Chapter II: Part 2

_Tom Thumb's House at Gonerby, Lincolnshire._--On the south-west side of the tower of the church of Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, is a curious cornice representing a house with a door in the centre, an oriel window, &c., which is popularly called "Tom Thumb's Castle." I have a small engraving of it ("W. T. del. 1820, R. R. sculpt."): and a pencil states that on the same tower are other "curious carvings."

I would ask, therefore, Why carved? From what event or occasion? For whom? Why called "Tom Thumb's House?" And what are the other curious carvings?

G. CREED.

_Mr. Payne Collier's Monovolume Shakspeare._--I should be extremely obliged to MR. COLLIER, if he would kindly give me a public reply to the following question.

The express terms of the publication of his monovolune edition of Shakspeare, as advertised, were--

"The text regulated by the _old copies_, and by the _recently
discovered folio of 1632_."

These terms manifestly exclude corrections from any other source than those of _collation of the old copies_, and the _MS. corrections_ of the folio of 1632.

Now the text of MR. COLLIER'S monovolume reprint contains many of the emendations of the commentators _not_ referred to in _Notes and Emendations_. For example: in _The Taming of the Shrew_, where Biondello runs in to announce the coming down the hill of the "ancient angel" (changed by the corrector into _ambler_), two other alterations in the same sentence appear without explanation in the _regulated text_, namely, _mercatante_ substituted by Steevens for "marcantant" of the folios; and _surely_ in lieu of "surly," which latter is the word of _the folio of 1632_.

I now ask MR. COLLIER, on what authority were these emendations adopted?

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

* * * * *

Replies.

WILD PLANTS AND THEIR NAMES.

(Vol. vii., pp. 175. 233.)

Perhaps the following may prove of some use to ENIVRI, in reply to his Query respecting the names of certain wild flowers.

1. Shepherd's Purse (_Bursa pastoris_). "Sic dict. a folliculis seminum, qui crumenulam referre videntur." Also called Poor Man's Parmacitty, "Quia ad contusos et casu afflictos instar spermatis ceti utile est." Also St. James's Wort, "Quia circa ejus festum florescit," July 28th. Also called Pick-purse.

2. Eye-bright, according to Skinner (_Euphrasia_), Teut. _Augentrost_; "Oculorum solamen, quia visum eximie acuit." Fluellin (_Veronica femina_), "Forte a Leolino aliquo Cambro-Brit. ejus inventore."

3. Pass Wort, or Palsy Wort (_Primula veris_). "Herba paralyseos."

4. Guelder Rose (_Sambucus rosea_). "Quia ex Gueldria huc translata est." Gueldria is, or rather was, a colony, founded by the Hollanders, on the coast of Coromandel.

5. Ladies' Tresses, a corruption of _traces_. A kind of orchis, and used, with its various appellations, "sensu obsc."

6. The Kentish term _Gazel_ is not improbably the same as _Gale_, which, Skinner says, is from the A.-S. _Gagel_ (_Myrtus brabantica_).

7. Stitch Wort (_Gramen leucanthemum_, alias _Holostium pumilum_). "Sic dict. quia ad dolores laterum punctorios multum prodesse creditur."

8. The term _Knappert_, for Bitter Vetch, is probably a corruption of Knap Wort, the first syllable of which, as in Knap Weed and Knap Bottle, is derived from the sound or snap emitted by it when struck in the hollow of the hand.

9. Charlock (_Rapum sylvestre_); Anglo-Saxon _Cerlice_. {36}

10. London Pride or Tufts (_Armeria prolifera_). "Sic dict. quia flores propter pulchritudinem Londini valde expetuntur." (?)

11. Avens; also Herb Bennet (_Caryophyllata_). Skinner says, "Herba Benedicta ab insigni radicis vulneraria vi." (?)

12. Mill Mountain, or Purge Flax (_Linum sylvestre catharticum_, or _Chamaelinum_). "Montibus gaudet."

13. Jack of the Buttery. "_Sedi_ species sic dict. quia in tecto galacterii crescit." Pricket: "a sapore acri."

14. Cudweed or Cotton Weed; Live-long. "Quia planta perennis est."

15. Sun Spurge. "Quia flores ad ortum solis se aperiunt." Churn Staff, from its similarity.

16. Welcome to our House (_Tithymalus Cyparissias_). "Ob pulchritudinem suam omnibus expetitus."

17. Ruddes (_Fl. Calendulae_). "A colore aureo." Wild or Corn Marigold. "Q. d. aurum Mariae, a colore sc. floris luteo." Gouls or Goulans, with a half-suppressed _d_, may very well be supposed to indicate its natural name--Gold. Another name of this plant is Lockron, or Locker Goulans.

18. Spurry (_Spergula_). "Sic dict. quia folia ejus octo, angusta, stelliformia, radios calcaris satis exacte referunt."

19. Mercury Goose-foot. Probably a goose-foot resembling Mercury (_Mercurialis_), a herb concerning which Skinner doubts, but suggests, "Quia Mercurio, ut ceterae omnes plantae planetis, appropriata sit." Another name is Good Henry,--I find not Good _King_ Henry--(_Lapathum unctuosum_), "A commodo ejus usu in enematis." It is also called All-good, forasmuch as it is useful, not only for its medicinal qualities, but also in supplying the table with a substitute for other vegetables, such as asparagus.

A plant termed in this country Gang Flower is the same as Rogation Flower, recalling the perambulation of parishes on one of those days. There is a vast fund of interesting matter in these old names of wild flowers (mixed up, of course, with much that is trifling); and I cordially agree with your correspondent, that it is well worth a steady effort to rescue the fast-fading traditions relating to them. It must be confessed, however, that the obstacles in the way of tracing the original meaning and supposed virtues, will in many instances be found very great, arising principally from the fanciful translations and corruptions which our ancestors made of the old names. Take, for instance, the following:

Loose Strife or Herb Willow, from _Lysimachia_, the original being undoubtedly a man's name, Lysimachus.

Ale-hoof (_Hedera terrestris_). Anglo-Saxon _Al behofian_. "Herba [Greek: panchrestos], ad multos usus efficacissima."

Herb Ambrose has a Greek origin, [Greek: ambrotos], and is not indebted to the saint of that name.

