Chapter C: Forbes

Temple.

"Isabelle etait un peu plus agee que Ferdinand. Elle etait petite, mais
bien faite. Ses cheveux, au moins tres blonds, _ses yeux verts et
pleins de feu_, son teint un peu olivatre, ne l'empechaient pas d'avoir
un visage imposant et agreable. (_Revolutions d'Espagne_, tom. iv. liv.
viii.; Mariana, _Hist. d'Espagne_, tom. ii. liv. xxv.; _Hist. de
Ferdinand et d'Isabelle_, par M. l'Abbe Mignot, &c.)"--Florian,
Gonzalve de Cordoue, _Precis Historique sur les Maures d'Espagne_,
quatrieme epoque, note _i_.

E. J. M.

Hastings.

* * * * *

THE MYRTLE BEE.

(Vol. viii., pp. 173. 450.)

Allow me to thank C. BROWN for the reply he has sent to my inquiries on this subject. I shall certainly avail myself with pleasure of the permission he has given me to communicate with him by letter; but before doing so, I hope you will allow me to address him this note through the medium of your pages. The existence of the Myrtle Bee as a distinct species has been denied by ornithologists, and as I think the question is more likely to be set at rest by public than by private correspondence, I trust C. BROWN will not consider that I am presuming too much on his kindness if I ask him to send me farther information on the following points: What was the exact size of the bird in question which he had in his hand? What was its size compared with the Golden-crested Wren? Was it generally known in the neighbourhood he mentions, and by whom was it known? By the common people as well as others? From what source did he originally obtain the appellation "Myrtle Bee," as applied to this bird? It has been suggested to me that the bird seen by C. Brown may have been the Dartford Warbler (_Sylvia provincialis_, Gmel.), wings short, tail elongated (this, if the Myrtle Bee is the Dartford Warbler, would account for its "miniature pheasant-like appearance"); a bird which, as we are informed in Yarrell's _Hist. of British Birds_, 1839, vol. i. p. 311. _et seq._, haunts and builds among the furze on commons; flies with short jerks; is very shy; conceals itself on the least alarm; and creeps about from bush to bush. This description would suit the Myrtle Bee. Not so the colour, which is chiefly greyish-black and brown; whereas the bird seen by your correspondent was "dusky light blue." Nor again does the description of the Dartford Warbler, "lighting for a moment on the very point of the sprigs" of furze (vid. Yarrell _ut sup._), coincide with the account of the bird seen by C. BROWN, who "never saw one sitting or light on a branch of the myrtle, but invariably flying from the base of one plant to that of another." In conclusion I would venture to ask whether your correspondent's memory may not have been treacherous respecting the colour of a bird which he has not seen for twenty-five years, and whether he has ever seen the Dartford Warbler on Chobham or the adjacent commons?

W. R. D. SALMON.

* * * * *

TIN.

(Vol. viii., pp. 290. 344.).

The first mention I remember of the place from whence tin came, is in Herodotus (lib. iii. c. 115.). He there says:

"But concerning the extreme parts of Europe towards the west, I am not
able to speak certainly. For I neither believe that a certain river is
called Eridanus by the barbarians, which flows into a northern sea, and
from which there is a report that the amber is wont to come, nor have I
known (any) islands, being Cassiterides ([Greek: kassiteridas eousas]),
from which the tin is wont to come to us. For, on the one hand, the
very name Eridanus proves that it is Hellenic and not Barbaric, but
formed by some poet; and on the other, I am not able, though paying
much attention to this matter, to hear of any one that has been an
eye-witness that a sea exists upon that side of Europe. But doubtless
both the tin and the amber are wont to come from the extreme part of
Europe."

[Greek: Kassiteros], according to Damm, is so called because it is more ready to melt than other metals, i. e. [Greek: kausiteros], from [Greek: kaio], to burn; this derivation agrees with that given by MR. CROSSLEY of tin, "from the Celtic tin, to melt readily;" and it receives some support from Hesiod (_D. G._ 861.), where he speaks of the earth burning and melting as tin or as iron, which is the hardest of metals.

But I own I doubt this derivation. First, {594} because it is quite clear to my mind that Herodotus had no idea that it had a Greek derivation. He assigns the Greek origin of the word Eridanus as a reason for disbelieving the statement as to it; and had he known that Cassiteros had a like origin, it cannot be doubted that he would have assigned the same reason as to it likewise. Instead of which he resorts to the fact that he could not obtain any authentic account of any sea on that side of Europe, as a proof that the Cassiterides did not exist. In truth, his assertion as to the Greek origin of the one, coupled with the reason that is added, seems almost, if not quite, equivalent to a denial that the other had a Greek origin. Secondly, it is in the highest degree improbable that these islands should have received their name from the Greeks, as it is contrary to all experience that a country should be named by persons ignorant of its existence. The names of places are either given to them by those who discover them, or the names by which they are called by their inhabitants are adopted by others.

At the time Caesar invaded this island, there was a people whom he calls Cassi (_Caes. de B. G._, lib. v. 21.), of whose prince Camden says, "from the Cassii their prince, Cassivellaunus or Cassibelinus, first took his name;" and he adds that "it seems very probable that Cassivellaunus denotes as much as the Prince of the Cassii." (_Camd. Brit._, p. 278., edit. 1695.) According to which the word would be compounded of _Cassi_ and _vellaunus_ or _belinus_; and this derivation is fortified by the word Cunobelinus, which plainly is formed in a similar manner. Now there is a Celtic word, _tir_ or _ter_ (from which _terra_ is derived), and the Welsh word _tir_ (which I have heard pronounced _teer_), all denoting land. If then this word be added to Cassi, we have Cassiter, that is, the land of the Cassi, Cassiland. And as we have England, Scotland, and Ireland, possibly the ancient inhabitants may have called their country Cassiter; and as _chalybs_, steel, was so called both by the Greeks and Romans from the people that made it, so might tin be from the country where it was found. My derivation is conjectural, no doubt, and as such I submit it with great deference to the candid consideration of your readers.

