Various

“ Wolfe ran in for me, saying deceased had killed himself. I went to his room, and found him quite dead. On his window was a bottle containing arsenic and water; some of the little bits of arsenic were between his teeth. I believe if he had not killed himself, he would soon have died of starvation; for he was too proud to ask of any one. Witness always considered deceased as an astonishing genius.
"Anne Wolfe, of Brook Street. Witness lived three doors from Mrs. Angell's; knew the deceased well; always thought him very proud and haughty. She sometimes thought him crazed. ”

“ The man took away the paper, and I have not been able to find him out.
"Frederick Angell deposed to the fact of deceased lodging at their house; was from home when deceased was found. Always considered him something wonderful, and was sometimes afraid he would go out of his mind. Deceased often came home very melancholy; and, on his once asking him the reason, he said, 'Hamilton has deceived me;' but could get no more from him. Deceased was always writing to his mother or sister, of whom he appeared to be very fond. I never knew him in liquor, and never saw him drink anything but water. ”

“ Brush your paper over with muriate of barytes (half an ounce, dissolved in nearly a wine-bottle of distilled water) : lay it flat to dry. 2nd. Dissolve sixty grains of nitrate of silver in about an ounce of distilled water. Ditto sixty grains of iodide of potassium in another bottle with the like quantity of water. Mix them together and shake well: let it subside: pour off the water, and then add hot water: shake it well: let subside: pour off the water, and then add three ounces of distilled water, and afterwards as much iodide of potassium as will redissolve the iodide of silver. ”

“ Borrowers are exhorted to faithful restitution; and consequences are threatened to those who misuse, or fail to return, or absolutely steal the valued literary treasure.
I forward a few such Notes as have fallen in my way, thinking they may interest your readers, and shall be obliged by any additions. The first is an admonition to borrowers, by no means a superfluous one, as I know to my cost. It is printed on a small paper, about the size of an ordinary book-plate, with blank for the owner's name, to be filled up in manuscript:
"This Book
Belongs to . . . . . . ”

“ Next follows a "Preface to the readers of Mount Vernon, a Poem," in which he says:
"I published a rural, romantic, and descriptive poem of Down Hill, the seat of the Earl of Bristol, Bishop of Londonderry, in Ireland; for which the gentlemen of that country actually gave me a guinea per copy, and Sir George Hill, from Dublin, gave me five guineas in the city of Londonderry; more, I am assured, as feeling from my having seen better days, than from the intrinsic value of it." ”

“ While on the other hand: My good lord, when, as in your late attempt, great things labouring perish in the birth, their confusion causes laughter and derision instead of pleasure, like the former simple effort. ”

“ The lime should be in pieces of a suitable size. For the chest, I prefer pieces about the size of a large English walnut; for the closet, of an orange.
It is necessary either that the box should be strongly made, or be formed of tin, or other metal, on account of the lateral expansive force of the lime. Room for expansion upwards is not sufficient protection. The same expansion renders it necessary that the box should not be more than two-fifths filled with fresh lime. ”

“ For none of all the living languages can be compared with it as to richness, rationality, and close construction [Vernunft und gedrängter Füge] , not even the German—which has many discrepancies like our nation, and from which it would be first obliged to free itself, before it could boldly enter the lists with the English.
I transmit the text, as many of your readers may prefer the extract—as most "foreign extracts" are preferred—"neat as imported:" although, owing to the kindness of a friend, it is fairly represented in the translation. ”

“ In such small work as cannot be assayed, by scraping off a part and cupelling it, the assayers endeavor to ascertain its fineness or quality by the touch. This is a method of comparing the colour and other properties of a minute portion of the metal, with those of small bars, the composition of which is known. These bars are called touch needles, and they are rubbed upon a smooth piece of black basaltes, or pottery, which for this reason is called the touchstone. ”

“ Ja, die Englische Sprache, von der nicht umsonst auch der grösste und überlegenste Dichter der neuen Zeit im Gegensatz zur classischen alten Poesie, ich kann natürlich nur Shakespeare meinen, gezeugt und getragen worden ist, sie darf mit vollem Recht eine Weltsprache heissen, und scheint gleich dem Englischen Volke ausersehn künftig noch in höherem Masse an allen Enden der Erde zu walten. ”

