252 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2»4 S. No 39., Sept, 27. '5C. 



firmative if any hairs were present. It was then men- 

 tioned that Mr. Albert Way was very desirous of ascer- 

 taining whether certain specimens of skin stated to have 

 been taken from persons who had committed sacrilege, 

 and which for centuries bad been attached to the doors of 

 churches, were unequivocally human. Subsequentlj', a 

 communication from Mr. Way, containing a specimen of 

 skin, together with an account of the tradition which 

 narrated the circumstances of its having been taken, was 

 made to Mr. Quekett. The tradition, which resembles 

 many others of a similar kind, exists in Worcester, that 

 a man having been caught in the act of committing rob- 

 bery in the cathedral, was flayed, and his skin nailed 

 upon the doors as a terror to the sacrilegious. The doors 

 have recently been replaced by new ones, but they are 

 still to be seen, and a portion of the skin which was 

 found under the iron hinges and clamps of the door was 

 submitted to microscopical examination. With a power 

 of a hundred diameters, it was found that the skin was 

 really human, as it had two hairs on its surface, and very 

 probably the unfortunate wretch from whom it had been 

 taken had light hair. A piece of skin, traditionally given 

 to a Danish pirate, existed for nine hundred years on a 

 door of a church in Essex. In 1848, the microscope re- 

 vealed the fact, that it was in all probability taken from 

 the back of the Dane, and that he too was probably a 

 light-haired individual." 



A more singular application of this instrument 

 than that in question can scarcely be imagined. 

 Besides showing itsgreatscientific value in bringing 

 to light otherwise hidden truths, these specimens 

 establish the wonderful power of skin and hair to 

 withstand for centuries atmospheric influences, 

 and serve to point out that, next to the bones, 

 they are the most durable parts of the human 

 frame. John Pavin Phillips. 



Haverfordwest. 



While at Leyden, in 1818, I remember seeing 

 in a museum, amongst Boerhaave's surgical col- 

 lection, a pair of lady's shoes, with high heels, 

 made of human leather from the skin of a man 

 who had been executed. The nipple was placed 

 as an ornament in front of the instep. 



Henbt Stephens. 



In addition to the various instances already re- 

 corded in " N. & Q.," permit me to add another. 

 In 1829 the now notorious William Burke was 

 executed at Edinburgh for the murder of several 

 individuals, whose bodies he afterwards disposed 

 of to a surgeon for dissection. A portion of his 

 skin was tanned. It was very thick, of a dark 

 blue colour, and much resembled that of Morocco 

 leather. I remember well that the publisher of 

 Burke's Trial at the time had a good piece of it, 

 which he cut up and gave to various of his friends. 

 If I mistake not, a portion of it will be found 

 amongst the extraordinary collection of papers, 

 &c. &c., relating to Burke and Hare which was 

 formed for the late Sir Walter Scott, and is now 

 in the library at Abbotsford. T. G. S. 



Edinburgh, 



COCKER S arithmetic. 



(P' S. xi. 57.) 



Professor De Morgan is apparently inclined 

 to throw grave doubts on the genuineness of this 

 oft-referred-to manual ; and would rather, we are 

 led to infer, ascribe its authorship to John Haw- 

 kins, wlio, " it seems, as soon as the breath was 

 out of Cocker's body, constituted himself his 

 editor and continuer." For the sake of compar- 

 ing dates, it may be noticed that the period of 

 Cocker's death is not exactly known, but your 

 learned correspondent fixes it between 1671 and 

 1675. 



I have now the " Second Impression " of the 

 Aritlimetick before me, printed in 1679, which 

 bears on the title-page, in reference doubtless to 

 the original publication of the work, — " Licensed 

 Sept. 3. 1677. Roger L'Estrange." _ After a 

 Dedication " To his much honoured Friends Man- 

 wering Davies of the Inner Temple, Esquire, and 

 Mr. Humphry Davies of St. Mary Newington 

 Butts, in the County of Surry," follows an Ad- 

 dress "To the Courteous Reader," subscribed 

 " Thine to Serve thee John Hawkins ; From my 

 School near St. George's Church in Southwark, 

 Nov. 29. 1677," wherein the writer says, without 

 in any way intimating that " Cocker had been 

 dead some time," as stated by the author of the 

 article in the Penny Cyclopcedia, " I having the 

 happiness of an intimate Acquaintance with Mr. 

 Cocker in his life time, often sollicited him to re- 

 member his Promise to the world of Publishing 

 his Arithmetick, but (for Reasons best known to 

 himself) he refused it, and (after his Death) the 

 Copy falling accidentally into my hands, I thought 

 it not convenient to smother a work of so con- 

 siderable a moment, not questioning but it might 

 be as kindly accepted as if it had been presented 

 by his own hand." This Address further informs 

 the reader that he may speedily expect the publi- 

 cation of Cocker's " Decimal Logarithmetioal and 

 Algebraical Arithmetick." It is succeeded by 

 what professes to be "Mr. Edward Cocker's 

 Proeme or Preface," to which his name is attached, 

 but no date. It is a qunint, pedantic, self-lauda- 

 tory composition, and, as a specimen of its style, 

 I quote from it the concluding sentences : 



" For you the pretended Numerists of this vapouring 

 age, who are more disingenuously witty to propound un- 

 necessary questions, than ingeniously judicious to resolve 

 such as are necessary. For j'ou was this book composed 

 and published, if you will deny yourselves so much as to in- 

 vert the streams'of your ingenuity, and by studiously con- 

 ferring with the Notes, Names, Orders. Progress, Species, 

 Properties, Proprieties, Proportions, Powers, Affections, 

 and Applications of Numbers delivered herein, become such 

 Artists indeed, as you now only seem to be. Tliis Arith- 

 metick ingeniously observed, and diligently practised will 

 turn to good account to all that shall be concerned in Ac- 

 compts. All whose Rules are grounded on Verity, and 

 deliver'd with sincerity. The examples are built up 



