Replies.

THE SONGS OF DEGREES.

(Vol. ix., p. 121.)

Too much pains cannot be expended on the elucidation of the internal structure of the Psalms. In this laudable endeavour, your correspondent T. J. Buckton has, as I conceive, fallen into an error. He assumes that those Psalms which are entitled "Songs of Degrees" were appropriated for the domestic use rather than the public services of the Jews. I cannot consider that the allusions to external objects which he enumerates could affect the argument; for, on the other hand, we find mention of the House of the Lord (cxxii. 1. 9., cxxvii. 1., cxxxii. 3. 7., cxxxiv. 1.); the sanctuary (cxxxiv. 2.); the priests (cxxxii. 9.); and the singers (cxxxiv. 1.), who attended by night as well as by day (1 Chron. ix. 33.): allusions which would sufficiently warrant these Psalms being considered as connected with the temple worship.

The name Shir Hammachaloth, "Song of Ascents," prefixed to these fifteen Psalms, has given rise to much controversy. The different opinions as to the import of this title may be thus stated: 1. The ancients understood it to relate to the steps of the temple: of this supposition I shall speak hereafter. 2. Luther, whom Tholuck is inclined to follow, renders it a song in the higher choir: intimating that they should be sung from an elevated position, or, as Patrick says, "in an elevated voice." 3. Junius and Tremellius would translate it "Song of Excellences," or "Excellent Song." 4. Gesenius with De Wette, considers that this name refers to a particular rhythm, in which the sense ascends in a rhythming gradation; but as this barely appears in one Psalm (cxxi.), the facts will scarcely support the hypothesis. 5. The more modern opinion is, that (notwithstanding four of them being composed by David, and one by Solomon) it signifies "Song of the Ascents" αναβασις or "Pilgrims' Song," being composed for or sung by the people during their journeys to Jerusalem, whether on their return from the Babylonian captivity, or as they statedly repaired to their national solemnities.

The first of these hypotheses, though in least repute, I am inclined to prefer.

The title in Chaldee is "A Song sung upon the Steps of the Abyss;" the Septuagint superscription "Ὠδὴ τῶν ἀναβαθμῶν;" and the Vulgate, carmen graduum, "Song of the Steps." In accordance with which the Jewish writers state, that these Psalms were sung on fifteen steps leading from the Atrium Israelis to the court of the women. In the apocryphal book of the "Birth of Mary," translated by Archbishop Wake, which is to be found in the works of St. Jerome, and which is attributed to St. Matthew, there is an account of a miracle in the early history of the Virgin Mary, in which it is said (ch. iv.):

"2. And there were about the temple, according to the fifteen Psalms of Degrees, fifteen stairs to ascend.

"3. For the temple being built in a mountain, the altar of burnt-offering, which was without, could not be come near but by stairs."

It goes on to state how the infant Mary miraculously walked up these stairs. In the account of the same miracle, in the Protevangelion, ascribed to St. James, it is related (ch. vii.) how the priest—

"5. ... placed her (the infant) upon the third step of the altar."

From this comparison it would appear, that the "stairs about the temple" were synonymous with the "steps of the altar."

I would therefore suggest, for the consideration of those better acquainted with the subject, that these Psalms were adapted to be sung (not on the steps, as some think, but) as a kind of introit while the priests ascended the steps of the altar.

To show their adaptation for this purpose, it may be worth remarking, that they are all, except cxxxii., introits in the first Prayer Book of Edward VI.

J. R. G.

Dublin.

AMERICAN POEMS IMPUTED TO ENGLISH AUTHORS.

(Vol. viii., pp. 71. 183.)

The southern part of the U. S. seems to make as free with the reputations of English authors, as the northern with their copyright. The name of the South Carolina newspaper, which, with so much confirmatory evidence, ascribed The Calm to Shelley, is not given. If it was the Southern Literary Messenger, the editor has been at it again. The following began to appear in the English papers about Christmas last, and is still "going the round:"

"The Sorrows of Werther.—The Southern Literary Messenger (U. S.) for the present month contains, in 'The Editor's Table,' the following comic poem of Thackeray's; written, we are told, 'one morning last spring in the Messenger office,' during a call made by the author:—

I believe that Mr. Thackeray knows the value of his writings and his time too well to whittle at verses in the Messenger office, and leave his chips on the floor; and that he is too observant of the laws of fair wit to make a falsification and call it a burlesque. The Sorrows of Werther is not so popular as when known here chiefly by a wretched version of a wretched French version, and many who read these stanzas will be satisfied that the last conveys, at worst, a distorted notion of the end of Göthe's story. To prevent this misapprehension, I quote from Mr. Boylan's translation all that is told of Charlotte after Werther's suicide:

"The servant ran for a surgeon, and then went to fetch Albert. Charlotte heard the ringing of the bell; a cold shudder seized her. She wakened her husband, and they both rose. The servant, bathed in tears, faltered forth the dreadful news. Charlotte fell senseless at Albert's feet.

. . . . . . .

"The steward and his sons followed the corpse to the grave. Albert was unable to accompany them. Charlotte's life was despaired of."

Perhaps "despaired of" is too strong a word for "man fürchtete für Lottens Leben;" but there is no peg on which to hang the poor joke of the last stanza.

H. B. C.

U. U. Club.

"FEATHER IN YOUR CAP."

(Vol. ix., p. 220.)

