Chapter II: Part 2

In the work referred to--one of the most valuable and best edited of modern days--Mr. Wilkin, when speaking of a fine passage on music in the _Religio Medici_ (vol. ii. p. 106.), asks whether it may not have suggested to Addison the beautiful conclusion of his Hymn on the Glories of Creation:

"What tho' in solemn silence, all," &c.

This passage in Sir Thomas Browne appears forcibly to have struck the gifted author of _Confessions of an English Opium-eater_ (see p. 106. of that work).

J. H. MARKLAND.

[Footnote 1: _Sketch of Bishop Ken's Life_, p. 107.]

* * * * *

BOHN'S EDITION OF HOVEDEN.

(Vol. vii., p. 579.)

MR. RILEY mistakes my purpose if he thinks that my object was to make a personal attack on him; and for anything in my last communication which may have appeared to possess that tendency, I hereby freely express my regret. Still I cannot allow that he has explained away the mistakes of which I complained, and of which I still have to complain. The kingdom of Cork _never_ "extended to within a short distance of Waterford;" and the territory of Desmond was _never_ co-extensive with Cork, having been always confined to the county of Kerry. MR. RILEY, therefore, is in error when he uses "Cork" and "Desmond" as synonymous. Again, he falls into the same mistake by assuming "Crook, Hook Point, or The Crook," to be synonyms. I never heard that Henry II. landed at Hook Point, which is in the county of Wexford, and from which a land journey to Waterford would be very circuitous. At Crook, however, on the opposite side of Waterford Harbour, and within the shelter of Creden Head, he is said to have done so; and as that point answers pretty exactly to the _Crock_ of Hoveden, why assume some indefinite point of the "Kingdom of Cork" as the locality, even supposing that its boundary _did_ approach Waterford city? Really MR. RILEY's explanations but make matters worse.

With regard to "Erupolensis" being an _alias_ of Ossoriensis, I may quote the authority of the learned De Burgo, who, speaking of the diocese of Ossory, observes:

"Quandoque tamen nuncupata erat _Eyrupolensis_ ab _Eyro_ Flumine, vulgo
_Neoro_, quod _Kilkenniam_ alluit."--_Hibernia Dominicana_, p. 205.
note _i_.

I maintain that the reading public has just cause to complain, not (as I said on a former occasion) because the editor of such a book as Hoveden's _Annals_ does not know everything necessary to elucidate his author, but because baseless conjectures are put forward as elucidations of the text.

JAMES GRAVES.

Kilkenny.

* * * * *

COLERIDGE'S CHRISTABEL.

(Vol. vii., pp. 206. 292.)

It is difficult to believe that the third part of _Christabel_, published in Blackwood for June, 1819, vol. v. p. 286., could have either "perplexed the public," or "pleased Coleridge." In the first place, it was avowedly written by "Morgan Odoherty;" and in the next, it is too palpable a parody to have pleased the original author, who could hardly have been satisfied with the raving rhapsodies put into his mouth, or with the treatment of his innocent and virtuous heroine. This will readily be supposed when it is known that the Lady Geraldine is made out to have been a man in woman's attire, and that "the mark of Christabel's shame, the seal of her sorrow," is neither more nor less than the natural consequence of her having shared her chamber with such a visitor.

Is your correspondent A. B. R. correct in stating this parody to have been the composition of Dr. Maginn? In the biography of this brilliant writer in the twenty-third volume of the _Dublin University Magazine_, Dr. Moir, who had undoubtedly good opportunities of knowing, mentions that his first contribution to _Blackwood_ was the Latin translation of "Chevy Chase," in the number for November 1819; if this be correct, many of the cleverest papers that appeared under the name of Odoherty, and which are all popularly attributed {12} to Maginn, must have been the work of other authors, a circumstance which I had been already led to suspect from the frequent local allusions to Scotland in general, and to Edinburgh in particular, which could have scarcely proceeded from the pen of a native of Cork, who had then never visited Scotland. Since Dr. Moir's own death, it appears that the _Eve of St. Jerry_, and the _Rhyme of the Auncient Waggonere_, have been claimed for him, as well as some other similar pieces; and I believe that the series of _Boxiana_, which also appeared under the name of the renowned ensign and adjutant, was written by Professor Wilson. Maginn's contributions were at first under various signatures, and some time elapsed before he made use of the _nom de guerre_ of Morgan Odoherty, which eventually became so identified with him.

J. S. WARDEN.

Paternoster Row.

* * * * *

ITS.

(Vol. vii., p. 578.)

I am sorry to intrude upon your valuable space again in reference to this little word, but the inquiry of MR. RYE (p. 578.), and other reasons, render it desirable. The truth is that MR. KEIGHTLEY, MR. RYE and myself, are more or less mistaken. 1. MR. KEIGHTLEY, in his quotation from Fairfax's _Tasso_ (MR. SINGER's accurate reprint, 1817), has _his_ in both lines. 2. MR. RYE, in understanding me to refer to any translation proper; unless Sternhold and Hopkins are to be considered as having produced one. 3. Myself, in supposing the old metrical version in the Book of Common Prayer originally had the word _its_. I copied from the Oxford edition in fol. of 1770; but a 4to. edition, "printed by Iohn Daye, dwelling over Aldersgate, anno 1574," does not exhibit the word in the places specified; we have instead _her_ in both places.

Hitherto, then, the oldest examples of the use of this word have been adduced from Shakspeare. These are to be found in the first folio, but are in each case printed with the apostrophe after the _t_,--_it's_. This method of writing the word, however, soon disappeared, for in a treatise of Pemble's, printed 1635 (the author died in 1623), it appears as we write it now:

"If faith alone by _its_ own virtue and force."--_Works_, fol. p. 171.