Comfrey or Cumfrey. "Herba vulnera _conferruminans_;" good for joining the edges of a wound.

Calathian Violets. Simply cupped violets, from [Greek: kalathos].

Brank Ursin (_Acanthus_). "It. brancha, unguis ursinus."

Blood Strange; properly, _String_. To stanch.

Bertram. A corruption of [Greek: purethron] (_Pyrethrum_).

Spreusidany, Hair-strong, Sulphur Wort. Corrupted from _Peucedanum_.

Pell-a-mountain, Wild Thyme. From _Serpyllum montanum_.

Faceless. From _Phaseolus_, dim. of _Phaselus_; so called from its shallop shape.

Stick-a-dove, French Lavender. From [Greek: stoichas, stoichados], _Stoechas_; so called from the regularity of the petals.

Such instances might be multiplied to almost any extent.

There is, doubtless, a good deal of scattered information respecting old English wild flowers to be met with, not only in books, but also among our rural population, stored up by village sages. Contributions of this description would surely be welcome in "N. & Q."

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

Herbs of all kinds were, some two hundred years ago, esteemed of much value as medicine; for in a curious, and I believe rather scarce, pharmacopoeia by Wm. Salmon, date 1693, I find some 414 pages devoted to their uses. This pharmacopoeia, or _Compleat English Physician_, was dedicated to Mary, second Queen of England, Scotland, France, Ireland, &c., and appears to have been the first. The preface says "it was the first of that kind extant in the world, a subject for which we have no precedent."

"I have not trusted," he says, "to the reports of authors, but have
wrote as an eye-witness in describing most things therein; and it is
nothing but what I know and have learnt by daily experience for thirty
years together, so that my prescriptions may in some measure plead a
privilege above the performances of other men."

1. _Capsella_ (_Bursa pastoris_) he describes as cold 1^o, and dry in 2^o, binding and astringent. Good against spitting of blood or haemorrhage of the nose, and other fluxes of the bowels. The leaves, of which [dr.]j. in powder may be given. The juice inspissate, drunk with wine, helps ague. A cataplasm applied in inflammations, Anthony's fire, &c., represses them.

2. _Veronica Chamaedrys_ he calls _Euphrasia_, _Euphrosunee_, and says it is much commended by Arnoldus de Villa Nova, who asserts that it not only helps dimness of the sight, but the use of it {37} makes old men to read small letters without spectacles, who could scarcely read great letters with spectacles before; but that it did restore their sight who had been a long time blind. Truly a most wonderful plant; and, if he freely used it, must have been a great drawback to spectacle-makers.

3. _Primula veris_, he says, more properly belongs to the primrose than cowslip. The root is haumatic, and helps pains in the back. The herb is cephalic, neurotic, and arthritic. The juice or essence, with spirits of wine, stops all manner of fluxes, is excellent against palsy, gout, and pains, and distempers of the nerves and joints. A cataplasm of the juice, with rye meal, is good against luxations and ruptures. The flowers are good against palsy, numbness, convulsions, and cramps, being given in a sulphurous or a saline tincture, or an oily tincture, or an essence of the juice with spirits of wine. The juice of the flowers, or an ointment of the _flower_ or its juice, cleanses the skin from spots, though the worthy old physician only gives a receipt for making essence as follows: Beat the whole plant well in a mortar; add to it an equal quantity of brandy or spirits of wine; close up tight in a large bolt-head, and set it to digest in a very gentle sand-heat for three months. Strain out all the liquor, which close up in a bolt-head again, and digest in a gentle sand-heat for two months more. Rather a troublesome and slow process this.

4. _Geum urbanum_ he calls _Caryophyllata_, _Herba benedicta_, and _Geum Plinii_, and should be gathered, he says, in the middle of March, for then it smells sweetest, and is most aromatic. Hot and dry in the 2^o, binding, strengthening, discussive, cephalic, neurotic, and cardiac. Is a good preservative against epidemic and contagious disease; helps digestion. The powder of the root, dose [dr.]j. The decoction, in wine, stops spitting of blood, dose [dr.]ss to [dr.]jss. The saline tincture opens all obstructions of the viscera, dose [dr.]j to [dr.]iij.

Should ENIVRI wish to know the medical virtues of our wild plants, I have no doubt but that this worthy old physician will tell him what virtues they were considered to possess in his day, at least by himself; and I can assure him that 1195 of the _English Physician's_ pages ascribe marvellous properties, not only to plants, but to animals, fish, and even the bones of a stag's heart.

R. J. SHAW.

* * * * *

JACOB BOBART.

(Vol. vii., pp. 428. 578.)

I am exceedingly obliged for the information afforded by DR. E. F. RIMBAULT concerning the Bobarts. Can he give me any more communication concerning them? I am anxious to learn all I can. I have old Jacob Bobart's signature, bearing date 1659, in which he spells his name with an _e_ instead of _a_, which seems to have been altered to an _a_ by his son Jacob.

In _Vertumnus_ it says Bobart's _Hortes Siccus_ was in twenty volumes; but the _Oxford Botanic Garden Guide_ only mentions twelve quarto volumes: which is correct, and where is it? In one of my copies of _Vertumnus_, a scrap of paper is fixed to p. 29., and the following is written upon it:

"The Hortus Siccus here alluded to was sold at the Rev. Mr.
Hodgkinson's sale at Sarsden, to Mrs. De Salis, wife of Dr. De Salis."

Is there any pedigree of the family?

In a letter of Jno. Ray's to Mr. Aubrey is the following:

"I am glad that Mr. Bobart hath been so diligent in observing and
making a collection of insects."

Is there any collection extant?

"He may give me much assistance in my intended Synopsis of our English
Animals, and contribute much to the perfecting of it."

Did he do so?

Is the print of old Jacob Bobart, by W. Richardson, _valuable_?

Where can I pick up a print of him by Loggan del., Burghers sculp.? There is a portrait of Jacob Bobart the younger in _Oxford Almanack_ for 1719; can I procure it?

H. T. BOBART.

* * * * *

HERALDIC QUERIES.

(Vol. vii., p. 571.)