Isaiah, who lived B.C. 758, mentions tin in i. 25.

Ezekiel, who lived B.C. 598, mentions tin xxii. 18. 20.; and xxvii. 12., speaking of Tyre, he says:

"Tarshish was thy merchant by reason of the multitude of all kinds of
riches; with silver, iron, _tin_, and lead, they traded in thy fairs."

This passage clearly shows that, at the time spoken of by Ezekiel, the trade in tin was carried on by the inhabitants of Tarshish, whether that place designates Carthage, or Tartessus in Spain, or not; and there can be little doubt that they brought the tin from England; and the addition of silver, iron, and lead, tends to strengthen this opinion.

Herodotus recited his History at the Olympic Games, B.C. 445; and probably the same people traded in tin in his time as in the time of Ezekiel.

The Hebrew word for tin is derived from a verb meaning "to separate," and seems to throw no light on the subject.

S. G. C.

* * * * *

MILTON'S WIDOW.

(Vol. viii., pp. 452. 544. &c.)

Your correspondents MR. MARSH and MR. HUGHES are entitled to an apology from me for having so long delayed noticing their comments on my communication on the above subject in Vol. viii, p. 134., which comments have failed in convincing me that I have fallen into the error they attribute to me, because it is manifest Richard Minshull of Chester, son of Richard of Wistaston, the writer of the letter of May 3rd, 1656, set forth in the Rev. Mr. Hunter's _Milton Pamphlet_, pp. 37. and 38., could only have been _fifteen_ years old when that letter was written, he having, as MR. HUGHES states, been born in 1641, so that he must have been only three years the junior of his supposed niece, Mrs. Milton, then Miss Minshull, born in 1638, according to MR. MARSH'S account of her baptism; and furthermore he, Richard, son of the writer of the said letter, must be fairly presumed to have been married at the date of such letter, which he (the Father) thus commences: "My love and best respects to you and my daughter [meaning no doubt his daughter-in-law], tendered with trust of your health." Very unlikely language for a parent to address to his son, a boy of _fifteen_, on so important a subject as a family pedigree. If this youthful Richard Minshull really was Mrs. Milton's uncle, his brother Randle Minshull, her father, must have been very many years older than him, which was not very probable.

I noticed in a recent Number of your pages, with great satisfaction, a communication from CRANMER, who has avowed himself to be your correspondent MR. ARTHUR PAGET, for which, in common with MR. HUGHES and others, I feel very thankful to him, notwithstanding it falls short of connecting Mrs. Milton with Richard Minshull of Wistaston, the Holme correspondent of 1656.

That historians have been much misled in assuming that Mrs. Milton was a daughter of Sir Edward Minshull of Stoke, cannot, I think, be questioned; although it may be very fairly asked whether there were not other respectable Minshull families living in the neighbourhood of Wistaston, of which Mrs. Milton might have been a member, and yet allied to the Paget and Goldsmith families.

GARLICHITHE.

{595}

MR. HUGHES is quite right, both in his facts, so far as they go, and in the inference he draws from them in confirmation of the now well ascertained identity of Milton's widow with the daughter of Randle Mynshull of Wistaston. His observations derive additional force from the fact, that two generations of Minshull of Wistaston married ladies of the name of Goldsmith. Thomas Minshull, the great-grandfather of Milton's widow, married ---- Goldsmith of Nantwich, as his son Richard informed Randal Holmes, in a letter among the Harl. MSS., noticed by MR. HUNTER, and as pointed out by MR. HUGHES; but the writer of that letter also married a lady of the same name, Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Goldsmith, of Bosworth, in the county of Leicester. The fact is worth noticing, though no very accurate estimate can be formed of the precise degree of relationship to be inferred from the title of "cousin" a couple of centuries ago. My authority is the Cheshire visitation of 1663-4. Several other MS. pedigrees are in existence; in some of which the lady's name is stated as Ellen, instead of Elizabeth, and her father's as Richard instead of Nicholas. Thomas Minshull of Manchester, the uncle of Milton's widow, deserves perhaps a passing word of notice, as having embalmed the mortal remains of Humphrey Chetham.

J. F. M.

Warrington.

Our elegant poet Fenton, having written a _Life of Milton_, and no doubt often visited his place of nativity (Shelton, in the Staffordshire Potteries), he surely must have known _something_ respecting _Milton's_ third wife's family, who lived only a few miles from thence; and if the Fenton papers have, as is probable, been preserved by his family, some of whom I am informed still live in the neighbourhood of Shelton, it is not unlikely they will throw some light on the family of the poet's widow.

NEWINGTON.

* * * * *

BOOKS CHAINED TO DESKS IN CHURCHES--OLD PAROCHIAL LIBRARIES.

(Vol. viii., p. 93.)

On a recent visit to Aberystwith, I walked to the mother church of Llanbadarn, a fine old building, which I was glad to find, since a former visit, was undergoing important repairs in its exterior. While inspecting the interior, I requested the clerk to show me into the vestry, and upon inquiring if the church possessed any black-letter Bible, Foxe's _Martyrs_, or any of those volumes which at the Reformation were chained to the desks or pews, he opened a case in the vestry, in which I was sorry to observe many volumes, not of that early date, but about a century and a half old, yet valuable in their day as well as at present, in a sad dilapidated state, arising from the dampness of the room, which is without a fire-place. Many of the volumes were the gift of a Doctor Fowle, with his autograph, stating that they were given as a lending library to the parishioners.

