2»<i S. N" 64., Jan. 10. '67.] 



NOTES AND QtrERlEg. 



37 



on the stone, is here, however, dropt put. The 

 cups look exactly like egg cups when looked at 

 hurriedly ; but they are covered cups, there can 

 be no doubt, when examined closely, and resem- 

 ble the standing cup and cover ohce so common 

 on noblelnen's tables. C. D. Lamont. 



Proportion of Males and Females (2"* S. ii. 268. 

 452i) — Much misconceptioh appears to exist on 

 this subject. The truth is, that of births^ the 

 males exceed females in the ratio of about 26 to 

 25, or 4 per cent. ; but from the greater ease in 

 rearing female children, and their greater longe- 

 vity at the period of adolescence, these proportions 

 are reversed, and there are" about 21 fertiales to 

 20 males, or 5 per cent, excess. Thus, in Eng- 

 land and Wales there are 500,000 females more 

 than males in the census of population. I have 

 gathered these facts from tte information of skilful 

 physicians, and from statistical tables, and they 

 may be depended ott. K. F. L. 



Norwich. 



What was the Temperature of the Weather at the 

 Birth of our Saviour? (2""^ S. ii. 466.) — It is well 

 known that in Great Britain, and other countries 

 not then under cultivation, the temperature is at 

 present much warmer than at the time of the 

 birth of Christ ; but there is no reason to believe 

 that it has changed in Palestine. The following 

 is from Dr. ICitto's Cyclopcedia qf Biblical Lite- 

 rature, vol. ii. p. 462. : 



" The cold of wifiter in Palestifae is riot seVere, and the 

 ground is never frozen. Show falls more or less. In the 

 low-lying plains but little falls, and it disappears early 

 in the day ; in the higher lands, as at Jerusalem, it often 

 falls, chiefly in January and February, to the depth of a 

 foot or more ; but ereh then it doesi not lie long oh the 

 ground.-' 



There h£ts beeti niucih dispute as to the tltn^ of 

 the year our Satiout was born. The fact that 

 the shepherds were tending their flocks in the 

 open air is no argument against its occurring in 

 the winter. I suppose the point cannot be notv 

 decided. That the Jews were acquainted with 

 sharp frosts is evident from Psalm cxUii. Yerses 

 16, 17, 18. RovilLus. 



Norwich. 



£)oes hot CutflBEitT BedIs's Query show that 

 the painter may become too erudite ? Even sup- 

 posing that the weather were warm at Christmas 

 time in the East, would it not utterly destroy the 

 whole life of the scene, and prevent a European 

 from entering into it, if an artist TVere to paint it 

 so? Unless there is an absurdity which would 

 ©ffend the eye of all educated people, it is, as I 

 think, better to follow authority and custom in 

 familiar subjects. If we are too correct, there is 

 the danger of losing reality, and of becoming 

 mere antiquaries. < J. C, J. 



Old Buildings (2"'^ S. ii. 449.) -^ The church of 

 Tomgraney, in the diocese of Killaloe and coUnty 

 of Clare, is still in use, and retains all its original 

 features, with the e:kception of its east window, 

 which is modern. The church of Tomgraney, 

 together with the round tower (" cloictheach ") 

 which stood beside it, wete erected about the 

 middle of the tenth century, as appears by the 

 following passage : 



"Cormac O'Cillen, of [the tribe of] Ui Fhiachrac 

 Aidline, comorba of Ciarah and Coman, and comorba of 

 Tuama Grene, who built the great church of Tuama 

 Grene, with its cloictheach (i. e. round tower) Sapiens, et 

 senex, et episcopus, quievit in Christo."^^ Chrotiicdii Sco- 

 torum, under A.D. 965. f( 



The round tower here mentioned does not hdtv 

 exist, but, according to local tradition, some re- 

 mains of it were visible about fifty years since. 

 The church is a fine specimen of the style of 

 architecture so characteristic of the primitive 

 Irish church, and now, through Dr. Petrie's la- 

 bours, so well known to archa;oIogists. At Clort- 

 macnois, and in some other places, the churches 

 now in use are of almost equal antiquity, bub in 

 most instances their original features are lost. 



J. A. P. C. 



BaU's Bridge, Dublin. 



^'- Marranys'' (2°'^ S. ii, 492.)— I believe I can 

 now answer my own Query, and yet the word is 

 one which I think deserves further examination 

 and illustration in your eolilrtiftS. In AdelUfig's 

 GlOssariufri, Marfani, or Marani, is explained to 

 be the name by which the Moors arfe usually 

 called by the Spaniards, and he gives t\^o deri- 

 vations of the Word : either, according tb Mariana, 

 from the! formula of execration Anathema Mara- 

 natha, or, according to Scaliger, from Maraiuan, 

 who transferred the Caliphate from the Abbassides 

 to his own family by usurpation ; and hence, he 

 says, " all Mahometans are opprobriously called 

 Marawanin even to this day : and hence also, by 

 antonomasia, the Italians call traitors Marani^ 



The word Marrano, indeed, still retains its 

 place in Italian ; and is explained in the dictiona- 

 ries, " traitor," " unbeliever." C. W. Bingham. 



Bowing at a Part of the '' Venite" (2"<» S. ii. 

 467.)— ^ In the country church of Esh, near Dur- 

 ham, the congregation always makes obeisaftce at 

 the words : 



" O come let ns worship and fall down, and kneel be- 

 fore the Lord our Maker." 



I have no doubt that this is a prevalent custom 

 in the county of Durham. T* C. 



"P. Q. Y. Zr (2"'i S. ii. 4900 — Perhaps » 

 « P—Q— liar Y. Z." (wise-head). " Y. Z." for 

 wise-head is not uncommon. 



E. S. Chaknock. 

 Gray's Iim. 