CEYREP is informed, 1st, That a shield in the form of a lozenge was appropriated exclusively to females, both spinsters and widows, in order to distinguish the sex of the bearer of a coat of arms. It is of doubtful origin, though supposed, from the form, to symbolise the spindle with yarn wound round it; of good authority, and not of very modern date. Many instances may be seen in Fuller, in the coats of arms appended to the dedications of the various chapters of his _Church History_. In sect. ii. book vi. p. 282. ed. 1655, he has separated the coats of man and wife, and placed them side by side; that of the latter upon a lozenge-shaped shield--Party per pale arg. and gules, two eagles displayed, counterchanged.

2ndly, No one has a right to inscribe a motto upon a garter or riband, except those dignified with one of the various orders of knighthood. For any other person to do so, is a silly assumption. The motto should be upon a scroll, either over the crest, or beneath the shield.

3rdly, I cannot find that it was ever the custom in this country for ecclesiastics to bear their paternal coat on an oval or circular shield. Forbidden, as they were, by the first council of {38} Mascon, Bingham, vi. 421., in the Excerptions of Ecgbright, A.D. 740, Item 154., and the Constitutions of Othobon, A.D. 1268, can. 4., to bear arms for the purposes of warfare, it is a question whether any below the episcopal order ought, in strict right, to display any armorial ensigns at all. Archbishops and bishops bear the arms of their sees impaled (as of their spouse) with their own paternal coats; the latter probably only in right of their baronies. It is worthy of remark that, since the Reformation, and consequent marriage of bishops, there has been no official decision as to the bearing the arms of their wives, nor has any precedence been granted to the latter.

H. C. K.

---- Rectory, Hereford.

* * * * *

DOOR-HEAD INSCRIPTIONS.

(Vol. vii., pp. 23. 190. 585.)

A few years ago I copied the following inscription from over the door of the residence of a parish priest at Cologne:

"Protege Deus parochiam hanc propter
Te et S.S. tuum, sicut protexisti
Jerusalem propter Te et David servum
tuum. IV Reg. xx. 6.
A.D. 1787."

From the gateway leading into the Villa Borghese, just outside of the "Porta del Popolo," at Rome, I copied the following:

"Villae Burghesiae Pincianae
Custos haec edico.
Quisquis es, si liber
legum compedes ne hic timeas.
Ite quo voles, carpite quae voles,
Abite quando voles.
Exteris magis haec parantur
quam hero.
In aureo saeculo ubi cuncta aurea
temporum securitas fecit
bene morato:
Hospiti ferreas leges praefigere
herus velat.
Sit hic pro amico, pro lege
honesta voluntas.
Verum si quis dolo malo, lubens, sciens
aureas urbanitatis leges fregerit,
Caveat ne sibi
Tesseram amicitiae subiratus villicus
advorsum frangat."

On the entrance into the Villa Medici are the two following:

"Aditurus hortos hospes, in
summo ut vides
colle hortulorum consitos,
si forte quid
audes probare, scire debes
hos hero
herique amicis esse apertos
omnibus."

"Ingressurus hospes hosce quos
ingentibus
instruxit hortos sumptibus
suis Medices
Fernandus expleare visendo
licet:
atque his fruendo plura
Velle nondecet."

The following I copied from a gateway leading into a vineyard near the church of San Eusebio, at Rome:

"Tria sunt mirabilia;
Trinus et unus,
Deus et homo,
Virgo et mater."

CEYREP.

* * * * *

CONSECRATED ROSES.

(Vol. vii., pp. 407. 480.)

I forward the accompanying observations on the origin of the Rosa d'Oro, in compliance with the request contained at page 480. of the 185th No. of "N. & Q.," in case they should not have come under your observation. They are to be found in _Histoire de Lorraine_, par R. P. Dom. Calmet: Nancy, 1745.

"Le troisieme monastere fonde par les parens de St. Leon est l'Abbaye
de Volfenheim, a deux lieues de Colmar, vers le Midi, et a deux lieues
environs d'Egesheim, chateau des Comtes de Dasbourg, aujourd'hui (1745)
inhabite, mais bien remarquable par ces vastes ruines, sur le sommet
des montagnes qui dominent sur l'Alsace.

"Volfenheim etoit un village considerable, a une lieue et demi de
Colmar. On voie encore aujourd'hui a une demi lieue de Sainte Croix
dans les champs, l'eglise qui lui servoit autrefois de paroisse.
L'abbaye etoit a quelque distance de la, au lieu ou est aujourd'hui le
bourg de Sainte Croix.

"Volfenheim ayant etoit [_Quaere_, ete] ruine par les guerres, les
habitans se sont insensiblement etablis autour de l'abbaye, ce qui a
forme un bon bourg, connu sous le nom de Sainte Croix; parceque
l'abbaye etoit consacree sous cette invocation. Le Pape Leon IX., dans
la Bulle qu'il donna a ce monastere la premiere annee de son
pontificat, de J. C. 1049, nous apprend qu'il avoit ete fonde par son
pere Hughes et sa mere Heilioilgdis, et ses freres Gerard et Hugues,
qui etoient deja decedes; il ajoute que ce lieu lui etoit tombe par
droit de succession; il le met sous la protection speciale du Saint
Siege, en sorte que nulle personne, de quelque qualite qu'elle soit,
n'y exerce aucune autorite, mais qu'il jouisse d'une pleine liberte, et
que l'abbesse et les religieuses puissent employer quelque eveque ils
jugeroient apropos pour les benedictions d'autels, et autres fonctions
qui regardent le ministere episcopal: que son neveu, le Comte Henri
Seigneur d'Egesheim, en soit la voue, et apres lui, l'aine des
Seigneurs d'Egesheim a perpetuite.

