Chapter I: Front Matter

{141}

NOTES AND QUERIES:

A MEDIUM OF INTER-COMMUNICATION FOR LITERARY MEN, ARTISTS, ANTIQUARIES, GENEALOGISTS, ETC.

* * * * *

="When found, make a note of."=--CAPTAIN CUTTLE.

* * * * *

No. 198.]
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13. 1853.
[Price Fourpence. Stamped Edition, 5_d._

* * * * *

CONTENTS.

NOTES:-- Page

Bacon's Essays, by Markby 141

The Isthmus of Panama 144

FOLK LORE:--Legends of the County Clare--Moon
Superstitions--Warwickshire Folk Lore--Northamptonshire
Folk Lore--Slow-worm Superstition--A
Devonshire Charm for the Thrush 145

Old Jokes 146

An Interpolation of the Players: Tobacco, by W. Robson 147

MINOR NOTES:--Curious Epitaph--Enigmatical Epitaph--Books
worthy to be reprinted--Napoleon's Thunderstorm--Istamboul:
Constantinople 147

QUERIES:--

Strut-stowers, and Yeathers or Yadders, by C. H.
Cooper 148

MINOR QUERIES:--Archbishop Parker's Correspondence--Amor
Nummi--The Number Nine--Position of Font--Aix Ruochim or
Romans Ioner--"Lessons for Lent," &c.--"La Branche des
réaus Lignages"--Marriage Service--"Czar" or "Tsar"--Little
Silver--On Æsop's (?) Fable of washing the Blackamoor--Wedding
Proverb--German Phrase--German Heraldry--Leman Family--A
Cob-wall--Inscription near Chalcedon--Domesday
Book--Dotinchem--"Mirrour to all," &c.--Title wanted--Portrait
of Charles I.: Countess Du Barry 149

MINOR QUERIES WITH ANSWERS:--"Preparation for
Martyrdom"--Reference wanted--Speaker of the
House of Commons in 1697 152

REPLIES:--

Inscriptions in Books 153

The Drummer's Letter, by Henry H. Breen 153

Old Fogies 154

Descendants of John of Gaunt, by William Hardy 155

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE:--Lining of Cameras--Cyanuret
of Potassium--Minuteness of Detail on Paper--Stereoscopic
Angles--Sisson's developing Solution--Multiplying
Photographs--Is it dangerous to use the Ammonio-nitrate of
Silver? 157

REPLIES TO MINOR QUERIES:--Burke's Marriage--Stars and
Flowers--Odour from the Rainbow--Judges styled Reverend--Jacob
Bobart--"Putting your foot into it"--Simile of the Soul and the
Magnetic Needle--The Tragedy of Polidus--Robert Fairlie--"Mater
ait natæ," &c.--Sir John Vanbrugh--Fête des Chaudrons--Murder
of Monaldeschi--Land of Green Ginger--Unneath--Snail
Gardens--Parvise--Humbug--Table-moving--Scotch
Newspapers--Door-head Inscriptions--Honorary Degrees--"Never
ending, still beginning" 158

MISCELLANEOUS:--

Books and Odd Volumes wanted 162

Notices to Correspondents 162

Advertisements 163

* * * * *

Notes.

BACON'S ESSAYS, BY MARKBY.

Mr. Markby has recently published his promised edition of Bacon's _Essays_; and he has in this, as in his edition of the _Advancement of Learning_, successfully traced most of the passages alluded to by Lord Bacon. The following notes relate to a few points which still deserve attention:

Essay I. On Truth:--"The poet that beautified the sect that was otherwise inferior to the rest."] By "beautified" is here meant "set off to advantage," "embellished."

Essay II. On Death.--

Many of the thoughts in the _Essays_ recur in the "Exempla Antithetorum," in the 6th book _De Augmentis Scientiarum_. With respect to this Essay, compare the article "Vita," No. 12., in vol. viii. p. 360. ed. Montagu.

"You shall read in some of the friars' books of mortification, that a man should think with himself what the pain is, if he have but his finger's end pressed or tortured, and thereby imagine what the pains of death are when the whole body is corrupted and dissolved."] Query, What books are here alluded to?

"Pompa mortis magis terret, quam mors ipsa."] Mr. Markby thinks these words are an allusion to Sen. _Ep._ xxiv. § 13. Something similar also occurs in _Ep._ xiv. § 3. Compare Ovid, _Heroid._ x. 82.: "Morsque minus pœnæ quam mora mortis habet."

