292 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2Pd s, xo 41., Oct. 11. '56. 



G. N., " designed for a watch case," and beginning 

 with the lines, 



" Could but our Tempers move like this Machine, 

 Not urg'd by Passion, nor delay'd by Spleen ; " 



&c. &c. 



are by Mr. J. Byrom, commonly called Dr. By- 

 rom, inventor of a system of short-hand, and to 

 be found in vol. i. p. 341. of his printed works. 



The poor Doctor seems to have been the victim 

 of the good opinion of his friends, who, probably 

 in some degree from motives of personal regard 

 towards one who appears to have been an amiable 

 and excellent man, as well as of some local fame, 

 and the credit arising from his pastoral having 

 been praised by Addison in The Spectator, col- 

 lected and published, after his death, all the verses 

 of his which they could lay hands upon, in two 

 volumes 12mo., at Manchester, in 1773. Many 

 of them, and amongst others those referred to in 

 " N. & Q.," show much talent ; but the greater 

 part should have been carefully locked up in a 

 drawer, or put in the fire, as calculated only for 

 private perusal, since, to adopt the words of Mr. 

 Pegge (ArchcBol., v. 13.), the worthy author, 

 having a particular knack at versification, has de- 

 livered his thoughts on many subjects in a metrical 

 garb ; which, I presume, we can scarcely call a 

 poetical one. 



The Doctor was a decided Jacobite, and his 

 amusing mode of defending his sentiments upon 

 this point is still remembered and quoted : 



" God bless the King, I mean the Faith's Defender ; 

 God bless — no Harm in blessing — the Pretender; 

 But who Pretender is, or who is King, 

 God bless us all — that's quite another Thing." 



Vol. i. p. 342. 



I should be sorry to put the modesty of the 

 Editor of " N. & Q." to the blush ; but in vol. i. 

 p. 90. a hint is given, so precisely suggestive of 

 the purpose which he has happily carried into 

 effect, that I cannot deny myself the satisfaction 

 of transcribing it : 



" In reading Authors, when you find 

 Bright Passages that strike your Mind, 

 And which perhaps j'ou may have Reason 

 To think on at another Season, 

 Be not contented with the Sight, 

 But take them down in Black and White ; 

 Such a Respect is wisely shown 

 That makes another's Sense one's own. 



In Conversation, when you meet 



With Persons cheerful and discreet. 



That speak, or quote, in Pr6se, or Rhime, 



Things or facetious, or sublime, 



Observe what passes, and anon. 



When you come Home think thereupon ; 



Write what occurs, forget it not, 



A good Thing sav'd 's a good Thing got." 



OVTIS. 



p. S. I transcribe the verses as printed, with 



capitals for all substantives, after the German 

 fashion of the period. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



Stereoscopes. — Having just read Sir David Brewster's 

 Treatise on the Stereoscope, 1 fin.d that he confirms the 

 views which I advanced on the subject in "N. & Q.," 

 during the discussion of it in that paper. That gentleman 

 also shows that what I stated in relation to Mr. G. Nor- 

 man's proposition relating to the taking of two stereo- 

 scopic pictures in one, by two apertures, was also correct. 

 I of course feel pleased to find my opinions supported by 

 so high authority. 



At the time the discussion of stereoscopic angles was 

 going on, you, if you recollect, put an end to that discus- 

 sion by, as ] thought, and still think, very unfairly 

 withholding my last letter, which I stated should be my 

 last, as Mr. G. SnADnoLT had said as much as that he 

 was one of the incorrigibles. I saj' this was unfair, be- 

 cause j'ou had disclaimed responsibility for the opinions 

 offered by your correspondents ; and, having allowed me 

 to give expression to my views, j'ou ought, in justice to 

 me, to have admitted my reply. 



You will act as you deem proper; but if you love 

 justice you will feel the necessity of putting me right with 

 the readers of " N. & Q." T. L. MePvRitt. 



Maidstone. 



On Stereoscopes of Objects smaller than the Lens. — I 

 have lately read SirDavid Brewster's work on the stereo- 

 scope, in which he has gone into the subject thoroughly, 

 and I dare say ably, and has thereby rendered good ser- 

 vice to all who may wish to know the exact truth in this 

 verj^ interesting subject. I must confess that, until his 

 book came out, I could not tell how to set to work as re- 

 garded stereoscopic pictures, which are wonderful and 

 charming. 



I cannot help thinking, however, that Sir David 

 Brewster has made one mistake ; and, as it seems to me 

 to offer a fair field for elucidation, perhaps you may not 

 object to the subject being discussed in " N. & Q." 



Sir David Brewster says, in p. 17.5. of his book, when 

 objects less than the lens are taken, that, beyond a certain 

 point, other objects behind and less than the front one, 

 will be seen through the centre of it like ghosts. This, I 

 must say, startled me, and I at once went to work. I 

 placed a circular piece of black card paper, half an inch 

 diameter, as my front object; another, of white card- 

 paper, three-sixteenths of an inch diameter, behind, at 

 the nearest proper distance : and, on focussing the black, 

 there was seen a white ring round the black image, and 

 not within it, as Sir David Brewster says would be the 

 case. There was the fact, and I could not understand it, 

 and so sat down to think over the puzzle. I say puzzle, 

 because one of the laws of optics says that divergent rays 

 are formed further from the lens than those which con- 

 verge: yet there was- the white ring, which I thought 

 should not be visible, or, if so, it should occupy the whole 

 of the focussing glass except the black card ; and not 

 only so, but that any object, however small, as it sends 

 divergent rays from every point of itself to every point of 

 the lens, there would consequently be a thorough con- 

 glomeration for the picture. And such, I believe, would 

 be the result if divergent rays were brought to a focus. 

 How could it be otherwise"? But still there was the 

 stubborn fact of the white ring around the front black 

 image, Surely, said I, there must be som? pther cause 



