f n<J S. YII. Jan. 29. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



85 



The will of Ricliard Tyrry fj Adame was exe- 

 cuted 14th April, 1582. From an "Inventorie of 

 his Goods taken after his death 12 dales, viz. 26 

 April," we obtain an account of the stock of the 

 house of a leading merchant of the time, which 

 forms an interesting contrast with that of one of 

 our " monster establishments " at the present 

 day: — 



" ffirst, in Golde and Silver, the summ of twentie and 

 eighte pounds St. It. fieve taflStc hatts, p'ce 40^ It 

 three pair of Jarnesey stockings, p'ce 18^ It. eight yards 

 and a quarter purple bwffen, p'ce xx^ It. seventeen 

 yards and halfe of black bwffen in ii. rements, p'ce foitie 

 shill. It. six yards and halfe of ashe collor, p'ce sixtine 

 shill. It. ten j'ards and halfe of tawny bwffen, p'ce 

 twentie and foure shill. It. a piece of purple bwffen con- 

 teyning xiij. yards and halfe, p'ce fieve nobles. It. three 

 papers of buttons of six dusen every paper, p'ce thirtie 

 shill. It. two yards of flanjme Kierse}', p'ce ten shill. 

 It. a pounde a quarter and two unces of smale dusen 

 laces, p'ce four nobles. It. a pounde and a quarter of 

 Spaynishe silkes, fortie shill. It. a whole peece of blacke 

 fustian, p'ce thirtie shill. It. nene yards blacke fustian, 

 xx». It. xiii. yards of yallowe fustian, p'ce xxvi'. It. 

 three yards and halfe of black bayes, p'ce eight shill. It. 

 syTC yards and halfe of silke grogram, p'ce 32' vi^. It. a 

 peece of turkey grogram, cont. fyftyne j'ards and halfe, 

 p'ce B^ 16k It. two cappes, p'ce eight shill. It. a box of 

 combes, p'ce xvi*. It. 36 halfe peny combes, p'ce xviii'i. 

 It. foure duson points, p'ce xvi**. It. 13 painted boxes, 

 p'ce .... It. 25 quires of paper, vi» viii"!. It. 42 waste 

 gyrdles, p'ce viii'. It. xii. peny girdles, p'ce xii<i. It. 900 

 sheepfell, p'ce fieve pounds fourtine shill. It. 280 calffell, 

 p'ce 20». It. three decker hids, p'ce three pounds, w*^ a 

 fewe cony fell, and some lambe fell, black and gray, p'ce 

 v»," &c. 



E.G. 



Ck)rk. 



(TW be continued^) 



TO TAKE AN IMPRESSION OF A SEAL OK COIN 

 IN WAX. 



Few persons can take a perfect or even a good 

 impression of either a stone seal or a metal coin. 

 The principal cause of failure arises from placing 

 the seal or coin quite cold upon the melted wax. 

 The cold stone " sets " the wax before it can enter 

 the fine lines of the work. 



Metal coins being better conductors of heat act 

 in this way even quicker than stone. The first 

 thing to do therefore to obtain a good impression 

 is to warm the seal or coin before it be placed 

 upon the sealing-wax. The proper heat is about 

 that which can be borne upon the cheek without 

 inconvenience when they are placed there " to feel 

 them." There are also two other points to consider 

 in taking an impression ; one is to prevent air 

 being enclosed under the seal, the other to have 

 the wax neither too fluid nor too thick. To 

 prevent air being enclosed, place the seal or coin 

 on to the wax with a diagonal motion, and not, as 

 is often the case, with a flat or horizontal thrust. 

 The reason for this practice is, that if the seal be 



suddenly put flat on to the wax, the little air 

 within the engraved parts cannot escape, and, being 

 expanded by the hot wax, makes a vexatious 

 " bubble " at a part most desired to be perfect. 

 A deep cut shield is very liable to enclose an air 

 bubble. To avoid it, place one edge of the seal into 

 the wax, and then quickly lower it to a horizontal 

 position, exerting great pressure before the seal be 

 let go. 



In practice, the seal is not to be snatched off 

 immediately, but time must be given for the wax 

 and seal to cool. The seal should then be lifted 

 off with the same kind of diagonal motion as it was 

 put on with ; that is, one side is to be lifted first, 

 then gently raise it. If lifted quite perpendicularly, 

 the seal acts to the wax like a school-boy's leather 

 sucker does to the stone : rather than leave it, the 

 weaker of the two (the wax) gives way in part 

 from the base, caused by the well-known pressure 

 of the atmosphere. Wax impressions are made 

 better upon card than on paper ; and now we 

 touch the second point. To have the wax in a 

 good condition, first warm the card, holding it 

 about half an inch above the wick of a well-snuffed 

 candle. Now melt the wax gradually, not by put- 

 ting the wax into the flame, for by so doing 

 black streaky impressions are obtained, but by 

 holding the wax just at the top point of the flame, 

 at which place there is more heat than in the 

 flame. When the wax is sufficiently melted and 

 nearly ready to drop, place the fluid portion on to 

 the card, moving the fluid wax from the stick 

 with a circular motion. Twice melting is almost 

 certain to be enough; take care, however, to 

 spread the wax out to the full size of the impres- 

 sion required. 



In taking a copy of a coin it will be difficult to 

 do so perfectly, unless one side be fixed to a tem- 

 porary handle. This can be done by making a 

 wooden handle, and fixing the same to the reverse 

 side with sealing-wax. Cut a short wood handle, 

 make one end hot, then put melted sealing-wax 

 upon it ; next warm the coin, and put sealing- 

 wax upon it ; now warm the two, and weld the wax 

 together. When cold enough the impression can 

 be taken. Never wet or damp a seal before tak- 

 ing an impression; the hot wax converts the water 

 into steam, and is sure to spoil the impression. 



Septimus Fiesse. 



Composition during Sleep. — I had thrown to- 

 gether a few curious instances of this kind that I 

 have come across in the course of my reading. 

 The first is from that amusing miniature Curiosi- 

 ties of Literature, Salad for the Solitary : — - i#i| 



" Condorcet is said to have attained the conclusion of 

 some of his most abstruse unfinished calculations in his 

 dreams. Franklin makes a similar admission concerning 