"Galba, with a sentence, 'Feri si ex re sit populi Romani.'"] In addition to the passage of Tacitus, quoted by Mr. Markby, see Sueton. _Galb._ c. 20.

"Septimus Severus in despatch, 'Adeste si quid mihi restat agendum.'"] No such dying words are attributed to Severus, either in Dio Cassius, lxxvi. 15., the passage cited by Mr. Markby, or in Spartian. _Sever._ c. 23.

In the passage of Juvenal, the words are, "qui spatium vitæ," and not "qui finem vitæ," as quoted by Lord Bacon. Length of life is meant.

Essay III. Of Unity in Religion.--

"Certain Laodiceans and lukewarm persons."] The allusion is to Rev. iii. 14-16.

{142}

"It is noted by one of the Fathers, Christ's coat indeed had no seam, but the Church's vesture was of divers colours; whereupon he saith, 'in veste varietas sit, scissura non sit.'"] Query, Who is the Father alluded to?

"The massacre in France."] _I. e._ the massacre of St. Bartholomew.

Essay IV. Of Revenge.--See _Antitheta_, No. 39. vol. viii. p. 374.

The saying of Cosmo, Duke of Florence, as to not forgiving friends, recurs in the _Apophthegms_, vol. i. p. 394. ed. Montagu.

Essay V. Of Adversity.--

On the fable of Hercules sailing over the ocean in an earthen pot, see _Sap. Vet._, vol. x. p. 335. And concerning the Greek fable, see Schneidewin, _Del. Poes._ Gr., p. 329.

Essay VI. Of Simulation and Dissimulation.--See _Antitheta_, No. 32. vol. viii. p. 370.

"Arts of state and arts of life, as Tacitus well calleth them."] Mr. Markby does not trace this allusion, which is not obvious.

Essay VII. Of Parents and Children.--See _Antitheta_, No. 5. vol. viii. p. 356.

"The Italians make little difference between children and nephews, or near kinsfolk."] Query, What ground is there for this assertion?

"Generally the precept is good: 'Optimum elige, suave et facile illud faciet consuetudo.'"] Query, Who is the author of this precept?

Essay VIII. Of Marriage and Single Life.--See _Antitheta_, No. 5. vol. viii. p. 356.

The answer of Thales concerning marriage is also given in Plut. _Symp._ iii. 3.

Essay IX. Of Envy.--See _Antitheta_, No. 16. vol. viii. p. 362.

"The Scripture calleth envy an evil eye."] Lord Bacon appears to allude to James iv. 5.: "Do ye think that the Scripture saith in vain, the Spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?"

"Non est curiosus, quin idem sit malevolus."] From Plautus, _Stich._ 1. 3. v. 55. "Nam curiosus nemo est, quin sit malevolus."

"Therefore it was well said, 'Invidia festos dies non agit.'"] Whence is this saying taken? It occurs likewise in the _Antitheta_.

Essay X. Of Love.--See _Antitheta_, No. 36. vol. viii. p. 373.

"It hath been well said, that the arch-flatterer, with whom all the petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man's self."] Query, From whom is this saying quoted?

"It was well said, that it is impossible to love and to be wise."] Mr. Markby cites a verse of Publius Syrus, "Amare et sapere vix Deo conceditur." Compare Menander, _Andria_, Fragm. 1., and Ovid, _Met._ ii. 846.: "Non bene conveniunt, nec in unâ sede morantur, Majestas et amor."

"I know not how, but martial men are given to love."] Aristotle (_Pol._ ii. 9.) has the same remark, adding that there was good reason for the fable which made Venus the spouse of Mars.

Essay XI. Of Great Place.--See _Antitheta_, No. 7. vol. viii. p. 357.

"Cum non sis qui fueris, non esse cur velis vivere."] Whatever may be the source of this quotation, the sense seems to require _est_ for _esse_.

"It is most true that was anciently spoken: 'A place showeth the man.'"] The allusion is to the celebrated Greek proverb "ἀρχὴ ἄνδρα δείκνυσι," attributed to Bias, Solon, Pittacus, and others. See Diogenianus, _Prov._ ii. 94., with the note of Leutsch and Schneidewin.

Essay XII. Of Boldness.--See _Antitheta_, No. 33. vol. viii. p. 371.

"Question was asked of Demosthenes," &c.] See _Cic. de Orat._ iii. 56.; _Brut._ 38.; _Plut. Vit. X. Orat._ c. 8. By the Greek word ὑπόκρισις, and the Latin word _actio_, in this anecdote, is meant all that belongs to the _acting_ or _delivery_ of a speech. Bacon appears, by his following remarks, not to include elocution in _actio_; which was certainly not Cicero's understanding of the word.

