Various

“ The tree is full a century old, and the branch, on which was a goodly bunch of the parasite, numbered somewhere about forty years. That the plant is propagated by seeds there can, I think, be but little doubt, as the seeds are so admirably adapted for the peculiar circumstances under which alone they can propagate; and the want of attention to the facts connected therewith, is probably the cause why the propagation of the mistletoe by artificial means is usually a failure.
I should be inclined to think that the mistletoe never was abundant on the oak ”

“ The Marquis of Ormonde having been informed that certain statements, little complimentary to the reputation of Queen Elizabeth, and equally discreditable to the name of his ancestor, Thomas, Earl of Ormonde, have appeared in "Notes and Queries," wherein it is stated "that the Ormonde family possess documents which afford proof of this," begs to assure the editor of the journal in question, that the Ormonde collection of papers, &c. contains nothing that bears the slightest reference to the very calumnious attack on the character of good Queen Bess. ”

“ Head of the Saviour (Vol. iii., p. 168.) .—The correspondent who inquires about the "true likeness" of the Saviour exposed in some of the London print-shops, is not perhaps aware that there is preserved in the church of St. Peter's at Rome a much more precious and genuine portrait than the one to which he alludes—a likeness described by its possessors as "far more sublime and venerable than any other, since it was neither painted by the hands of men nor angels, but by the divinity himself who makes both men and angels." ”

“ Love's Labour's Lost (Vol. iii., p. 163.) .—Your correspondent has very neatly and ably made out how the names of the ladies ought to have been placed; but the error is the poet's, not the printer's. It is impossible to conceive how, in printing or transcribing, such a mistake should arise; the names are quite unlike, and several lines distant from one another. Such forgetfulness is not very uncommon in poets, especially those of the quickest and liveliest spirit. It is the old mistake of Bentley and other commentators, to think that whatever is wrong must be spurious. ”

“ Tennyson's In Memoriam.—The word star applies in poetry to all the heavenly bodies; and therefore, to the crescent moon, which is often near enough to the sun to be within or to be encircled by, the crimson colour of the sky about sunset; and the sun may, figuratively, be called father of the moon, because he dispenses to her all the light with which she shines ”

“ What he, and what the trustees would require, would be some security that the documents were what they professed to be; and this might very properly be accomplished through the agency of such a Society as Mr. Taylor proposes, if there did not already exist a Society upon whom such a duty might very safely be devolved:—and have we not, in the greater energy which that Society has lately displayed, evidence that it would undertake a duty for which it seems pre-eminently fitted? We allude to the Society of Antiquaries. ”

“ Your correspondent has probably copied the phrase as it stands in Bohn's edition of the Holy Living and Dying, but there is a trifling variation as it stands in the first edition of Holy Living, 1650:—
"Lavora come se tu havesti a campar ogni hora:
Adora come se tu havesti a morir alhora."
The universality of this maxim, in ages and countries remote from each other, is remarkable. Thus we find it in the Hitopadésa:
"A wise man should think upon knowledge and wealth as if he were undecaying and immortal. ”

“ Baronets are not entitled, as such, to bear supporters, which are the privilege of the peerage and the knights of the orders.
There are many baronets who by virtue of especial warrants from the sovereign have, as acts of grace and favour, in consideration of services rendered to the state, received such grants; and in these instances they are limited to descend with the dignity only. No doubt there are some private families who assume and improperly bear supporters, but whose right to do so, even under their own statements as to origin and descent, has no legal foundation. ”

“ For my own part, I should have thought that the commonest faith in Shakspeare would have protected any editor, whose avowed object it was to restore the text, from preferring in this instance, to the plain common sense of Malone, the more showy authority of Horne Tooke.
In my last paper I wrote,—"So far as quantity is concerned, to eat a crocodile would be no more than to eat an ox." You have omitted the negative. ”

“ We doubt the necessity, and indeed the advisability, of the formation of any such Society.
Mr. Peacock (antè., p. 117.) has already wisely suggested, that "in time a copy of every inscription in every church in England might be ready for reference in our National Library," and we have as little doubt that the MS. department of the British Museum is the proper place of deposit for such records, as that the trustees would willingly accept the charge of them on the recommendation of their present able and active Keeper of the Manuscripts. ”