In reply to Mr. Gatty's question, I beg to state that the Indian wears an eagle's feather for every enemy he has slain. I have seen a boy of fifteen thus decorated, and was assured that it had been lawfully won.

The feather is usually stuck into the hinder part of the turban, or head-dress, and either projects straight out, or hangs down the back. This is exactly the fashion in which the Chinese wear the peacock's feather; and it also is a mark of distinction for warriors, a military institution similar to our knighthood, or, perhaps, what knighthood once was. (See De Guignes and Barrow, &c.) I think M‘Kenzie speaks of the eagle's feather, but cannot quote just now. According to Elphinstone, the "Caufirs of Caubul" (Siah-posh?) stick a long feather in their turbans for every Mussulman they have slain.

The similarity of style in wearing their feathers, and, above all, the coincidence of both being the reward of merit, induces a belief that in times long gone by a relationship may have existed between the Chinese and the American; a belief that is strengthened by other and more curious testimony than even this.

The head-dress, or coronet of upright feathers, to which Mr. Gatty seems to allude, I have never heard of, as associated with warlike deeds. The coronet of feathers, moreover, does not appear to have been peculiar to America. In the Athenæum for 1844 is given the representation of a naval engagement, in which one party of the combatants "wear head-dresses of feathers, such as are described in ancient Hindu records, and such as the Indian Caciques wore when America was discovered by Columbus," &c. (p. 172.). Moreover, "the Lycians had caps adorned with crests, stuck round with feathers," &c. (Meyrick's Ancient Armour, &c., vol. i. p. xviii.) We may suppose this to have resembled the coiffure of the Mexican and other North American tribes.

Mr. Rankin says the Peruvian Incas wore, as a distinction, two plumes on the front of the head, similar to those represented in the portraits of Tamerlane. (See Conquest by the Mogols, &c., p. 175.) I have seen, among the Wyandots of Sandusky, heads which one might suppose had been the originals of the portraits given in his plate: turban made of gaudy-coloured silk, with two short thick feathers stuck upright in front; the one red, the other white tipped with blue, the great desideratum being to have them of different colours, as strongly contrasted as possible.

The Kalmucs, when they celebrate any great festival, always wear coloured owls' feathers in their caps, &c. (See Strahlenburg, 4to., p. 434.) The Dacotas also wear owls' feathers. (See Long's Expedition to Rocky Mountains, vol. i. p. 161.) The Usbeck Tartar chiefs wore (perhaps do wear) plumes of herons' feathers in their turbans; and the herons' plume of the Ottoman sultan is only a remnant of the costume in which their ancestors descended from Central Asia.

A. C. M.

Exeter.

PERSPECTIVE.

(Vol. ix., p. 300.)

Your correspondent Mr. G. T. Hoare is rather bold in describing the case he does as a "very common error;" and I cannot agree with him that the façade of Sennacherib's Palace (Layard's 2nd book on Nineveh) is an instance of the kind. The theory that horizontal lines in the plane of the picture should converge to a point on the horizontal line right and left of the visual ray, is by no means new; in truth, every line according to this view must form the segment of a circle more or less, according to circumstances. Apply this principle to the vertical lines of a tower or lofty building, and every such structure must be represented diminished at the top, the vertical lines converging to a vanishing point in the sky.

Some years since, this theory was brought forward by Mr. Parsey, and the subject fully discussed at scientific meetings. There was much ingenuity in the arguments employed, but the illustrations were so unsatisfactory that the system has never gained ground. The principles of perspective are most ably exemplified in many well-known works, as they set forth very satisfactory modes of delineation. The limits of your periodical prevent a fuller correspondence on this subject, or I think it would not be difficult to satisfy Mr. Hoare that there are great difficulties attending his proposition.

No recent discoveries in the art of perspective have tended to more truthful representations than those produced by the recognised systems usually adopted. The method of showing the internal courts, &c. of large groups of buildings by isometrical perspective, although very useful for developing architects' and engineers' projects, is not a system that will bear the test of close examination.

Benj. Ferrey.

G. T. Hoare is quite right in saying "that every line above or below the line of the horizon, though really parallel to it, apparently approaches it, as it is produced to the right or left." But he seems to forget that the same holds good in the picture as in the original landscape, the part opposite the eye being nearer to it than the margin of the paper. To produce the same effect with converging lines, the drawing must be made to assume the form of a segment of a circle, the eye being placed in the centre.

John P. Stilwell.

Dorking.

I must beg leave to differ most decidedly with Mr. G. T. Hoare on this point. If it is in accordance with the principles of perspective that, supposing the eye and the picture in their true positions in relation to each other and to the objects represented, every line drawn from the eye to any point of a real object will pass through its corresponding point in the picture, then the supposed wall will form the base of a pyramid, of which the eye will be the apex, and the representation of the wall in the picture a section parallel to the base, and consequently mathematically similar to the base itself. It is perfectly true, as Mr. Hoare says, "that every line above or below the line of the horizon, though really parallel to it, apparently approaches it, as it is produced to the right or left." But he forgets that this fact applies to the picture as well as to the object. In fact, the picture is an object, and the parallel lines in it representing the wall must have the same apparent tendency to one another as those in the wall itself.

Ἁλιεύς

Dublin.

I am glad Mr. G. T. Hoare has called attention to the defective state of the art of perspective. His remarks, however, are too narrow. The fact is, that any two parallel straight lines appear to converge at one or both ends, and one or both lines assume a curvilinear shape. For a notable example, the vertical section of the Duke of York's column in Waterloo Place, from all points of view, appears to bulge at the point of sight, and to taper upwards by a curvilinear convergence of the sides.

