Various

“ The remarkable collection of Northern Irish Antiquities and Historical Relics, exhibited at Belfast on the occasion of the British Association meeting in that city, has led to the publication of The Ulster Journal of Archæology, which is to be conducted by gentlemen of the province, and principally devoted to the elucidation of the antiquities and ancient history of Ulster. Ulster, it will be remembered, is historically remarkable as being the last part of Ireland which held out against the English sway, and which therefore retained its ancient customs until a comparatively recent period. ”

“ Here are two or three points admitting doubt: first, Would it not be better to wash away the nitrate of potash and free iodide of potash first, and then dissolve the iodide of silver in solution of cyanide of potassium? Secondly, Would not a slight soaking in plain water after the acidulated bath be of advantage? Thirdly, Is it better to dry the paper again before rendering it sensitive? and fourthly, What strength of nitrate of silver solution should be used to render it sensitive; and ought it to have any acetic or gallic acid, or both? ”

“ But if you still can find room for a continental proof of the efficacy of a pair of shears as very powerful chele, not only for driving away Satan, but altogether banishing him from earth, allow me to adduce from a most excellent collection of tales, Traditions of the Bavarian Territories (Sagenbuch der Baierischen Lande) , just published by Herr A. Schöppner, under the auspices of the ex-king, the following tale, No. 757, "Die Scharfe Scheere" (The Sharp Scissors) :
"Outside the parish church of Münnerstadt, you see a gravestone with a pair of shears sculptured on it. ”

“ Should you execute your design of publishing what you have favoured me with a sight of, I heartily wish success to your muse militant, and that your reward may be—many a pleasant pipe supplied by the profits of your labours. ”

“ I have often thought that a Life of Dodsley in extenso might be made an interesting vehicle for illustrating the progress of an individual from the humble rank of a livery servant to the influential position of a first-class London bookseller in the Augustan age of English literature; including, of course, all the reflex influences of the society of that period. There is plenty of matter; and I think a well-known correspondent of "N. & Q." and Gent's Mag., whose initials are P. C., would know where to find and how to use it.
N. D.
Mary Queen of Scots.—In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. xcix. ”

“ It is not too much to assert, that all that can be said, or has been discovered about 'The little animal' (Puck) , is gathered together in Dr. Bell's most amusing and instructive volume, which not only elucidates the mystery which hangs about it, but enters largely into all illustrations of the folk-lore and the superstitions of all nations, but especially of the earliest religious rites of Northern Europe and the Wends. It has always been a marvel how Shakspeare could have possessed the information which he made available in his plays. ”

“ I am under the impression that "if occasion lie" here simply means, in case there is necessity to do so; and for the origin of this parenthetical clause I would refer to the Rubric of 1549 (Keeling, Lit. Br., edit. of 1842, p. 178.) , which provides:
"That in cathedral churches, or places where there is daily communion, it shall be sufficient to read this exhortation once in a month, and in parish churches on the week days it may be left unsaid." ”

“ The Germans, like the English, had no native name for the rabbit; an animal not indigenous in their country. Hence they borrowed the French name conin, which they altered into kanin; and have since formed the diminutive kaninchen. In Suabian, the form used is küniglein. See Adelung in v. The Dutch word is konÿn.
The rabbit was probably introduced into England from France. Query: When did that introduction take place? Also, when did the later term "rabbit" supersede the old name cony? and what is the etymology of rabbit? ”

“ The old theory was, that marriage being a consensual contract, the constitution of the rights and obligations arising from it drew back to the date of the consent; which, in the case of parties who had previously had connexion, was presumed in law to be the date of the connexion. This theory has of late been somewhat impaired by the decision of the Court of Session, in the case of Kerr v. Martin. See Dunlop Bell and Murray's Reports of Cases decided in the Court of Session, vol. ii. p. 752. The soundness of that decision is still matter of controversy in the profession ”