“ To clean the Negative.—Get a zinc tray about three or four inches deep, with another tray to fit in at the top, about one inch deep; fill the lower tray with boiling water, so that the upper tray may touch the water; put your solution of hyposulphite of soda, not strong, in the upper tray, and then your negatives one by one, watching them with care until the iodine is removed; then put them in hot water, containing a small piece of common soda (the size of a nutmeg to about two quarts of water) , for about ten minutes ”

“ DRENGAGE. (Vol. vii., p. 39.)
The tenure in drengage was common in, if it was not confined to, the territory which was comprised in the ancient kingdom of Northumbria. Drenghs are mentioned in Domesday on the lands between the Ribble and the Mersey, which then formed part of Northumbria. They occur in Yorkshire; and they are mentioned in the survey, called the Boldon Book, compiled in A.D. 1183, by order of Hugh Pudsey, the great Bishop of Durham, which may be termed the Domesday of the palatinate. ”

“ And lastly, from his Valedictory, we learn that—
"Poets, like grasshoppers, sing till they die,
Yet, in this life, some laugh, some sing, some cry."—P. 83.
These extracts are not given as the worst specimens. Is anything more known of John Searson, and of his other valuable productions, either in Ireland or America? As I perceive you have correspondents at Philadelphia, they will perhaps kindly afford me some information on the subject. ”

“ N.B.—I find that if the paper is allowed to dry with the cyanide of potassium, or that it is allowed to remain in the dilute sulphuric acid water too long, it weakens the paper so much as to be very absorbent. I would therefore wish to know from any of your correspondents whether this arises from taking away the size, or injuring the fibres of the paper? and, if so, whether a paper prepared with starch, instead of size, would be better? as it appears to me that this mode of iodizing might be an improvement. At all events, it is an enormous saving of iodide of potassium ”

“ Louis Napoleon, President of France (Vol. vi., p. 435.) .—Modern history furnishes more than one instance of the anomaly adverted to by Mr. Relton. After the murder of Louis XVI., his son, though he never ascended the throne, was recognized by the legitimists of the day as Louis XVII.; and on the restoration of the family in 1815, the Comte d'Artois assumed the title of Louis XVIII. In this way the revolutionary chasm was, as it were, bridged over, and the dynasty of the elder Bourbons exhibited on an uninterrupted line.
So it is as regards the Napoleon dynasty. ”

“ York Mint.—Can any of your correspondents inform me of the names of the officers of the local mint at York, instituted about 1696?
O. O. O.
Chipchase of Chipchase.—I should be glad to learn if any pedigree exists of the ancient family of Chipchase, or De Chipches (as the name is spelt in pleadings and deeds of the fourteenth century) . A family bearing that name appears to have occupied or dwelt near the "Turris de Chipches," co. Northumberland, so early as Edward I.; at which time the manor of Prudhoe, of which Chipchase is a member, was held by the Umfravilles. ”

“ Touchstone (Vol. vii., p. 82.) .—I think your correspondent Alphage is mistaken in alleging that the word touchstone is so called because it "gives a musical sound when touched with a stick."
The touchstone is the dark-coloured flinty slate or schistus (the Lapis Lydius of the ancients) , which has been used from the remotest ages, down even to our own days, for testing gold. By touching the black stone with the metal, it leaves behind a clear mark, the colour of which indicates the distinction between the pure and alloyed. ”

“ So, in the palatinate, in 25th Bishop Hatfield (A. D. 1369) , John Warde, of Hoton, died seised in his demesne of a messuage and sixty acres which were held of the bishop in capite, by homage and fealty in drengage, rendering six bushels of oats and three bushels of barley, at the manor of Middleham. But the agricultural and menial services were lighter than those of the villan, and, as already stated, were not performed by the tenant in person, or by those of his household. This tenure existed in Tynedale at the close of the thirteenth century, as appears from Rot. Orig. 20 Edw. I., vol. i. ”

“ PHOTOGRAPHY.—The AMMONIO-IODIDE OF SILVER in Collodion (price 9d. per oz.) , prepared by DELATOUCHE & CO., Photographic and Operative Chemists, 147. Oxford Street, has now stood the test of upwards of Twelve months' constant use; and for taking Portraits or Views on Glass, cannot be surpassed in the beautiful results it produces. MESSRS. DELATOUCHE & CO. supply Apparatus with the most recent Improvements, PURE CHEMICALS, PREPARED SENSITIVE PAPERS, and every Article connected with Photography on Paper or Glass. ”