I have not observed the fact remarked, that besides the use of _his, her, hereof, thereof, of it_, and _the_, it was customary to employ the unchanged word _it_ for the possessive case. I will give an example or two. In the Genevan version, at Rom. viii. 20., we read "Not of _it_ owne wille." This passage is thus quoted in 1611 and in 1622, but in a later edition of the same work, 1656, _its_ is substituted for _it_. I have a note of one other instance from Perkins on Rev. ii. 28. (ed. 1606): "For as the sunne in the spring time quickeneth by _it_ warme beames."

In conclusion, may I request that if any genuine instance of the use of this word _its_, is observed by any of your many contributors, they will communicate the fact to you? At present we can only go back to Shakspeare, in his _Winter's Tale_ and _Henry VIII_.

B. H. C.

* * * * *

FAMILY OF MILTON'S WIDOW.

(Vol. vii., p. 596.)

As your correspondent CRANMORE has long been a deserter from the ranks of "N. & Q.," I may perhaps, without presumption, for once "stand in his shoes," and reply to the challenge addressed to him by V. M.

Much obscurity has all along prevailed among the many biographers of Milton, in reference to the family of Elizabeth Minshull, his third wife, and eventually, for more than fifty years, his widow. Philips, Warton, Todd, and numerous others, state her to have been "the daughter of Mr. Minshull, of Cheshire,"--a very vague assertion when we consider that there were at least three or four different families of that name then existing in the county. Pennant, who delighted in particularities, sometimes even at the expense of historical fact, tells us, for the first time, in 1782, that she was the daughter of Mr. (or Sir) Edward Minshull, of Stoke, near Nantwich, and that she died at the latter town in March, 1726, at an advanced age. Mr. Ormerod, again, whose splendid _History of Cheshire_ will be the standard authority of the county for ages after he himself is carried to his fathers, has unfortunately adopted the same conclusion, and so given a colour, as it were, to this erroneous statement of our Cambrian antiquary. The Rev. Benjamin Mardon's paper, printed in the _Journal of the British Archaeological Association for 1849_, is another and more recent instance of the way in which such errors as this may become perpetuated. Another writer (Palmer) conjectures her to have been the daughter of Minshull of Manchester; but this also has been proved to be entirely destitute of foundation.

The truth of the matter is (and I am indebted to Mr. Fitchett Marsh's clear and succinct dissertation in the _Miscellany_ of the Chetham Society for the information), the poet's widow was daughter of Mr. Randle Minshull, of Wistaston in the county of Chester, whose great-great-grandfather, a younger son of Minshull of Minshull, settled on a small estate there in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and so founded the house of Minshull of Wistaston. Milton was introduced to his Cheshire wife by his friend Dr. Paget; and {13} it was by his advice that the author of _Paradise Lost_ once more entered into the bonds of wedlock. Mr. Marsh, to clear up all doubt upon the subject, and having previously established the identity of the family, examined the parish register at Wistaston, and there found that "Elizabeth, the daughter of Randolph Mynshull, was baptized the 30th day of December, 1638;" so that, if baptized shortly after birth, she must have been about twenty-six years old when united to Milton in 1664, and about eighty-nine at her death, which occurred in 1727.

V. M., and all others who desire farther enlightenment on the subject, will do well to refer to the volume before mentioned, which forms the twenty-fourth of the series published by the Chetham Society.

T. HUGHES.

Chester.

* * * * *

BOOKS OF EMBLEMS--JACOB BEHMEN.

(Vol. vii., pp. 469. 579.)

Perhaps you will allow poor old Jacob Behmen, the inspired cobbler of Gorlitz, a niche in your temple of writers of emblems. I think he is legitimately entitled to that distinction. His works are nearly all couched in emblems; and, besides his own figures, his principles were pictorially illustrated by his disciple William Law (the author of _The Way to Divine Knowledge_, _The Serious Call_, &c.), in some seventeen simple, and four compound emblematic drawings. Of these the most remarkable, and in fact the most intelligible, are three compound emblems representing the Creation, Apostasy, and Redemption of Man. Every phase of each stage in the soul's history is disclosed to view by means of double and single doors. We are now concerned only with such of Behmen's emblematic works as have been translated into English. The following list contains only those in my own library. I am acquainted with no others:

(1.) "The Works of Jacob Behmen, the Teutonic Theosopher, to which is prefixed the Life of the Author, with Figures illustrating his Principles, left by the Rev. William Law, M.A. In four thick Volumes, royal 4to. London: printed for M. Richardson in Paternoster Row, MDCCLXIV." With a fine portrait of Behmen facing the title-page of the first volume. This edition contains the following works:

1. Aurora: the Day-spring, or Dawning of the Day in the East; or
Morning-redness in the Rising of the Sun: that is, the Root or Mother
of Philosophy, Astrology, and Theology, from the True Ground; or, A
Description of Nature.

2. The Three Principles of the Divine Essence of the Eternal: Dark,
Light, and Temporary World.

3. Mysterium Magnum: or an Explanation of the First Book of Moses
called Genesis.

4. Four Tables of Divine Revelation.

5. The High and Deep-Searching of the Threefold Life of Man, through or
according to the Three Principles.

6. Forty Questions concerning the Soul, proposed by Dr. Balthasar
Walter, and answered by Jacob Behmen.

7. The Treatise of the Incarnation.

8. The Clavis, or an Explanation of some Principal Points and
Expressions.

9. Signatura Rerum.

10. Of the Election of Grace; or of God's Will towards Man, commonly
called Predestination.

11. The Way to Christ discovered in the following Treatises:--I. Of
True Repentance. II. Of True Resignation. III. Of Regeneration. IV. Of
Supernatural Life.

12. A Discourse between a Soul hungry and thirsty after the Fountain of
Life, the sweet Love of Jesus Christ, and a Soul enlightened.

13. A Treatise of the Four Complexions, or a Consolatory Instruction
for a Sad and Assaulted Heart in the Time of Temptation.

