Oct. 20. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



311 



aceto- nitrate added to the gallic acid. The plates so deve- 

 loped, hiive always more harshness than those obtained by 

 pyrogallic acid. He employs the latter in different pro- 

 portions, according to the effect desired. Ordinarily, the 

 solution contains one half per cent, of pyrogallic acid, and 

 six per cent, of acetic acid; this he mixes with an equal 

 quantity of a solution containing two per cent, of nitrate 

 of silver, and pours it on the plate, first wetting the latter 

 ■with distilled water to make the solution flow over it with- 

 out any stoppage. The mixture ought to be poured back 

 into the glass, and again into the plate, and so on un- 

 til the image is sufficiently developed, or the mixture 

 begins to appear muddj', which soon happens when the 

 glass, the plate, or the hands are not perfectly clean, or, 

 above all, have any stains of hj'posulphite on them. 

 Under favourable circumstances, the mixture of pjTO- 

 gallic acid and nitrate of silver alters slowly, and it is not 

 necessary to renew it to bring out the image, which gene- 

 rally takes five or ten minutes, sometimes only one or 

 two. The iron bath can also be employed. M. Taupenot 

 says, that he has seen photographs developed with that 

 bj' M. Dlsderi, photographer to the Paris Exposition, and 

 that the image appeared to him to be developed with 

 much greater rapidity than with gallic or pyrogallic 

 acid, thougli these, however, work very rapidly. M. Tau- 

 penot has taken many photographs with dry collodion, pre- 

 pared over night, and always with great success, the time 

 of exposure varying from six seconds to a minute ; and 

 he thinks this process will be found very useful to photo- 

 graphers, particularly to those who travel, and also in 

 military operations, as from the facility of taking success- 

 fully as many photographs as are wished, any manoeuvres, 

 or even a battle itself at its various stages could be taken, 

 which would be a remarkable application of photography, 

 and furnish the most incontestable historic documents. 



New Stereoscopes. — Our attention has been directed bj' 

 the Stereoscope Company to some new specimens of these 

 amusing and instructive objects, which seem to have been 

 invented for the special purpose of proving the fallacy of 

 the old saw, that " Seeing is believing." Let any of our 

 readers who, like ourselves are deeply impressed with a 

 sense of the wisdom of our ancestors, and who are as 

 sceptical as we are, as to the possibility of an old saw 

 being anj'thing but truth in a quaint guise, place this 

 view of the Interior of the Amphitheatre of Verona before 

 his eyes, and then believe, if he can, that he is looking on 

 a flat surface, and not viewing the very building itself, 

 with its never-ending tiers of circular benches, and the 

 city in the background. Altogether as wonderful in its 

 way is the Ducal Palace at Venice. One may clearly 

 saunter, deep in thought, beneath those grand old solemn 

 corridors, although M. Ferrier, the stereoscopist, would fain 

 persuade us we are but looking at two pictures on a piece 

 of glass. As little can one credit it that this statue of 

 Giovanni di Medici at Florence is not the solid body 

 •which our sense of sight proclaims it. The Fagade of the 

 Church of St. Nicholas de Paul, and that of the Church 

 of St. Eustache, the Court of L'JScole des Beaux Arts, at 

 Paris, all bear testimony to the talent of the artist, and 

 to the fact that stereoscopy is progr^sing with the science 

 from which it takes its origin. AVe cannot, in our 

 limited space, notice a tithe of the new and beautiful 

 specimens which have been laid before us. We certainly- 

 have been greatly delighted with our examination of 

 them ; in beauty, tone, and sharpness they cannot be 

 surpassed. They have suggested an idea, which we throw 

 out for consideration, namelj^ how far better adapted are 

 stereoscopic pictures for educational purposes than or- 

 dinary views. The appearance of solidity which they 

 assume adds a truthfulness to the scene, and gives an idea 

 of realitv certainly not to be obtained in any other wav. 



No. 312.] 



^tfiliti to Miliar ^ucriti. 



Mortars and Howitzers (Vol. xii., p, 286.).— 

 Mortar, from the Latin mortarium (for the ety- 

 mology of which see Facciolati), a vessel in which 

 things are pounded or brayed together, like a salad. 

 Hence applied to the lime, cement, &c., used for 

 building purposes, which are blended together as 

 if in a mortar. A glance at the " weapons used 

 for shell practice" at Woolwich (short wide can- 

 nons, similar in shape to a mortar), will readily 

 suggest the derivation of the name as applied to 

 them. 



The pestle is also from the Latin pistellum, from 

 pinso (pistus), to pound. 



Howitzers are of German invention, " called 

 originally Haufenitz, when they were loaded with 

 old nails, broken glass, &c. From thence is de- 

 rived the English howitzer." (^Conversations-Lexi- 

 kon, in voce). ^ W. L. N. 



Francis's ^^ Horace" (Vol. xii., p. 218.). — In 

 the absence of all information as to the date of 

 the first edition of Francis's Horace. I would 

 suggest that it was probably the edition printed 

 by Woodfall in 1746. For I have seen the 

 second edition published by Millar in 1747, and 

 the fourth edition issued by the same publisher in 

 1750. I had not an opportunity of comparing 

 the two, but the resemblance between them was 

 so striking, as to raise the suspicion that the only 

 difference was in the title-pages ; for the number 

 printed, two thousand, seems to be an extraor- 

 dinary one. M. N. S. 



Lawes's MS. Music (Vol. xii., p. 186.). —The 

 printed copy of Lawes's Choice Psalmes consists of 

 four single parts, viz. " Cantus primus," Cantus 

 secundus," " Bassus," and " Bassus continuus," or 

 thorough bass. The contents do not exactly cor- 

 respond with those of the MS. described by 

 J. C. J., inasmuch as the thirty psalms which 

 follow the eight elegies are in the printed copy 

 stated to be by William Lawes, the preceding 

 thirty only being assigned to Henry. Moreover, 

 J. C. J. does not mention the nine canons printed 

 at the end of the'thorough bass part, as being in- 

 cluded in his MS. The printed work being by 

 no means common — indeed, complete copies are 

 somewhat rare — it may, perhaps, not be deemed 

 superfluous to add that it contains, in addition to 

 the music, a dedication to Charles I., and an ad- 

 dress " To the Reader," both subscribed by Henry 

 Lawes ; and commendatory verses by A. Touns- 

 hend, (Sir ?) J. Harington, J. Milton, and Fr. 

 Sambrooke. Milton's contribution is the sonnet 

 beginning — 



" Harry, whose tuneful and well-measur'd song." 

 A portrait of Charles I. faces the title of some 

 copies, and in others is found on the back of the 



