158 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2id S, No 60., 1"kb. 21. '57. 



at Trafalgar. ' Such officers are distinguished in 

 the List by a (T) prefixed to their names. 



Is it possible that Don Xavier Ulloa was the 

 last survivor in Spain of the battle of Trafalgar ? 

 Our own heroes seem to be longer-lived ; for we 

 have still several officers surviving who served in 

 Lord Howe's fleet in the actions of May and June 

 1, 1794, and are distinguished in The New Navy 

 List by an (II) prefixed. Vrtan Rheged. 



'■'How do Oysters make their Shells?" (S""* S. 

 ii. 228.) — I have seen no answer to the above 

 Query of Mr. Holt White. It is a curious in- 

 quiry, not only how oysters, but how such shells as 

 those of the gigantic Chama are formed, seeing 

 that, according to the best analyses of sea-water, 

 so small a quantity of lime has been discovered 

 therein. 



The following analyses are from the Penny Cy- 

 clopcBcUu, Article Sea-water, by Laurens, and 

 Sohwitzer of Brighton : — 



" Mediterranean Sea, 

 Water 



Com, Salt 

 Chlo. Mag. - 

 Sul. Mag, 

 Sill. Lime 

 Carb. Do. 

 Carb. Mag. 

 Do. Acid 

 Potash 



(Laurens.) 



9o9-06 

 27-22 

 614 

 7-02 

 015 

 009 

 0-11 

 0-20 

 001 



1000-00 



" Brighton. (Schwitzer.) 



Water - - - - 9G4-74372 



Cblo, Soda - - - - 27-05948 



Chi, Soda .... 3-60658 



Do. Pot, ... - 0-76552 



Erom. Mag, ... 0-02929 



Sulph. Do. - - - - 2-29578 



Do. Lime - - - - 1-40662 



Carb. Do. - - - - 0-03301 



A repetition of the inquiry may attract the 

 notice of some coi'respondent capable of throwing 

 light on the subject. R. W. 



Filius Populi: Note from Wolverhampton (2""^ S. 

 iii, 107.) — I send you an extract which I copied 

 many years ago from the Register of Births for 

 the parish of Lawrence Waltham, in Berkshire, 

 So far as I can recollect there is no other similar 

 entry in the same volume, though several notices 

 of children basehorn occur. 



Though there can be no doubt of the meaning 

 of the words " filii filiseque populi," my entry con- 

 tains more particulars than your Wolverhampton 

 Note; and one question remains unanswered : 

 Why the practice, if used at all, was so rarely 

 adopted : 



" 1607. Anne the daughter of Mary Cardless and of 

 the people borne Nov^. the 15, 1667, bapt. Nov^ the 26. 

 (She made oath, did the mother, at Peter Hulbert's at 



Southlake, to Colonell Rich*". Nevile, Esqre. and to Will. 

 Barker of Sonning, ICsqre, that John Ford, sonne of 

 Tliomas Ford of White Waltham gott it on St. Valen- 

 tine's day before.) " 



Braybrooke, 



^'' Aurea Catena Homeri" (2"'^ S. iii. 63, 81. 

 104.) — Amongst the old writers, Eirionnach has 

 omitted Massinger's allusion (^Bondman, Act II. 

 Sc. 3.) : 



Marullo. " Equal Nature fashioned us 

 All in one mould. The bear serves not the bear. 

 Nor the wolf the wolf; 'twas odds of strength in tyrants. 

 That plucked the first link from the Gulden Chain' 

 With which that TiiixG of Things* bound in the world," 



Bacon has : 



" When a man seeth the dependence of causes, and the 

 works of Providence, then, according to the allegory of 

 the poets, he will easily believe that the highest link of 

 Nature's chain must needs be tied to the foot of Jupiter's 

 chair." — Adv. of Learning, 1828, p. 12. 



Threlkelb. 



Cambridge. 



Mice and Music (2"*^ S. iii. 87.) — I have read 

 in some work on Natural History, the name of 

 which has escaped my memory, of mice being 

 charmed by music in the same way which Tiiret.- 

 keld mentions. The story was somewhat as 

 follows. Some gentlemen on board ship were 

 whiling away their time with music on a piano- 

 forte, when they were surprised to see a mouS'e 

 appear on the instrument, exhibiting signs of 

 ecstacy and delight, more or less, according as the 

 air was cheerful or plaintive. This lasted for some 

 time, but at last on an air of a more plaintive cast 

 than the preceding ones being played, the poor 

 mouse, after a few more delirious expressions of 

 delight, suddenly dropped down dead. 



I do not remember any more instances of this, 

 but perhaps this may help to corroborate the 

 statement of Threlkeld. Eicemitb. 



Do Bees use Soot ? (2"'^ S. iii. 12.) — Being, 

 like your correspondent D., an old bee-keeper, I 

 agree with him in questioning the truth of the 

 assertion that bees use soot for any purpose what- 

 ever ; but I can easily believe that the opium- 

 eater may have heard them in the cottage chim- 

 neys. Will D. accept the following conjecture as 

 to their business there ? 



It is a fact which I have often verified by ob- 

 servation that, in the swarming season, many bees, 

 apparently begrimed with soot, may be seen about 

 the hives ; and it is also well known that swarms, 

 on coming off, frequently settle in chimneys. Are 

 they led thither by chance ? Or may not our 

 black friends have been employed in looking out 

 the place of their future abode ? I know many 

 bee-keepers who are of the latter opinion. In- 



* A literal translation of Ens Entium, as Mason re- 

 marks. 