The present incumbent is the Rev. ---- Hughes, a very excellent and zealous pastor, with the modern church in Aberystwith annexed, who should this narrative meet his eye, or be communicated to him, might be induced to make inquiries into the losses which had taken place, and prevent farther dilapidations and decay, in what was no doubt, once considered a valuable acquisition to the inhabitants of the parish.

Permit me to add, that in a room over the entrance porch of that venerable Saxon church St. Peter in the East, at Oxford, there is a large lending library for the use of the parishioners, largely contributed to by several of its recent and present zealous incumbent, and to which church so much has lately been done to remove former eye-sores, and to render it one of the most chastely decorated and best attended parish churches in the University.

J. M. G.

Worcester.

In an old MS. headed

"Articles, Conditions, and Covenants, upon which the Provost and other
officers of King's College in Cambridge have admitted Michael Mills,
Schollar of the said College, to be Keeper of the Publick Library of
the said College."

the seventh and last article is--

"For the rendering his business about the library more easy, each
person that makes use of any book or books in the said library, is
required to sett 'em up again decently, without entangling the chains;
by which is signified to all concerned that no person whatsoever, upon
any pretence, is permitted to carry any book out of the library to
their chambers, or any otherwise to be used as a private book, it being
against the statutes of our college in y^t case provided."

Under "Orders for regulating the publick library of King's College," Order IV.:

"All the fellows and scholars, and all other persons allowed the use of
the library, shall carefully set up those they use in their proper
place, without entangling the chains."

Michael Mills got King's in 1683.

T. H. L.

In the church of Wiggenhall, St. Mary the Virgin, the following books may be seen fastened by chains to a wooden desk in the chancel: Foxe's _Book of Martyrs_, in three volumes, chained to the same staple; the Book of Homilies; the Bible, with calendar in rubrics; and the works of Bishop Jewell, in one volume. The title-page is lost from all the above: in other respects they are in a fair state of preservation, considering their {596} antiquity, of which their characters being old English, is a sufficient proof.

W. B. D.

At a _soiree_ recently held at Crosby Hall, there were exhibited by the churchwardens of St. Benet's, Gracechurch Street, Erasmus' _Commentary on the Gospels_ in English, with the chains annexed, by which they were fastened in the church. There are two volumes, in good preservation, and black letter.

In Minster Church, near Margate, Kent, there is an oak cover to a Bible chained to a desk, temp. Henry VIII. The whole of the letter-press has been taken away (by small pieces at a time) by visitors to this beautiful Norman church.

J. W. BROWN.

At Bromsgrove Church, Worcestershire, a copy of Bishop Jewel's Sermon on 1 Cor. ix. 16. (1609) is chained to a small lectern.

At Suckley Church, also in Worcestershire, there is a black-letter copy of the Homilies, 1578.

CUTHBERT BEDE, B.A.

There is a copy of Foxe's _Monuments_ so chained in the chancel of Luton Church, Bedfordshire.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

* * * * *

THE COURT-HOUSE.

(Vol. viii., p. 493.)

This place is not "an old out-of-the-way place," as described to F. M., but stands in a paddock adjoining the churchyard, in the town of "Painswick, in Gloucestershire." It is a respectable old stone-built house in the Elizabethan style; and stands on an eminence commanding a view of one of the pleasant valleys which abound in this parish. I do not know of, and do not believe that there is, any "full description of it." Neither of the county histories, of Atkyns (1712), Rudder (1779), Rudge (1803), or Fosbrook (1807), mentions the court-house, though probably it is referred to by Atkyns as "a handsome pleasant house adjoining the town, [then] lately the seat of Mr. Wm. Rogers."

If either Charles I. or II. slept there, it was doubtless King Charles I., on the night of the 5th of September, 1643, on which day he raised the siege of Gloucester, and

"Thousands of the royalist army marched in the rain up Painswick hill,
on the summit of which they encamped in the ancient entrenchment of the
part called Spoonbed hill. On this hill, tradition says, as Charles was
sitting on a stone near the camp, one of the princes, weary of their
present life, asked him 'When should they go home?' 'I have no home to
go to,' replied the disconsolate king. He went on to Painswick, and
passed the night there."--_Bibliotheca Gloucestriensis_ (Webb),
Introduction, p. 68., referring to Rudder (p. 592.) for the tradition
as to the colloquy.

The lodge, an old wooden house, in this parish more properly deserves the character of an "old out-of-the-way house." I remember it many years ago, when it contained a court, in which were galleries approached by stairs, and leading to the sleeping-rooms of the mansion; such as were formerly in the court-yard of the Bull and Mouth Inn, London, and are now in the yard of the New Inn, Gloucester.

P. H. FISHER.

Stroud.

* * * * *

ON THE SIMPLICITY OF THE CALOTYPE PROCESS, BY DR. DIAMOND.

(Read before the Photographic Society, Nov. 3, 1853.)

I feel that some few words are required to explain to the Society the reasons which have induced me to call their attention to a branch of photography, which of all others has been dwelt upon most fully, and practised with such success by so many eminent photographers.

The flourishing state of this Society, which is constantly receiving an accession of new Members, indicates the great number that have lately commenced the practice of photography, and to those I hope my observations will not prove unacceptable, because of all others the calotype process is undoubtedly the simplest, and the most useful; not only from that simplicity, but from its being available when other modes could not be used.[2]

I am also induced to urge on the attention of the Society the advantages of this, one of the earliest processes, because I think that there has been lately such an eager desire for something new, that we all have more or less run away from a steady wish to improve if possible the original details of Mr. Fox Talbot; and have been tempted to practise new modes, entailing much more care and trouble, without attaining a correspondingly favourable result.

Amongst antiquaries I have long noticed, that many who have especially studied one particular {597} branch of archaeology, think and speak slightingly of those departments in which they are not much interested. One fond of research in the early tumuli is esteemed to be a mere "pot and pan antiquary" by one who, in his turn, is thought to waste his time on "mediaeval trash;" and this feeling pervades its many sections.