C. Mansfield Ingleby.

LORD FAIRFAX.

(Vol. ix., p. 10.)

The following is all the information which I have been able to collect respecting the present possessor of the title of Fairfax of Cameron, in answer to the third Query of W. H. M. It gives me pleasure to communicate it.

The Lords Fairfax have been for several generations natives of the United States. The present possessor of the title is not so called, but is known as Mr. Fairfax. He resides at present in Suter County, California. His Christian names are George William.

The gentleman who bore the title at the commencement of the present century, was a zealous member of the republican (now called democratic) party.

The Fairfax family, at one time, owned all that portion of Virginia called the Northern Neck, lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers.

So much for the third Query. I beg leave to add a few remarks suggested by the fifth.

The citizens of the United States are not called subjects of the United States, and for the same reason that your excellent Queen is not called a subject of Great Britain. Native citizens take no oath of citizenship, expressly or impliedly, whatever the latter word may mean. Foreigners, who become naturalised, do not renounce allegiance to the sovereign of Great Britain more "pointedly" than to any other sovereign. Every one renounces his allegiance to the potentate or power under whose sway he was born: the Englishman to the King (or Queen) of Great Britain, the Chinese to the Emperor of China, the Swiss to the republic of Switzerland, and so of others.

W. H. M. says that the existence of the peers of Scotland "is denial of the first proposition in the constitution of" the United States. If W. H. M. will turn to this constitution, he will find that he has confounded the Declaration of Independence with it.

Foreigners, on becoming naturalised, have to renounce their titles of nobility; but I know of nothing to prevent a native American citizen from being called Lord, as well as Mr. or Esq. As above mentioned, a Lord Fairfax was so called twenty-six years after our Independence; and Lord Stirling, who was a Major-General in the American army of the Revolution, was always so styled by his cotemporaries, and addressed by them as "My Lord" and "Your Lordship."

Some farther information upon this subject has been promised to me.

Uneda.

Philadelphia.

If W. H. M. desires particular information concerning the Fairfax family in Virginia, it will give me pleasure to send him Notes from Sparks' Washington, Virginia, its History and Antiquities, &c.; amongst which is a picture of "Greenway Court Manor House." I now give only an extract from Washington to Sir John Sinclair (Sparks, vol. xii. pp. 327, 328.), which answers in part W. H. M.'s third Query:

"Within full view of Mount Vernon, separated therefrom by water only, is one of the most beautiful seats on the river for sale, but of greater magnitude than you seem to have contemplated. It is called Belvoir, and belonged to George Wm Fairfax; who, were he now living, would be Baron of Cameron, as his younger brother in this country (George Wm. dying without issue) at present is, though he does not take upon himself the title. This seat was the residence of the above-named gentleman before he went to England ... At present it belongs to Thomas Fairfax, son of Bryan Fairfax: the gentleman who will not, as I said before, take upon himself the title of Baron of Cameron."

T. Balch.

Philadelphia.

I cannot but deem your correspondents W. W. and H. G. in error when they consider that the name of Baron Fairfax ought not to be retained in the Peerage. The able heraldic editors of the Peerages are likely to be better versed in such matters than to have perpetrated and perpetuated so frequently the blunder; or what is to be said of Sir Bernard Burke's elevation to be a king of arms? Not to omit the instance of the Earl of Athlone, who, though a natural-born subject of a foreign realm, in 1795 took his seat in the House of Lords in Ireland (a case which H. G. wants explained), we have a more recent instance in the case of the present King of Hanover, a foreign potentate, who is Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale by inheritance, in our peerage, and whose coronation oath (of allegiance?) must be quite incompatible with the condition of a subject in another state. I confess I should like to see this explained, as well as the position of those (amongst whom, however, Lord Fairfax now ranks) who, while strictly mere subjects and citizens of their own state, may have had conferred upon themselves, or inherit, titles of dignity and privilege in a foreign one. We usually (as in the case of the Rothschilds, &c.) acknowledge their highest title in address, but without any adjective or epithets to qualify with honor, such as "honorable;" as is the case, too, with doctors of foreign universities, whose title from courtesy we also admit, though this does not place them on a footing with those of England. The present Duke of Wellington and the Earl Nelson inherit, I believe, titles of dignity in foreign lands, though natural-born subjects of this realm; and there can hardly be a doubt that Lord Fairfax inherits correctly his British barony, though, whenever he may exercise for the first time a legal vote, he may have to exhibit proof of his being the very heir and person qualified, merely because born and resident in a foreign state; the same as would in such case doubtless occur with regard to the other noble persons I have referred to.

A Fairfax Kinsman.

Nantcribba Hall, N.W.

The followings entry in T. Kerslake's catalogue, The Bristol Bibliographer, seems worth notice:

E. M.

Hastings.

"CONSILIUM DELECTORUM CARDINALIUM."

(Vol. ix., pp. 127. 252.)

I have before me a copy of this very interesting document, together with an Epistole Joannis Sturmii de eadem re, ad Cardinales cæterosque viros ad eam Consultationem delectos, printed at Strasburg ("ex officina Cratonis Mylii Argentoraten.") A.D. 1538. The report of the Committee had reached Sturmius in the month of March, 1537-8; and his critique, addressed especially to Contarini, bears the date "tertio Non. Aprilis." As it is a somewhat scarce pamphlet, two or three extracts may not be unacceptable to the readers of "N. & Q."

