2"'» S. N» 51., DJ.;c. 20. 'oC] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



495 



been seen by thousands. I have lived in the Fens 

 all my life, but have never seen a " Will o' the 

 wisp," and cannot reconcile their peculiar be- 

 haviour and appearances with " science and rea- 

 son ; " but I suppose E. G. R. would not forego 

 his belief in these Norfolk "lantern-men," be- 

 cause I had neither seen one nor could account 

 for the phenomenon if I had. Now, although I 

 have not seen a " lantern-man," I have seen " an- 

 chor frosts " (for that is the name given them in 

 the Isle of Ely), and I do not think it at all dif- 

 ficult to reconcile their appearance both with 

 " science and reason." I would first remark by 

 the way, that the fact of their bearing names in 

 German (grund-eis), in French (glace du fond), 

 and in this country stock frost, stock storm, ground 

 gru, ice meers, and in the fens of Cambridgeshire, 

 anchor frost, is a point (though not a conclusive 

 one) in their favour. Your correspondent J. W., 

 of Cossey Gardens, Norwich( p. 216.), has hit the 

 right nail on the head, when he says, " I have ob- 

 served this curious fact only in very severe frosts, 

 and then only in those parts of rivers which were 

 exposed to very cold winds lasting for several days. 

 The water became thoroughly chilled, but it froze 

 only below, where the water was still; the surface 

 did not freeze because the wind kept it constantly 

 ruffled and agitated." In these few words lies the 

 whole explanation of the phenomenon. When 

 water is cooled below 32°, if not agitated, it will 

 become ice ; if agitated, it will remain fluid at a 

 lower temperature. Anchor frosts always (so far 

 as my experience goes) accompany high, bitter- 

 cold, frosty, east or north-east winds, lasting, as 

 J. W. says, for several days. The effect of this is 

 that the whole body of water in a river or lake is 

 at last reduced in temperature below freezing 

 point, and if the wind were then suddenly to cease, 

 the water in the river or lake would almost in- 

 stantly become a mass of ice ; as it is, however, 

 ice forms whenever the agitation is nil, or at a 

 minimum, and, following the law of crystallisation, 

 makes use of the blades of flags and weeds lying 

 at the bottom as nuclei upon which to form. 

 When masses have been thus formed of suflicient 

 size, they rise by their specific buoyancy and come 

 to the surface, often bringing up weeds with them, 

 and presenting the appearance of pointed glaciers 

 or icebergs in miniature. I remember on one oc- 

 casion of an anchor frost at Ely, many years ago, 

 seeing some watermen trying to impel a gang of 

 lighters by thrusting against a long pole, armed 

 with a forked metal-sheathed prong at the ex- 

 tremity, here called a " sprit " or " spread," but 

 giving up the task in sheer despair on account of 

 the water adhering to the sprit becoming ice every 

 time it was lifted up out of the water, until at 

 last the sprit became too heavy for one man to 

 handle, from the quantity of ice surrounding it. 

 There are scores of watermen who ply upon the 



Ouze that could multiply instances of anchor 

 frosts ; but surely enough has been said to satisfy 

 most reasonable men that such phenomena are 

 both possible and probable. It is true their oc- 

 currence is rare, but that is only because the 

 cowcurrence of their causes is rare. 



In order to an anchor frost, all the following 

 conditions must be simultaneously present. 1st. 

 A wind considerably below the freezing point. 

 2nd. One blowing long enough to cool down the 

 whole mass of water below 32°. 3rd. One blow- 

 ing strong enough and continuously enough (that is, 

 without lulls) to prevent the formation of surface 

 ice at any time during the gale. 4th. One which 

 initiates a frost, because if it were to come on 

 during a frost, after surface ice has formed, the 

 requisite agitation of the water could not take 

 place. 5th. A water sufficiently exposed to be 

 agitated by the gale ; and 6th. A water sufficiently 

 shallow to be wholly cooled down below the freez- 

 ing point, so as to allow of ice forming at the 

 bottom. Now it seldom happens that we have a 

 high wind cold enough and of sufficient duration 

 to cool all the water of a river or lake below the 

 freezing point. Usually, our severest frosts are 

 accompanied by still weather, and unless the 

 aforesaid high wind occurs at the beginning of the 

 cold weather, before surface ice has formed, no 

 anchor frost can happen, because, if the surface be 

 first frozen, then the agitation of the water, which 

 is another necessary condition of an anchor frost, 

 cannot take place. Wm. Marshall. 



Ely, Cambridgeshire. 



PUNCH AND JUDY. 



(2"'i S. ii. 430.) 



The supposed origin of these puppets from 

 Pontius Pilate and the Jews has no authority 

 from history, nor from the kind of entertainment 

 and dialogue of the characters. Much learning 

 has been bestowed on this subject by Galiani in 

 his Vocabulary of the Neapolitan dialect, who fixes 

 on Puccio d' Aniello at Acerra, near Naples, as 

 the original Punch, and after whose death a Po- 

 lecenella, or young Puccio, succeeded him. Mr. 

 MaoFarlane has shown {Popular Customs of the 

 South of Italy ^ illustrated from Pinelli, p. 127.) 

 that Punch and the whole family of Burattini 

 (puppets) are the delight of many countries be- 

 sides Italy. Ha is as popular in Egypt, Syria, 

 and Turkey, as in London or Naples. Under the 

 name of Karaguse, or Black-Snout, he has amused 

 and edified the grave, bearded citizens of Cairo 

 and Constantinople for many an age. Traces of 

 him have been found in Nubia, and far beyond 

 the cataracts of the Nile ; and it is supposed types 

 or symbols of him have been discovered among 

 the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians. '*"''" 



The 