"Que si cette race vient a manquer, l'abbesse et le couvent choisiront
quelque autre de la parente de ces {39} seigneurs, afin que l'avocatie
ne soit pas de leur race, et qu'apres la mort de Kuentza, qui en etoit
abbesse, et a qui le Pape avoit donne la benediction abbatiale, les
religieuses choisissent de leur communaute, ou d'ailleurs, celle qui
leur paroitra la plus propre, reservant toujours au Pape le droit de la
benir. Et en reconnaissance d'un privilege si singulier, l'abbesse
donnera tous les ans au Saint Siege une Rose d'Or du poids de deux
onces Romaines. Elle l'envoyera toute faite, ou en envoyera la matiere
preparee, de telle sorte qu'elle soit rendue au Pape huit jours
auparavant qu'il la porte, c'est-a-dire, le Dimanche de Careme, ou l'on
chante a l'Introite, 'Oculi mei semper ad Dominum;' afin qu'il puisse
benir au Dimanche 'Laetare,' qui est le quatrieme du Careme. Telle est
l'origine de la Rose d'Or, que le Pape benit encore aujourd'hui le
quatrieme Dimanche de Careme, nomme 'Laetare,' et qu'il envoye a
quelque prince pour marque d'estime et de bienveillance. Ce jour-la, la
station se fait a Sainte Croix de Jerusalem. Le Pape, accompagne des
cardinaux, vetus de couleur de rose, marche en cavalcade a l'eglise,
tenant la Rose d'Or a la main. Il la porte, allant a l'autel, charge de
baume et de mare. Il la quitte au 'Confiteor,' et la reprend apres
'l'Introite.' Il en fait la Benediction, et apres l'Evangile, il monte
en chaise et explique les proprietes de la rose. Apres la Messe il
retourne en cavalcade a son palais, ayant toujours la Rose en main et
la couronne sur la tete. On appelle ce Dimanche 'Pascha rosata,' ou
'Laetare.'

"Nous avons encore un sermon du Pape Innocent III., compose en cette
occasion, an commencement du treizieme siecle. Le Pape Nicholas IV., en
1290, dans le denombrement qu'il fait des eglises qui doivent des
redevances a l'eglise de Rome, met le monastere de Sainte Croix,
diocese de Basle, qui doit deux onces d'or pour la Rose d'Or, qui se
benit au Dimanche Laetere, Jerusalem."

P. P. P.

* * * * *

NOTES ON SERPENTS.

(Vol. ii., p. 130.; Vol. vi., p. 177.--Vol. iii., p. 490.; Vol. vi., pp. 42. 147.)

Loskiel, in his account of the Moravian missions to the North American Indians[5], tells us that,--

"The Indians are remarkably skilled in curing the bite of venomous
serpents, and have found a medicine peculiarly adapted to the bite of
each species. For example, the leaf of the Rattlesnake-root (_Polygala
senega_) is the most efficacious remedy against the bite of this
dreadful animal. God has mercifully granted it to grow in the greatest
plenty in all parts most infested by the rattlesnake. It is very
remarkable that this herb acquires its greatest perfection just at the
time when the bite of these serpents is the most dangerous....
Virginian Snake-root (_Aristolochia serpentaria_) chewed, makes also an
excellent poultice for wounds of this sort.... The fat of the serpent
itself, rubbed into the wound, is thought to be efficacious. The flesh
of the rattlesnake, dried and boiled to a broth, is said to be more
nourishing than that of the viper, and of service in consumptions.
Their gall is likewise used as medicine."--P. 146.

Pigs are excepted from the dreadful effects of their bite; they will even attack and eat them. It is said that, _if a rattlesnake is irritated and cannot be revenged, it bites itself, and dies in a few hours_:

"Wird dieses Thier zornig gemacht, und es kann sich nicht raechen, so
beiszt es sich selbst, und in wenig Stunden ist es todt."--P. 113.[6]

"I have seen some of our Canadians eat these rattlesnakes repeatedly.
The flesh is very white, and they assured me had a delicious taste.
Their manner of dressing them is very simple.... Great caution,
however, is required in killing a snake for eating; for if the first
blow fails, or only partially stuns him, _he instantly bites himself in
different parts of the body, which thereby become poisoned_, and would
prove fatal to any person who should partake of it."--Cox's _Adv. on
the Columbia River_: Lond. 1832, p. 74.

"Dr. Fordyce knew the black servant of an Indian merchant in America,
who was fond of soup made of rattlesnakes, in which he always boiled
the head along with the rest of the animal, without any regard to the
poisons."--Rees's _Cyclopaedia_.

"There is a religious sect in Africa, not far from Algiers, which eat
the most venomous serpents _alive_; and certainly, it is said, without
extracting their fangs. They declare they enjoy the privilege from
their founder. The creatures writhe and struggle between their teeth;
but possibly, if they do bite them, the bite is innocuous."

Mrs. Crowe, in the concluding chapter of her _Night-side of Nature_, gives the testimony of an eye-witness to "the singular phenomenon to be observed by placing a scorpion and a mouse together under a glass."

"It is known that _stags renew their age by eating serpents_; so the
phoenix is restored by the nest of spices she makes to burn in. The
pelican hath the same virtue, whose right foot, if it be put under hot
dung, after three months a pelican will be bred from it. Wherefore some
physicians, with some confections made of _a viper_ and hellebore, and
of some of the flesh of these creatures, _do promise to restore youth,
and sometimes they do it_."[7]

On reading any of our old herbalists, one would imagine that serpents (and those of the worst kind) abounded in "Merrie Englande," and that they were the greatest bane of our lives. It is {40} hard to stumble on a plant that is not an antidote to the bite of serpents. Our old herbals were compiled, however, almost entirely from the writings of the ancients, and from foreign sources. The ancients had a curious notion relative to the plant Basil (_Oscimum basilicum_), viz., "That there is a property in Basil to propagate scorpions, and that the smell thereof they are bred in the brains of men." Others deny this wonderful property, and make Basil a simple antidote.

"According unto Oribasius, physician unto Julian, the Africans, men
best experienced in poisons, affirm, whosoever hath eaten Basil,
although he be stung with a scorpion, shall feel no pain thereby, which
is a very different effect, and rather antidotally destroying than
seminally promoting its production."--Sir Thomas Browne, _Vulgar
Errors._

An old writer gives the following anecdote in point:

"Francis Marcio, an eminent statesman of Genoa, having sent an
ambassador from that republic to the Duke of Milan, when he could
neither procure an audience of leave from that prince, nor yet prevail
with him to ratify his promises made to the Genoese, taking a fit
opportunity, presented a handful of the herb Basil to the duke. The
duke, somewhat surprised, asked what that meant? 'Sir,' replied the
ambassador, 'this herb is of that nature, that if you handle it gently
without squeezing, it will emit a pleasant and grateful scent; but if
you squeeze and gripe it, 'twill not only lose its colour, but it _will
become productive of scorpions_ in a little time."--_The Entertainer_:
London, 1717, p. 23.