I hope I shall not give offence in saying, that amongst photographers I have noticed somewhat of a similar spirit, namely, an inclination to value and praise a production, from the particular mode of operation adopted, rather than from its intrinsic merits. The collodion, the waxed paper, or the simple paper processes have merits pertaining to themselves alone; and those who admire each of these several processes are too apt to be prejudiced in favour of the works produced by them.

Before proceeding farther, permit me to observe, that if some of my remarks appear _too_ elementary, and _too_ well known by many assembled here, my reason for making them is, that I have myself experienced the want of _plain simple rules_, notwithstanding the many able treatises upon the subject which have already been written: I hope, therefore, I shall receive their pardon for entering fully into detail, because a want of success may depend upon what may appear most trivial.

I think the greatest number of failures result from not having good iodized paper; which may be caused by

1. The quality of the paper;
2. The mode of preparing it;
3. The want of proper _definite_ proportions for a particular make of
paper;

because I find very different results ensue unless these things are relatively considered.

I have not met with satisfactory results in iodizing the French and German papers, and the thick papers of some of our English makers are quite useless.

Turner's paper, of the "Chafford Mills" make, is greatly to be preferred, and therefore I will presume that to be used, and of a medium thickness. The great fault of Turner's paper consists in the frequent occurrence of spots, depending upon minute portions of brass coming from the machinery, or from the rims of buttons left in the rags when being reduced to pulp, and thus a single button chopped up will contaminate a large portion of paper; occasionally these particles are so large that they reduce the silver solutions to the metallic state, which is formed on the paper; at other times they are so minute as to simply decompose the solution, and white spots are left, much injuring the effect of the picture.

Whatman's paper is much more free from blemishes, but it is not so fine and compact in its texture; the skies in particular exhibiting a minutely speckled appearance, and the whole picture admitting of much less definition.[3]

All papers are much improved by age; probably in consequence of a change which the size undergoes by time. It is therefore advisable that the photographer, when he meets with a desirable paper, should lay in a store for use beyond his immediate wants.

It may not be inappropriate to mention here, in reference to the minuteness attainable by paper negatives, that a railway notice of six lines is perfectly legible, and even the erasure for a new secretary's name is discernible in the accompanying specimen, which was obtained with one of Ross's landscape lenses, without any stop whatever being used, and after an exposure of five minutes _during a heavy rain_. The sky is scarcely so dense as could be desired, which will be fully accounted for by the dull state of the atmosphere during the exposure in the camera.

Having selected your paper as free from blemishes as possible, which is most readily ascertained by holding it up to the light (as the rejected sheets do perfectly well for positives, it is well to reject _all_ those upon which _any_ doubt exists), mark the smoothest surface;--the touch will always indicate this, but it is well at all times not to handle the surfaces of papers more than can be avoided. There is much difference in various individuals in this respect; some will leave a mark upon the slightest touch, whereas others may rub the paper about with perfect impunity.

I prefer paper iodized by the single process; because, independently of the case and economy of time, I think more rapidity of action is attained by paper so treated, as well as that greater intensity of the blacks, so requisite for producing a clear picture in after printing.

To do this, take sixty grains of nitrate of silver and sixty grains of iodide of potassium, dissolve each separately in an ounce of distilled water, mix and stir briskly with a glass rod so as to ensure their _perfect_ mixture; the precipitated iodide of silver will fall to the bottom of the vessel; pour off the fluid, wash once with a little distilled water, then pour upon it four ounces of distilled water, and add 650 grains of iodide of potassium, which _should_ perfectly redissolve the silver and form a clear fluid. Should it not (for chemicals differ occasionally in their purity), then a little more should be very cautiously added until the fluid is perfectly clear.

The marked side of the paper should then be carefully laid upon the surface of this fluid in a proper porcelain or glass dish. Then immediately {598} remove it, lay it upon its dry side upon a piece of blotting-paper, and stroke it over once or twice with a glass rod; this as effectually expels all the particles of air as complete immersion; it is also more economical, and has the advantage of requiring much less time in the after-immersion in the hypo. when it is required to remove the iodide. Either pin the paper up, or lay it down upon its dry side, and when it becomes tolerably dry (perfect dryness is not requisite), immerse it in common cold water for the space of four hours, changing the water during that time three or four times, so that all the soluble salts may be removed; often move the papers, so that when several sheets are together, one does not press so much upon another that the water does not equally arrive at all the surface.

If this paper is well made, it is of a pale straw colour, or rather primrose, and perfectly free from unevenness of tint. It will keep good for several years; if, however, the soluble salts have not been _entirely_ removed, it attracts damp, and becomes brown and useless or uncertain in its application.

Some of our oldest and most successful operators still adhere to and prefer the iodized paper prepared by the double process, which certainly effects a saving in the use of the iodide of potassium. The following is the easiest way of so preparing it:--Having floated your marked surface of the paper on a 30-grain solution of nitrate of silver, and dried it[4], immerse it for 20 minutes in a solution of iodide of potassium of 20 grains to the ounce, when it immediately assumes the desired colour. It is then requisite, however, that it should undergo the same washing in pure water as the paper prepared by the single process.

