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 eximiè 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 Gueldriâ 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.

10. London Pride or Tufts (Armeria prolifera). "Sic dict. quia flores propter pulchritudinem Londini valdè expetuntur." (?)

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

12. Mill Mountain, or Purge Flax (Linum sylvestre catharticum, or Chamælinum). "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. Calendulæ). "A colore aureo." Wild or Corn Marigold. "Q. d. aurum Mariæ, 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 exactè referunt."

19. Mercury Goose-foot. Probably a goose-foot resembling Mercury (Mercurialis), a herb concerning which Skinner doubts, but suggests, "Quia Mercurio, ut ceteræ omnes plantæ 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 behófian. "Herba πάγχρηστος, ad multos usus efficacissima."

Herb Ambrose has a Greek origin, ἄμβροτος, 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 κάλαθος.

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

Blood Strange; properly, String. To stanch.

Bertram. A corruption of πύρεθρον (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 στοιχὰς, στοιχάδος, Stœchas; 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, pharmacopœia by Wm. Salmon, date 1693, I find some 414 pages devoted to their uses. This pharmacopœia, 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 hæmorrhage of the nose, and other fluxes of the bowels. The leaves, of which ʒj. 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 Chamædrys 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 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 ʒj. The decoction, in wine, stops spitting of blood, dose ʒss to ʒjss. The saline tincture opens all obstructions of the viscera, dose ʒj to ʒiij.

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 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:

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

"Villæ Burghesiæ Pincianæ Custos hæc edico. Quisquis es, si liber legum compedes ne hic timeas. Ite quo voles, carpite quæ voles, Abite quando voles. Exteris magis hæc parantur quam hero. In aureo sæculo ubi cuncta aurea temporum securitas fecit bene morato: Hospiti ferreas leges præfigere 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 amicitiæ 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 troisième monastère fondé par les parens de St. Leon est l'Abbaye de Volfenheim, à deux lieues de Colmar, vers le Midi, et à deux lieues environs d'Egesheim, château des Comtes de Dasbourg, aujourd'hui (1745) inhabité, mais bien remarquable par ces vastes ruines, sur le sommet des montagnes qui dominent sur l'Alsace.

"Volfenheim étoit un village considérable, à une lieue et demi de Colmar. On voie encore aujourd'hui à une demi lieue de Sainte Croix dans les champs, l'église qui lui servoit autrefois de paroisse. L'abbaye étoit à quelque distance de là, au lieu où est aujourd'hui le bourg de Sainte Croix.

"Volfenheim ayant étoit [Quære, été] ruiné par les guerres, les habitans se sont insensiblement établis autour de l'abbaye, ce qui a formé un bon bourg, connu sous le nom de Sainte Croix; parceque l'abbaye étoit consacrée sous cette invocation. Le Pape Leon IX., dans la Bulle qu'il donna à ce monastère la première année de son pontificat, de J. C. 1049, nous apprend qu'il avoit été fondé par son père Hughes et sa mère Heilioilgdis, et ses frères Gerard et Hugues, qui étoient déjà décédés; il ajoûte que ce lieu lui étoit tombé par droit de succession; il le met sous la protection spéciale du Saint Siége, en sorte que nulle personne, de quelque qualité qu'elle soit, n'y exerce aucune autorité, mais qu'il jouisse d'une pleine liberté, et que l'abbesse et les religieuses puissent employer quelque evêque ils jugeroient apropos pour les bénédictions d'autels, et autres fonctions qui regardent le ministère épiscopal: que son neveu, le Comte Henri Seigneur d'Egesheim, en soit la voue, et après lui, l'aîné des Seigneurs d'Egesheim à perpétuité.

"Que si cette race vient à manquer, l'abbesse et le couvent choisiront quelque autre de la parenté de ces seigneurs, afin que l'avocatie ne soit pas de leur race, et qu'après la mort de Kuentza, qui en étoit abbesse, et à qui le Pape avoit donné la bénédiction abbatiale, les religieuses choisissent de leur communauté, ou d'ailleurs, celle qui leur paroîtra la plus propre, reservant toujours au Pape le droit de la bénir. Et en reconnaissance d'un privilège si singulier, l'abbesse donnera tous les ans au Saint Siége une Rose d'Or du poids de deux onces Romaines. Elle l'envoyera toute faite, ou en envoyera la matière préparée, de telle sorte qu'elle soit rendue au Pape huit jours auparavant qu'il la porte, c'est-à-dire, le Dimanche de Carême, où l'on chante à l'Introite, 'Oculi mei semper ad Dominum;' afin qu'il puisse bénir au Dimanche 'Lætare,' qui est le quatrième du Carême. Telle est l'origine de la Rose d'Or, que le Pape bénit encore aujourd'hui le quatrième Dimanche de Carême, nommé 'Lætare,' et qu'il envoye à quelque prince pour marque d'estime et de bienveillance. Ce jour-là, la station se fait à Sainte Croix de Jérusalem. Le Pape, accompagné des cardinaux, vetûs de couleur de rose, marche en cavalcade à l'eglise, tenant la Rose d'Or à la main. Il la porte, allant à l'autel, chargé de baume et de mare. Il la quitte au 'Confiteor,' et la reprend après 'l'Introite.' Il en fait la Bénédiction, et après l'Evangile, il monte en chaise et explique les propriétés de la rose. Après la Messe il retourne en cavalcade à son palais, ayant toujours la Rose en main et la couronne sur la tête. On appelle ce Dimanche 'Pascha rosata,' ou 'Lætare.'

"Nous avons encore un sermon du Pape Innocent III., composé en cette occasion, an commencement du treizième siècle. Le Pape Nicholas IV., en 1290, dans le dénombrement qu'il fait des églises qui doivent des redevances à l'église de Rome, met le monastère de Sainte Croix, diocèse de Basle, qui doit deux onces d'or pour la Rose d'Or, qui se bénit au Dimanche Lætere, Jérusalem."

P. P. P.

NOTES ON SERPENTS.

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

"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:

"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 Cyclopædia.

"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."

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 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 unprejudiced mind. Lord Bacon's explanation shows that he has been overreached by his fancy and ingenuity.

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.

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 République des Lettres for September, 1686, p. 1016. It is taken from a letter of Mons. Laurenti, médecin, of Boulogne, "Sur l'érection des espèces dans une chambre optique."

"C'est ainsi qu'on nomme one chambre exactement fermée partout, si ce n'est dans un endroit par où on laisse entrer la lumière, afin de voir peints, et situés à rebours, sur un morceau de papier blanc, les objets de dehors qui respondent à ce trou, auquel il faut mettre un verre convexe. On a souhaité, pour donner plus d'agrément à ce spectacle, que les objets se peignissent sur ce papier selon leur véritable situation; et pour cet effet on a cherché des expédiens qui redressassent les espèces avant qu'elles parvinssent au foier du verre, c'est-à-dire, sur le papier. L'auteur raporte '10' de ces expédiens, et trouve dans chacun d'eux quelque chose d'incommode, mais enfin il en raporte un autre, qui est exempt de toutes ces incommoditéz, 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 même la vivacité de leurs couleurs. C'est le hazard qui a découvert ce phénomène."

This letter is to be found at length in the Miscellanea Curiosa, sive Ephemeridum Medico-Physicarum Germanicarum Academiæ Naturæ curiosorum decuria II. annus quartus, anni 1685 continens celeberrimorum Virorum observationes medicas: Norimbergæ, 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 formulæ, 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?

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—

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—

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.