"If the hill will not come to Mahomet, Mahomet will go to the hill."] Query, What is the authority for this well-known story?

Essay XIII. Of Goodness.--

"The Turks, a cruel people, nevertheless are kind to beasts, and give alms to dogs and birds; insomuch, as Busbechius reporteth, a Christian boy in Constantinople had like to have been stoned for gagging in a waggishness a long-billed fowl."] A. G. Busbequius, _Legationis Turcicæ Epistolæ quattuor_, in Epist. iii. p. 107. of his works, Lond. 1660, tells a story of a Venetian goldsmith at Constantinople, who was fond of fowling, and had caught a bird of the size of the cuckoo, and of the same colour; with a beak not very large, but with jaws so wide that, when opened, they would admit a man's fist. This bird he fastened over his door, with extended wings, and a stick in his beak, so as to extend the jaws to a great width, as a joke. The Turks, who were passing by, took compassion on the bird; seized the goldsmith by the neck, and led him before the criminal judge. He was with difficulty saved from an infliction of the bastinado by the interference of the Venetian Bailo. The man told the story to Busbequius, and showed him the bird; who supposed it to be the _Caprimulgus_, or goat-sucker. A full account of the _Caprimulgus Europæus_ (the bird here alluded to) may be seen in the _Penny Cyclopædia_, art. NIGHTJARS. It will be observed that Bacon quotes the story from memory, and does not represent the particulars of it with accuracy. It is not a Christian _boy_, nor is he threatened with _stoning_, nor is the bird a _long-billed_ fowl.

{143}

"Neither give thou Æsop's cock a gem," &c.] Compare _Apophthegms_, No. 203. p. 393.

"Such men in other men's calamities are, as it were, in season, _and are ever on the loading part_."] By "the loading part," seems to be meant the part which is most heavily laden; the part which supports the chief burthen.

"Misanthropi, that make it their practice to bring men to the bough, and yet have never a tree for the purpose in their gardens as Timon had."] Query, What is the allusion in this passage? Nothing of the sort occurs in Lucian's dialogue of Timon.

Essay XIV. Of Nobility.--See _Antitheta_, No. 1. vol. viii. p. 354.

Essay XV. Of Seditions and Troubles.--

"As Machiavel noteth well, when princes, that ought to be common parents, make themselves as a party," &c.] Perhaps Lord Bacon alludes to _Disc._ iii. 27.

"As Tacitus expresseth it well, 'Liberius quam ut imperantium meminissent.'"] Mr. Markby is at a loss to trace this quotation. I am unable to assist him.

The verses of Lucan are quoted from memory. The original has, "Avidumque in tempora," and "Et concussa fides."

"Dolendi modus, timendi non item."] Query, Whence are these words taken?

"Solvam cingula regum."] Mr. Markby refers to Job xii. 18.; but the passage alluded to seems to be Isaiah xlv. 1.

The story of Epimetheus is differently applied in _Sap. Vet._, vol. x. p. 342.

The saying of Cæsar on Sylla is inserted in the _Apophthegms_, No. 135. p. 379. That of Galba is likewise to be found in Suet. _Galb._ 16.

Essay XVI. Of Atheism.--See _Antitheta_, No. 13. vol. viii. p. 360.

"Who to him is instead of a god, or melior natura."] From Ovid, _Met._ 1. 21. "Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit."

Essay XVII. Of Superstition.--See _Antitheta_, No. 13. vol. viii. p. 360.

Essay XIX. Of Empire.--See _Antitheta_, No. 8. vol. viii. p. 358.

"And the like was done by that league, which Guicciardini saith was the security of Italy," &c.] The league alluded to, is that of 1485. See Guicciardini, lib. i. c. 1.

"Neither is the opinion of some of the school-men to be received, that a war cannot justly be made but upon a precedent injury or provocation."] Grotius lays down the same doctrine as Bacon, _De J. B. et P._, ii. 1. §§ 2, 3. Query, What school-men are here referred to?

Essay XX. Of Counsel.--See _Antitheta_, No. 44. vol. viii. p. 377.

Jupiter and Metis.] See _Sap. Vet._, vol. xi. p. 354.

"For which inconveniences, the doctrine of Italy, and practice of France, in some kings' times, hath introduced cabinet councils: a remedy worse than the disease." By "cabinet councils" are here meant private meetings of selected advisers in the king's own apartment.