Upon the goodness of your iodized paper of course depends your future success. Although it is not requisite to prepare it by candle-light (which in fact is objectionable from your inability to see if the yellow tint is equally produced), I think it should not be exposed to too strong a light; and as the fly-fisher in the dull winter months prepares his flies ready for the approaching spring, so may the photographer in the dull weather which now prevails, with much advantage prepare his stock of iodized paper ready for the approach of fine weather.[5]

Many other ways of iodizing paper have been recommended which have proved successful in different hands. Dr. Mansell, of Guernsey, pours the iodide solution upon his paper, which previously has had all its edges turned up so as to resemble a dish; he rapidly pours it off again after it has completely covered the paper, and then washes it in three waters for only ten minutes in all: he considers that thereby none of the size of the paper is removed, and a more favourable action is obtained. In the experiments I have tried with the use of the air-pump, as recommended by Mr. Stewart, I have met with much trouble and little success; and I am inclined to attribute the very beautiful specimens which he has produced to his own good manipulation under a favourable climate.[6]

To excite the paper take 10 drops (minims) of solution of aceto-nitrate of silver, and 10 drops of saturated solution of gallic acid, mixed with 3 drachms of distilled water.

The aceto-nitrate solution consists of--

Nitrate of silver 30 grains.
Glacial acetic acid 1 drachm.
Distilled water[7] 1 ounce.

If the weather is warm, 6 drops of gallic acid to the 10 of aceto-nitrate will suffice, and enable the prepared excited paper to be kept longer.

This exciting fluid may be applied either directly {599} by means of the glass rod, or by floating, as before, and then the glass rod. But if floating is resorted to, then a larger quantity must be prepared. As soon as it is applied the paper should be blotted off by means of blotting-paper (which should never be used more than once in this way, although preserved for other purposes), and put into the dark frames for use.[8] It is not requisite that the paper should be perfectly dry. This exciting should be conducted by a very feeble light; the paper is much more sensitive than is generally supposed; in fact, it is then in a state to print from by the aid of gas or the light of a common lamp, and very agreeable positives are so produced by this negative mode of printing.

I would advise the aceto-nitrate of silver and the solution of gallic acid to be kept in two bottles with wooden cases differing in their shape, so that they may not be mistaken when operating, in comparative darkness. A 1/4 of an ounce of gallic acid put into such a 3-ounce bottle, and _quite_ filled up with distilled water as often as any is used, will serve a very long time.

I would also recommend that the paper should be excited upon the morning of the day upon which it is intended to be used; no doubt the longer it is kept, the less active and less certain it becomes. I have, however, used it successfully eight days after excitement, and have a good negative produced at that length of time. The general medium time of exposure required is five minutes. In the negatives exhibited, the time has varied from three minutes to eight, the latter being when the day was very dull.

The pictures should be developed by equal quantities of the aceto-nitrate of silver and the saturated solution of gallic acid, which are to be mixed and immediately applied to the exposed surface. This may be done several hours after the pictures have been removed from the camera. Care should be taken that the back of the picture does not become wetted, as this is apt to produce a stain which may spoil the printing of the positive.

If upon the removal of the paper from the dark frame, the picture is very apparent, by first applying little gallic acid, and immediately afterwards the _mixed_ solutions, less likelihood is incurred of staining the negative, which will be more evenly and intensely developed. If a browning take place, a few drops of strong acetic acid will generally check it.

Should the picture be very tardy, either from an insufficient exposure, want of light, or other cause, a few drops of a solution of pyrogallic acid, made with 3 grains to the ounce of water, and a drachm of acetic acid, will act very beneficially. It sometimes gives an unpleasant redness upon the surface, but produces great intensity upon looking through it. Until the pyrogallic solution was added, there was scarcely anything visible upon the specimen exhibited, the failure having in the _first_ instance happened from the badness of the iodized paper.

As soon as the picture is sufficiently developed it should be placed in water, which should be changed once or twice; after soaking for a short time, say half an hour, it may be pinned up and dried, or it may at once be placed in a solution almost saturated, or quite so, of hyposulphite of soda, remaining there no longer than is needful for the entire removal of the iodide, which is known by the disappearance of the yellow colour.

When travelling it is often desirable to avoid using the hyposulphite, for many reasons (besides that of getting rid of extra chemicals), and it may be relied on that negatives will keep even under exposure to light for a very long time. I have kept some for several weeks, and I believe Mr. Rosling has kept them for some months.

The hyposulphite, lastly, should be effectually removed from the negative by soaking in water, which should be frequently changed.

Some prefer to use the hypo, quite hot, or even boiling, as thereby the size of the paper is removed, allowing of its being afterwards readily waxed.[9] I have always found that pouring a little boiling water upon the paper effectually accomplishes the object; some negatives will readily wax even when the size is not removed. A box iron very hot is best for the purpose; but the most important thing to attend to is that the paper should be perfectly dry, and it should therefore be passed between blotting-paper and well ironed before the wax is applied. Negatives will even attract moisture from the atmosphere, and therefore this process should at all times be resorted to immediately before the application of the wax.

Some photographers prefer, instead of using wax, to apply a solution of Canada balsam in spirits of turpentine. This certainly adds much to the transparency of the negative; and, in some instances, may be very desirable. Even in so simple a thing as white wax, there is much {600} variety; some forming little flocculent appearances on the paper, which is not the case with other samples. Probably it may be adulterated with stearine, and other substances producing this difference.

Before concluding these remarks, I would draw attention to the great convenience of the use of a bag of yellow calico, made so large as to entirely cover the head and shoulders, and confined round the waist by means of a stout elastic band. It was first, I believe, used by Dr. Mansell. In a recent excursion, I have, with the greatest ease, been enabled to change all my papers without any detriment whatever, and thereby dispensed with the weight of more than a single paper-holder. The bag is no inconvenience, and answers perfectly well, at any residence you may chance upon, to obstruct the light of the window, if not protected with shutters.