Pliny tells us that a decoction from the leaves of the ash tree, given as a drink, is such a remedy that "nothing so soveraigne can be found against the poison of serpents;" and farther:

"That a _serpent dare not come neare the shaddow of that tree_. The
serpent will chuse rather to goe into the fire than to flie from it to
the leaves of the ash. A wonderful goodnesse of Dame Nature, that the
ash doth bloome and flourish alwaies before that serpents come abroad,
and never sheddeth leaves, but continueth green untill they be retired
into their holes, and hidden within the ground."

The ancient opinion respecting the rooted antipathy between the ash and the serpent is not to be explained merely by the fact in natural history of its being an antidote, but it has a deeply mythical meaning. See, in the _Prose Edda_, the account of the ash Yggdrasill, and the serpents gnawing its roots. Loskiel corroborates Pliny as to the ash being an antidote:

"A decoction of the buds or bark of the white ash (_Fraxinus carolina_)
taken inwardly is said to be a certain remedy against the effects of
poison," _i.e._ of the rattlesnake.

Serpents afford Pliny a theme for inexhaustible wonders. The strangest of his relations perhaps is where he tells us that serpents, "when they have stung or bitten a man, die for very greefe and sorrow that they have done such a mischeefe." He makes a special exception, however, of the murderous salamander, who has no such "pricke and remorse of conscience," but would "destroy whole nations at one time," if not prevented. In this same book (xxix.) he gives a receipt for making the famous _theriacum_, or treacle, of vipers' flesh. Another strange notion of the ancients was "that the marrow of a man's backe bone will breed to a snake" (_Hist. Nat._, x. 66.). This perhaps, originally, had a mystic meaning; for a great proportion of the innumerable serpent stories have a deeper foundation than a credulous fancy or lively imagination.

Take, for instance, the wide-spread legend of the sea-serpent. Mr. Deane says,--

"The superstition of 'the serpent in the sea' was known to the Chinese,
as we observed in the chapter on the 'Serpent-worship of China.' But it
was doubtless, at one time, a very general superstition among the
heathens, for we find it mentioned by Isaiah, ch. xxvii. 1., 'In that
day the Lord, with his sore and great and strong sword, shall punish
Leviathan the piercing serpent, even Leviathan that crooked serpent:
and He shall slay _the dragon that is in the sea_.'"

In _Blackwood's Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 645., vol. iv. pp. 33. 205., may be found some interesting papers on the "Scrakin, or Great Sea Serpent."

Mr. Deane's _Worship of the Serpent_ (London, 1830); and _The Cross and the Serpent_, by the Rev. Wm. Haslam (London, 1849), are noble works both of them, and ought to be in the hands of every Christian scholar. In these two words, "Cross" and "Serpent," we have an epitome of the history of the world and the human race, as well as the ground-work for all our hopes and fears. In them are bound up the highest mysteries, the truest symbolism, the deepest realities, and our nearest and dearest interests.

Lord Bacon thus narrates the classical fable which accounts for the serpent's being gifted with the power of restoring youth:

"The gods, in a merry mood, granted unto men not only the use of fire,
but _perpetual youth_ also, a boon most acceptable and desirable. They
being as it were overjoyed, did foolishly lay this gift of the gods
upon the back of an ass, who, being wonderfully oppressed with thirst
and near a fountain, was told by a serpent (which had the custody
thereof) that he should not drink unless he would promise to give him
the burthen that was on his back. The silly ass accepted the condition,
and _so the restoration of youth_ (_sold for a draught of water_)
_passed from men to serpents._"--_The Wisdom of the Ancients_
(Prometheus, xxvi.).

That this, as well as the whole of the legend relating to Prometheus, is a confused account of an early tradition relative to the Fall of Man, and his forfeiture of immortality, is obvious to any {41} unprejudiced mind. Lord Bacon's explanation shows that he has been overreached by his fancy and ingenuity.

In all the ancient mysteries, the serpent was more or less conspicuously introduced, and always as a symbol of the invigorating or active power of nature. The serpent was an emblem of the sun. _Solar_, _Phallic_, and _Serpent_ worship, are all forms of a single worship.[8] The Hindu _Boodh_, Chinese _Fo_, Egyptian _Osiris_, Northern _Woden_, Mexican _Quetzalcoatl_ (feathered serpent), are one and the same. (See the _American Archaeological Researches_, No. 1.; _The Serpent Symbol, and the Worship of the Reciprocal Principles of Nature in America_, by E. G. Squier: New York, 1851.)

In Hindostan, to this day, we have the _Chaudravanasas_ and the _Snaryavanasas_, worshippers of the moon, the aqueous or female; and of the sun, the igneous or male principle. The _Saivas_ conjoin the two. Clemens Alexandrinus has a curious remark, referring to the calling on _Evoe_ or _Eva_ in the orgies of Bacchus; he says:

"The symbol in the orgies of Bacchus is a consecrated _serpent_; and,
indeed, if we pay attention to the strict sense of the Hebrew, the name
_Evia_, aspirated, signifies _female serpent_."

In my list of saints who are represented with a dragon or serpent beneath their feet, I omitted St. Hilary:

"He is usually represented with three books. In Callot's _Images_ he is
treading on serpents, and accompanied by the text Numb. xxi. 7. Both
these emblems allude to his opposition to Arianism; the books
signifying the treatises he wrote against it, and the serpents the
false doctrines and heresies which he overthrew." _Calendar of the
Anglican Church Illustrated_: London, 1851, p. 37.

In Didron's splendid work (the _Iconographie_) we have several references to ancient representations of our blessed Lord treading the dragon under foot; and sometimes the lion, the asp, and the basilisk are added. (See Ps. xci. 13.)

_The Conception_ is usually represented in Christian art by a figure of Mary setting her foot, as second Eve, on the head of the prostrate serpent (in allusion to Gen. iii. 15.), and thus we find it in Callot's _Images_.

"Not seldom, in a series of subjects from the Old Testament, the
pendant to Eve holding the apple is Mary crushing the head of the
fiend: and thus the bane and antidote are both before us." (See Mrs.
Jameson's _Legends of the Madonna._)

EIRIONNACH.