"Rara res est et præter omnium opinionem oblata occasio, pontificem datum orbi talem, qui jurejurando fidem suorum sibi ad patefaciendam veritatem astrinxerit, ut si quid secus statuatis quam religio desideret vobis ea culpa non pontifici præstanda videatur."—C. 2.

"At si diligenter et cum fide agatis, vestra virtute, florentem Christi rempublicam conspiciamus; si negligenter et cupide, ut cujus rei adhuc reliquiæ nonnullæ supersunt, illæ continuo ita tollantur, simul ac calumniari ac male agere ceperitis, ut ne vestigia quidem ullius sanctitatis apud vestras quidem partes posteris nostris appareant."—C. 4.

He then passes to other topics, where he has to deplore the little sympathy evinced by the Cardinals for Luther and his party, e.g. on the subject of indulgences:

"Quid de illa ratione quam pœnitentibus præscribitis, nonne falsa, nonne perversa, nonne ad quæstum magis et ad tyrannidem quam ad vitæ emendationem, et correctionem spectans? Et qui remedia contra hos morbos quærunt, eos vos ea ecclesia ejiciendos putatis, et condemnatis hæreseos, qui restituere pristinam puritatem religioni conantur; eos illam tollere, qui ceremonias purgare, eos perflegare qui auctoritatem ecclesiasticam recuperare atque confirmare, eos imminuere et labefactare clamatis."—D. 4.

Charles Hardwick.

Mr. Woodward has no doubt frequently met, in Protestant authors, with the quotation from this supposed Bologna Council (Consilium being taken for Concilium), recommending that as little as possible of the Scriptures should be suffered to come abroad among the vulgar, that having proved the grand source of the present calamities. Now the very air of this passage, and of course of many others rather less disguised, is of itself sufficient to prove that this Bologna Council is a piece of banter; the workmanship, in fact, of Peter Paul Vergerio. Would any real adherent of Rome so express himself? "N.& Q." (Vol. ix., p. 111.) supplies a ready answer, in the communication from F. C. H. on the so-called Catholic Bible Society.

Would a real adherent of the Papal Church again express himself in the following unimpassioned manner?

"Nam Apostolorum temporibus (ut verum tibi fateamur, sed silentio opus est) vel aliquot annis post ipsos Apostolos, nulla vel Papatus, vel Cardinalatus mentio erat, nec amplissimos illos reditus Episcopatuum et Sacerdotiorum fuisse constat, nec templa tantis sumptibus extruebantur, &c.: æstimet ergo tua sanctitas quam male nobiscum ageretur, si nostro aliquo fato in pristinam paupertatem humilitatem et miseram illam servitutem ac potestatem alienam redigendi essemus!"

Again:

"Deinde ubi Episcopi Sacerdotum palmas tantum inungunt, jube illos internam atque externam manum, ad hæc caput ipsum et simul totam faciem perungere. Nam si tantulum illud oleum sanctificandi vim habet, major certe olei quantitas majorem quoque sanctificandi vim obtinebit."

To be sure! Who can doubt it?

Mr. Woodward will, I apprehend, readily agree that these sentences come from no one connected with the Roman Church. And they are quoted in the hope that Protestants will cease to cite this supposed Bologna Council as any valid or genuine testimony to Romish proceedings and sentiments.

Novus.

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Mounting Positives.—If the print and the mounting paper, or Bristol board, are both made equally damp, and the back of the picture covered with thin paste, they adhere without any unevenness; and if the print is on the fine Canson's paper, the appearance is that of an India proof. They should remain until perfectly dry in a press.

H. W. Diamond.

Mounting of Photographs, and Difficulties in the Wax-paper Process.—May I request a little additional information from your correspondent Seleucus, Vol. ix., p. 310., respecting the mounting of photographs? Does he mean merely the painting the edges, or the smearing of the photograph all over its back with the Indian-rubber glue, prior to sticking the proof on the cardboard? If the former, which I apprehend he does, Seleucus will necessarily have the unsightly appearance of the picture's buckling up in the middle on the board being bent forward and backward in different directions? May I take the liberty of asking him in what respect the plan proposed is superior to that of painting over the edges with mucilage of gum arabic, containing a little brown sugar to prevent its cracking, allowing it to dry, and prior to the placing it on the card, slightly moistening it; a plan superior to that of putting it on the board at first, as all risk of a portion of the gum oozing out at the edges is thereby avoided.

I have long been in the habit of mounting prints and photographs in a way which prevents their buckling, keeps the paper underneath quite smooth, and in other respects is so perfect, that it positively defies the distinguishing of the picture from the paper on which it is mounted. I am not certain that my plan is applicable to the mounting on card-board, as it cannot be wetted and stretched, thinking it useless to make use of such a costly material when a tolerably thick drawing-paper will more than serve the same purpose at a very considerably less expense, seeing that the photograph thus mounted bears a much closer resemblance to that of a good and costly print. A good plain or tinted sheet of drawing-paper, 30 inches by 22, may be obtained at the artists' colour shops for sixpence, sufficiently large for two drawings, 9 inches by 11, allowing a sufficient margin.