14. A Treatise of Christ's Testament, Baptism, and the Supper.

(2.) "Theosophic Letters, or Epistles of the Man from God enlightened in Grace, Jacob Behmen, of Old Seidenburgh, wherein everywhere [are?] Divine Blessed Exhortations to true Repentance and Amendment, as also Plaine Instructions concerning the highly worthy and precious Knowledge of the Divine and Natural Wisdome; together with a Right Touchstone or Triall of these Times, for an Introduction to the Author's other Writings: published in English for the good of the sincere Lovers of true Christianitie, by I. S.[2]" (I have only a MS. copy of this publication.)

(3.) A beautiful MS. translation of "The Way to Christ." This is hardly so accurate as the one already referred to, though some of the expressions are better chosen. The date of this MS. is about 1730, or earlier.

(4.) A fair MS. translation of Jacob Behmen's treatise called "A Fundamental Instruction concerning the Earthly and concerning the Heavenly Mystery; how they two stand in one another, and how in the Earthly the Heavenly becometh manifested or revealed, wherein then you shall see Babell the great citty upon Earth stand with its Forms and Wonders; and wherefore, or out of what, Babell is generated, and where Antichrist will stand quite naked. Comprised in Nine Texts. Written May 8, 1620, in High Dutch." (I have seen no printed translation of this treatise.)

(5.) MS. translation of the fourth treatise of "The Way to Christ," viz. "of the Supersensual Life." This is a less accurate rendering than either of the others above mentioned.

Perhaps your mystic correspondents will kindly furnish lists of other publications and MSS. of {14} "the Teutonick Theosopher." There are sixteen more of his works, of which fifteen are now extant in High Dutch. As old Behmen is but little known in this country, save by ill-repute, as having led astray William Law in his old age, and, through him, having tinctured the religious philosophy of Coleridge, it way be worth noting, that no less a philosopher than Schelling (to whom, as we know, Coleridge stood so greatly indebted) stole from the Lusatian shoemaker the corner-stones of his _Philosophy of Nature_.

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

[Footnote 2: J. Sparrow.--ED.]

* * * * *

RAFFAELLE'S SPOSALIZIO.

(Vol. vii., p. 595.)

With regard to your correspondent MR. G. BRINDLEY ACKWORTH's Query respecting _Raffaelle's Sposalizio_, I am induced to think that the _custode_ at the church of the Santa Croce at Florence was right as to his information. In the copy which I have of the "Ordo ad faciendum Sponsalia," _according to the ancient use of Salisbury_, the ring is undoubtedly to be placed on the bride's _right_ hand. Wheatly indeed says, that "when the man espouses his wife with it (_i.e._ the ring), he is to put it _upon the fourth finger of her_ left _hand_;" and then refers, for _the reason_ of this, to the rubric of _Salisbury Manual_, which speaks of the vein going from this finger directly to the heart.

Now, what are the precise words of this rubric? After giving directions for the benediction of the ring, provided it has not previously been blessed, the rubric goes on thus:

"Si autem antea fuerit annulus ille benedictus tunc statim postquam vir
posuerit annulum super librum, accipiens sacerdos annulum tradat ipsum
viro: quem vir accipiat manu sua dextera cum tribus principalioribus
digitis, et manu sua sinistra tenens dexteram sponsae docente sacerdote
dicat."

The man is to receive the ring from the priest with the three principal fingers of the right hand; and then, holding the _right hand_ of the bride with his own left hand, he shall say, "With this ring," &c. He is then to place the ring on her thumb, saying, "In nomine Patris;" then on her second finger, saying "et Filii;" then on the third finger, saying "et Spiritus Sancti;" then on the fourth finger, saying "Amen;" and there he is to leave it. There is not a word said about the bride's _left_ hand, the _right_ is alone mentioned; and why should the man hold her _right_ hand with his _left_, but that with his _right_ hand he may the more easily place the ring, _first_ on the _thumb_, then on the other fingers of her _right_ hand, until it arrives at its ideal destination?

While I am upon this subject, allow me to point out another singular direction given in a rubric in this same "Ordo ad faciendum Sponsalia." When the woman is, as we term it, given away, if she be a spinster, she is to have her hand _uncovered_; if a widow, _covered_: the words are--

"Deinde detur femina a patre suo, vel ab amicis ejus: quod si _puella_
sit, _discoopertam_ habeat _manum_, si _vidua_, _tectam_."

There is no reason given for this distinction, nor do I ever remember to have seen it noticed.

F. B. W.

The _Sposalizio_, or "espousals," or betrothing, is certainly a different ceremony from the marriage. Is not the fact of young ladies popularly considering and calling the third finger of the _right_ hand the engaged finger, and wearing a ring on that finger when engaged, a confirmation of your correspondent's idea, that at this "betrothal" or "espousals" (compare the phrase "his espoused wife" of Mary before her _marriage_ with Joseph) the ring was placed in the _right_ hand; at the marriage ceremony on the left?

SC.

* * * * *

WINDFALL.

(Vol. vii., p. 285.)

W. W. is desirous of interpreting _windfall_, as necessarily from its origin denoting a gain. He is, perhaps, expecting a handsome bequest; I wish he may get it; but he may rely on it that the _windfall_ of the bequest will be accompanied by the _windfall_ of the "Succession Act." Let us hear what our great Doctor says; his first explanation is, "Fruit blown down from the tree."

W. W.'s little boys and girls would deem a _windfall_ of unripe apples, at this time of the year, a good; they will make a pie for dinner. W. W. himself would call it an evil; the ripe crop is ruined.

But let us see how Johnson illustrates his explanation:

"Their _boughs_ were too great for their stem, they became a _windfall_
upon the sudden."--_Bacon_, Essay 29.

Webster copies this for his first explanation, as he does also our Dr's. second for his second; but as it is not his plan to illustrate by examples, he is saved from the _eccentricity_ of his original.

