in honey."

Can any one inform me for what disease this nauseous remedy was prescribed, and whether it be now excluded from the pharmacopoeia? Perhaps this oleaginous insect was formerly exhibited in those cases for which cod liver oil is now so extensively used.

G.

Your correspondent E. D. might have gone much farther back for an example of the use of the word _party_ for a particular person. In the _Tempest_, Act III. Sc. 2., we have:

"_Cal._ I say by sorcery he got this isle.
From me he got it. If thy greatness will
Revenge it on him--for, I know, thou dar'st;
But this thing dare not.
_Ste._ That's most certain.
_Cal._ Thou shalt be lord of it, and I'll serve thee.
_Ste._ How now shall this be compass'd? Canst thou bring me to _the
party_."

ERICA.

Warwick.

_"Mater ait natæ," &c._ (Vol. vii., p. 155.).--In reply to your correspondent who asks where the following lines "Mater ait natæ," &c. are to be found, I refer him to the following note in Greswell's _Account of Runcorn_, p. 34.:

"Leland, in his _Itinerary_, mentions an old woman, a native of Over in
Cheshire, who lived in the family of Downes of Shrigley, and died at
the age of 140 years. Zuingerus reports of a noble lady of Worms, in
the {248} archbishopric of Mentz, who lived to see the sixth
generation, that she might thus address her daughter:

'(1) Mater (2) natæ die (3) natæ filia (4) natam
Ut moneat (5) natæ plangere (6) filiolam.'

That is, 'The mother says to her daughter: Daughter, bid thy daughter,
to tell her daughter, that her daughter's daughter is crying.'"

ANON.

Warrington.

I have in my possession a scrap-book, compiled by one Edward King in the year 1743, which consists of extracts from newspapers of that date; and while perusing your last Number, meeting with W. W.'s (Malta) Query, I immediately recollected having noticed the quotation some short time ago. Turning to the volume I find the following extract:

"Sarum, April 30.--We hear from Limington in Hants that one Mrs.
Mitchel was lately brought to bed there of a daughter, whose
great-great-grandmother is still living, and has already seen her fifth
generation, and all daughters. So that she may say the same that the
distich doth, made on one of the Dalburgh's family of Basil:

1 2 3 4
'Mater ait natæ die natæ filia natam
5 6
Ut moneat natæ plangere filiolam.'

1 2 3
'Rise up, daughter, and go to thy daughter,
4 5 6
For her daughter's daughter hath a daughter.'

She is about 92 years of age, is in perfect health, has all her senses
clear, and hopes to see five generations more."

TYE.

Norwood, Surrey.

_Gospel Place_ (Vol. vii., p. 133.).--In my parish there are two such places, both on the border of the parish: one is called "The Gospel Oak," the other "The Gospel Bush." The traditional explanation of these names is this:--that at no very ancient date, when the custom of perambulating the parish was annually observed, portions of the Gospel were read at these and other places,--_stations_, as they were anciently called.

JOHN JEBB.

Peterstow Rectory, Ross.

_Passage in Thomson_ (Vol. vii., p. 87.).--_Steaming_, as your intelligent correspondent C. says, is clearly the true reading. The word is so printed in the 4to. edition of the _Seasons_, 1730 (was not this the first collected edition of that poem?), and in every other to which I have referred. It does not, however, occur in the 4to. copy in the twenty-eighth, but in the thirty-first line. The four lines, fifteenth to eighteenth, originally given in the "Hymn," but afterwards wisely omitted by the poet, follow the words "In Autumn unconfined:"--

"Thrown from thy lap
Profuse o'er Nature falls the lucid shower
Of beamy fruits, and in a radiant stream
Into the stores of sterile winter pours."

The _steaming_ property of the earth is well described by Dr. Carpenter, in his _Vegetable Physiology_, p. 168.:

"If a glass vessel be placed with its mouth downwards, on the surface
of a meadow or grass plot, during a sunny afternoon in summer, it will
speedily be rendered dim in the interior by the watery vapour which
will rise into it; and this will soon accumulate to such a degree as to
run down in drops. Any person walking in a meadow on which the sun is
shining powerfully, where the grass has not long previously been
refreshed by rain, may observe a tremulous motion in distant objects,
occasioned by the rising of the watery vapour; exactly resembling that
which takes place along the sea-shore, when the sun shines strongly on
pebbles that have been left in a moistened state by the retiring
tide."--Dr. Carpenter's _Vegetable Physiology_, p. 168. sect. 253.

"The atmosphere is made up of several steams, or minute particles of
several sorts rising from the earth and the waters."--Locke's _Elements
of Natural Philosophy_.