“ Snail-eating (Vol. iii., p. 207.) .—Your correspondent C. W. B. does not seem to be aware that "a ragout of boror (snails) " is a regular dish with English gypsies. Vide Borrow's Zincali, part i. c. v.
He has clearly not read Mr. Borrow's remarks on the subject:
"Know then, O Gentile, whether thou be from the land of Gorgios (England) , or the Busné (Spain) , that the very gypsies, who consider a ragout of snails a delicious dish, will not touch an eel because it bears a resemblance to a snake ”

“ From this it would appear that notwithstanding the British Oak grows everywhere, it is at present only favoured by the companionship of the mistletoe in equal ratio with two comparatively recently introduced trees. Indeed such objection does this parasite manifest to the brave old tree, even in his teens, that, notwithstanding a newly-planted line of mixed trees will become speedily attacked by it, the oak is certain to be left in his pride alone. ”

“ Can any of your genealogical friends inform me who the above-named Sir John Vaughan married, and in what way she was connected with the Sidneys of Penshurst, as the pedigree given by Collins contains no mention of any such marriage?
The arms of Sir John Vaughan, which appear quartered with those of Hamilton and Arran in the margin of the grant, are,—Argent, a chevron sable between three infants' heads coupled at the shoulders, each entwined round the neck with a snake, all proper, thereby intimating his descent from the Vaughans of Porthaml Trêtower, &c., in the county of Brecon. ”

“ On a complaint made by Bishop Aylmer, Whitgift suspended him, and silenced for a while probably the most eloquent preacher in Europe. His contemporaries named him the Chrysostom of England. His church was crowded to excess; and amongst his hearers, persons of the highest rank, and those of the most cultivated and fastidious judgment, were content to stand in the throng of citizens. ”

“ THE MISTLETOE ON THE OAK. (Vol. ii., pp. 163. 214.; Vol. iii., p. 192.)
From having been a diligent searcher for the mistletoe on the oak, I may be allowed to make a few remarks upon the question. Is it ever found now on other trees? Now, it not only occurs abundantly on other trees, but it is exceedingly rare on the oak. This may be gathered from the following list, in which numbers have been used to express comparative frequency, as near as my observations enable me to form a judgment:—
On Native Trees. ”

“ As it is one of scandal against a female, and that female a great sovereign, should he not ascertain the fact of the existence of any such paper, before supporting the scandal, and not leave a tradition to be supported by another tradition, when a little trouble might show whether any papers exist, and when found what their value may be. ”

“ Having tasted of roasted hotchiwitchu (hedgehog) myself among the "gentle Rommanys," I can bear witness to its delicate fatness; and though a ragout of snails was never offered for my acceptance, I do not think that those who consider (as most "Gorgios" do) stewed eels a delicacy ought to be too sever on "Limacotrophists!"
Hermes.
Snail-eating.—Perhaps you will permit me to remark, in reference to the communication of C. W. B., that snails are taken medicinally occasionally, and are supposed to be extremely strengthening. ”

“ A gentleman whom I used to know, was in the constant habit as he passed through the fields, of picking up the white slugs that lay in his way, and swallowing them with more relish than he would have done had they been oysters.
That snails make a no inconsiderable item in the bill of fare of gypsies, and other wanderers, I proved while at Oxford, some time ago ”

“ We all know how prone foreigners are to misapprehension, and therefore, how unsafe it is to trust to their observations. In this case, may not the description of the Bibliothèque Publique, which was open night and morning, during the sittings of the courts of justice, have originated merely from the rows of booksellers' stalls in Westminster-hall? ”

“ Thomas Salusbury, 1660, is spoken of in terms of high approval? The passage passed before him not long ago, but having made no note, he is unable to recover it.—Query, Is it in Mr. Hallam's Literary History, which he has not at hand?
U. Q.
Odour from the Rainbow.—What English poet is it that embodies the idea contained in the following passage of Bacon's Sylva? I had noted it on a loose scrap of paper which I left in my copy of the Sylva, but have lost it:—
"It hath been observed by the Ancients, that when a Raine Bow seemeth to hang over or to touch, there breaketh forth a sweet smell. ”