If we refer to Bacon we shall be reminded of Johnson's warning, that by "hasty detruncation the general tendency of a sentence may be changed." The sentence here so hastily detruncated, stands thus in the Essay:

"The Spartans were a nice people in point of naturalisation, whereby
while they kept their compasse, they stood firme. But when _they_ did
spread, and _their boughes_ were becommen too great for their stemme,
they became a _windfall_ upon the suddaine. 'Potentia eorum subito
corruit.'"

_They_, in Johnson's mutilated sentence, refers to the _boughs_; in Bacon, to the Spartans; so that, in {15} the first place, the Spartans are transformed into boughs, and, in the next place, the boughs into fruit. Detruncation, however, had nothing to do with this latter metamorphosis; and I am afraid this is not a solitary instance of lexicographical incongruity.

W. W. may assure himself that a windfall is "whatever _falls_ by the wind, or with similar suddenness or unexpectedness, whether bringing good or ill."

And if he will take the trouble to refer to "The Case of Impeachment of Waste," quoted by MR. ARROWSMITH, Vol. vii., p. 375., he will find, only a few lines before that gentleman's quotation begins, a legal question at issue as to the right of property in _windfalls_.

Q.

Bloomsbury.

* * * * *

MR. JUSTICE NEWTON.

(Vol. vii., pp. 528. 600.)

It would greatly enhance the value of contributions to "N. & Q.," save much trouble, and often lead to a more direct intercourse between persons of similar pursuits, if contributors would drop initials, and sign their own proper name and _habitat_; and in saying this, I believe the Editor will second me. If C. S. G. had done this, I should have been happy to send him an envelope full of proofs that Mr. Justice Newton did not die in 1444, for that a fine was levied before him in 1448; that he is not buried in Bristol Cathedral, but in the Wyke Aisle in Yatton Church, Somerset, where may be seen his effigies beautifully carved in alabaster, in his judge's robes, and his head resting on a wheat-sheaf or garb; that there was _no_ relationship between the second baronet of Hather, his arms being _cross bones_, &c., and those of the judge, who was truly a _Cradock_, were three garbs, &c. I would now beg leave to refer C. S. G. to my former communications in "N. & Q." about Cradock Newton, particularly Vol. ii., pp. 248. 427.; _Chronica Judicialia_, 1635; Foss's _Lives of the Judges_; and a paper of mine in the forthcoming volume of the _Proceedings of the Archaeological Institute at Bristol_.

H. T. ELLACOMBE.

Rectory, Clyst St. George.

From C. S. G.'s reply to my inquiry respecting Mr. Justice Newton I conclude that at least _two_ individuals of this name have, at different periods, and at a considerable interval apart, occupied the judicial bench.

The portrait I wish to trace is of a well-known character of the Commonwealth era, and could not, of course, have belonged to a judge then some two centuries deceased. My omission to state this circumstance, in the first instance, has very naturally occasioned complete misapprehension throughout.

Since my Query was written, a duplicate of the drawing in the Bodleian (_minus_ the inscription), out of the Strawberry Hill collection, has, curiously enough, appeared in an extensive public sale. It was likewise said to be by Bulfinch; and farther examination leads me to infer that both this and the Oxford copy were, in respect of artist, in all probability _not_ incorrectly described. As Bulfinch lived _temp._ Charles II., and the Bodleian inscription points to his original painting, as "in the hands of Mr. Justice Newton," it may fairly be presumed that a second judge of the name flourished in this reign.

Substantially, then, my original Query yet remains unanswered, notwithstanding C. S. G.'s obliging reply.

F. KYFFIN LENTHALL.

36. Mount Street, Grosvenor Square.

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Mr. Lyte's Treatment of Positives._--It would be quite superfluous, after the very excellent communication of MR. POLLOCK, were I to give a detailed account of my method of printing albumen positives, as, in the main, we both follow the process of Mr. Le Gray. But as we both have our own improvements on the original process, I will ask for space in which to record our differences in manipulation.

First, in regard to the chloride of gold, I always find, and I believe such is the experience of many photographers, that all salts of gold, though they heighten the effect at first, have a slow, but sure, destructive action on the picture.

Next, I find that acetic acid, by generating sulphurous acid, has a similar effect, and my care was to try and make a solution which should be free from these defects. I first take my positive, which, as a general rule, I print at least half as dark again as the shade required. This done, I wash it well with water, and next with salt and water in the proportion of about half a grain per gallon, or quite a tasteless solution; this removes all the nitrate of silver from the paper, or if there is any left, the bath of salt decomposes it, leaving none in the texture of the paper to unite with the hypo., which otherwise forms a sticky substance, difficult to remove, which may be readily seen on looking through a positive which has been too hastily finished in the usual way, giving a dark shade, and a want of transparency to the lights. I then place the picture in a bath composed as follows:

Sodae hyposul. 3 oz.
Argent. chlorid. 70 grs.
Potassii iodidi 5 grs.
Pyrogallic acid 1-1/2 to 2 grs.

The iodide of potassium I add on the same principle as MR. POLLOCK's iodide of silver, but as being {16} more convenient, as immediately on being added it decomposes some of the chloride of silver, and forms iodide of silver. I am happy to find that MR. POLLOCK confirms me in the use of this salt; which I had long thought to improve the tone of my pictures. The liquid, which will become rapidly very dark coloured, must be set aside in an open vessel in a warm place for some weeks, _e.g._ till, when a positive is placed in it, left for a short time, and then washed with water, it shows clean and not mottled in the light. The solution may be kept always exposed, and much improves by this: if _much_ used, it should be replenished with a simple solution of hypo. three ounces or two ounces to the pint; if little used, it may be filled up as much as evaporates with pure water.

The positive is left in this solution till the required tint is obtained, when it is to be placed in plain hypo. two ounces to the pint, and in about a quarter of an hour transferred to a basin of pure water, and well washed in several waters. The other detail of MR. POLLOCK's process is so admirably and clearly given, and so like that I pursue, that I will not trouble your columns with it again.

