IM 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 118. 



to the Rev. Mr. Gilpin. ' The tradition of this tree,' 

 says this ingenious writer iti his Remarks on Forest 

 Scenery and other IVoodland Views, ' traces it half way 

 up the Christian a;ra. It is still a noble tree, though 

 it has suffered greatly from tlie depredations of "time. 

 About a yard from the ground, where its rough fluted 

 stem is 36 feet in circumf^^rence, it divides into 

 eleven vast arms ; yet not in the horizontal manner 

 of an oak, but rather in that of a beach. Beneath its 

 shade, which overspreads an area of 300 feet in circuit, 

 an annual fair has long been held on the first Friday in 

 July.' This celebrated tree was for some time fenced 

 round with a close paling about five feet high. Almost 

 all the extremities of its branches have been sawed off, 

 and Mr. Forsyth's composition applied to them, to pre- 

 serve them from deciy ; and the injury which the 

 trunk of the tree had sustained from the lighting of 

 fires have been repairei, as much as possible, with the 

 same composition. Oa one of the branches a board 

 was fixed, with this inscription, ' All good foresters are 

 requested not to hurt this old tree, a plaister having 

 been lately applied to its wounds.' " 



If my recollection serves me correctly, a draw- 

 ing and description of this old tree is contained in 

 one of Hones publications, — I think his Table 

 Book* 



Another large tree is mentioned in the same 

 volume (p. 87.) as being culled " Doodle [Query, 

 dole or boundary'] Oke." 



To conclude (if I have not already trespassed 

 too much upon your space), Is the Faiilop Oak. 

 still standing; and, if so, what is its present con- 

 dition ? J. B. COLMAN. 



Eye. 



Cypress trees on the continent, of Atnericagrow 

 to immense ages. By counting the concentric 

 rings observed in the wood, on sawing a trunk 

 across, it appears that 400 years Is a common age. 

 There Is a gigantic trunk near Santa Maria del 

 Tula, in the province of Oaxaca, in Mexico, 

 whose circumference at the dilated base is no less 

 than 200 feet. Of this, taking 1-6 line as the 



* [The drawing and description of this venerable 

 oak is given in the Mirror, vol. ii. p. 81., where it is 

 stated tiiat Mr. Forsyth's precautions were insufficient 

 to protect it from an injurious custom practised by 

 many of its thoughtless visitors, of making a fire within 

 the cavities to cook their provisions ; for, in the month 

 of June, 1805, it was set on fire, and continued burn- 

 ing until the following day, by which the trunk was 

 considerably injured. The high winds of February, 

 1820, at last stretched its massy trunk and limbs on 

 that turf which it had for so many ages overshadowed 

 with its verdant foliage. The wood of which the 

 pulpit and reading-desk of St. Pancras new church are 

 composed was a portion of the Fairlop Oak ; and are 

 looked upon as matters of greater curiosity perhaps, 

 on that account, than even the beautiful grained and 

 highly polished material and the splendid carvings. — 

 Ed.] 



average growth of a year, the age would be 3512 

 years. {l^yeXYs Second Visit to United States, vol. ii. 

 pp. 254, 255. Prescott's Peru, vol. ii. p. 315. 

 4th edition.) Adanson, the celebrated botanist, 

 calculated the age of one of tlie famous Boabab 

 trees of Senegal to be 5150 years. (Marquis of 

 Ormonde's Sicily, p. 76.) A tamarind tree In the 

 Mahometan burial-ground at Futelam, in Ceylon^ 

 is 39 feet in diameter, or upwards of 117 feet In 

 circumference, from which the age may be cal- 

 culated on the above scale. (SIrr's Ceylon, vol. i. 

 p. 85.) T. G. 



Arrangement of Books (Vol. v., p. 49.) — Your 

 correspondent L.'s letter Is very valuable. May I 

 add a lew contributions? 



There Is a mode of printing used in Cuvler's 

 Regne Animal, which is exceedingly useful for 

 books of classIHcation, that is, to print those sen- 

 tences which relate to the primary divisions in a 

 larger type, and full up to the side ; the subdi- 

 visions to be printed short, as sums are entered in 

 an account book, and in a smaller type. I be- 

 lieve I had the fortune to introduce a slight im- 

 provement in indexes. For instance, in your 

 index the subordinate items are arranged accord- 

 ing to time, but that gives a great deal of trouble. 

 Under Mr. Breen's name there are fifteen items; 

 they should be arranged alphabetically, like the 

 principal Items, as is done in the same Index In 

 the case of notices of books, unavoidably. But 

 such subordinate items had better, in general, 

 have the word on which the alphabetical arrange- 

 ment turns printed in Italics to catch the eye, 

 rather than Invert the order of the words, as must 

 be done In the principal Items. 



In what books the old spelling should be re- 

 tained is a matter of individual question, upon 

 which no rules can be laid down. Walpole com- 

 plained that the Paston Letters were printed with 

 the old s[)elling, and that, though a version is on 

 the 0})posite page ; but few persons will agree with 

 him in that. In such books we have a right to 

 see the old spelling In order to judge Avhether the 

 version is rli^ht, as well as for general information, 



C.B. 



The Ring-finger (Vol. iv., pp. 150. 198. 261.).— 

 The two questions mooted concerning the ring- 

 finger, i. e. why the third finger Is tiie ring-finger, 

 and whv the wedding-ring is worn on the third 

 finger of the left hand ? have not yet been satis- 

 factorily answered. 



The third finger is the only recognised ring-finger. 

 Hence all who wear rings ex officio, wear them on 

 that finger. Cardinals, bishops, doctors, abbots, 

 &c., wear their ring on the third finger. The 

 reason is that it is the first vacant finger. The 

 thumb and the first two fingers have always been 

 reserved as symbols of the three persons of the 

 Blessed Trinity. When a bishop gives his blessing, 



