2>><» S. X. Sept. 29. '60.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



241 



LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29. 18G0. 



No. 248.— CONTENTS. 



NOTES :— A Chapter of Accidents, 241 — Christopher Colum- 

 bus, 242 —Time : Present, Past, and Future, 245. 



Minor Notes: — The Fissure in Church Walls— Sanding 

 before the Door at Marriages — Guu Flint Manufacture— 

 The Running Toad — Alexander Pope— The Moon and 

 Mushrooms, 246. 



QUERIES: — Bartholomew Fair — Christopher Barker (the 

 Printer), and his Deputies, Bacon House, Aldersgate — 

 Charles Dibdin — "The Paradise of the' Soul " — Biogra- 

 phical Queries — Swan Hopping — Lord Peurhyn : Hodges 



— Pun — Photographs of Elgin Marbles — Rev. W. 

 Richards — "The Rich Old Bachelor " — Dramas for Chil- 

 dren — Painting at Tatton Hall, Cheshire — White Horses 

 for Weddings— Zinc — Parry's " ParUamentS and Councils 

 of England" — The Connoisieur — Going up Johnson's 

 End, 247. 



QuEBiES WITH Answees : — Village Greens — Photozinco- 

 graplicd Records, &c. — Gough and Paton Correspondence 



— Iiitrepid Conduct of the Late Mr. Windham — Sir Na- 

 thanael Dance — " Dilly Wreck " — Dornix Weaver — 

 Story of a Life — " Parson Imparsonee," 250. 



REPLIES : — Prevention of Rain, 251 — Caradoc Freichfras, 

 &c., lb. — Carnival at Milan, 252 — Church Chancels, 253 



— St. Paul's School, iS. — St. Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of 

 Hereford — Snoring of Owls — Pencil Writing: Fire-En- 

 gine — Label in Heraldry — Sir Harry Trelawny — Havar d 

 Family — Three Sunday Changes in the Moon: The Oak 

 and the Ash— Bracton, a Judge of the Common Pleas — 

 Fire-places in Church Towers, &c., 254. 



Monthly Feuilleton of French Books. ' 



A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS. 



The Snipe. — A. was walking with a friend near 

 Oxford, when a snipe rose within shot. They 

 both "presented" their walking-sticks at the bird, 

 remarking what a " pretty shot" it would have 

 been for a gun. The snipe flew on a short dis- 

 tance, then towered, and fell dead. 



When examined, the bird was found to be ap- 

 parently uninjured ; but a close examination dis- 

 covered the trace of a former injury, which had 

 led to the rupture of a blood-vessel. If, instead 

 of a walking-stick a gun had been presented and 

 discharged at the bird, no one would have ven- 

 tured to doubt that the death of the bird was due 

 to the gun. 



The Abscess. — A young ofEcer in the army of 

 the famous Wolfe was apparently dying of an 

 abscess in the lungs. He was absent from his 

 regiment on sick-leave ; but resolved to rejoin it, 

 when a battle was expected. "For," said he, 

 " since I am given over, I had better be doing my 

 duty ; and my life's being perhaps shortened a 

 few days, matters not." He received a shot which 

 pierced the abscess, and made an opening for the 

 discharge. He recovered, and lived to the age of 

 eighty. 



The Shark. — In the United Service Museum 

 (Whitehall Yard, London), are exhibited the 



" jaws of a shark," wide open, and enclosing a tin 

 box. 



The history of this strange exhibition is as fol- 

 lows : — A ship, on her way to the West Indies, 

 " fell in with" and chased a suspicious-looking 

 craft, which had all the appearance of a slaver. 

 During the pursuit, the chase threw something 

 overboard. She was subsequently captured, and 

 taken into Port Royal to be tried as a slaver. 



In absence of the ship's papers and other proofs, 

 the slaver was not only in a fair way to escape 

 fcondemnation, but her captain was anticipating 

 the recovery of pecuniary damages against his 

 captor for illegal detention. While the subject 

 was under discussion, a vessel came into port, 

 which had followed closely in the track of the 

 chase above described. She had caught a shark ; 

 and in its stomach was found a tin box, which 

 contained the slaver's papers. Upon the strength 

 of this evidence the slaver was condemned. The 

 written account is attached to the box. 



The Card. — A. B. was present while some 

 " tricks in cards" were being exhibited by a pro- 

 fessional juggler. He took a fresh pack of cards, 

 and directed the company to take out a card from 

 the pack, to replace it, and shuffle the pack. 



This being done, A. B. took the pack in his hand 

 and carelessly tossed on the table a card, which 

 proved to be the correct one. 



The professor, in the utmost surprise and ad- 

 miration, offered to give A. B. three of his best 

 tricks if he would give him the secret of the trick 

 which he had just exhibited. A. B. coolly de- 

 clined the offer; and concealed the fact that it 

 was all chance, in the purest sense of the word, 

 that led to the selection of the proper card from 

 the pack. 



Elizabeth Smith.— Vipon the death of a seaman, 

 some money became payable to his widow, Eliza- 

 beth Smith, No. 20. (of a certain, say "King") 

 Street, Wapping. The government agent called 

 at 20. King Street, and finding that Elizabeth 

 Smith lived there, paid the money without further 

 inquiry. Subsequently the true widow, Elizabeth 

 Smith,' turned up : and it was then discovered 

 that, at the very time the money was paid, the 

 street was being re-numbered, and there were two 

 houses numbered 20 ; and, what was most re- 

 markable, there was rn Elizabeth Smith living in 

 each of them. 



Mrs. Stephens. — Some time in the last century, 

 a Mrs. Stephens professed to have received from 

 her husband a medicine for dissolving " the stone 

 in the bladder," and offered to sell it to govern- 

 ment. In order to test the virtue of this medicine 

 a patient was selected who had undeniably the 

 complaint in question. He took the medicine, 

 and was soon quite well. The doctors watched 

 him anxiously; and when he died, many years 