After various trials, the plan I have found decidedly the best is the following:—Soak the drawing-paper in a vessel of water for ten minutes, or until it appears by its flaccidity to have become perfectly saturated; put it at once into an artist's stretching frame, brush over the back of the photograph with rather thin and perfectly smooth paste, allow it a few minutes to imbibe a portion of the moisture of the paste, and then lay it smoothly down on the damp paper now on the stretching frame, of course carefully pressing out all air bubbles as you gradually, beginning at one side, smooth down the pasted picture. It should remain in a dry place (not placed before a fire) until the whole has become quite dry, about ten or twelve hours. It may then be taken out of the frame, cut to the desired shape, and a single or double line nicely drawn around the picture, at a distance suitable to each individual's taste, by the help of sepia-coloured ink and a crowquill pen, both of which may also be bought at the artists' colour shop. Should it be required to be still more nicely mounted, and to appear to have been one and the same paper originally, the back edges of the picture should, previous to laying on the paste, be rubbed down to a fine and knife-like edge with a piece of the finest sand-paper placed on a wine cork, or substance of a similar size. The drawing-paper should be of the same shade and tint as the ground of the photograph.

A novice in the wax-paper process (having heretofore worked the collodion and calotype, from its very desirable property of keeping long good after being excited, i. e. the wax paper), I am very desirous of getting over an unexpected difficulty in its manipulation; and if some one of the many liberal-minded contributors to your justly wide-spread periodical, well versed in that department of the art, would lend me a helping hand in my present difficulty, I should feel more than obliged for the kindness thereby conferred.

My wax-paper negative, much to my disappointment, occasionally exhibits, more or less, a speckled appearance by transmitted light, which frequently, in deep painting, impresses the positive with an unsightly spotted character, somewhat similar to that of a bad lithograph taken from a worn-out stone. I should wish my wax-paper negative to be similar in appearance to that of a good calotype one, or to show by transmitted light, as my vexatious specimen does when viewed on its right side by reflected light. As the most lucid description must fall far short of a sight of the article itself, I purpose enclosing you a specimen of my failure, a portion of one of the negatives in question. Would immersion, instead of floating on the gallo-nitrate solution, remedy the evil? Or should the impressed sheet be entirely immersed in the developing fluid in place of being floated? And if in the affirmative, of what strength should it be? I have thus far tried both plans in vain.

Henry H. Hele.

[The defects described by our correspondent are so frequent with manipulators in the wax-paper process, and which Dr. Mansell has called so aptly a "gravelly appearance," that we shall be glad to receive communications from those of our numerous correspondents who are so fortunate as to avoid it.]

The New Waxed-paper, or Céroléine Process.—The following process, communicated to the French paper Cosmos by M. Stephane Geoffroy, and copied into La Lumière, appears to possess many of the advantages of the wax-paper, while it gets rid of those blemishes of which so many complain. I have therefore thought it deserving the attention of English photographers, and so send a translation of it to '"N. & Q." As I have preserved the French measures—the litre and the gramme—I may remind those who think proper to repeat M. Geoffroy's experiments, that the former is equal to about 2 pints and 2 ounces of our measure; and that the gramme is equal to 15.438 grains, nearly 15½.

Anon.

I send you a complete description of a method for either wet or dry paper, which has many advantages over that of Mr. Le Gray.

I assure you it is excellent; and its results are always produced in a manner so easy, so simple, and so certain, that I think I am doing great service to photographers in publishing it.

1st. I introduce 500 grammes of yellow or white wax into 1 litre of spirits of wine, of the strength usually sold, in a glass retort. I boil the alcohol till the wax is completely dissolved (first taking care to place at the end of my retort an apparatus, by means of which I can collect all the produce of the distillation). I pour into a measure the mixture which remains in the retort while liquid; while it is getting cool, the myricine and the cerine harden or solidify, and the céroléine remains alone in solution in the alcohol. I separate this liquid by straining it through fine linen; and by a last operation, I filter it through a paper in a glass funnel, after having mixed with it the alcohol resulting the distillation. I keep in reserve this liquor in a stopper-bottle, and make use of it as I want it, after having mixed it in the following manner.

2nd. Next I dissolve, in 150 grammes of alcohol, of 36 degrees of strength, 20 grammes of iodide of ammonium (or, of potassium), 1 gramme of bromide of ammonium or potassium, 1 gramme of fluoride of potassium or ammonium.

I then pour, drop by drop, upon about 1 gramme of fresh-made iodide of silver a concentrated solution of cyanide of potassium, only just sufficient to dissolve it.

I add this dissolved iodide of silver to the preceding mixture, and shake it up: there remains, as a sediment at the bottom of the bottle, a considerable thickness of all the above salts, which serve to saturate the alcohol by which I replace successively the saturated which I have extracted by degrees in the proportions below.

3rd. Having these two bottles ready, when I wish to prepare negatives, I take about 200 grammes of the solution No. 1. of céroléine and alcohol, with which I mix 20 grammes of the solution No. 2.; I filter the mixture with care, to avoid the crystals which are not dissolved, which always soil the paper; and in a porcelain tray I make a bath, into which I lay to soak for about a quarter of an hour the papers selected and cut, five or six at a time, till the liquor is exhausted. Taken out, hung up by the corner, and dried, these papers, which have taken a uniform rosy tint, are shut up free from dust, and kept dry. With regard to the sensitizing by nitrate of silver, the bringing out of the image under the action of gallic acid, and fixing the proof by hyposulphite of soda, I follow the usual methods, most frequently that of Mr. Le Gray.

