42 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[July 21. 1855. 



cloppen vt ducant aurum. Inde ductile dat geclopt is. 

 Fusile dat ghegossea is. Fictile dat ghebacken is," &c. 



What is the title of this work ? 



Should Notes of this kind be acceptable, I can 

 easily supply others. Geokge Stephens. 



Copenhagen, June, 1855. 



Minor Hatti. 



Origin of Puffing. — 



" Few persons have an idea of the origin of the word 

 puff, as applied to a newspaper article. In France, at one 

 time, the coiffure most in vogue was called a ponff. It 

 consisted of the hair raised as high as possible over horse- 

 hair cushions, and then ornamented with objects indica- 

 tive of the tastes and history of the wearer. For instance, 

 the Duchess of Orleans, on her first appearance at court, 

 after the birth of a son and heir, had on her pouff a repre- 

 sentation in gold and enamel, most beautifully executed, 

 of a nursery ; there was the cradle, and the baby, the 

 nurse, and a whole host of playthings. Madame de ¥.g~ 

 mont, the Duke de Richelieu's daughter, after her father 

 had taken Port Mahon, wore on her pouff a little diamond 

 fortress, with sentinels keeping guard: the sentinels, by 

 means of mechanism, being made to walk up and down. 

 This advertisement, the pouff, for such it really was, is 

 the origin of the present word puff — applied to the in- 

 flations of the newspapers." 



w. w. 



Malta. 



Junius and John Hope. — The interest which 

 attaches to Junius is to some extent shared by his 

 correspondents. He has not only immortalised 

 himself, but them. Therefore the editors of his 

 remarkable letters should try to give the names of 

 his correspondents. To some extent this is done, 

 but it is not always practicable. Letter LXII. is 

 to " An Advocate in the Cause of the People." 

 I have not seen the name of the " advocate" in 

 any edition of the Letters. A volume before me 

 enables me to give it : Thoughts in Prose and 

 Verse, started in his Works, by John Hope, 8vo., 

 Stockton, 1780. This work contains, among other 

 things, twenty-one papers by the Leveller; and 

 four " Letters to the Printer of the Public Adver- 

 tiser on the Custom of Impressing Seamen." Two 

 of the latter are addressed to Junius, whose reply 

 to one as Philo-Junius is also given. I conclude 

 with a Query : Who, and what, was John Hope?* 



B. H. C. 



" Times' " Advertisements. — Edgar A. Poe — I 

 presume all your readers know who he was — 

 remarks (in The Gold-Bug, and on the subject 

 of secret writing), " It may well be doubted 

 whether human ingenuity can construct an enigma 

 of the kind, which human ingenuity may not, by 

 proper application, resolve." Taking up recently 



[* For notices of John Hope, see "N. & Q.," Vol. v., 

 p. 582., and Vol. vi., pp. 18. 39.] 

 No. 299.] 



The Times of February 13, I saw a very mys- 

 terious effusion, running in numerals, which a 

 couple of minutes' attention deciphered thus]: the 

 numerals represented letters in regular succession, 

 commencing with m 1 to r 14, a 15, and so on to 

 I 26 ; letter, for example, one of the words used, 

 being shown as 26, 19, 8, 8, 19, 6. So the mystery 

 solved becomes the ridiculous mouse. 



In like manner, about two months previously I 

 discovered in The Times another advertisement 

 on a still more simple, and consequently useless, 

 principle. The chief letters, especially the vowels, 

 were omitted, and by the supply of these, easily 

 guessed notwithstanding the running of word into 

 word, the entire advertisement was revealed. 

 What possible end can these notifications answer ? 



W. T. M. 



Hong Kong. 



^MtvizS. 



EDITIONS OF MICEOCOSMOGRAPHT. 



I wish, for a bibliographical object, to discover 

 the date of, and some particulars relative to, the 

 fourth edition of Bishop Earle's Characters, a 

 little book formerly known, and still often so 

 called in booksellers' catalogues, as Blount's 

 Microcosmography, from Blount, the bookseller's 

 name, being affixed to the preface. 



The first edition was "Lond., by W. S. for 

 Ed. Blount, 1628." Of this, after a search of 

 more than forty years, I have only seen two 

 copies ; one in the Bodleian Library, the second 

 recently obtained for my own little collection. It 

 may be distinguished from all subsequent im- 

 pressions as " newly composed for the northerne 

 parts of this kingdome," and having one character, 

 that of a herald, omitted in all other copies till 

 1633. The number of characters in this first 

 edition amounts to fifty-four. The second edition 

 has the same date, 1628, Lond., by William 

 Stansby for Edward Blount ; number of characters 

 fifty-three. 



Third edition, also same date, 1628, Lond., by 

 William Stansby for Robert Allot ; number of 

 characters fifty-three. 



Fourth edition, subject of this Query. 



Few books enjoyed a greater reputation, or 

 seem to have commanded a more ready sale. 

 There was a fifth edition in 1629 for Robert 

 Allot, "much enlarged," the number of characters 

 amounting to seventy-six. 



The sixth edition, " augmented," 1633, by E. A. 

 for Robert Allot, has seventy-eight characters. 



The seventh edition, 1638, by J. L. for Andrew 

 Crooke ; number of characters, seventy-eight. 



Between the sixth and seventh a surreptitious 

 edition appeared, 1650, printed by W. Bentley for 



