Various

“ In the case of temporal peerages, which are not seldom, thanks to the ancient constitution of England, renovated from the middle and lower classes, the practice is more in accordance with the precepts of The Blazon of Gentrie; but I believe there is at least one instance, that of a lawyer of the greatest eminence, who was last year advanced to a peerage, and to the highest rank in his profession, who has assumed both arms and supporters without the fiat of the College of Arms. ”

“ The negative also may be reversed in its position at a so as to produce upon glass a positive to be seen either upon or under the glass. And while the rapidity and facility of printing are the same as in the case of positives taken on paper prepared with the iodide of silver, the negatives, those on glass particularly, being so easily injured, are much better preserved, all actual contact with the positive being avoided. ”

“ If the sun shine clear and bright on Christmas-day, it promiseth a peaceable year from clamours and strife, and foretells much plenty to ensue; but if the wind blow stormy towards sunset, it betokeneth sickness in the spring and autumn quarters. ”

“ The plan is as follows:—The negative to be reproduced is placed in a slider at one end (a) of a camera or other box, constructed to exclude the light throughout. The surface prepared for the reception of the positive—whether albumen, collodion, or paper—is placed in another slider, as usual, at the opposite extremity (c) of the box, and intermediately between the two extremities (at b) is placed a lens. The negative at a is presented to the light of the sky, care being taken that no rays enter the box but those traversing the partly transparent negative. ”

“ How frequently is the term eye applied to any small spot standing by itself, and peering out as it were, in fact an insulated spot: thus we have the eye of an apple, the eye or centre of a target, the eye of a stream (i.e. where the stream collects into a point—a point well known to salmon fishers) , and very many other instances. What more natural term, then, to apply to a spot of land standing alone in the midst of an expanse of water than an eye of land? ”

“ At present, similarity of name is quite enough to lead any man to conclude himself to be a branch of some very ancient or noble stock, and, if occasion arise, to assume the arms appropriate to such families, without any appeal to the Heralds' office ”

“ Now, whatever may have been the root of this word, or whencesoever it may have been derived, I think it must be admitted that starve is the correct meaning of the word in these passages. Let the reader test it by substituting starve for clem in each case. In Cheshire and Lancashire the word is in common use to this day, and invariably means starved for want of food. Of a thin, emaciated child it is said, "His mother clems him." A person exceedingly hungry says, "I'm welly clem'd; I'm almost or well-nigh starved." It is the ordinary appeal of a beggar in the streets, when asking for food. ”

“ All the best authorities concur in the uncertain properties of the salts of gold. We have seen some Daguerreotypes which have been executed about three years, and were treated with the salts of gold, and which are now mere shades.
C. M. M. (Abbey Road) . Your question as to the spots has been carefully answered in a late Number. The film which you notice on the surface of your nit. silver bath depends upon the remaining portion of ether in the collodion being liberated, which, not being very soluble in water, causes the greasy appearance. It soon evaporates, and is of no consequence. ”

“ Your correspondent says that tradition "assigns no reason for the peculiarity" of the Harcourt knight's burial; but tradition has been more explicit in Job Orton's case, whose reason (?) for his erect posture in the tomb was, that at the last day he might be able to rise from his grave before his wife, who was buried in the usual horizontal manner! Job Orton appears to have had a peculiar talent for the composition of epitaphs; as, in his more playful moments, he was accustomed to tell his better-half that if he outlived her he should put the following lines on her tombstone ”

“ This really invaluable remedy is employed with the most satisfactory result, not only in bronchial and pulmonary complaints, where irritation and pain are to be removed, but also in pulmonary and bronchial consumption, in which it counteracts effectually the troublesome cough; and I am enabled with perfect truth to express the conviction that Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica is adapted to the cure of incipient hectic complaints and consumption. ”

“ Should your old idea of preserving public records in a concentrated form on microscopic negatives ever be adopted, the immediate positive reproduction on an enlarged readable scale, without the possibility of injury to the plate, will be of service. ”