I add only, if I have any dissolved, 1 or 2 grammes of camphorated spirits to 1 litre of the solution of gallic acid.

Allow me, Sir, to say a few words on the great advantages I have always remarked in preparing my negatives by this method.

All those who use papers waxed by Mr. Le Gray's process, know how many, how tedious, and how difficult are the operations before the sensitizing by nitrate of silver. They know too how much care is necessary to obtain papers uniformly prepared and without spots, in the midst of such long operations, in which there are so many opportunities for accidents. In fact, one must be always upon one's guard against the impurities of the wax obtained from the shop; against the dust during the impregnation of the paper; and, while using the iron, against the over-heating of the latter, and against the bad quality of the paper used to blot.

Photographers know also how much wax they lose by this process, and how much it costs for the quantities of paper necessary to dry it properly. They know likewise how difficult and tedious it is to soak a waxed paper which has been previously in a watery solution. On the contrary, by the method I have described, the iodizing and the waxing is done by one single, simple, and rapid process; the saturation is, as may be conceived, very uniform, and very complete, thanks to the power of penetration possessed by the alcohol; and that marbled appearance of the ordinary waxed proofs, which is so annoying, cannot be produced by this method, thanks to the character of the céroléine: this body is, in fact, of a remarkable elasticity.

The solution of céroléine in the alcohol is more easy to prepare, and comparatively costs little; and the remains of stearine and of myricine can either be sold again, or, in any case, may be used to wax fixed proofs.

The solution of which I have given you the formula, is photogenic to a very high degree; in fact, used with papers, either thin or stout, it gives, after the first bath of gallic acid, blacks of an intensity truly remarkable; which it is impossible to obtain to the same degree with Le Gray's paper, and which other papers scarcely take after having been done a second time with the acetic acid, or the bichloride of mercury. At the same time, it preserves the lights and the half-tones in a way that surprises me upon each new trial (I have not yet been able to obtain one clear proof by gallic acid, with the addition of nitrate of silver). The transparency of the proofs is always admirable, and the clearness of the object yields in nothing to that of the proofs obtained by albumen.

The paper, prepared in the manner I have described, is also very quick as compared with Le Gray's paper—at least one fourth quicker; and preserves its perfect sensitiveness in the same proportion of time, three days in twelve. Thus, it is at the same time quicker and less variable. This comparative rapidity may be very well understood, by remembering that the céroléine is an element much softer than its compound; and possesses a photogenic aptness which is peculiar to itself, which science will, no doubt, soon explain.

To succeed in the preparation of the céroléine, it is important to work with wax of the best quality; this is not easy in Paris, where they sell, under the name of wax, a resinous matter which is only wax in appearance. It will be well to observe, with the greatest care, the smell and the look of a fresh cut.

[This article reached us after our preceding note was in type. We shall be glad to hear from any correspondents who have tried this process how far they find it to be one deserving of attention.]

Replies to Minor Queries.

Origin of Clubs (Vol. ix., p. 327.).—Johnson's definition of club, as "an assembly of good fellows, meeting under certain conditions," will apply to a meeting held two centuries earlier than that established by Sir Walter Raleigh at the Mermaid, in Friday Street. In the reign of Henry IV., there was a Club called "La Court de bone Compagnie," of which Occleve was a member, and probably Chaucer. In the works of the former are two ballads, written about 1413, one a congratulation from the brethren to Henry Somer, on his appointment as Sub-Treasurer of the Exchequer; and the other a reminder to the same person, that the "styward" had warned him that he was—

That there were certain conditions to be observed by this Society, appears from the latter epistle, which commences with an answer to a letter of remonstrance the "Court" has received from Henry Somer against some undue extravagance, and a breach of their rules. They were evidently a jovial company; and such a history as could be collected of these Societies would be both interesting and curious. We have proof that Henry Somer received Chaucer's pension for him.

Edward Foss.

Dr. Whichcote and Dorothy Jordan (Vol. ix., p. 351.).—The sentence which Mr. Leigh Hunt couples with Mrs. Jordan's laugh, as among the best sermons he ever heard, your correspondent Ξανθος will find in the collection of Moral and Religious Aphorisms of Dr. Whichcote, first published by Dr. Jeffery in 1703, and which were re-published by Dr. Salter in 1753. It is to the following effect:

"Aph. 1060. To lessen the number of things lawful in themselves; brings the consciences of men in[to] slavery, multiplies sin in the world, makes the way narrower than God has made it, occasions differences among men, discourages comers to religion, rebuilds the partition wall, is an usurpation upon the family of God, challenges successive ages backward and forward, assigns new boundaries in the world, takes away the opportunity of free-will offerings."

It is possible that Mr. Leigh Hunt may have found it in the little Manual of Golden Sentences, published by the Rev. John Hunter, Bath, 1826, 12mo., where it occurs at p. 64., No. xlvi.

With respect to Dorothy Jordan's laugh, to those of your readers who, like myself, have heard it, and treasure it among their joyous remembrances, no comment will be wanting.

S. W. Singer.

"Paid down upon the Nail" (Vol. ix., p. 196.).—Your correspondent Abhba mentions Limerick, on the authority of O'Keefe the dramatist, as the place where this saying originated; from the fact of a pillar, with a circular plate of copper upon it, having stood in a piazza under the Exchange in this ancient city: which pillar was called "the nail." Permit me to remark, Bristol also claims the origin of this saying: vide the following paragraph in No. 1. p. 4. of the Curiosities of Bristol, published last September:

"We have heard it stated that this phrase first originated in Bristol, when it was common for the merchants to buy and sell at the bronze pillars (four) in front of the Exchange—the pillars being commonly called Nails."

