2"* S. N« 67., Apbil 11. '67.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



289 



Collegio Universitatis, in quo ipse fuit 'Apxi-iidyetpos, et 

 praepositus societatis Coquorum. Oxon., 1633." 



The author of the book was Patrick Young 

 (Patricius Junius), M.A. of St. Andrews, Scot- 

 land ; incorporated at Oxford, 1605. 



W. C. Treveltan. 



Portrait of the Saviour* — Can any of your 

 correspondents inform me how far the following 

 title to a portrait of our Saviour can be relied on : 



" Vera Salvatoris nostri effigies ad imitationem imaginis 

 smaragdo incisse iussu Tiberii Csesaris. Quo smaragdo 

 postea ex thesauro Constantinopolitano Tvrcarum impe- 

 rator Innocentium yiii. pont. max. Rom. donavit pro 

 redimendo fratre Christianis captivo." 



The size of the engraving, including the above 

 title, printed in capital letters, white on the dark 

 ground, is about 4^ X 7. The expression of the 

 face is full of benevolence, mingled, however, with 

 a tinge of that sadness which must have been 

 natural to the countenance of the " Man of Sor- 

 rows." I. A. 2. 



Glasgow. 



Dark Spots in Marble. — Have dark spots or 

 specks been known to show themselves on the 

 surface of white marble even when the blocks 

 have been chosen for their purity and the clear- 

 ness of the grain ? Did any such defects exist in 

 Canova's " Venus," in the Pitti Palace, Florence, 

 when it was sculptured ? A black streak now 

 falls across the bosom. Some years since scarcely 

 a mark was visible. M. A. Ball. 



Composition of Fire Balls for destroying Ships. 

 — In the confessions of Jo. Annias before the 

 privy council, anno 1593-4, he mentions some 

 fire-balls or combustibles to destroy the queen's 

 ships made by one W. Tampson, " made to bestow 

 Adepe" (a Dieppe). 



The secret Annias learned at Dunkercque from 

 " an old man ther that goes lame," — " the ma- 

 teryall of the balles wer of gonpowder and brem- 

 stone, saltpeter, calefonia, and wex, w"' some 

 pydch and oyle of egeseles." 



What were the ingredients"caZe/bnza and oyle of 

 egeseles ? Cl. Hoppee. 



Ai'ms of the Family Gross. — Could any of the 

 correspondents of " N. & Q." kindly give me the 

 description and particulars of the arms of an an- 

 cient Saxon race of the name of Gross. * J. K. 



Islington. 



Lerot : Dormouse. — In Knox's translation of 

 Milne-Edwards' Manual of Zoology^ p. 264. fig. 

 206., is a woodcut of an animal called a Lerot, and 

 which apparently differs somewhat from the dor- 

 mouse. I can find no account of it in any work 



* This subject was touched upon in our 1" S. iii. 168. 

 228., but not exhausted. 



on natural history to which I have access, nor can 

 I find the word lerot in any French and English 

 dictionary. A French schoolboy whom I ques- 

 tioned on the subject knew the dormouse by the 

 name of Croquenoix ; but knew nothing of the 

 Lerot, whose name, however, must be a diminutive 

 formed from the Latin glires. The Periny CyclO' 

 padia, art. " MuridaB," gives, as the French names 

 of the dormouse, Muscardin, Croquenoix, and 

 Rat-d'or ; and says that the Graphiurus capensis 

 is about the size of the Lerot, Buff., Mus. quei-cinus, 

 Linn. : but as far as I am concerned this is ignotum 

 per ignotius. Can any of your readers give me 

 information about the lerot ? Are any to be seen 

 in England : in the Zoological Gardens, for in- 

 stance ? 



'J'he Dormice (Sleep-meece in Suffolk) are said 

 to derive their name from dormio. But the French 

 synonym Hat-d'or, and the Echimys chrysurus 

 (gilt tail dormouse) of Surinam, being called Lerot 

 a queue doree, would point to a different etymo- 

 logy, which will also suit the Dumble-dor, a pro- 

 vincial name of the Humble-bee. It is not a 

 little curious that the Dor-beetles, Dormice, and 

 Do?'hawks, should (with the exception of the 

 Dumblerfor) be crepuscular animals. E. G. R. 



Scott of Dunrod, Benfrewshire. — Can any of 

 your correspondents inform me who the Scott of 

 Dunrod was about whom a ballad was written, a 

 fragment of which I can only remember ? 



" The witches ride in Inverkip, 

 And in Dunrod they dwell, 

 But the greatest loon among them a'. 

 Is auld Dunrod himsel." 



Can anyone furnish me with a copy of the re- 

 maining portion of this ballad ? It is said that 

 this Scott lived during the time of the per- 

 secutions in Scotland, and was a most uncompro- 

 mising enemy of the Covenanters. Dunrod now 

 forms a portion of the estate of Sir M. R. Shaw- 

 Stewart, Bart., of Ardgowan. Did the Stewarts 

 inherit or purchase Dunrod? Any account of 

 this family of Scott will oblige W. B. C. 



" Dyzemas Day^ — In the Quarterly Review 

 for January, the article on " History and Anti- 

 quities of Northamptonshire " contains the follow- 

 ing sentence: 



" Dyzemas Day is more peculiar in name and observ- 

 ance, though now, perhaps, obsolete. It was the local 

 name for Childermas, or Holy Innocents ; and was deemed 

 unlucky for the commencement of any undertaking, and 

 even imparted its ill omen throughout the year to the day 

 of the week on which it fell." — P. 9. 



The article gives no further explanation as to 

 the origin of this ill-omened name. Query, has it 

 not some reference to that name Desmas, given 

 by tradition to one of the thieves crucified with 

 our Lord, and concerning which I put, and you 

 kindly answered, a Query, 1" S. vii. 238., on re- 