"Principis est virtus maxima nosse suos."] From Martial, viii. 15.

"It was truly said, '_Optimi consiliarii mortui._'"] Compare _Apophthegms_, No. 105.: "Alonzo of Arragon was wont to say of himself, that he was a great necromancer; for that he used to ask counsel of the dead, meaning books."

Essay XXI. Of Delays.--See _Antitheta_, No. 41. vol. viii. p. 376.

"Occasion (as it is in the common verse) turneth a bald noddle," &c.] See "N. & Q.," Vol. iii., pp. 8. 43., where this saying is illustrated.

Essay XXII. Of Cunning.--

"The old rule, to know a fool from a wise man: 'Mitte ambos nudos ad ignotos, et videbis.'"] Attributed to "one of the philosophers" in _Apophthegms_, No. 255. p. 404.

"I knew a counsellor and secretary that never came to Queen Elizabeth of England with bills to sign, but he would always first put her into some discourse of estate, that she might the less mind the bills."] King's or queen's bills is a technical expression for a class of documents requiring the royal signature, which is still, or was recently, in use. See Murray's _Official Handbook_, by Mr. Redgrave, p. 257. Query, To which of Queen Elizabeth's Secretaries of State does Bacon allude? And again, who are meant by the "two who were competitors for the Secretary's place in Queen Elizabeth's time," mentioned lower down?

Essay XXIII. Of Wisdom for a Man's Self.--

"It is the wisdom of rats, that will be sure to leave a house somewhat before it fall."] Query, How and when did this popular notion (now engrafted upon our political language) originate?

"It is the wisdom of crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour."] This saying seems to be derived from the belief, that the crocodile imitates the cry of children in order to attract their mothers, and then to devour them. See Salgues, _Des Erreurs et des Préjugés_, tom. ii. p. 406.

Essay XXIV. Of Innovations.--See _Antitheta_, No. 40. vol. viii. p. 375.

Essay XXV. Of Despatch.--See _Antitheta_, No. 27. vol. viii. p. 368.

"I knew a wise man, that had it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, 'Stay a little, that we may make an end the sooner.'"] Mr. Markby says that Sir Amias Paulet is the {144} person alluded to. The saying in _Apophthegms_, No. 14. p. 414.

"The Spartans and Spaniards have been noted to be of small despatch: 'Mi venga la muerte de Spagna,--Let my death come from Spain, for then it will be sure to be long in coming.'"] The slow and dilatory character of the Lacedæmonians is noted in Thucyd. i. 70.: "Καὶ μὴν καὶ ἄοκνοι πρὸς ὑμᾶς μελλητάς." And again, i. 84.: "Καὶ τὸ βραδὺ καὶ μέλλον, ὃ μέμφονται μάλιστα ἡμῶν." Livy represents the Rhodians making a similar remark to the Roman senate in 167 B.C.: "Atheniensium populum fama est celerem et supra vires audacem esse ad conandum: Lacedæmoniorum cunctatorem, et vix in ea, quibus fidit, ingredientem," xlv. 23. Bayle, in his _Pensées sur les Comètes_, § 243., has a passage which illustrates the slowness of the Spaniards:--"D'un côté on prévoyoit, que l'empereur et le roi d'Espagne se serviroient de très grandes forces, pour opprimer la chrétienté: mais on prévoyoit aussi de l'autre, qu'ils ne seroient jamais en état de l'accabler, parceque la lenteur et les longues délibérations qui ont toujours fait leur partage, font perdre trop de bonnes occasions. Vous savez la pensée de Malherbe sur ce sujet: S'il est vrai, dit-il dans quelqu'une de ses lettres, que l'Espagne aspire à la monarchie universelle, je lui conseille de demander à Dieu une surséance de la fin du monde."

Essay XXVI. Of seeming wise.--

"Magno conatu nugas."] From Terence, _Heaut._ iii. _5._ 8.: "Ne ista, hercle, magno jam conatu magnas nugas dixerit."

Essay XXVII. Of Friendship.--

"Epimenides the Candian."] Bacon calls the ancient Cretan priest Epimenides a "Candian," as Machiavel speaks of the capture of Rome by the "Francesi" under Brennus. Mr. Pashley, in his _Travels in Crete_, vol. i. p. 189., shows that Candia is a name unknown in the island; and that among the natives its ancient denomination is still in use. The name Candia has been propagated over Europe from the Italian usage.