[Footnote 5: The title of this curious book is, _Geschichte der Mission der evangelischen Brueder unter den Indianern in Nordamerika_, durch Georg H. Loskiel: Barby, 1789, 8vo., pp. 783. Latrobe's translation of this book was published Lond. 1794.]

[Footnote 6: This reminds one of the notion respecting

"The scorpion girt with fire,"

immortalised by Lord Byron's famous simile.]

[Footnote 7: _Eighteen Books of the Secrets of Art and Nature; being the Summe and Substance of Naturall Philosophy methodically digested_: London, 1661.]

[Footnote 8: In O'Brien's work on _The Round Towers of Ireland_, London, 1834, may be found much curious matter on this subject; and a good deal of light is thrown on the horrors of Serpent or Boodhist worship. It is, however, a wild and irreverent book, and by no means to be recommended to the general reader, independently of the nature of its details. Mr. Payne Knight's book is too well known to need mention here.]

* * * * *

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

_Early Notice of the Camera Obscura._--I send you an early notice of the camera obscura, which is to be found in vol. vi. of the _Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres_ for September, 1686, p. 1016. It is taken from a letter of Mons. Laurenti, medecin, of Boulogne, "Sur l'erection des especes dans une chambre optique."

"C'est ainsi qu'on nomme one chambre exactement fermee partout, si ce
n'est dans un endroit par ou on laisse entrer la lumiere, afin de voir
peints, et situes a rebours, sur un morceau de papier blanc, les objets
de dehors qui respondent a ce trou, auquel il faut mettre un verre
convexe. On a souhaite, pour donner plus d'agrement a ce spectacle, que
les objets se peignissent sur ce papier selon leur veritable situation;
et pour cet effet on a cherche des expediens qui redressassent les
especes avant qu'elles parvinssent au foier du verre, c'est-a-dire, sur
le papier. L'auteur raporte '10' de ces expediens, et trouve dans
chacun d'eux quelque chose d'incommode, mais enfin il en raporte un
autre, qui est exempt de toutes ces incommoditez, et qui, par le moien
d'un prisme, au travers duquel il faut regarder les images peints sur
le papier, les montre dans leur situation droite, et augmente meme la
vivacite de leurs couleurs. C'est le hazard qui a decouvert ce
phenomene."

This letter is to be found at length in the _Miscellanea Curiosa, sive Ephemeridum Medico-Physicarum Germanicarum Academiae Naturae curiosorum decuria II. annus quartus, anni 1685 continens celeberrimorum Virorum observationes medicas_: Norimbergae, 1686, in 4to. It may perhaps be worth consulting, if it were only to know what the ten rejected expedients are.

ANON.

_Queries on Dr. Diamond's Collodion Process._--Will you oblige me by informing DR. DIAMOND through your valuable publication, that I am, in common with many others, extremely indebted to him for his collodion, and would esteem it a favour if he would answer the following Queries, viz.:

1st. He says, in answer to a previous Query, that "nitrate of potassa" is _not_ formed in his process. Now I wish to ask if (as the iodide of silver is redissolved in iodide of potassium) it is _not_ formed when the plate is plunged into the nitrate silver bath, as the nitrate decomposes the iodide of potassium?

2nd. How long will the collodion, according to his formulae, keep, as collodion made with iodide of silver generally decomposes quickly.

3rdly. Why does he prohibit _washed_ ether?

4thly. Does he think cyanide of potassium would do as well as the iodide, to redissolve the iodide of silver, iodide of potassium being at present so dear?

{42}

5thly. In his paper process, does not the soaking in water after iodizing merely take away a portion of iodides of silver and potassium from the paper; or, if not, what end is answered by it?

W. F. E.

_Baths for the Collodion Process._--Having lately been assured, by a gentleman of scientific attainments, that the sensitiveness of the prepared collodion plate depends rather upon the strength of the nitrate of silver bath than on the collodion, I am desirous of asking how far the experience of your correspondents confirms this statement. My informant assured me, that if, instead of using a solution of thirty grains of nitrate of silver to the ounce of water for the bath, which is the proportion recommended by Messrs. Archer, Horne, Delamotte, Diamond, &c., a sixty grain solution be substituted, the formation of the image would be the work of the fraction of a second. This seems to me so important as to deserve being brought under the notice of photographers--especially at this busy season--without a moment's delay; and I therefore record the statement at once, as, from circumstances with which I need not encumber your pages, I shall not have an opportunity of trying any experiment upon the point for a week or two.

Upon referring to the authorities on the subject of the best solution for baths, I have been struck with their uniformity. One exception only has presented itself, which is in a valuable paper by Mr. Thomas in the 6th Number of the _Journal of the Photographic Society_. That gentleman directs the bath to be prepared in the following manner:

Into a 20 oz. stoppered bottle, put--

Nitrate of silver 1 oz.
Distilled water 10 oz.
Dissolve.

Iodide of potassium 5 grs.
Distilled water 1 dr.
Dissolve.

On mixing these two solutions, a precipitate of iodide of silver is formed. Place the bottle containing this mixture in a saucepan of hot water, keep it on the hob for about twelve hours, shake it occasionally, now and then removing the stopper. The bath is now perfectly saturated with iodide of silver; when cold, filter through white filtering paper, and add--

Alcohol 2 drs.
Sulphuric ether 1 dr.

The prepared glass is to remain in the bath about eight or ten minutes. Now, is this bath applicable to all collodion, or only to that prepared by Mr. Thomas; and if the former, what is the rationale of its beneficial action?

A BEGINNER.

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Mitigation of Capital Punishment to a Forger_ (Vol. vii., p. 573.).--If your correspondent H. B. C. really wishes to be released from his hard work in hunting up the truth of my and other narratives of the _mitigation of capital punishment to forgers_, I shall be happy to receive a note from him with his name and address, when I will give him the name and address of my informant in return. By this means I may be able to relieve his shoulder from a portion of its burden, and myself from any farther imputations of "mythic accompaniments," &c., which are unpalatable phrases even when coming from a gentleman who only discloses his initials.

ALFRED GATTY.

Ecclesfield.