The after-bath of pure hypo. is not absolutely necessary; and where it is desired to obtain fine olive, and dark sepia, and black tints, a better tone results from washing well, long, and frequently, with water alone.

This bath also gives very rich tints with paper, prepared without albumen: viz.--

Chloride of ammonium 5 grs.
Water 1 oz.

Lay the paper on this, and then hang it up to dry, and excite with ammonio-nitrate containing seventy grains of nitrate of silver to one ounce of water. Should the above solution not give the requisite tints soon after being made, add more chloride of silver; but bear in mind that the solution will then soon become saturated when setting positives, and when this occurs it must be rectified by the addition of a small portion of fresh hypo. alone.

F. MAXWELL LYTE.

P.S.--I may add that I have only lately tried the addition of the iodide of potassium to my setting liquid, and so must qualify my recommendation of it by saying so.

Florian, Torquay.

_Stereoscopic Angles._--I am obliged to MESSRS. SHADBOLT and WILKINSON for the information given in reply to my Queries (Vol. vii., p. 505.) My mode of operation is precisely that of MR. WILKINSON: "I obtain all the information I can from every source; then try, and judge for myself." Hence the present letter.

I regret to be obliged to differ from MR. SHADBOLT, but there is a point in his communication which appears to me to arise from a misconception of the stereoscopic problem. He says (p. 557.), "for _distant_ views there is in nature scarcely any _stereoscopic_ effect." Now, surely visual distance is merely visual stereosity; for, to see an object solid is merely to see its parts in relief, some of them appearing to project or recede from the others. It is the difficulty of producing this effect in landscapes, by the ordinary camera process, that renders views taken by such means so deficient in air, or, as the artists term it, aerial perspective, most distant objects seeming almost as near as those in the foreground. This indeed is the main defect of all photographs: they are true representations of nature to one eye--cyclopean pictures, as it were--appearing perfectly stereoscopic with one eye closed, but seeming absolutely flattened when viewed by the two eyes. I remember being shown a huge photograph of the city of Berlin, taken from an eminence; and a more violent caricature of nature I never set eyes upon. It was almost Chinese in its perspective: the house-tops appeared to have been mangled. It was a wonderful work of art, photographically considered; but artistically it was positively hideous. But the same defect exists in _all_ monophotographic representations, though in a less degree, and consequently less apparent than in views to which a sense of distance is essential. In portraits, the features appear slightly flattened; and until photographers are able to overcome this, the chief of all obstacles to perfection, it is idle to talk of the art giving a correct rendering of nature. This is what is wanted, more than colour, diactinic lenses, multiplication of impressions, or anything else. And when it is remembered that the law of an ordinary convex lens is, the farther the object from the lens the nearer the focus, and, _vice versa_, the nearer the object the farther the focus, it becomes evident that by such an instrument distant objects must be made to appear near, and near objects distant, and nature consequently mangled.

The stereoscope gives us the only demonstrably correct representation of nature; and when that instrument is rendered more simple, and the peep-show character of the apparatus disconnected from it, the art of photography will transcend the productions of the painter--but not till then.

I am anxious to obtain all the information I can from such of your photographic readers as are practically acquainted with the stereoscopic portion of the art relative to the angles under which they find it best to take their pictures for given distances.

Mr. Fenton, the secretary of the Photographic Society, takes his stereoscopic pictures, when the objects are 50 feet and upwards from the camera, at 1 in 25. This is, as MR. SHADBOLT states, Professor Wheatstone's rule for distances. {17}

MR. WILKINSON, on the other hand, asserts that 3 feet in 300 yards is sufficient separation for the cameras: this is only 1 in 300,--a vast difference truly.

"For views across the Thames," says the editor of the _Photographic Journal_, "the cameras should be placed 12 feet apart, and with this separation the effect is declared to be astonishing."

MR. WILKINSON, however, asserts that from 4 to 6 feet in a mile will do _well enough_!

Farther, Mr. Latimer Clark (the inventor of an ingenious stereoscopic camera) states that with regard to the distance between the two positions of the cameras, he knows no good reason why the natural distance of the eyes, viz. 2-1/2 inches, should be much exceeded. "A little extra relief is obtained," he adds, "without visible distortion, by increasing the separation to about 4 or 5 inches; but if this distance be greatly exceeded, especially for near objects (I give the gentleman's own words), they become apparently diminished in size, and have the appearance of models and dolls rather than natural objects."

The reason for making the separation between the cameras greater than that between the two eyes, is exceedingly simple. The stereograph is to be looked at much _nearer_ than the object itself, and consequently is to be seen under a much larger angle than it is viewed by the two eyes in nature. Hence the two pictures should be taken at the angle under which they are to be observed in the stereoscope. Suppose the object to be 50 feet distant, then of course it is seen by the two eyes under an angle of 2-1/2 inches in 50 feet, or 1 in 240. But it is intended that the stereograph should be seen by the two eyes when but a few inches removed from them, or generally under an angle of 2-1/2 in 12 inches, or nearly 1 in 5. Hence it is self-evident that the stereoscopic angle should be considerably larger than that formed by the optic axes of the two eyes when directed to the object itself.

But there is great diversity of opinion as to the extent of the angles requisite for producing the precise stereoscopic or distantial effect of nature. For myself I prefer Professor Wheatstone's rule, 1 in 25 for objects beyond 50 feet distant. For portraits I find the best angle 1 in 10 when the sitter is 10 feet off, and for busts about 1 in 5 when placed about 5 or 6 feet from the cameras. But I should be happy to receive information from any of your readers concerning this important branch of the photographic art. For months past I have been engaged in a series of experiments in connexion with the subject, and wish for larger experience than it is possible for any single operator to acquire for himself.

Mr. Fenton, I may observe, does not keep the cameras parallel in taking landscapes, but inclines them so that the same object may occupy as nearly as possible the centre of the ground glass plate.

Nor is it essential that perfect horizontality or parallelism of the cameras should be maintained in copying trees. For buildings, however, it is absolutely necessary that the cameras be kept straight.