J. H. M.

"_Words are given to man to conceal his thoughts_" (Vol. vii., p. 165.).--The hexameter line, [Greek: hos ch' heteron], &c., is one put by Homer into the mouth of Achilles (_Iliad_, ix. 313.), when he is expressing his indignant hatred of liars.

RT.

Warmington.

_Folger Family_ (Vol. vi., p. 583.; Vol. vii., p. 51.).--Will it assist the inquiry to say that there was a family of Foulgers at Norwich? The only son was a curate at Leiston, in Suffolk, in 1832.

B. B. WOODWARD.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

The remarkable collection of Northern Irish Antiquities and Historical Relics, exhibited at Belfast on the occasion of the British Association meeting in that city, has led to the publication of _The Ulster Journal of Archæology_, which is to be conducted by gentlemen of the province, and principally devoted to the elucidation of the antiquities and ancient history of Ulster. Ulster, it will be remembered, is historically remarkable as being the last part of Ireland which held out against the English sway, and which therefore retained its ancient customs until a comparatively recent period. Ulster was also the battle-field of the ancient native Irish chieftains and the Scandinavian Vikings. The antiquaries of Ulster have therefore done wisely, while the tangled web of Northern Irish History can yet be {249} unravelled by existing aids--while the men who are now the depositories of family and local history are yet among them--to commence this Journal; and in the tact and good management displayed in the selection of the materials of their opening Number, they have not only done wisely, but done well also. May they go on and prosper!

At a moment when all eyes are looking anxiously for the new volume of Nineveh Discoveries, we have received a work of kindred character and of very high value. It is entitled _Lares and Penates, or Cilicia and its Governors; being a short historical account of that province from the earliest times to the present day, together with a description of some Household Gods of the Ancient Cilicians, broken up by them on their conversion to Christianity, first discovered and brought to this country by the author_, W. B. Barker, edited by W. F. Ainsworth; and the interest which this title naturally excites is fully maintained upon a perusal of the work. Although, by readers who care little for its archæological features, the work will be read with the highest satisfaction, it is one which will afford to the antiquary information of the greatest importance; while to many, the announcement that the remarkable monuments of the ancient Cilicians, so happily discovered by Mr. Barker, were discovered by him in the city dignified by the birth of the great apostle of the Gentiles,--and that the mutilation of these works of art, once the objects of religious regard, was probably the consequence of the missionary visit of Paul and Silas to Tarsus,--will probably be the strongest recommendation which this work could receive.

We have received three Catalogues which call for such mention as should direct to them the attention of our bibliographical friends. One is of the splendid Library of Mr. Dawson Turner, which will occupy Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson for thirteen days in its disposal. The next, _Bibliotheca Americana_, is of a most remarkable collection of American Books on sale by Mr. Russell Smith. The third is of an extensive collection of Theological Works on sale by Mr. Straker. The last two are made more valuable by the addition of useful indices.

BOOKS RECEIVED.--_A Manual of Photography_, by Robert Hunt, _Third Edition enlarged_. It is sufficient to say that Professor Hunt's volume is at once the most elaborate, as his acquirements will ensure its being one of the most scientific works extant upon this now popular subject.--_Memoirs of a Maître d'Armes, or Eighteen Months at St. Petersburgh, by_ A. Dumas; _translated by_ The Marquis of Ormonde, is one of the most amusing and graphic among the many amusing and graphic volumes which have already appeared in the _Traveller's Library_.--_Cyclopædia Bibliographica._ Part VI. Mr. Darling's useful Cyclopædia maintains its character.--_The Fall of Jerusalem_, by the Rev. Dr. Milman. This endeavour to direct the public mind, through the medium of this dramatic poem, to the striking and incontestable evidence of the full completion of Prophecy in the Fall of Jerusalem, is a valuable addition to Murray's _Railway Reading_.--We must here acknowledge the receipt of two other volumes of poetry: _Beauty, a Poem_, by the author of _Silent Love_, an admirer and not unsuccessful imitator of Pope; and _Love in the Moon_, by Patrick Scott, a work in which scientific observation is combined with great poetic feeling and considerable power.--_The Pilgrim's Progress of John Bunyan, for the Use of Children in the English Church, edited by the Rev. J. M. Neale_. The object with which this beautiful edition has been prepared is so plainly stated, that we need only wish the book as wide a circulation as it deserves.--_The Family Shakspeare_, &c., by Thomas Bowdler. The fourth volume of this reprint of Mr. Bowdler's carefully revised edition of Shakspeare, contains the three Parts of Henry VI., Richard III., Henry VIII., and Timon of Athens.

* * * * *

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE MICROSCOPICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. Vol. I., and Parts I. and II. of Vol. II.

CURTIS'S BOTANICAL MAGAZINE. 1st and 2nd Series collected.

TODD'S CYCLOPÆDIA OF ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Complete, or any Portion.