_Chronograms_ (Vol. v., p. 585.) and _Anagrams_ (Vol. iv., p. 226).--Though we have ceased to practise these "literary follies," they are not without interest; and you will perhaps think it worth while to add the following to your list:

"Hugo Grotius, his _Sophompaneas_.
By FranCIs GoLDsMIth."

has no date on the title-page, the real date of 1652 being supplied by the chronogram, which is a better one than most of those quoted in "N. & Q.," inasmuch as all the numerical letters are employed, and it is consequently not dependent on the typography.

James Howell concludes his _Parly of Beasts_ as follows:

"Gloria lausque Deo saeCLorVM in saecVla sunto.

A chronogrammaticall verse which includes not onely this year, 1660,
but hath numericall letters enow [an illustration, by the way, of
_enow_ as expressive of number] to reach above a thousand years
farther, untill the year 2867."

Query, How is this made out? And are there any other letters employed as numerical than the M, D, C, L, V, and I? If not, I can only make Howell's chronogram equivalent to 1927.

The author, in his _German Diet_, after narrating the death of Charles, son of Philip II. of Spain, says:

"If you desire to know the yeer, this chronogram will tell you:

fILIVs ante DIeM patrIos InqVIrIt In annos,"

which would represent the date of 1568.

The same work contains an anagram on "Frere Jacques Clement," the murderer of Henry III. of France: "C'est l'enfer qui m'a cree."

J. F. M.

_Abigail_ (Vol. iv., p. 424.; Vol. v., pp. 38. 94. 450.).--Can it be shown that this word was in general use, as meaning a "lady's maid," before the time of Queen Anne. It probably was so used; {43} but I have always thought it likely that it became much more extensively employed, after Abigail Hill, Lady Masham, became the favourite of that queen. She was, I believe, a poor cousin of Sarah Jennings, Duchess of Marlborough, and early in life was employed by her in the humble capacity of lady's maid. After she had supplanted the haughty duchess, it is not unlikely that the Whigs would take a malicious pleasure in keeping alive the recollection of the early fortunes of the Tory favourite, and that they would be unwilling to lose the opportunity of speaking of a lady's maid as anything else but an "Abigail." Swift, however, in his use of the word, could have no such design, as he was on the best of terms with the Mashams, of whose party he was the very life and soul.

H. T. RILEY.

_Burial in unconsecrated Ground_ (Vol. vi., p. 448.).--Susanna, the wife of Philip Carteret Webb, Esq., of Busbridge, in Surrey, died at Bath in March, 1756, and was, at her own desire, buried with two of her children in a cave in the grounds at Busbridge; it being excavated by a company of soldiers then quartered at Guildford. Their remains were afterwards disinterred and buried in Godalming Church.

H. T. RILEY.

_"Cob" and "Conners"_ (Vol. vii., pp. 234. 321.).--These names are not synonymous, nor are they Irish words. It is the pier at Lyme Regis, and not the harbour, which bears the name of the _Cob_. In the "Y Gododin" of Aneurin, a British poem supposed to have been written in the sixth century, the now obsolete word _chynnwr_ occurs in the seventy-sixth stanza. In a recent translation of this poem, by the Rev. John Williams Ab Ithel, M.A., this word is rendered, apparently for the sake of the metre, "shore of the sea." The explanation given in a foot-note is, "Harbour _cynwr_ from _cyn dwfr_." On the shore of the estuary of the Dee, between Chester and Flint, on the Welsh side of the river, there is a place called "Connah's Quay." It is probable that the ancient orthography of the name was _Conner_.

_Cob_, I think, is also a British word,--_cop_, a mound. All the ancient earth-works which bear this name, of which I have knowledge, are of a circular form, except a lone embankment called _The Cop_, which has been raised on the race-course at Chester, to protect it from the land-floods and spring-tides of the river Dee.

N. W. S. (2.)

_Coleridge's Unpublished MSS._ (Vol. iv., p. 411.; Vol. vi., p. 533.).--THEOPHYLACT, at the first reference, inquired whether we are "ever likely to receive from any member of Coleridge's family, or from his friend Mr. J. H. Green, the fragments, if not the entire work, of his _Logosophia_." Agreeing with your correspondent, that "we can ill afford to lose a work the conception of which engrossed much of his thoughts," I repeated the Query in another form, at the second reference (_supra_), grounding it upon an assurance of Sara Coleridge, in her introduction to the _Biographia Literaria_, that the fragment on Ideas would hereafter appear, as a sequel to the _Aids to Reflection_. Whether this fragment be identical with the _Logosophia_, or, as I suspect, a distinct essay, certain it is that nothing of the kind has ever been published.

From an interesting conversation I had with Dr. Green in a railway carriage, on our return from the Commemoration at Oxford, I learned that he has in his possession, (1.) A complete section of a work on _The Philosophy of Nature_ which he took down from the mouth of Coleridge, filling a large volume; (2.) A complete treatise on _Logic_; and (3.) If I did not mistake, a fragment on _Ideas_. The reason Dr. Green assigns for their not having been published, is, that they contain nothing but what has already seen the light in the _Aids to Reflection_, _The Theory of Life_, and the _Treatise on Method_. This appears to me a very inadequate reason for withholding them from the press. That the works would pay, there can be no doubt. Besides the editing of these MSS., who is so well qualified as Dr. Green to give us a good biography of Coleridge?

C. MANSFIELD INGLEBY.

Birmingham.

_Selling a Wife_ (Vol. vii., p. 602.).--A case of selling a wife actually and _bona fide_ happened in the provincial town in which I reside, about eighteen years ago. A man publicly sold his wife at the market cross for 15l.: the buyer carried her away with him some seven miles off, and she lived with him till his death. The seller and the buyer are both now dead, but the woman is alive, and is married to a _third_ (or a _second_) husband. The legality of the transaction has, I believe, some chance of being tried, as she now claims some property belonging to her first husband (the seller), her right to which is questioned in consequence of her supposed alienation by sale; and I am informed that a lawyer has been applied to in the case. Of course there can be little doubt as to the result.

SC.

_Life_ (Vol. vii., pp. 429. 608.).--Compare with the lines quoted by your correspondents those of Moore, entitled "My Birthday," the four following especially:

"Vain was the man, and false as vain,
Who said[9], 'Were he ordain'd to run
His long career of life again,
He would do all that he had done.'"