I would also beg to mention that a certain portion of the bromide of silver introduced into the iodized paper seems much to accelerate its power of receiving the green colour, as it undoubtedly does in the collodion. Although it does not accelerate its _general_ action, it is decidedly a great advantage for foliage. Its best proportions I have not been able accurately to determine; but I believe if the following quantity is added to the portion of solution of iodide of silver above recommended to be made, that it will approach very near to that which will prove to be the most desirable. Dissolve separately thirty grains of bromide of potassium, and 42 grains of nitrate of silver, in separate half-ounces of distilled water; mix, stir well, and wash the precipitate; pour upon it, in a glass measure, distilled water up to one ounce; then, upon the addition of 245 grains of iodide of potassium, a clear solution will be obtained; should it not, a few more grains of the iodide of potassium will effect it. It may be well to add that I believe neither of the solutions is injured by keeping, especially if preserved in the dark.

I would here offer a caution against too great reliance being placed upon the use of gutta-percha vessels when travelling, as during the past summer I had a bottle containing distilled water which came into pieces; and I have now a new gutta-percha tray which has separated from its sides. This may appear trivial, but when away from home the greatest inconvenience results from these things, which may be easily avoided.[10]

Dishes of zinc painted or japanned on the interior surface answer better than gutta-percha, and one inverted within another forms, when travelling, an admirable lid-box for the protection of glass bottles, rods, &c. On the Continent wooden dishes coated with shellac varnish are almost entirely used.

[Footnote 2: In a communication I formerly addressed to my friend the Editor of "N. & Q.," one of the arguments I used in favour of the collodion process was, that the operator was enabled at once to know the results of his attempts; and was not left in suspense concerning the probable success, as with a paper picture requiring an after development.

I made that observation not only from the partial success which had then attended my own manipulations, but from the degree of success which was attained by the majority of my photographic friends. But that objection is now almost entirely removed by the comparative certainty to which the paper process is reduced.]

[Footnote 3: The effect was illustrated in two negatives of the same subject, taken at the same time, exhibited to the meeting, and which may now be seen at Mr. Bell's by those who take an interest in the subject.]

[Footnote 4: For this purpose, strips of wood from 1 inch to 1-1/2 square will be found much more convenient to pin the paper to than the tape or string usually recommended. The pressure of a corner of the paper to the wood will render it almost sufficiently adherent without the pin, and do away with the vexation of corners tearing off.]

[Footnote 5: Some difference of opinion seemed to exist at the reading of the paper, as to the propriety of preparing iodized paper long before it was required for use, and I have since received some letters from very able photographers who have attributed an occasional want of success to this cause. I have, however, never myself seen good iodized paper deteriorated by age. Many friends tell me they have used it when several years old; and I can confirm this by a remarkable instance. On Tuesday (Dec. 6) I was successful in obtaining a perfectly good negative in the usual time from some paper kindly presented to me by Mr. Mackinly, and which has been in his possession since the year 1844. I should add, the paper bears the mark of "J. Whatman, 1842," and has all the characters of Turner's best photographic paper. It appears to be a make of Whatman's paper which I have not hitherto seen, and, from its date, was evidently not made for photographic purposes.]

[Footnote 6: The paper may be iodized by pouring over it 30 minims of the iodizing solution, and then smoothing it over with the glass rod. Care must however be taken not to wet the back of the paper, as an unevenness of depth in the negative would probably be the result.]

[Footnote 7: Much more attention should be paid to the purity of the distilled water than is generally supposed. In the many processes in which distilled water is used, there is none in which attention to this is so much required as the calotype process. I mention this from having lately had some otherwise fine negatives spoiled by being covered with spots, emanating entirely from impurities in distilled water purchased by me during a late excursion into the country.]

[Footnote 8: It is very requisite that the glasses of the frames should be thoroughly cleansed before the excited papers are put into them. Although not perceptible to the eye, there is often left on the glass (if this precaution is not used) a decomposing influence which afterwards shows itself by stains upon the negative.]

[Footnote 9: If boiling water is carefully poured in the negative in a porcelain dish, it will frequently remove a great deal of colouring matter, thereby rendering the negative still more translucent. It is astonishing how much colouring matter a negative so treated will give out, even when to the eye it appears so clean as not to require it.]

[Footnote 10: MR. SHADBOLT suggested a remedy for the disasters referred to by DR. DIAMOND with regard to the gutta-percha vessels. Gutta-percha is perfectly soluble in chloroform. MR. SHADBOLT therefore showed that if the operator carries a small bottle of chloroform with him, he would be able to mend the gutta-percha at any moment in a few seconds. It was not necessary that the bottle should hold above half an ounce of chloroform.]

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Belike_ (Vol. viii., p. 358.).--The reasoning by which H. C. K. supports his conjecture that "belike" in _Macbeth_ is formed immediately by prefixing _be_ to a supposed verb, _like_, to lie, is ingenious, but far from satisfactory. In the first place, we never used _to like_ in the sense of _to lie_, the nearest approach to it is _to lig_. And in the next place, the verb to _like_, to please, to feel or cause pleasure, to approve or regard with approbation, as a consequential usage (agreeably to the Dutch form of Liicken (Kilian), to _assimilate_), is common from our earliest writers. Instances from Robert of Gloucester, Chaucer, and North, with instances also of _mislike_, to displease, may be found in Richardson and others in Todd's _Johnson_.

Now, when we have a word well established in various usage (as _like_, similis), from which other usages may be easily deduced, why not adopt that word as the immediate source, rather than seek for a new one? That _like_, now written _ly_, is from _lic_, a corpse, _i.e._ an essence, has, I believe, the merit of originality; so too, his notion that _corpse_ is an _essence_, and the more, as emanating from a rectory, which probably is not far removed frown a churchyard.

H. C. K., it is very _likely_, is right in his conception that all his three _likes_ "have had originally one and the same source;" but he does not appear inclined to rest contented with the very sufficient one in our parent language, suggested by Richardson (in his 8vo. dictionary), the Gothic _lag-yan_; A.-S. _lec-gan_, or _lic-gan_, to lay or lie.