“ Will our correspondent who wrote to us under this signature enable us to address a communication to him?
Hermes is assured that the proposal for "showing the world that there is something worth living for beyond external luxury" is only postponed because it jumps completely with a plan which is now under consideration, and which it may in due time help forward. ”

“ Tennyson has a short poem on the knightly search after it, called "Sir Galahad." And in Spenser's Faerie Queene, book ii. cant. x. 53., allusion is made to the legend that "Joseph of Arimathy brought it to Britain."
W. M. K.
Meaning of "Slums."—In Dr. Wiseman's Appeal to the Reason and Good Feeling of the English People, we find the word "slums" made use of with respect to the purlieus of Westminster Abbey. Warren, in a note of his letter on "The Queen or the Pope?" asks "What are 'slums?' And where is the word to be found explained? Is it Roman or Spanish? ”

“ We are this week compelled by want of room to postpone many interesting papers, among which we may mention one by Lord Braybrooke on Portraits of Distinguished Englishmen, and one by Sir F. Madden on the Collection of Pictures of Bart. del Nave purchased by Charles I. Our next Number will be enlarged to 24 pages, so as to include these and many other valuable communications, which are now waiting for insertion.
Lucius Questorius. It is obvious that we have no means of explaining the discrepancy to which our correspondent refers. ”

“ Collier's on this passage:—
"'Rack' is vapour, from reck, as Horne Tooke showed; and the light clouds on the face of heaven are the 'rack,' or vapour from the earth. The word 'rack' was often used in this way."—Coll. Shaksp., vol. i. p. 70.
Mr. Knight appears to incline to the same view; and regarding these as the two latest authorities, and finding in neither of them any reference to the question of construction, I naturally concluded that the point had been overlooked by the commentators. ”

“ Peacock in this useful work; and I trust that, through the valuable medium of "Notes And Queries," many will be induced to offer their assistance. Could not a Society be formed for the purpose, so that mutual correspondence might take place? ”

“ In your 70th Number I perceived that some correspondent asked, "What is the truth respecting a legend attached to the head of our Saviour for some time past in the print-shops?" I ask the same question. True or false, I found in a work entitled The Antiquarian Repertory, by Grose, Astle, and others, vol. iii., an effigy of our Saviour, much inferior in all respects to the above, with the following attached:—
"This present figure is the similitude of our Lord IHV, oure Saviour imprinted in amirvld by the predecessors of the greate turke, and sent to the Pope Innosent the 8. ”

“ Many of the country Booksellers, &c., are, probably, not yet aware of this arrangement, which will enable them to receive Notes and Queries in their Saturday parcels.
All communications for the Editor of Notes and Queries should be addressed to the care of Mr. Bell, No. 186. Fleet Street.
Errata.—No. 65., p. 68., col. 2, l. 14., should be—
"How canst thou thus be useful to the sight." ”

“ Supporters borne by Commoners.—Can any of your readers state why some commoners bear supporters, and whether the representatives of Bannerets are entitled to do so? I find in Burke's Dictionary of Landed Gentry, that several gentlemen in England, Scotland, and Ireland continue to use them. ”

“ Sir John Vaughan.—In the patent under which the barony of Hamilton of Hackallen, in the county of Meath, was granted on the 20th of October, in the second year of the reign of George I., to Gustavus Hamilton, he is described as son of Sir Frederick Hamilton, Knt., by Sidney, daughter and heiress of Sir John Vaughan, Knt. ”

“ The anxiety of Lord Mahon, its president, to promote the efficiency of that Society, has recently been made evident in many ways; and we cannot doubt that he would sanction the formation of a sub-committee for the purpose of assisting in collecting and preserving a record of all existing monuments, or that he would find a lack of able men to serve on such a committee, when he numbers among the official or active Fellows of the Society gentlemen so peculiarly fitted to carry out this important national object, as Mr. ”