I am sorry thus to trespass on your space, but being anxious, as MR. WILKINSON says, to collect information from every source, and your periodical being a happy medium for conveying and receiving instruction, I am glad to avail myself of such a channel.

[Phi]. (2)

P.S.--Mr. Claudet has, I perceive, been awarded the prize given by the Society of Arts for the best essay on the stereoscope. Can you, or any of your readers, inform me whether this is likely to be published, and when and at what price?

_Query respecting Mr. Pollock's Process._--In MR. POLLOCK's directions for obtaining positives which appeared in "N. & Q." (Vol. vii, p. 581.), iodide of silver is to be dissolved in a saturated solution of hypo. Can you give me the quantity of iodide of silver to be dissolved, and the quantity of the saturated solution of hypo. in which it is to be dissolved?

N. T. B.

_Gallo-nitrate of Silver._--Can you inform me what the true nature of the decomposition is which takes place after a short time in the gallo-nitrate solution of silver? and if there be any ready means of rendering the silver it contains again available for photographic use?

SIR W. NEWTON, in the description of his calotype process, says: "Bring out with the saturated solution of gallic acid, and when the subject begins to appear, add the aceto-nitrate of silver solution." Which way of doing this is the best,--mixing the two solutions together and applying them to the paper; or applying the paper, when wetted with the gallic acid, to the silver solution?

T. L.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Verney Note decyphered_ (Vol. vii., p. 568.).--I am extremely obliged to MR. THOMPSON COOPER for his decyphered rendering of Sir Ralph Verney's note of a speech or proceeding in parliament. The note itself is not now in my possession, but I have requested the owner to be good enough to re-collate it with the original, and if any mistakes should appear in the copy, or the printing (which is very likely), I will give you notice of the fact, that the doubtful words in MR. COOPER's version may, if possible, be set right.

Students in the art of decyphering may be pleased to have the key to the cypher recorded in {18} your pages. I therefore give it you as discovered by MR. COOPER, and beg, in the strongest way, to reiterate my thanks to that gentleman.

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18,
f, r, k, t, b, h, s, w, c, g, p, d, a, e, i, o, u,

20, 22, 27, 28.
l, x, m, n.

The cyphers (if any) for _j, q, y, z_ have not been discovered, and the numbers 1, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26 remain unappropriated.

JOHN BRUCE.

_Emblems by John Bunyan_ (Vol. vii., p. 470.).--This work which MR. CORSER has not met with, is in the folio edition of his works, forming pp. 849. to 868. of vol. ii. (1768). The plates are small woodcuts of very indifferent execution.

E. D.

_Mr. Cobb's Diary_ (Vol. vii., p. 477.).--This volume was printed solely for private distribution by the family, who also presented their relatives and friends (amongst whom the writer was reckoned) with another volume compiled on the decease of Francis Cobb, Esq., the husband of Mrs. Cobb, and entitled, _Memoir of the late Francis Cobb, Esq., of Margate, compiled from his Journals and Letters_: Maidstone, printed by J. V. Hall and Son, Journal Office, 1835. Both of these are at the service for perusal of your inquiring correspondent, JOHN MARTIN.

E. D.

"_Sat cito si sat bene_" (Vol. vii., p. 594.).--I have not Twiss at hand; but I think F. W. J. is mistaken in calling it a "favourite maxim" of Lord Eldon. I remember to have heard Lord Eldon tell the story, which was, that the Newcastle Fly, in which he came up to town, in I forget how many days, had on its panel the motto, "Sat cito si sat bene:" he applied it jocularly in defence of his own habits in Chancery.

C.

_Mythe versus Myth_ (Vol. vii., pp. 326. 575.).--It gives me much pleasure to have afforded MR. THIRIOLD an opportunity for displaying so much learning and sagacity; but I hope he does not imagine that he has confuted me. As I only spoke of words which, like [Greek: muthos], had a single consonant between two vowels, such words as _plinth_, _labyrinth_, &c. have nothing to do with the question. If _mythe_, differing from the other examples which are to be found, happens to have _the_ for its termination, and thus resembles words of Anglo-Saxon origin, I cannot help it, but it was formed _secundum artem_. As to MR. THERIOLD's _m[=y]th_, unless so written and printed, it will always be pronounced _m[)y]th_, like the French _mythe_.

As to the _hybrid_ adjectives, I only wished to avoid increasing the number of them. The French, I believe, have only one, _musical_; for though, like ourselves, they have made substantives of the Greek [Greek: mousike] (sc. [Greek: techne]), [Greek: phusike], &c., in all other cases they retain the Greek form of the adjective, as in _physique_, substantive and adjective, while we generally have pairs of adjectives, as _philosophic, philosophical_; _extatic, extatical_; &c. Some may think this an advantage; I do not.

THOS. KEIGHTLEY.

_The Gilbert Family_ (Vol. vii., p. 259).--If your correspondent seeking genealogical information in reference to my ancestors, calls on me, I will show him a presentation copy of _A Genealogical Memoir of the Gilbert Family in Old and New England_, by J. W. Thornton, LL.B., Boston, U. S., 1850, 8vo. pp. 24, only fifty printed.

JAMES GILBERT.

_Alexander Clark_ (Vol. vii., p. 580.).--I should feel obliged if J. O. could find leisure to communicate to "N. & Q." some particulars relative to Clark. He is supposed to have been the author of a curious poem: _The Institution and Progress of the Buttery College of Slains, in the Parish of Cruden, Aberdeenshire; with a Catalogue of the Books and MSS. in the Library of that University_: Aberdeen, 1700. Mr. Peter Buchan thus mentions him in his _Gleanings of Scarce Old Ballads_:

"Clark, a drunken dominie at Slains, author of a poetical dialogue
between the gardeners and tailors on the origin of their crafts, and a
most curious Latin and English poem called the 'Buttery College of
Slains,' which resembled much in language and style Drummond of
Hawthornden's 'Polemo Middino.'"