“ Those languages which have descended from the Latin, as the Spanish, Frank, or French, &c.
PRESERVATION OF VALUABLE PAPERS FROM DAMP; DRYING CLOSETS.
The desiccative powers of lime are familiar to chemists, and, I believe, to many practical men; but I do not know of lime having been used for the above purpose.
A strong chest, in my possession, containing important papers (title-deeds, marriage certificates, &c.) , gradually became damp, and subjected its contents to a slow process of decay. ”

“ Excess of rain has fallen on most of the land over the earth's surface; but there has been a minimum on the great oceans; as see the accounts of the fine weather, light winds, and calms, experienced in the voyages to Australia. ”

“ W. Fraser truly says is the Huron pronunciation? I also agree with him, that it is "unquestionably the most musical." For my own part, the sound of Niágara is painful to my ear; even Moore himself could not knock music out of it. Witness the following lines:
"Take, instead of a bowl, or a dagger, a
Desperate dash down the Falls of Niágara." [5]
How very different is the measured, solemn sound, which the word bears in the noble lines of Goldsmith, who, it is reasonable to suppose, was as well informed of its proper pronunciation as of its correct interpretation. ”

“ The following quotation induces me to put a Query to the numerous scientific readers of your widely-circulated publication:
"It is a remarkable circumstance that an unprecedented quantity of rain has fallen during the last year (1852) all over the world,—England, Ireland, Europe generally, Africa, India, and even in Australia."
Query, Is it anywhere recorded that so widespread a rainfall has been previously noticed? It is said that excessive rainfall has been general all over the world ”

“ The word Napoleon, being written in Greek characters, will form seven different words, by dropping the first letter of each in succession, namely, Ναπολεων, Απολεων, Πολεων, Ολεων, Λεων, Εων, Ων. These words make a complete sentence, and are thus translated into French: "Napoléon, étant le lion des peuples, allait détruisant les cités." ”

“ Brush your previously prepared paper well with this, and let dry; then place them in water, one by one, for about one hour and a half or two hours, constantly agitating the water. As many as a dozen pieces may be put into the water, one after the other, taking care that there are no air-bubbles: take them out, and pin to the edge of a board at one corner.
When dry they will be ready for exciting for the camera by the following process:
(These are supposed to be in six 1-ounce bottles with glass stoppers.) ”

“ From the Boldon Book we learn, however, that the services of the drengh were to plough, sow, and harrow a portion of the bishop's land, to keep a dog and horse for the bishop's use, and a cart to convey his wine; to attend the chase with dogs and ropes; and perform certain "precaria," or harvest works. To take an example from the roll of Bishop de Bury in 1336:—We find Nicholas de Oxenhale held of the bishop in capite the manor of Oxenhale, performing, amongst other services, "the fourth part of a drengage ”

“ But this is probably a mistake, as, in a short account of his life by Anthony à Wood (vol. ii. col. 820., Athen. Oxon., edited by Bliss) , I find it stated, that "on the death of Rob. Sylvester about the beginning of Queen Mary's reign, he was made Archdeacon of Nottingham, and suffragan Bishop of Hull, under the Archbishop of York." Wood afterwards adds:
"After Queen Elizabeth had been settled in the throne for some time, the oath of supremacy was offered to him, but he denying to take it, was deprived of his archdeaconry and other spiritualities." ”

“ Reading.
"To lie at the Catch" (Vol. vi., p. 56.) .—From accidental circumstances I have only lately seen the notice of my Query. Will you excuse my saying that I do not yet understand the meaning of the phrase "To lie at the catch," and that I shall be greatly obliged if you or any of your correspondents will explain it further, or, in other words, give me a paraphrase that will suit the two passages I have quoted. ”

“ But as menial services (to be rendered, nevertheless, by the villans of the tenant in drengage) were attached to the tenure, at all events in the county of Durham, it was inferior to military tenure; and the instance in the Pipe Rolls of Westmoreland, 25 Henry II., of the enfranchisement of drenghs, together with the particulars {138}given in records of the palatinate of Durham and the county of Northumberland, as to the services attached to drengage, show that it was far from being a free tenure. ”