“ I have generally put a little camphor in the gallic acid solution, as recommended by Laborde. It prevents the decomposition of the gallic acid, and renders the image clearer and free from spots. A piece about the size of a pea for four or five ounces of solution.
As to the third difficulty, I believe nothing but replacing the porcelain dishes by glass ones will prevent the dirty marbled appearance in the bottom of the dishes made of porcelain; they are generally rough and uneven on the surface, and there are often what is called "kiln-cracks" in the angular parts. ”

“ Like Bishop Leyburn, on the breaking out of the revolution, he was committed to the Tower, but was soon released, and on the condition of always making the place of his abode known to the government, he passed the remainder of his days unmolested. On the death of Bishop Leyburn in 1703, he was removed to the London, or southern district, where he died March 12, 1734, aged ninety. There is a good portrait of Bishop Giffard at the Roman Catholic College of Old Hall Green in Hertfordshire. ”

“ From the manner in which Strabo speaks of Spain and the Balearic islands being infested by large numbers of rabbits, it would appear (as Legrand d'Aussy remarks, Vie privée des Français, tom. ii. p. 24.) that the ancients did not eat its flesh. The rabbit is now so abundant in parts of the south of France, that, according to the same author, a sportsman in the islands near Arles who did not kill a hundred, would be dissatisfied with his day's sport. ”

“ To all the latter the same Query will apply, What is the origin of the name? It is probable but few of the above names will be now found; or, if found, it will be only in those districts where the march of intellect (?) has not banished all traces of household surgery, home legends, and, I may almost add, home feelings.
Much that is interesting to the antiquary and the naturalist is now fast fading out of the land. The very existence of the cheap literature of the day will rapidly root out all traces of traditionary lore ”

“ So boys in the north put their heads between their legs to see the devil looking over Lincoln: and I am indebted to a mention of my Shakspeare's Puck and his Folk-lore in the Maidstone Journal for the proof that this belief still exists in Ireland from an anecdote told by Curran, who, in the absence of a Währwolf on which to try its efficacy, would prove it on a large mastiff by walking backwards to it in this posture, "while the animal made such a grip at the poor barrister's hinder region, that Curran was unable to sit with any gratification to himself for some weeks afterwards." ”

“ If a glass vessel be placed with its mouth downwards, on the surface of a meadow or grass plot, during a sunny afternoon in summer, it will speedily be rendered dim in the interior by the watery vapour which will rise into it ”

“ Beauty, a Poem, by the author of Silent Love, an admirer and not unsuccessful imitator of Pope; and Love in the Moon, by Patrick Scott, a work in which scientific observation is combined with great poetic feeling and considerable power.—The Pilgrim's Progress of John Bunyan, for the Use of Children in the English Church, edited by the Rev. J. M. Neale. The object with which this beautiful edition has been prepared is so plainly stated, that we need only wish the book as wide a circulation as it deserves.—The Family Shakspeare, &c., by Thomas Bowdler. ”

“ Animal Charcoal in Photography.—Perhaps you or one of your photographic correspondents would inform me whether the animal charcoal, recommended for the aceto-nitrate of silver solution, should be used as a filter, or simply allowed to remain in the bottom of the bottle? ”

“ Piccadilly, on Wednesday, March 9, and Five following Days, Sunday excepted, a large Collection of interesting and useful books in most departments of Literature, including the works of standard Historians, Poets, Theologians, Greek and Latin Classics, &c., numerous works connected with the History of the County of Kent, large collections of Kentish Deeds and Documents, &c. Catalogues will be sent on application (if in the country on receipt of six stamps) . ”

“ MR. R. W. THOMAS begs most earnestly to caution photographers against purchasing impure chemicals, which are now too frequently sold at very low prices. It is to this cause nearly always that their labours are unattended with success.
Chemicals of absolute purity, especially prepared for this art, may be obtained from R. W. THOMAS, Chemist and Professor of Photography, 10. Pall Mall.
N.B.—The name of Mr. T.'s preparation, Xylo-Iodide of Silver, is made use of by unprincipled persons. To prevent imposition each bottle is stamped with a red label bearing the maker's signature. ”