This poem is printed in Watson's _Collection of Scottish Poems_, Edin. 1711; and also noticed in the _Edinburgh Topographical and Antiquarian Magazine_, 1848, last page. I am anxious to ascertain if the emblem writer, and the burlesque poet, be one and the same person. The dates, I confess, are somewhat against this conclusion; but there may have been a previous edition of the _Emblematical Representation_ (1779). The _University_ Clark is supposed to have been an Aberdeenshire man. Possibly J. O. may be able to throw some light on the subject.

PERTHENSIS.

_Christ's Cross_ (Vol. iii., pp. 330. 465.).--In Morley's _Introduction to Practical Music_, originally printed in 1597, and which I quote from a reprint by William Randall, in 4to., in 1771, eighteen mortal pages (42-59), which, in my musical ignorance, I humbly confess to be wholly out of my line, are occupied with the "Cantus," "Tenor," and "Bassus," to the following words:

"Christes Crosse be my speed in all vertue to proceede, A, b, c, d, e,
f, g, h, i, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, & t, double w, v, x, with y,
ezod, & per se, con per se, tittle tittle est Amen, When you haue done
begin again, begin again."

J. F. M.

{19}

_The Rebellious Prayer_ (Vol. vii., p. 286.).--J. A. may find the poem, of which he quotes the opening lines, in the _Churchman's Monthly Penny Magazine_, October, 1851, with the signature L. E. P. The magazine is published by Wertheim & Macintosh, 24. Paternoster Row.

M. E.

"_To the Lords of Convention_" (Vol. vii., p. 596.).--L. EVANS will find the whole of the ballad of "Bonnie Dundee," the first line of which he quotes, in Sir Walter Scott's _Doom of Devorgoil_, where it is introduced as a song. Singularly enough, his best ballad is thus found in his worst play.

FICULNUS.

_Wooden Tombs and Effigies_ (Vol. vii., pp. 528. 607.).--In a chapel adjoining the church of Heveningham in Suffolk, are (or rather were in 1832) the remains of a good altar tomb, with recumbent effigies carved in chesnut, of a knight and his lady: it appeared to be, from the armour and architecture, of the early part of the fifteenth century; and from the arms, _Quarterly or and gules within a border engrailed sable, charged with escallops argent_, no doubt belonged to the ancient family of Heveningham of that place; probably Sir John Heveningham, knight of the shire for the county of Suffolk in the 1st of Henry IV.

When I visited this tomb in 1832, it was in a most dilapidated condition: the slab on which the effigy of the knight once rested was broken in; within the head of the lady, which was separated from the body, a thrush had built its nest: notwithstanding, however, the neglect and damp to which the chapel was exposed, these chesnut effigies remained wonderfully sound and perfect.

SPES.

The monument to Sir Walter Traylli and his lady, in Woodford Church in Northamptonshire, is of wood.

There is a wooden effigy in Gayton Church, Northamptonshire, of a knight templar, recumbent, in a cross-legged position, his feet resting on an animal: over the armour is a surcoat; the helmet is close fitted to the head, his right hand is on the hilt of his sword, a shield is on the left arm.

There is also a fine wooden effigy of Sir Hugh Bardolph in Burnham Church in Norfolk.

J. B.

In Fersfield Church, in Norfolk, there is a wooden figure to the memory of Sir Robert Du Bois, Kt., ob. 1311. See Bloomfield's _Norfolk_, vol. i. p. 68.

J. B.

_Lord Clarendon and the Tubwoman_ (Vol. vii., pp. 133. 211. 634.).--Upon reference to the story of the "tubwoman" in p. 133., it will be seen that Mr. Hyde is distinctly stated to have himself married the brewer's widow, and to have married her for her money. It is farther said that Ann Hyde, the mother of Queen Mary and Queen Ann, was the only issue of this marriage; whereas Ann Hyde had four brothers and a sister. No allusion is made in this account to Sir Thomas Ailesbury. Your correspondent MR. WARDEN says, that "the story has _usually_ been told of the wife of Sir Thomas Ailesbury," and that it may be true of her. Will he have the kindness to furnish a reference to the version of the story in which Sir Thomas Ailesbury is said to have married the tubwoman?

L.

_House-marks_ (Vol. vii., p. 594.).--I do not know whether [alpha]. recollects the frequent occurrence of _marks_ upon sheep in this country. Although I have often seen them, I cannot just now describe one accurately. Some sheep passed my house yesterday which were marked with a _cross_ within a circle.

Riding with a friend, a miller, in Essex, about thirteen years ago, he jumped out of the gig and over a gate, to seize a sack which was lying in a field. Seeing no initials upon it, I asked how he knew that it was his; when he pointed out to me a fish marked upon it, which he told me had been his own and his father's mark for many years. He also said that most of the millers in the neighbourhood had a peculiar _mark_ (not their names or initials), each a different one for his own sacks.

A. J. N.

Birmingham.

"_Amentium haud amantium_" (Vol. vii., p. 595.).--Your correspondent's Query sent me at once to a queer old _Terence in English_, together with the text, "_opera ac industria R. B., in Axholmensi insula, Lincolnsherii Epwortheatis_. [London, Printed by John Legatt, and are to be sold by Andrew Crooke, at the sign of the Green-Dragon, in Paul's Church Yard. 1641.] 6th Edition."

Here, as I expected, I found an alliterative translation of the phase in question "For they are fare as they were _lunaticke, and not love-sicke_."

The translation, I may add, is in prose.

OXONIENSIS.

Walthamstow.