“ Curious Custom of ringing Bells for the Dead.—In Marshfield, Massachusets, it has been customary for a very long period to ring the bell of the parish church most violently for eight or ten minutes, whenever a death occurs in the village; then to strike it slowly three times three, which makes known to the inhabitants that a man or boy has expired, and finally to toll it the number of times that the deceased had numbered years of existence. ”

“ Heilmann, following the same pursuit, has lighted on an ingenious method of taking from glass negatives positive impressions of different dimensions, and with all the delicate minuteness which the negative may possess. This discovery is likely, I think, to extend the resources and the application of photography,—and with some modifications, which I will explain, to increase the power of reproduction to an almost unlimited amount. ”

“ Thus, from a medium-sized negative, I have obtained negatives four times larger than the original, and other impressions reduced thirty times, capable of figuring on a watch-glass, brooch, or ring.
"Undoubtedly one of the most interesting and important advantages gained by this simple arrangement is, the power of varying the dimensions of a picture or portrait. Collodion giving results of almost microscopic minuteness, such negatives bear enlarging considerably without any very perceptible deterioration in that respect. Indeed, as regards portraits, there is a gain instead of a loss ”

“ A very little practice will suffice to show the operator the quality of glass negatives—I mean as to vigour and development—best adapted for reproducing positives by this method. He will also find that a great power of correction is obtained, by which overdone parts in the negative can be reduced and others brought up. Indeed, in consequence of this and other advantages, I have little doubt that this process will be very generally adopted in portrait taking. ”

“ There can, indeed, be no doubt that this foolish practice of assuming arms without right has of late years grown to an absurd height; and I fear the assumption is by no means confined to persons who have risen by trade, or by some lucky speculation in railways &c. ”

“ Paper positives are seldom varnished. The glossy appearance which they possess may depend either upon their being printed on albumenised paper, or upon their being hot-pressed. The latter process always much improves the picture. Where the size has been much removed, it is well to re-size the paper, which may be done by boiling a few parchment cuttings in water, and soaking the prints in the liquor. ”

“ Schoolboys call tops made of boxwood, boxers; while the inferior ones, which are generally made of beechwood, they call bacons.
H. T. Riley.
Angel-beast—Cleek—Longtriloo (Vol. v., p. 559.) .—An account of these games, the nature of which is required by your correspondent, is given in the Compleat Gamester, frequently reprinted in the latter part of the seventeenth century. The first, which is there called beast, is said to derive its name from the French la bett, meaning, no doubt, bête. ”

“ Soon after its being brought into my house, one of my domestics discovered that it positively swarmed with a species of lice, issuing from innumerable minute worm-holes and crevices, which of course rendered it in its present state worse than useless. Determined not to be deprived of my prize, I resolved on attempting to rid it of this troublesome pest by washing it over with a strong solution of caustic soda, made by mixing some quick-lime with a very strong solution of the common washing soda (impure carbonate of soda) , and pouring off the clear supernatant liquid for use. ”

“ Taylor, of Ormesby in Norfolk, asked some questions regarding the Danish names of places in Norfolk.
In answer to them I beg to state, that all the names terminating in -by unquestionably are of Danish origin. Mr. Taylor is perfectly right in supposing that several of these names of places contain the names of the old Danish conquerors. But I do not think that Ormesby originally has been Gormsby. Gorm certainly is the same as Guthrum; but both of these names are distinctly different from the name "Orme" or "Orm," which, in our old language, signifies a serpent, and also a worm. ”

“ Collier's volume, the fitness would have been acknowledged.
Shakspeare used the word "lawful" in many instances where, no doubt, it may with reason, strong as any given here, be changed to awful. In the historical plays, lawful king, lawful progeny, lawful heir, lawful magistrate, lawful earth, lawful sword, &c., may be found. These suggestions, like the pinch of sand thrown on the old woman's cow, if they do no good, will, I trust, do no harm. ”

“ The other day our Hindoo nurse was watching our baby asleep, and noticing that it frequently smiled, said, "God is talking to it!" The tradition, as elicited from this woman, seems to be here, that when a child smiles in its sleep, God is saying something pleasing to it; but when it cries, He is talking to it of sorrow.
J. C. B.
Punjab.
Pronunciation of Coke (Vol. vii., p. 586.) .—Probably the under-mentioned particulars may tend to elucidate the Query discussed in your paper touching the pronunciation of Chief Justice Coke's surname in his Lordship's time. ”

