2"<» S. No 63., Mar. 14. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



211 



oat them, or die. They take us for a nation that 

 exists on plum-pudding, and respect us more for 

 that supposed fact than for our nationality. Mr. 

 bowen, in his Monnt Aihos (1852), states that if 

 England lost its taste for currants, Greece would 

 be ruined. These are cultivated all along the 

 northern shore of the Peloponne'se, from Patras to 

 Corinth. At the convents where the traveller 

 tarried, the monks would talk of nothing but the 

 price of their staple produce. " How many in- 

 mates are there in the monastery ? " we asked. 

 " Three hundred," they replied ; " and how much 

 do you think grapes will fetch this year in Eng- 

 land ? " " Is your library in good order ? " " No ; 

 but our grapes are of excellent quality." " May 

 we see your church ? " " Certainly ; we hope you 

 will recommend us to the English merchants at 

 Patras," &c. Fynes Moryson does not state the 

 amount of the fruit imported into England in his 

 lime; the average annual quantity now imported 

 reaches, in round numbers, half a million hundred- 

 weight ! No wonder the Greek cultivators take 

 us for a nation of pudding-eaters. J. Doban. 



Mb. H. T. Rilet inquires whether the elder 

 D'Israeli is correct in stating that the currant- 

 bush was transplanted to England at the period 

 when our commerce with Zante was first opened 

 in the reign of Henry VIII. ? 



As D'Israeli names that island, which is one of 

 the nurseries of the description of vine which pro- 

 duces the small grapes imported into this country 

 under the name of currants, he may possibly have 

 meant that in the reign of Henry VII L an attempt 

 had been made to grow that particular vine in 

 Great Britain. 



But if, misled by similarity of name, he sup- 

 posed that the currant-bush, properly so called, 

 which is common in our gardens, was introduced 

 from Zante, it is a mistake. It belongs to the 

 order of Grossularice, and' genus Ribes, and is in- 

 digenous in the temperate regions of Northern 

 Europe, Asia, and America. But the currants of 

 commerce are the fruit of a genuine vine, which 

 ::rows chiefly in that part of Greece bordering the 

 (xtilf of Corinth ; whence the designation currants, 

 being a corruption of the French name, " raisins 

 de Corinthe." J. E. T. 



Warwick Square, S.W. 



"The currants of commerce, the produce of 

 Zante and Patras," are not currants at all ; they 

 are grapes. They were first known in this country 

 as " grapes of Corinth," or " Corinthes." In the 

 seventeenth century they were always called "Co- 

 rinthes," a name which has been corrupted into 

 " currants." Time was when I was prized as I 

 deserve ; citron, meat, and condiments of the best 

 were associated with me. I wsia thoroughly aris- 



tocratic, fit to tickle the gastronomic glanos of the 

 most lordly gathered round their wassail bowl at 

 Christmas. I am a poor, vulgar, seedy thing now, 

 and I hardly wonder that your correspondent 

 should turn to his Withering, and expect to find 

 my fruit under the old familiar genus Ribes. Im- 

 mortal Jack Horner would take no pains now to 

 pull out his " plumb " in triumph, nor feel the 

 least "cocky" at his find. But look into my 

 lady's receipt-book in the time of good King 

 Charles, and you will find that nothing less clas- 

 sical or less aristocratic than " Corinthe," and the 

 richest of condiments, entered into the spicy soul 

 of Mince Pie. 



PKKSIDENTS OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE Or PHYSICIANS 

 OF LONDON FROM 1518 TO 1857. 



(2"'i S. iii. 169.) 



A complete Series of the Presidents of the 

 Royal College of Physicians, from the foundation 

 of that learned body by K. Henry VIII. to the 

 present time, has been long a desideratum to those 

 interested in the history of the progress of medi- 

 cine in th-is country. No such list has ever been 

 published, and I believe I am correct in stating 

 that no attempt has heretofore been made to com- 

 pile one from official records. 



Having had occasion, in the preparation of the 

 Roll of the College (a MS. now in the library), to 

 institute a careful search of the Annals from 1518 

 to the present time, I am enabled to supply the 

 information asked for by your correspondent : and 

 I avail myself of the opportunity now afforded to 

 place on record, in the pages of "N. & Q.," an 

 authentic List of the Presidents of the College, 

 compiled from the Annals, and verified by other 

 documents among the archives. 



William Munk, M.D. 



Finsbury Place, March 5, 1857. 



1. 1518-24. Thomas Linacre, M.D., Patav. incorp. Oxon. 



Obiit 20 Oct. 1524. 

 The Founder and first President of the College. 

 1525. Uncertain. 



2. 1526. Thomas Bentley, M.D. Oxon. (?), 1518. 



3. 1527-28. Richard Bartlot, M.D. Oxon., 1508 (?). 



Obiit 1556, sot. 87. 

 1529-30. Thomas Bentley, M.D. Vide No. 2. 

 1531. Richard Bartlot, M.D. Vide No. 3. 

 No records from 1531 to 1540. 



4. 1541-43. Edward Wotton, M.D. Patav. incorp. Oxon. 



1525. Obiit 5 Oct. 1555, set. 63. 



5. 1544. John Clement, M.D. Obiit 1 Jul^', 1572. 



6. 1545-46. William Freeman, M.D. Oxon., 1521. 



7. 1547. John Burgess, M.D. Obiit 1550. 

 1548. Richard Bartlot. M.D. Vide No. 3. 



8. 1549-50. John Fryar, M.D. Cantab. (?). Obiit 21 



Oct. 1563. 



9. 1551-52. Robert Huick, A.M. Oxon., M.D. Cantab. 



incorp. Oxon., 1566. 

 10. 1553-54. George Owen, M.D. Oxon., 1527, Obiit 

 18 Oct. 1558, , 