I should infer that, from the fact of Bristol having been at the time of the erection of these pillars (some centuries ago) by far the most important place in the British empire (London only excepted), it is more likely to have originated this commercial saying than Limerick.

Bristoliensis.

"Man proposes, but God disposes" (Vol. ix., pp. 87. 202.).—I regret that I am unable to afford Mr. Thomas any information respecting the Abbot Gerson, to whom the authorship of the De Imitatione has been attributed, beyond what is contained in the preface to the edition which I before quoted. The authority there cited is a dissertation, entitled Mémoire sur le véritable auteur de l'Imitation de Jésus-Christ, par G. de Gregory, Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur, etc., Paris, 1827. The contents of this work are thus described in that preface:

"Eques de Gregory argumentis tum externis, tum internis demonstrat:—1. Libellum—primitus tractatum fuisse ethicæ scholasticum, a magistro novitiorum elaboratum. 2. Eundem, tempore inter annum 1220 et 1240 interjecto, suppresso nomine conscriptum esse a Joanne Gerson, monacho Benedictino, antea in Athenæo Vercellensi professore, postea ibidem monasterii S. Stephani abbate. Denique specialibus argumentis eos refellit, qui vel Joanni Gersoni, cancellario academiæ Parisiensi, vel Thomæ Kempensi hunc librum attribuendum esse contendunt."

I have been informed that an interesting article upon the question of the authorship has recently appeared in a very recent number of a Roman Catholic Review; I believe Brownson's American Quarterly.

H. P.

Lincoln's Inn.

H. P. wishes for some other quotations from De Imitatione Christi, in order to test the claims to originality of that extraordinary work; I therefore now supply another—"Of two evils we ought always to choose the least,"—because I strongly suspect that it is even some centuries older than the time of the author, Thomas à Kempis. It will be found in b. III. ch. xii. of the English translation.

A. B. C.

Roman Catholic Patriarchs (Vol. viii., p. 317.).—The following, with the signature W. Fraser, appeared in "N. & Q.":

"Has any bishop of the Western Church held the title of patriarch, besides the Patriarch of Venice? And what peculiar authority or privileges has he?"

The Archbishop of Lisbon has the title of Patriarch of the Indies; but it does not appear that he has any defined jurisdiction, being only an inferior patriarch, and with a title little more than honorary. His grand vicars, however, are archbishops; and his seal has, like those of other patriarchs, the tiara encircled with two crowns only. This patriarchate was created by Pope Clement XI., by his constitution In supremo Apostolatus. Afterwards, in the year 1720, the same Pope conferred upon the Patriarch of Lisbon the exclusive right of anointing the Kings of Portugal at their coronation on the right arm, which had previously been the privilege of the Archbishop of Braga.

F. C. H.

The primate of Portugal has the style of "patriarch," but I do not know of any privileges or authority that he has beyond those appertaining to the rank of archbishop or cardinal, when he happens to be one, as at present.

J. S. Warden.

Classic Authors and the Jews (Vol. ix., p. 221.).—In Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography a few references are given, under the words "Herodes," "Hyrcanus," &c., to classical authors who refer to the Jewish people, their country and customs. Probably many more will be given in the Dictionary of Geography, under the words "Palestine," "Jerusalem," &c., when the work is completed. To suppose that the classical authors allude but seldom to the Jews is a mistake. Roman writers of the post-Augustan period abound in allusions to them. I can supply B. H. C. with a few. The Histories of Tacitus refer to them in almost every page, and book v. especially contains an account of their origin, institutions, chief city, and temple. Juvenal also has frequent allusions to their customs and habits, e. g. Sat. iii. 14., xiv. 101. &c.; see also Horace's Satires, I. iv. 143., I. v. 100., and I. ix. 70., with Macleane's notes on the two latter passages; Pliny, V. xiv. 15., XIII. iv. 9., XXXI. viii. 44.; Quint., III. vii. 21.; Just., xxxvi. 2. I am not aware of any work which gives all the passages in classical authors referring to the Jews.

Francis J. Leachman, B.A.

In answer to your correspondent B. H. C., I beg to say that I have found out the following passages in classic authors bearing on Judea and the Jews, all of which I have authenticated myself, except where I had not the book at hand:

B. H. A.

Mawkin (Vol. ix., p. 303.).—An attempt to explain the origin of the word maukin, or malkin, may be seen in the Philological Museum, vol. i. p. 681. (See also Halliwell's Dict., in Malkin and Maulkin.) The most probable derivation of the word is, that malkin is a diminutive of mal, abbreviated from Mary, now commonly written Moll. Hence, by successive changes, malkin or maukin might mean a dirty wench, a figure of old rags dressed up as a scarecrow, and a mop of rags used for cleaning ovens. The Scotch maukin, for a hare, seems to be an instance of an animal acquiring a proper name, like renard in French, and jack for pike in English.

L.

Mantelpiece (Vol. ix., p. 302.).—French, Manteau de cheminée. German, Kamin Mantel. This is the moulding, or mantle, that serves to hide (screen) the joint betwixt the wall and the fire-stove.

