2«d a No 71., May 9. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



375 



nour, whenever they have sufficient grounds to 

 satisfy themselves that it is deserved, either as a 

 mere honorary title for public services performed, 

 or as a reward for proficiency in the particular 

 science to which the degree belongs. In granting 

 degrees ad eundem (which they can withhold, if 

 not satisfied with the test applied by the University 

 from which the candidate migrates), they act 

 upon the faith of a proper test having been ap- 

 plied elsewhere. The test that may satisfy the 

 University granting the degree may be in itself 

 very inadequate ; but all that I mean to contend 

 for is, that the power, though improperly exer- 

 cised, is in itself legitimate. Our Universities 

 profess to establish certain tests of proficiency in 

 the case of musical degrees ; for example, a cer- 

 tain number of years devoted to its study, and 

 stated exercises within the precincts of the Uni- 

 versity itself. I confess I do not exactly com- 

 prehend Dr. Gauntlett's question, as " to the 

 legal right of the examiner (i. e. the musical pro- 

 fessor) to inquire into that over which the tlni- 

 versity has no control, and of which it has no 

 knowledge." I do not know how the corporate 

 knowledge of an University can be explained : but 

 as to the knowledge possessed by aggregate 

 members, in this aspect each of the Universities 

 has a greater knowledge of music, than it has of 

 Sanscrit, or of Irish, or of anatomy. The Uni- 

 versity, in the testing of musical candidates, as in 

 every other case, was always represented by its 

 own accredited officer, the Professor of Music* 

 Fully concurring with Dr. Gauntlett that the 

 whole musical process had hitherto been very 

 defective, I cannot see how it was either anoma- 

 lous or illegal. At all events the University of 

 Oxford has shown that it has control on this 

 matter, by the very fact of the recent statute, 

 which places the tests for musical honours on a 

 test analogous to those for other degrees. But I 

 must protest against the notion that direct ex- 

 amination is, or ought to be, an essential part of 

 the test for any degree whatever. It is a mere 

 accident, and I am persuaded the least healthy or 

 effectual part of the trial. The performance of 

 certain exercises was anciently the main pre- 

 requisite ; and though not absolutely deprecating 

 examinations, I heartily wish we could get rid of 

 at least a third part of them. However, if I at all 

 misunderstand Db. Gauntlett, I shall be very 

 happy to be set right. 



And now one or two Notes and Queries upon 

 matters of less importance. What are the four 

 dresses of the D.D. referred to by Da. Gaunt- 

 lett ? If he includes the chapel or choir dress 

 (the surplice and hood), this is common to all 



* The University of Dublin, till a Professor of Music 

 was established, never gave, I believe, other than ho- 

 norary musical degrees. 



graduates. And then can we find the three-cor- 

 nered trencher cap ? I thought the corners were 

 four. And is not this headpiece derived from 

 that which is still retained by our judges, as old 

 pictures show ? As to the soutane, or cassock, 

 worn by church officers, whether lay or clerical, 

 abroad (and I believe in seminaries and some 

 Spanish universities), this was never an aca- 

 demical distinction. In England, since the Re- 

 formation at least, the cassock is confined to 

 persons in holy orders ; and as a D. D. in our 

 Universities must be a priest, this is the reason 

 that the cassock is represented as forming a part 

 of his full dress. But doctors in all other facul- 

 ties, and in fact all clerical graduates, have a 

 right to wear it, as the preachers at the University, 

 and others on certain academical occasions, ha- 

 bitually do. Laymen have no right to it. 



John Jebb. 



photographic cokbespondence. 



MavU and Polyblank's Living Celebrities. — The II th 

 part of this interesting series of contemporary portraits 

 presents us with a living likeness of that prince of hu- 

 morists with the etching needle — George Cruikshank; 

 — while the 12th part is devoted to the portrait of the 

 man to whom we are mainly indebted for the benefits of 

 our reformed postal arrangements. Few who have friends 

 in our far distant colonies but must feel interested on 

 looking at the intelligent countenance of Rowland Hill, 

 by whose exertions they are now enabled " to waft a sigh 

 to Indus or the Pole," almost for the smallest possible 

 charge, and in the briefest possible time. 



Cyanide of Potassium. — In " N. & Q.," (2'"i S. iii. 313.), 

 you quote the letter of A. V, G., communicated to The 

 Times, and append to it a note, in which Mr. Long is 

 said to doubt the ill effects attributed to the cyanide of 

 potassium. A. V. G. states that on one occasion he cut 

 his finger with the edge of the glass whilst cleaning it, 

 and he asks what would have happened if he had been 

 using the cyanide ? Now I am in a position to answer 

 this. Once, when removing a plate from the slide for the 

 purpose of fixing, I cut the end of my thumb severely 

 with the raw edge of the glass, and was made aware of 

 the accident by unwittingly resting mj' hand where I had 

 overturned a small measure of cyanide. The smarting 

 pain was almost intolerable, and the whole hand became 

 swollen and much inflamed. I got relief by suffering the 

 hand to lie for nearly half an hour in a basin of clean 

 water, but I suffered some inconvenience for several daj's. 

 Probablj' the perils of cyanide may be exaggerated, but 

 there can be no doubt that more or less of danger attends 

 its use, and it is surely wisdom to err on the side of pru- 

 dence. Thomas Rose. 



Glasgow. 



Optical, Atmospheric, and Photographic Inquiry. — I am 

 induced to give this triple title to my inquiry, because, 

 with reference to the first two mentioned, there are dif- 

 ferences of opinion, as to whether the one or the other be 

 the cause of a certain phenomenon, between myself and a 

 friend; and with regard to the last, because seeing a 

 photographic print the subject was started between us. 

 The photograph in question was a very beautiful one of 

 Salisbury Cathedral ; the exterior, taken from some little 