“ The conjecture that Lancaster was the Portus Setantiorum is corroborated by the latitudes and longitudes given by Ptolemy, which, though not to be absolutely relied on, are not to be disregarded, and which give to the three places, Morecambe Æstuarium, Setantiorum Portus, and Belisama Æstuarium, nearly the relative positions in which we find Ulverston, Lancaster, and the Ribble.
C.
Rubrical Query (Vol. vi., p. 509.) .—Quæstor inquires the meaning of the words "if occasion lie" in the Rubric immediately before the Offertory in the Communion Service. ”

“ Any person walking in a meadow on which the sun is shining powerfully, where the grass has not long previously been refreshed by rain, may observe a tremulous motion in distant objects, occasioned by the rising of the watery vapour ”

“ Ulster was also the battle-field of the ancient native Irish chieftains and the Scandinavian Vikings. The antiquaries of Ulster have therefore done wisely, while the tangled web of Northern Irish History can yet be {249}unravelled by existing aids—while the men who are now the depositories of family and local history are yet among them—to commence this Journal ”

“ But under this distinctive name as Chele, it only figured the potency which all pointed or angular forms and substances possessed insensitively or in a triple degree. To understand this, we should consider the force that all pointed or sharp instruments possess: the awl, the wedge, the adze, are well known for their assistance to the mechanic ”

“ Ælian, again, employs the Latin name, which he considers to be of Iberian origin (De Nat. Anim., xiii. 15.) . If this be true, the sense of subterranean passage, which cuniculus also bears, is secondary, and not primary (compare Plin. Nat. Hist., viii. 81.) .
The language of Varro de Re Rust. (iii. 12.) likewise shows that the rabbit was in his time peculiar to Spain, and had not been introduced into Italy. The meaning of the Hebrew word Saphan, which is translated cony in the authorised version of the Old Testament (Lev. xi. 5.; Deut. xiv. 7.; Ps. civ. 18.; Prov. xxx. 26.) ”

“ Ross prepares lenses for Portraiture having the greatest intensity yet produced, by procuring the coincidence of the chemical actinic and visual rays. The spherical aberration is also very carefully corrected, both in the central and oblique pencils."
"Mr. Ross has exhibited the best Camera in the Exhibition. It is furnished with a double achromatic object-lens, about three inches aperture. There is no stop, the field is flat, and the image very perfect up to the edge."
Catalogues sent upon Application. ”

“ The names and sentiments are of course fictitious; is anything known of their origin?
P. P.
Olney.—Can any correspondent state what is the signification of this name? The ancient spelling is Olnei or Olney, not Oulney, as it has sometimes been spelled of late years. The difficulty is not as to the termination ey, but as to the first syllable.
The parish church, which stands at the southern extremity of the town, on the banks of the Ouse, is entirely (modern alterations excepted) of the fourteenth century. There is not a trace of any earlier work. ”

“ In 1694 a board of officers assembled to decide the relative rank of regiments, and the regiments formed in England were placed by seniority of raising, but those from Scotland or Ireland on their being placed upon the English establishment.
5. What is the guide now in identifying a named with a numbered regiment; for example, at the battle of Culloden in 1746, Wolfe's, Barrett's, and Howard's Foot were engaged. ”

“ There is no speculation too refined, no analogy too subtle and remote, for the employment of their time and talents; and in much that Dr. Bell advances on the same system to establish the intimate connexion between the Northern mythology and some of the popular superstitions of these islands, we concur.... ”

“ This assertion, however, Theobald had sufficient modesty to omit in the preface to his second edition, together with all the criticisms on Greek authors, which I am assured he had collected from such papers of Mr. Wycherley as had been entrusted to his care for very different purposes. It is much to be questioned whether there are five hundred old plays extant, by the most accurate perusal of which the works of Shakspeare could receive advantage ”