2nd g. No 75., June 6. '57.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



445 



qvack and pose [catarrh], wherewith, aa then, very few 

 were acquainted. — Desc. of Brit, c. xvi. 



If they thus believed in the efficacy of wood- 

 smoke, did our ancestors, in some parts of the 

 country, really resort to the smoking of herbs in 

 general, and of the dock in particular, as men- 

 tioned sarcastically by Buttes, in ray former ar- 

 ticle ? (ante, p. 363.) 



" Dock-tobacco, fiiendly foe to rume." 



I confess that much as I could wish to believe 

 that our interesting martyr went to the stake with 

 a pipe in his "smokie fist," the fact is beyond my 

 comprehension. Perhaps some of your antiqua- 

 ries may be able to give some light to this smoke. 



Of course there is mention in the books of 

 Mnglish tobacco ; but this is only its name by 

 naturalisation. It is the Nicotiana rustica, and, 

 according to Parkinson, came originally from 

 Brazil, probably the very species sent by Nicot 

 into France — 



" Because the Portugalls and not the Spaniards were 

 masters of Brasile at that time: tlie Indian names of 

 Picielt and Perebecenue are more proper, as I take it, to 

 the other Indian kinds. Wee doe usually call it in Eng- 

 land, English Tobacco ; not that it is natural of England, 

 but because it is more commonly grown in every countrey- 

 garden almost, and better endureth than the other. This 

 kind of Tobacco .... is not thought so strong or so sweet 

 for such as take it by the pipe, and yet I have known Sir 

 Walter Raleigh, when he was prisoner in the Tower, 

 make choice of this sort to make good tobacco of, which 

 he knew so rightly to cure, as they call it, that it was 

 held almost as good as that which came from the Indies, 

 and fullv as good as any other made in England." — 

 Tlieatr. Bat, p. 712. ed. 1640. 



But the species taken to Italy by Santa Croce, 

 as the original fathered by Nicot, and first intro- 

 duced into Portugal, is figured in the Herbaria of 

 Castore Durante, and it resembles the other va- 

 rieties of the Weed, and not the N. rustica. It is 

 at the head of his article on "Tobacco" that Du- 

 rante gives the short poem enumerating the sup- 

 posed virtues of the plant, concluding with the 

 compliment to Santa Croce, as quoted by Mr. 

 Challsteth. The description of each plant in 

 his book is headed by a poetic summary of its 

 respective virtues. (Herb., p. 227. ed. 1585.) 



Andrew Steinmetz. 



Minav Uatt^. 



Chelsea Old Chwch. — I note, for the inform- 

 ation of our metropolitan antiquaries, and the 

 lovers of our national shrines, that this most in- 

 teresting parish church is about to be "enlarged," 

 It is said that nothing shall be done to interfere 

 with its " integrity." I hope the result may prove 

 so :^ but, thinking some may like to see the chui'ch 

 in its present state, I ask the insertion of this, and 

 trust our antiquaries will keep an eye on the pro- 

 gress made. H. G. D. 



Herschel. — The following anecdote appears 

 sufficiently interesting to be recorded in " N. & 

 Q.:" 



" About the year 1760, as Miller (the organist, and 

 afterwards historian, of Doncaster) was dining at Ponte- 

 fract with the officers of the Durham militia, one of them, 

 knowing his love of music, told him they had a young 

 German in their band, as a performer on the hautboy, 

 who had only been a few months in England, and yet 

 spoke English almost as well as a native, and who was 

 also an excellent performer on the violin; the officer 

 added, that if Miller would come into another room this 

 German should entertain him with a solo. This invita- 

 tion was gladly accepted, and Miller heard a solo of 

 Giardini's executed in a manner that surprised him. He 

 afterwards took the opportunity of having some private 

 conversation with the young musician, and asked him 

 whether he had engaged himself for any long period to 

 the Durham militia. The answer was, ' Only from 

 month to month.' ' Leave them then,' said the organist, 

 ' and come and live with me. I am a single man, and 

 think we shall be happy together, and doubtless your 

 merit will soon entitle you to a more eligible situation.' 



" The offer was accepted as frankly as it was made, and 

 the i-eader may imagine with what satisfaction Dr. 

 Miller must have remembered this act of generous feeling 

 when he hears that this young German was Herschel the 

 astronomer." — The Doctor, eh. Ixvi. 



An account of men of genius who have changed 

 their original pursuits, and shown that not always 

 " one science for one genius is fit," would be an 

 interesting contribution. Charles Wylie. 



To Slang : Origin of the Term. — The noun 

 substantive — slang, means " cant language : " as 

 a verb, however, it signifies " to abuse " or " use 

 insulting language to." I would suggest that, in 

 the latter sense, it may have been first used by 

 our military men in the time of Queen Anne, and 

 that it not improbably was derived from the name 

 of the Dutch General, Slangenberg, who was no- 

 torious for his vituperative language and abuse, 

 of Marlborough in particular ; the consequence of 

 which was, that he was ultimately removed from 

 the command of the Dutch forces. 



Henry T. Hiley. 



The Old Pine Trees of We^moreland. — The 

 following is an extract from a private letter by 

 the poet Wordsworth : — 



" It is my opinion that these mountains were formerly 

 covered in some places to their very summits with pines 

 of that species [the Highland pine] ; and when I was a 

 boy, descendants of those aboriginals survived in several 

 places near the yeomen's cottages and substantial country- 

 houses and halls ; nor are they yet entirely extinct. The 

 trees which I take to be the original pine in this country 

 discharge turpentine in greater quantities, and are much 

 redder in the bark than the others. The old pines which 

 I have mentioned, as standing near houses, almost alwaj'S 

 grew in the shape of a tall — very tall — ship's mast, with 

 boughs only near the top, making a fine round head." 



Cs. 



Early Mention of Laudanum. — 



" There is a certaine kinde of compound called LaudanO 

 w<^'' may be had at Dr. Turner's appothecary in Bishop- 