I should interpret _belike_ (for so I should write it with H. C. K.) by "approve."

Q.

Bloomsbury.

_Stage-coaches_ (Vol. viii., p. 439.).--The following Note may perhaps prove acceptable to G. E. F. The article from which it was taken contained, if I remember rightly, much more information upon the same subject:

"The stage-coach 'Wonder,' from London to Shrewsbury, and the
'Hirondelle' belonged to Taylor of Shrewsbury. The 'Hirondelle' did 120
miles in 8 hours and 20 minutes. One day a team of four greys did 9
miles in 35 minutes. The 'Wonder' left {601} Lion Yard, Shrewsbury, one
morning at 6 o'clock, and was at Islington at 7 o'clock the same
evening, being only 13 hours on the road."--_The Times_, July 11, 1842.

W. R. D. S.

_Birthplace of King Edward V._ (Vol. viii., p. 468.).--

"1471. In this year, the third day of November, Queen Elizabeth, being,
as before is said, in Westminster Sanctuary, was lighted of a fair
prince. And within the said place the said child, without pomp, was
after christened, whose godfathers were the abbat and prior of the said
place, and the Lady Scrope godmother."--Fabian's _Chronicle_, p. 659.,
Lond. 1811.

MACKENZIE WALCOTT, M.A.

Fuller, in his _Worthies_, vol. ii. p. 414., says Edward, eldest son of Edward IV. and Elizabeth his queen, was born in the sanctuary of Westminster, November 4, 1471.

A.

_Ringing Church Bells at Death_ (Vol. viii., p. 55. &c.).--The custom of ringing the church bell, as soon as might be convenient after the passing of a soul from its earthly prison-house, in the manner described in "N. & Q.," existed ten years ago in the parish of Rawmarsh, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and had existed there before I became its rector, twenty-two years ago. First a brisk peal was rung, if I mistake not, on one of the lighter bells, which was raised and lowered; then, upon the same, or some other of the lighter bells, the sex of the deceased was indicated by a given number of distinct strokes,--I cannot with certainty recall the respective numbers; lastly, the tenor bell was made to declare the supposed age of the deceased by as many strokes as had been counted years.

JOHN JAMES.

_What is the Origin of "Getting into a Scrape?"_ (Vol. viii., p. 292.).--It may have been, first, a tumble in the mire; by such a process many of us in childhood have both literally and figuratively "got into a scrape." Or, secondly, the expression may have arisen from the use of _the razor_, where to be shaved was regarded as an indignity, or practised as a token of deep humiliation. D'Arvieux mentions an Arab who, having received a wound in his jaw, chose rather to hazard his life, than allow the surgeon to take off his beard. When Hanun had shaved off half the beards of David's servants, "David sent to meet them, because they were greatly ashamed: and the king said, 'Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return'" (2 Sam. x. 4, 5.). The expedient of _shaving off the other half_ seems not to have been thought on, though that would naturally have been resorted to, had not the indignity of being rendered beardless appeared intolerable. Under this figure the desolation of a country is threatened. "In the same day shall the Lord shave with a razor that is hired, by them beyond the river, even by the King of Assyria, the head, and the hair of the feet, and it shall consume the beard" (Isaiah vii. 20.). Again, as a token of grief and humiliation: "Then Job arose and rent his mantle, and shaved his beard," &c.--"There came fourscore men, having their heads shaven, and their clothes rent, and having cut themselves," &c. (Jer. xli. 5.). Or, thirdly, the allusion may be to the consequence of becoming infected with some loathsome cutaneous disease. "So Satan smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to _scrape_ himself withal" (Job ii. 7, 8.).

J. W. T.

Dewsbury.

_High Dutch and Low Dutch_ (Vol. viii., p. 478.).--Nieder Deutsch, or rather Neder Duitsch, is the proper name of the Dutch language; at least it is that which the people of Holland give to it. Low German does not necessarily mean a vulgar patois. It is essentially as different a language from High German, or rather more so, as Spanish is from Portuguese. I believe German purists would point out Holstein, Hanover, Brunswick (not Dresden), as the places where German is most classically spoken. I wish one of your German (not Anglo-German) readers would set us right on this point. The term Dutch, as applied to the language of Holland as distinguished from that of German, is a comparative modernism in English. High Dutch and Low Dutch used to be the distinction; and when Coverdale's _Translation of the Bible_ is said to have been "compared with the Douche," German, and not what we now call Dutch, is meant. Deutsch, in short, or Teutsch, is the generic name for the language of the Teutones, for whom Germani, or Ger-maenner, was not a national appellation, but one which merely betokened their warlike character.

E. C. H.

_Discovery of Planets_ (Vol. vii., p. 211.).--I should wish to ask MR. H. WALTER, who has a learned answer about the discovery of planets, whether the idea which he there broaches of a lost world where sin entered and for which mercy was not found, be his own original invention, or whether he is indebted to any one for it, and if so, to whom?

QUAESTOR.

_Gloves at Fairs_ (Vol. viii., pp. 136. 421.).--This title has changed into a question of the open hand as an emblem of power. In addition to the instances cited by your correspondents, the following may be mentioned.

The Romans used the open hand as a standard.

The Kings of Ulster adopted it as their peculiar cognizance; thence it was transferred to the shield of the baronets created Knights of Ulster by James I.; to many of whose families recent {602} myths have in consequence attributed bloody deeds to account for the cognizance of the bloody hand. The Holte family of Aston Hall, near this town, affords an instance of such a modern myth, which has, I think, already appeared in "N. & Q." The subject of _modern myths_ would form a very interesting one for your pages.

An open hand occurs on tombs in Lycia. (Fellowes' _Lycia_, p. 180.)

The Turks and Moors paint an open hand as a specific against the evil eye. (Shaw's _Travels in Barbary_, p. 243.)