_The Megatherium in the British Museum_ (Vol. vii., p. 590.).--It is much to be regretted that A FOREIGN SURGEON should not have examined the contents of the room which contains the cast of the skeleton of this animal with a little more attention, before he penned the above article. Had he done so, he would have found many of the original bones, from casts of which the restored skeleton has been constructed, in Wall Cases 9 and 10, and would not have fallen into the error of supposing that it is a _fac-simile_ of the original skeleton at Madrid. _That_ specimen was exhumed near Buenos Ayres in 1789; whilst our restoration {20} has been made from bones of another individual, many of which are, as I have stated, to be found in the British Museum itself, and others in that of the Royal College of Surgeons. I are not about to defend the propriety of putting the trunk of a palm-tree into the claws of the Megatherium, though I do not suppose that the restorer ever expected, when he did so, that any one would entertain the idea that this gigantic beast was in the habit of climbing trees; but I would fain ask your correspondent on what grounds he makes the dogmatic assertion that "Palms there were none, at that period of telluric formation." I will simply remind him of the vast numbers of fossil fruits, and other remains of palms, in the London clay of the Isle of Sheppey.

W. J. BERNHARD SMITH.

Temple.

_Pictorial Proverbs_ (Vol. v., p. 559.).--Perhaps the book here mentioned is one of the old German _Narrenbuchs_, or _Book of Fools_, which were generally illustrated with pictures, of which I have a curious set in my possession.

Can any of your correspondents give some account of the nature and merits of these books? Are any of them worth translating at the present day? The one from which my pictures were taken has the title _Mala Gallina, malum Ovum_, and was published at Vienna and Nuremburg. It seems to have been a satire on the female sex; but the text, I am sorry to say, is not in my possession.

H. T. RILEY.

_"Hurrah," and other War-cries_ (Vol. vii., p. 596.).--The following passage (which I find in my notes with the reference _Menagiana_, vol. ii. p. 328.) may partially assist your correspondent CAPE:

"Le cri des anciens Comtes d'Anjou etoit _Rallie_. En voici l'origine.
Eude II., Comte de Blois, marchant avec une armee considerable contre
Foulke Nerra, Comte d'Anjou, ces deux princes se rencontrerent a
Pontlevoi sur le Cher, ou ils se livrerent bataille le 6 Juillet, 1016.
Foulke eut d'abord quelque desavantage; mais Herbert, Comte du Maine
(dit _Eveillechien_), etant venu a son secours, il rallia ses troupes,
and defit absolument, &c. Depuis ce temps-la le cri des anciens Comtes
d'Anjou etoit _Rallie_. Et a ce propos je vous rapporterai ce qu'en dit
Maitre Vace, surnomme _le Clerc de Caen_, dans son Roman de Normandie:

'Francois crie _Montjoye_, et Normans _Dex-aye_:
Flamands crie _Aras_, et Angevin _Rallie_:
Et li cuens Thiebaut _Chartre_ et _Passavant_ crie.'"

This last cry is not unlike the Irish "Faugh-a-Ballagh" in signification.

J. H. LERESCHE.

Manchester.

The following extracts from Sir Francis Palgrave's _History of Normandy and England_, vol. i. p. 696., explain the origin of the word "Hurrah," respecting which one of your correspondents inquires:

"It was a 'wise custom' in Normandy, established by Rollo's decree,
that whoever sustained, or feared to sustain, any damage of goods or
chattels, life or limb, was entitled to raise the country by the cry of
_haro_, or _haron_, upon which cry all the lieges were bound to join in
pursuit of the offender,--_Haron! Ha Raoul!_ justice invoked in Duke
Rollo's name. Whoever failed to aid, made fine to the sovereign; whilst
a heavier mulct was consistently inflicted upon the mocker who raised
the _clameur de haro_ without due and sufficient cause, a disturber of
the commonwealth's tranquillity.

"The _clameur de haro_ is the English system of 'hue and cry.' The old
English exclamation _Harrow!_ our national vernacular _Hurrah!_ being
only a variation thereof, is identical with the supposed invocation of
the Norman chieftain; and the usage, suggested by common sense,
prevailed under various modifications throughout the greater part of
the Pays Coutumier of France."

A. M. S.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.

Among the books which we have for some time intended to bring under the notice of our readers is a new and cheaper edition of _The Coin Collector's Manual, or Guide to the Numismatic Student in the Formation of a Cabinet of Coins: comprising an Historical and Critical Account of the Origin and Progress of Coinage, from the Earliest Period to the Fall of the Roman Empire; with some Account of the Coinages of Modern Europe, more especially of Great Britain, by_ H. Noel Humphreys: and we have been the more anxious to do this, because, except among professed collectors, greater ignorance probably exists on the subject of coins, their date, value, &c., than upon any other subject with which educated people are supposed to possess some acquaintance. Yet there are few numismatic questions likely to occur which ordinary readers would not be enabled to solve by a reference to these two little volumes, enriched as it is with numerous illustrations; especially if they would place beside them Akerman's most useful _Numismatic Manual_.

We are indebted to Mr. Murray for two volumes which will be among the pleasant additions to the cheap books of the month, namely, the new volume, being the fourth of the reprint, of Lord Mahon's _History of England to the Peace of Versailles_, which comprises the interval between the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle and that of Hubertsburg; and in the _Railway Reading_, for half-a-crown! the fourth edition of Lockhart's spirited translations of _Ancient Spanish Ballads, Historical and Romantic_. Thanks, Mr. Murray, thanks!

That Mr. De la Motte, who is so well known as an accomplished draughtsman, should turn his attention to photography, is no slight testimony to the value of the art. That he has become a master in it, may be seen by one glance at his own works on the walls of his Photographic Gallery. The beginner may therefore receive with confidence the results of that gentleman's experience; and _The Practice of Photography, a Manual for Students and Amateurs_, just published by him, will {21} be found a most useful and instructive companion to every one who is now contemplating an excursion, armed with a camera, for the purpose of securing for the gratification of his friends truthful records of his wanderings. Mr. De la Motte wisely confines his instruction to the paper and glass processes; his details on these are clear and minute, and the book is well worth the money for those pages of it alone which are devoted to the "Chemicals used in Photography."