2'"i S. No 59., Fkb. 14. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



127 



land, &c.) were swallowed up, according to the 

 accounts of this predatory " Progress " ? 



Allusions in Epistle to Sir John Hill — The fol- 

 lowing lines occur in A Fi-iendly Epistle to Sir 

 John Hill, London, 1761, 8vo., pp. 32. : — 



" Ericksey Mago, well enough, 

 For hiccup gave a pinch of snuff, 

 (A remedy which seldom scarce is), 

 And cured the Author of those farces 

 With which sly saints dull hours beguile, 

 Reading them only for their style. 

 Like alcohol by Duchess quaft. 

 When labelled', 'The composing Draught;' 

 Though she would hold it deadly sin 

 To wet her lips with simple gin," — P. 12. 



Some person has written on the margin 

 "Cheyne" and "Foote." The explanation is not 

 quite satisfactory. Can any of your readers help 

 me to a better ? J. R. 



Gloucester. 



Resuscitation of Drowned Flies. — This com- 

 munication may possibly appear frivolous to some, 

 but as it bears relation to a " singular fact in na- 

 tural history," as the saying is, I venture to make 

 it, in hopes of gathering some further information 

 on the subject. 



Being engaged on one occasion, in the days of 

 my boyhood, in assisting some half-drowned house 

 flies in drying their wings, and so starting them 

 again in the world, I bethought me of using pow- 

 dered plate-whitening for the purpose. In addi- 

 tion to these there were some other flies, which 

 had been immersed in water twenty minutes at 

 least, and were apparently dead, to all intents and 

 purposes. They were, however, powdered with 

 the rest and laid in a window, exposed to a hot 

 midsummer sun. Great was my surprise to find 

 that in a few minutes these drowned flies, if I may 

 use the term, came to life again. I afterwai'ds 

 tried the experiment with other flies, which had 

 been immersed in water, so far as I recollect, a 

 still longer time, and was equally successful. 



Hitherto I have never met with anyone who was 

 aware of this singular fact, nor have I found it 

 mentioned or alluded to In any modern work. 

 The ancients, however, I find, were aware of It. 

 Pliny says {Hist. Nat., b. xi. c. 43.), " Muscis 

 humore exanimatis, si cinere condantur, redit 

 vita," — "Flies which have been drowned in water, 

 If they are covered with ashes, will return to life." 

 iElIan (Hist. Anim., h. ii. c. 29.) says the same, 

 but adds the important particular, that the flies 

 must be placed in the sun. Manuel Phile also, a 

 Byzantine poet, in his poem On the Properties 

 of Animals, mentions the fact. 



I wish to learn, from some one more learned In 

 Entomology than myself, whether this property is 

 peculiar to flies, and if not, to what other insects 

 it extends ? Also, whether it has been remarked 



upon by any modern writer, and how it is ac- 

 counted for ? Has it ever been tried how far in- 

 tense heat might be useful towards resuscitating 

 persons apparently drowned ? Henet T. Kilet. 



Durham University. — Particulars are requested 

 relating to the following persons, who were the*' 

 original " Provost, Preachers, and Fellows," nomi- 

 nated by Oliver Cromwell in 1658-9, for the uni- 

 versity founded by him at Durham. The first 

 five are noticed at some length In Wood's Athence 

 Oxonienses and elsewhei'e, but of the remainder I 

 have as yet obtained no certain Information to any 

 extent. The names are — 



Philip Hunton, M.A., Wadham Coll., Oxen. 



Robert Wood, M.A, Lincoln Coll., Oxon. 



Ezrael Tonge, D.D., of University Coll., Oxon. 



Nath. Vincent, M.A., Ch. Ch,, Oxon. 



Willm. Sprigge, M.A., Lincoln Coll., Oxon. 



John Peachell,* M.A., C. C. Coll. Oxon. 



Willm. Spinedge. 



Joseph Hill,* M.A. ? tutor of Peter Heylin. 



Thomas Vaughan, M.A. 



John Kifler, M.D. 



Leonard Wastel. 



Richard Russel, M.A. 



John Richel. 



AVilliam Corber. 



John Doughty, ]\LA. 



Any references to books in which accounts or 

 allusions to the above are to be found will be re- 

 ceived with thanks by Dunelmessis. 



Crust of Red Wine. — It is well known to all 

 drinkers of port wine that, like Spanish red and 

 other coarse wines, it deposits what is called a 

 crust after being long In bottle : so great as some- 

 times to cover the whole bottle. 



By way of Query, I should like to know why 

 the deposit from tlie wines of the Gironde is not 

 diS'used over the bottle, but is limited to a small 

 speck, round or oval, lying at the bottom of the 

 bottle? 



This I believe is invariably the case with Claret 

 wine ; while the Rhone and South of France 

 wines leave a deposit quite as great as do those 

 from Oporto. 



While on this subject I cannot refrain from 

 expressing surprise that any person of good taste 

 — a connoisseur of wine — should condescend to 

 drink port wine, while such wines as St. George, 

 St. Gilles, Condrieu, Bagnol, Chateau-neuf, and 

 numerous others of that class, are with ease to be 



[* Dr. John Peachell and the Rev. Joseph Hill are 

 noticed in Pepys's Diary, see Index. Pepys, it will be 

 remembered, has the following amusing entry on the ru- 

 bicundity of Peachell's nose : — " May 3, 1667. Took a 

 turn with my old acquaintance Mr. Peachell, Avhose nose 

 makes one ashamed to be seen with him, though other- 

 wise a good-natured man."] 