Many a man would gladly live his life over again, were he allowed to bring to bear on his {44} second life the _experience_ he had acquired in that past. For in the grave there is no room, either for _ambition_ or _repentance_; and the degree of our happiness or misery for eternity is proportioned to the state of preparation or unpreparation in which we leave _this world_. Instead of many a man, I might have said most good men; and of the others, all who have not passed the rubicon of hope and grace. The vista of the past, however, appears a long and dreary retrospect, and _any_ future is hailed as a relief: yet on second and deeper thought, we would mount again the rugged hill of life, and try for a brighter prospect, a higher eminence.

JARLTZBERG.

[Footnote 9: Fontenelle.]

* * * * *

"Immo Deus mihi si dederit renovare juventam,
Utve iterum in cunis possim vagire; recusem."
Isaac Hawkins Browne, _De Animi Immortalitate_, lib. i., near the
end.

(See _Selecta Poemata Anglorum Latina_, iii. 251.)

F. W. J.

_Passage of Thucydides on the Greek Factions_ (Vol. vii., p. 594.).--The passage alluded to by SIR A. ALISON appears to be the celebrated description of the moral effects produced by the conflicts of the Greek factions, which is subjoined to the account of the Corcyraean sedition, iii. 82. The quotation must, however, have been made from memory, and it is amplified and expanded from the original. The words adverted to seem to be:

[Greek: mellesis de promethes deilia euprepes, to de sophron tou
anandrou proschema, kai to pros hapan xuneton epi pan argon.]

Thucydides, however, proceeds to say that the cunning which enabled a man to plot with success against an enemy, or still more to discover his hostile purposes, was highly esteemed.

L.

_Archbishop King_ (Vol. vii., p. 430.).--A few days since I met with the following passage in a brief sketch of Kane O'Hara, in the last number of the _Irish Quarterly Review_:

"In the extremely meagre published notices of O'Hara (the celebrated
burletta writer), no reference has been made to his skill as an artist,
of which we have a specimen in his etching of Dr. William King,
archbishop of Dublin, in a wig and cap, of which portrait a copy has
been made by Richardson."

This extract is taken from one of a very interesting series of papers upon "The Streets of Dublin."

ABHBA.

_Devonianisms_ (Vol. vii., p. 544.).--_Pilm_, _Forrell_.--_Pillom_ is the full word, of which _pilm_ is a contraction. It appears to have been derived from the British word _pylor_, dust. _Forell_ is an archaic name for the cover of a book. The Welsh appear to have adopted it from the English, as their name for a bookbinder is _fforelwr_, literally, one who covers books. I may mention another Devonianism. The cover of a book is called its _healing_. A man who lays slates on the roof of a house is, in Devonshire, called a _hellier_.

N. W. S. (2.)

_Perseverant, Perseverance_ (Vol. vii., p. 400.).--Can MR. ARROWSMITH supply any instances of the verb _persever_ (or _perceyuer_, as it is spelt in the 1555 edition of Hawes, M. i. col. 2.), from any other author? and will he inform us when this "abortive hog" and his litter became extinct.

In explaining _speare_ (so strangely misunderstood by the editor of Dodsley), he should, I think, have added, that it was an old way of writing _spar_. In Shakspeare's Prologue to _Troilus and Cressida_, it is written _sperr_. _Sparred_, quoted by Richardson from the _Romance of the Rose_, and _Troilus and Creseide_, is in the edition of Chaucer referred to by Tyrwhitt, written in the _Romance_ "spered," and in _Troilus_ "sperred."

Q.

Bloomsbury.

"_The Good Old Cause_" (Vol. vi., _passim_).--Mrs. Behn, who gained some notoriety for her licentious writings even in Charles II.'s days, was the author of a play called _The Roundheads, or the Good Old Cause_: London, 1682. In the Epilogue she puts into the mouth of the Puritans the following lines respecting the Royalists:

"Yet then they rail'd against _The Good Old Cause_;
Rail'd foolishly for loyalty and laws:
But when the Saints had put them to a stand,
We left them loyalty, and took their land:
Yea, and the pious work of Reformation
Rewarded was with plunder and sequestration."

The following lines are quoted by Mr. Teale in his _Life of Viscount Falkland_, p. 131.:

"The wealthiest man among us is the best:
No grandeur now in Nature or in book
Delights us--repose, avarice, expense,
This is the idolatry; and these we adore:
Plain living and high thinking are no more;
The homely beauty of _The Good Old Cause_
Is gone: our peace and fearful innocence,
And pure religion breathing household laws."

Whence did Mr. Teale get these lines? Either _The Good Old Cause_ is here used in a peculiar sense, or Mr. Teale makes an unhappy use of the quotation.

JARLTZBERG.

_Saying of Pascal_ (Vol. vii., p. 596.).--In reply to the question of W. FRASER, I would refer him to Pascal's _sixteenth_ Provincial Letter, where, in the last paragraph but one, we read,--

"Mes reverends peres, mes lettres n'avaient pas accoutume de se suivre
de si pres, ni d'etre si etendues. _Le peu de temps que j'ai eu a ete
cause de l'un et de l'autre. Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que
parceque je {45} n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte._ La
raison qui m'a oblige de hater vous est mieux connue qu'a moi."

R. E. T.

_Paint taken off of old Oak_ (Vol. vii., p. 620.).--About twenty-six years ago, by the adoption of a very simple process recommended by Dr. Wollaston, the paint was entirely removed from the screen of carved oak which fills the north end of the great hall at Audley End, and the wood reassumed its original colour and brilliancy. The result was brought about by the application of soft-soap, laid on of the thickness of a shilling over the whole surface of the oak, and allowed to remain there two or three days; at the end of which it was washed off with plenty of cold water. I am aware that potash has been often tried with success for the same purpose; but, in many instances, unless it is used with due caution, the wood becomes of a darker hue, and has the appearance of having been charred. It is worthy of remark, that Dr. Wollaston made the suggestion with great diffidence, not having, as he said, had any practical experience of the effect of such an application.

BRAYBROOKE.

_Passage in the "Tempest"_ (Vol. ii., pp. 259. 299. 337. 429.).--As a parallel to the expression "most busy least" (meaning "least busy" emphatically), I would suggest the common expression of the Northumbrians, "Far over near" (signifying "much too near").

H. T. RILEY.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

NOTES ON BOOKS, ETC.