"The Latin adage meeteth with it a little: 'Magna civitas, magna solitudo.'"] See Erasm. _Adag._, p. 1293. It is taken from a verse of a Greek comic poet, which referred to the city of Megalopolis in Arcadia: "Ἐρημία μεγάλη 'στὶν ἡ Μεγάλη πόλις."--Strab. viii. 8. § 1.

"The Roman name attaineth the true use and cause thereof, naming them 'participes curarum.'"] To what examples of this expression does Bacon refer?

"The parable of Pythagoras is dark, but true: 'Cor ne edito.'"] Concerning this Pythagorean precept, see Diog., Laert. viii. 17, 18., cum not.

The saying of Themistocles is repeated in _Apophthegms_, No. 199. p. 392.

The saying of Heraclitus is repeated, _Apophthegms_, No. 268.; _De Sap. Vet._, vol. xi. p. 346. It is alluded to in _Nov. Org._, ii. 32.: "Quicquid enim abducit intellectum a consuetis, æquat et complanat aream ejus, ad recipiendum _lumen siccum et purum_ notionum verarum."

"It was a sparing speech of the ancients, to say that a friend is another himself."] See Aristot., _Mag. Mor._ ii. 11.: "Μία φανὲν ψυχὴ ἡ ἐμὴ καὶ ἡ τούτου;" and again, c. 15.: "Τοιοῦτος οἷος ἕτερος εἶναι ἐγὼ, ἀν γε καὶ σφόδρα φίλον τοιήσῃς, ὥσπερ τὸ λεγόμενον 'ἄλλος οὗτος Ἡρακλῆς,' 'ἄλλος φίλος ἐγώ.'" _Eth. Eud._ vii. 12.: "Ὁ γὰρ φίλος βούλεται εἶναι, ὥσπερ ἡ παροιμία φησὶν, ἄλλος Ἠρακλῆς, ἄλλος οὗτος."

L.

(_To be continued._)

* * * * *

THE ISTHMUS OF PANAMA.

The interest which the execution of the railroad across the Isthmus of Panama excites, induces me to transmit you the following extract from Gage's _New Survey of the West Indies_, 8vo., London, 1699.

A few lines relative to the author, of whom but little is known, may be also of use. He was the son of John Gage, of Haling; and his brother was Sir Henry Gage, governor of Oxford, killed at the battle at Culham Bridge, Jan. 11, 1644. His family were of the Roman Catholic faith; and he was sent by his father in 1612 into Spain, to study under the Jesuits, in the hope he would join that society; but his aversion to them led him to enter the Dominican Order at Valladolid, in 1612. His motives were suspected; his father was irritated--threatened to disinherit him and to arouse against him the power of the Jesuits of England if he returned home. He now determined to pass over to the Spanish possessions in South America; but as an order had been issued by the king, forbidding this to any _Englishman_, it was only by inclosing him in an empty sea-biscuit case, he was able to sail from Cadiz, July 2, 1625. He arrived at Mexico on October 8; and after residing there for some time to recruit himself from the voyage, resolved to abandon a missionary scheme to the Philippine islands he had planned, and accordingly, on the day fixed for their departure to Acapulco, escaped with three other Dominicans for Chispat. He was here well received, and went subsequently to the head establishment at Guatimala. He was soon appointed curate of Amatitlan; and during his residence at this and another district contrived to amass a sum of 9000 piastres, with the aid of which he sought to accomplish his long-cherished desire of returning to England. Many difficulties were in his way; but on the 7th January, 1637, he quitted Amatitlan, traversed the province of Nicaragua, and embarked from the coast of Costa Rica. The ship was soon after boarded by a Dutch corsair, and Gage was robbed of 8000 piastres. He succeeded in reaching Panama, traversed the Isthmus, and sailed from Porto Bello {145} in the Spanish fleet, which reached San Sucar, Nov. 28, 1637. He returned to England after an absence of twenty-four years. His father was dead: he found himself disinherited, and although hardly recognised by his family at first, he met ultimately with kindly treatment. During his residence in S. America, doubts had arisen in his mind as to the truth and validity of the creed and ritual to which he was attached. Whether this was the consequence of reflection from his theological studies, or animated love of change which his conduct at times betrayed, cannot be decided. He resolved to proceed to Italy, and renew his studies there. Upon his return, after a short residence, he renounced Catholicism in a sermon he preached at St. Paul's. About 1642 he attached himself to the Parliament cause, and it is said he obtained the living of Deal in Kent; as the parish registers contain an entry of the burial of Mary daughter, and Mary wife, of Thomas Gage, parson of Deal, March 21, 1652; but when he was married, and whom he married, does not appear. Gage's work has been rather too much decried. It contains matter of interest relative to the state of the Spanish possessions; and his credulity and superstition must be considered in relation to his opportunities and his age. Perhaps some of your readers may contribute farther information concerning him, as the general accounts I have been able to meet with are contradictory and insufficient. The _Biographie Universelle_ states, that it was his _Survey of the West Indies_ that led to the English expeditions to the Spanish Main, which secured Jamaica to the English in 1654, and adds he died there in 1655. The registers at Deal could probably prove this fact; but I confess to doubt as to whether Gage really were the parson alluded to as resident there in 1652. He was evidently of a roving unsteady nature, fond of adventure, and the first to open to English enterprise a knowledge of the state of the Spanish possessions, to prevent which the council of the Indies had passed so many stringent laws. Colbert caused this work to be translated, and it has been often reprinted on the Continent, but much mutilated, as his statements relative to the Roman Catholic priesthood gave offence. A good memoir of Gage is still to be desired. The following is the extract relative to the Isthmus of Panama, _West Indies_, p. 151.:--