H. F. B.

Mousehunt (Vol. ix., pp. 65, 135.).—A short time ago I was informed by a gamekeeper, that this little animal is found in the Holt Forest. He told me that there are three kinds of the weasel tribe in the woods: the weasel, the stoat or stump, and the mousehunt or mousehunter, which is also called the thumb, from its diminutive size. It feeds on mice and small birds; but my informant does not think that it attacks game.

White of Selbourne mentions that such an animal was supposed to exist in his neighbourhood:

"Some intelligent country people have a notion that we have, in these parts, a species of the genus Mustelinum, besides the weasel, stoat, ferret, and polecat: a little reddish beast, not much bigger than a field-mouse, but much longer, which they call a cane. This piece of intelligence can be little depended on; but farther inquiry may be made."—Natural History of Selbourne, Let. 15.

Frederick M. Middleton.

As I can completely join in with the praise your correspondent Mr. Tennyson awards to Mr. Fennell's Natural History of Quadrupeds (except as regards some of its woodcuts, which I understand were inserted by the publisher in spite of the author's remonstrance), I feel induced to protect Mr. Fennell from the hypercritical commentary of your correspondent J. S.s. (p. 136.).

In the passage quoted and commented on, had Mr. Fennell used the word beach, it would certainly have referred to the sea; but the word "shore," which he there uses, applies to rivers as well as seas. Thus Spenser, speaking of the river Nile, says:

The passage, therefore, in Mr. Fennell's work does not seem to me to be incorrect, as it may have reference to the shore of the Tweed, Ettrick, Yarrow, or some other rivers in Selkirkshire.

May I take the present opportunity of inquiring through your truly useful columns, when Mr. Fennell's work on the natural history of Shakspeare, advertised some few years since, is likely to appear?

Archibald Fraser.

Woodford.

"Vanitatem observare" (Vol. ix., pp. 247. 311.).—The quotation of R. H. G. is no more to be found in the Canons of Laodicea than in those of Ancyra. Indeed the passage has more the appearance of a recommendation, certainly excellent, than of any grave decree of a council. It can hardly be supposed to bear any other meaning than that Christian females ought not to indulge vanity, or take occasion to be vain of their works in wool, spun or woven; but to refer all their talent to the Almighty, who gives to them the skill and ability to work. Here is evidently an allusion to the skill and wisdom given to Beseleel and Ooliab:

"Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do ... tapestry and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all things."—Exod. xxxv. 35.

And Christian women are reminded that all their skill in such work is the gift of God. The learned Benedictine Rupertus has a comment upon this passage of Exodus, so apposite that its substance may appropriately conclude this Note:

"Disce hinc, artes omnes, etiam mechanicas, esse dona Dei, saltem naturalia, neque in iis ut suis, suaque industria inventis aut partis, homini gloriandum esse (q. d. vanitatem observare), sed illas Deo adscribendas, ab eoque petendas, et in ejus obsequium expendendas esse."

F. C. Husenbeth, D.D.

The passage which your correspondent R. H. G. quotes from the Council of Ancyra, A.D. 314, is not to be found in the canons of that Council, which are printed in their original Greek, with several Latin translations, in Labbe's Concilia, vol. ii. p. 513. The meaning of the sentence does not seem very abstruse; but before any suggestion is made for its interpretation, it will be desirable to ascertain to what Council it belongs.

L.

Divining Rod (Vol. viii., pp. 350. 400.).—Your correspondents do not tell us what was discovered in the places to which the rod pointed in the hands of the ladies named; but although they cannot for a moment be suspected of wilfully deceiving, may there not have been, as in table-turning, an unconscious employment of muscular force? I have long since read, and have tried with success, the following mode of producing the effect:—Holding the rod in the usual position, one branch of the fork in each hand, and grasping them firmly, turn your hands slowly and steadily round inwards, i. e. the right hand from the right to left, and the left from left to right—the point of the rod will then gradually descend till it points directly downwards.

J. S. Warden.

Orange Blossoms (Vol. viii., p. 341.).—The compliment of Captain Absolute to Mrs. Malaprop in The Rivals, contains, I have no doubt, the allegorical reason of the employment of these flowers on bridal occasions; and in that view they seem highly appropriate, at least in our colder climates—where we often see many "flowers" still on the parent stem, while the "fruit" has attained its full perfection.

J. S. Warden.

"Hip, hip, hurrah!" (Vol. viii., pp. 88. 323. 605.).—Allow me to correct two mistakes with reference to the notes on this subject. The note ascribed to Dr. Burney, in a copy of Hawkins's History of Music, in the British Museum, is in the handwriting of Sir John Hawkins, as are all the other notes scattered through the five volumes. These MS. notes have been included in the recent reprint of this valuable work. In the hurry of transcribing, Mr. Chappell (as your correspondent A. F. B. suggests) misread the MS. note. In future we must read "hop drinkers," and not "hep drinkers."

Edward F. Rimbault.

Belgium Ecclesiastical Antiquities (Vol. vii., p. 65.).—The inquiry of Ajax has only been recently brought under my notice. In reply, I refer him to Recueil Héraldique et Historique des Familles de Belgique. This is the finest work on the antiquities, civil, military, and ecclesiastic, of that country: it was printed at Antwerp by Rapell fils, and is in five large 4to. volumes. I saw a copy sold in Malines for about 3l.: it is now become more scarce, and probably could not be obtained under 4l.

Henry Daveney.