The open hand in red paint is of common occurrence on buffalo robes among the tribes of North America, and is also stamped, apparently by the natural hand dipped in a red colour, on the monuments of Yucatan and Guatemala. (Stephen's _Yucatan_.)

EDEN WARWICK.

Birmingham.

_Awk_ (Vol. viii., p. 310.).--H. C. K. asks for instances of the usage of the word _awk_. He will find one in Richardson's _Dictionary_, and two of _awkly_:

"The _auke_ or left hand."--Holland's _Plutarch_.

"They receive her _aukly_, when she (Fortune) presenteth herself on the
_right_ hand."--_Ibid._

"To undertake a thing _awkely_, or ungainly."--Fuller's _Worthies_.

Q.

Bloomsbury.

_Tenet_ (Vol. viii., p. 330.) was used by Hooker and Hall, and is also found in state trial, 1 Hen. V., 1413, of Sir John Oldcastle. Sir Thomas Browne, though he writes _tenets_ in his title, has _tenent_ in c. i. of b. vii. But these variations may be generally placed to the account of the printers in those days. (See TENET, in Richardson.)

Q.

Bloomsbury.

_Lovett of Astwell_ (Vol. viii., p. 363.).--Since I wrote on this subject, I have consulted Baker's excellent _History of Northamptonshire_, and I find the pedigree (vol. i. p. 732.) fully bears out my strictures on Betham and Burke's account of Thomas Lovett, and his marriage with Joan Billinger. With regard to Elizabeth Boteler, Mr. Baker simply states that Thomas Lovett, Esq., of Astwell, married to his first wife Elizabeth, daughter of John Boteler, Esq., of Watton Woodhall, Herts; but I observe that (_Idem._ vol. i. p. 730.) there is in Wappenham Church (the parish of which Astwell is hamlet) a brass to the memory of "Constance, late the wife of John Boteler, Esq., and sister to Henry Vere, Esq., who died May 16, 1499:" this lady, I conjecture, was the mother of Elizabeth Boteler, afterwards Lovett; and her daughter must have been heir to her mother, as the arms of Vere and Green are quartered on her grandson Thomas Lovett's tombstone in the same church; as well as on another monument of the Lovetts, the inscription of which is now obliterated. The pedigree of the Botelers in Clutterbuck (_Herts_, vol. ii. p. 475.) does not give this marriage; but John Boteler, Esq., of Watton Woodhall, who was of full age in 1456, and whose first wife Elizabeth died Oct. 28, 1471, is said to have married to his second wife Constance, daughter of ---- Downhall of Gedington, co. Northamptonshire. Can this be the lady buried at Wappenham? She was the mother of John Boteler, Esq., Watton Woodhall, Sheriff of Herts and Essex in 1490; therefore her daughter would not be entitled to transmit her arms to her descendants. Or could the last-mentioned John Boteler, who died in 1514, have had another wife besides the three mentioned in Clutterbuck? There can be no question that one of the two John Botelers of Watton Woodhall married Constance de Vere, as the marriage is mentioned on the monument at Wappenham. I hope some of your genealogical readers may examine this point.

TEWARS.

_Irish Rhymes_ (Vol. viii., p. 250.).--In "The Wish," appended to _The Ocean_ of Young (afterwards suppressed in his collected works, but quoted by Dr. Johnson), are the following rhymes:

"Oh! may I _steal_
Along the _vale_
Of humble life, secure from foes."

And again:

"Have what I _have_,
And live not _leave_."

And yet again:

"Then leave one _beam_
Of honest _fame_,
And scorn the labour'd monument."

And in his "Instalment" (which shared the same fate as "The Wish"):

"Oh! how I long, enkindled by the _theme_,
In deep eternity to launch thy _name_."

Young was no "Mil_a_sian:" so these rhymes go to acquit Swift of the Irishism attributed to him by CUTHBERT BEDE; as, taken in connexion with those used by Pope and others, it is clear they were not uncommon or confined to the Irish poets. At the same time, I cannot think them either elegant or musical, nor can I agree with one of your correspondents, that their occasional use destroys the sameness of rhyme. If poets were to introduce eccentric rhymes at pleasure, to produce variety, the shade of Walker would I think be troubled sorely.

ALEXANDER ANDREWS.

_Passage in Boerhaave_ (Vol. vii., p. 453.).--As the passage is incorrectly given from memory, it {603} is not easy to say where it is to be found. I venture, however, to lay before the FOREIGN SURGEON the following, from the _Institutiones Medicae caet. digestae_, ab Herm. Boerhaave (Vienna, 1775), p. 382.:

"Unde tamen mors senilis per has mutationes accidit inevitabilis, et ex
ipsa sanitate sequens."

And from Ph. Ambr. Marhesz, Praelectiones in H. Boerh., _Inst. Med._ (Vienna, 1785), vol. iii. p. 44.:

"Tum vivere cessat decripitus senex, sine morbo in mortem transiens,
nisi senectutis vitium ineluctabile pro morbo habeas."

See also s. 475. Possibly the required passage may be found in Burton's _Account of the Life, &c. of Dr. Boerhaave_ (London, 1743). Allow me, however, to quote the following from a discourse of Joannes Oosterdijk Schacht (Boerhaave's cotemporary), delivered by him September 12, 1729, when he entered on the professorship at Utrecht. From this it will appear that the words ascribed to Boerhaave may be attributed to other learned men:

"Nemini igitur mirum videatur, si innumeris stipata malis superveniat
senectus, quam nec solam nec morbis tantum comitatam obrepere, sed
ipsam morbum esse, et olim vidit vetustas, et hodierna abunde docet
experientia."--Joann. Oosterdijk Schacht, _Oratio Inauguralis caet._
(Traj. ad Rhenum, 1729).

From the _Navorscher_.