"The Peruvian part containeth all the southern tract, and
is tyed to the Mexican by the Isthmus or Strait of Darien,
being no more than 17, or, as others say, in the narrowest
place, but 12 miles broad, from the north to the south sea.
Many have mentioned to the Council of Spain the cutting of a
navigable channel through this small Isthmus, so to shorten
the voyage to China and the Moluccoes. But the kings of Spain
have not yet attempted to do it; some say lest in the work he
should lose those few Indians which are left (would to God it
were so, that they were or had been so careful and tender of
the poor Indians' lives, more populous would that vast and
spacious country be at this day), but others say he hath not
attempted it lest the passage by the Cape Bona Esperanza (Good
Hope) being left off, those seas might become a receptacle
for pirates. However, this hath not been attempted by the
Spaniards; they give not for reason any extraordinary great
charge, for that would soon be recompensed with the speedie and
easie conveying that way the commodities from S. to N. seas."

This bears reference to projects before 1625, or during his residence in S. America, between 1625-1637; but Gage could hardly have understood the nature of the Spanish character, and the genius of the government, to speculate upon the cause of their neglect of every useful enterprise for the promotion of commerce and public good.

S. H.

* * * * *

FOLK LORE.

_Legends of the County Clare._--On the west coast of Ireland, near the Cliffs of Moher, at some distance out in the bay, the waves appear continually breaking in white foam even on the calmest day. The tradition among the country people is, that a great city was swallowed up there for some great crime, and that it becomes visible once every seven years. And if the person who sees it could keep his eyes fixed on it till he reached it, it would then be restored, and he would obtain great wealth. The man who related the legend stated farther, that some years ago some labourers were at work in a field on the hill side in view of the bay; and one of them, happening to cast his eyes seaward, saw the city in all its splendour emerge from the deep. He called to his companions to look at it; but though they were close to him, he could not attract their attention: at last, he turned round to see why they would not come; but on looking back, when he had succeeded in attracting their attention, the city had disappeared.

The Welsh legend of the Islands of the Blessed, which can only be seen by a person who stands on a turf from St. David's churchyard, bears a curious coincidence to the above. It is not impossible that there may have been some foundation for the vision of the enchanted city at Moher in the _Fata Morgana_, very beautiful spectacles of which have been seen on other parts of the coast of Ireland.

FRANCIS ROBERT DAVIES.

_Moon Superstitions_ (Vol. viii., p. 79.).--In this age of fact and science, it is remarkable that even with the well-informed the old faith in the "change of the moon" as a prognostic of fair and foul weather still keeps its hold. W. W. asks "have we any proof of" the "correctness" of this faith? To suppose that the weather varies with the amount of {146} illuminated surface on the moon would make the change in the weather vary with the amount of moonshine, which of course is absurd, as in that case the clouds would have much more to do with the question than the moon's shadow. But still it may be said the moon may influence the weather as it is supposed to cause the tides. In answer to this I beg to state the opinion of Dr. Ick, who was for upwards of ten years the curator of the Birmingham Philosophical Institute, an excellent meteorologist, geologist, and botanist. He assured me that after the closest and most accurate observation of the moon and the weather, he had arrived at the conclusion that _there is not the slightest observable dependence between them_.