“ Cure, No. 180:—"Twenty-five years' nervousness, constipation, indigestion, and debility, from which I had suffered great misery, and which no medicine could remove or relieve, have been effectually cured by Du Barry's food in a very short time.—W. R. Reeves, Pool Anthony, Tiverton."
Cure, No. 4,208:—"Eight years' dyspepsia, nervousness, debility, with cramps, spasms, and nausea, for which my servant had consulted the advice of many, have been effectually removed by Du Barry's delicious food in a very short time. ”

“ These rays are received and directed by the lens at b upon the sensitive surface at c, and the impression of the negative is there produced with a rapidity proportioned to the light admitted, and the sensibility of the surface presented. By varying the distances between a and c, and c and b, any dimension required may be given to the positive impression. ”

“ As a farther illustration of the characters of this singular couple, the following anecdote is told. Esther Orton having frequently declared, that she should "never die happy until she had rolled in riches," Job, like a good husband, determined to secure his wife's happiness. Having sold some land for a thousand pounds, he insisted that the money should be paid wholly in guineas. ”

“ The mixture should be applied with a paint-brush, and allowed to remain on until the paint and it can be removed by washing with warm water and a hard brush.
Getsrn.
BURIAL IN AN ERECT POSTURE. (Vol. viii., p. 5.)
Your correspondent Cheverells refers to the "tradition" of one of the Harcourt family being buried in an erect posture, and asks, "Is the probability of this being the case supported by any, and what instances?" As this Query has been raised, it may be worth while to mention the following circumstance, as a singular illustration of a remarkable subject ”

“ It must be confessed that the middle of the nineteenth century offers the most ample facilities for the would-be aristocrats of the age, and that without troubling Sir Charles Young or the College of Arms ”

“ The first settlers of Marshfield having been Englishmen, may I ask if this custom ever did, or does now, exist in the mother country?
W. W.
Malta.
Unpublished Essay by Lamb.—Coleridge is represented in his Table Talk (p. 253. ed. 1836) , to have said that "Charles Lamb wrote an essay on a man, who had lived in past time." The editor in a note tells us he knows "not when or where." I do not find it in the edition of his works published in 1846, nor have I been able to discover it in any of the journals, to which he contributed, that have fallen in my way. ”

“ If, after the wood has dried, it becomes cracked, apply a solution of hot size with a brush, which will bind it well together and make it better for varnishing, as well as destroy the beetle which is often met with in old oak, and is erroneously called the worm."
The following is also from the same Number:
"To make dark oak pale in colour, which is sometimes a desideratum, apply with a brush a little dilute nitric acid judiciously ”

“ Done Pedigree.—A very old MS. pedigree of the family of Done of Utkington, in the county before me, connects with that family no less than twenty-three Cheshire families of distinction, viz. Cholmondeley, Egerton, Wilbraham, Booth, Arden, Leicester, and seventeen others. Now, as it appears by your note on the communication of a correspondent (Vol. vi., p. 273.) , that there exists a pedigree of the family of Done, of Utkington, in the British Museum, Additional MS. No. 5836. pp. 180. ”

“ Its origin is involved in obscurity: but may it not be a corruption of the Latin ambages, or the singular ablative ambage? which signifies quibbling, subterfuge, and that kind of conduct which is generally supposed to constitute humbug. It is very possible that it may have been pedantically introduced in the seventeenth century. May, in his translation of Lucan, uses the word ambages as an English word.
H. T. Riley.
A severe instance of the use of the term "humbug" occurred in a court of justice. A female in giving her evidence repeatedly used this term. ”

“ T. Cook is thanked for his offer of a cheap and easy method of obtaining pictures for the stereoscope. We shall be glad to receive it.
Dr. Diamond's Photographic Notes.—We share in the desire expressed by W. C., J. M. S., and many other Correspondents, for the speedy publication of this volume. But we believe the delay is not to be regretted. It is a very easy matter to write a book upon Photography; but it requires no small labour, and great consideration, to produce such a volume as Dr. ”