41H 



NOTES AND QUEKIES. 



[Nov. 24. 1855. 



gravestones makes a very pleasing photograph, and — so 

 says the bookseller of Ambleside — a very saleable one. 

 I bought one there, for half-a-crown, in the autumn of 

 last year. Cuthbf.ux Bede, 13.A. 



Single Stereoscopic Pictures. — As you have allowed 

 Mr. Meuuit to re-open the discussions on the subject of 

 the possibility of single stereoscopic pictures, you will 

 perhaps allow me to make a rejoinder to Mr. Shaubolt. 



At p. 333. of the present Volume, I asked that dis- 

 tinguished photogrnpher what he meant by stating that 

 in a single picture " all the parts are equally distant from 

 the observer." I did so — First, Because " the observer," 

 is not a mathematical point. Secondly, IJecause there 

 exists no point from which all the parts of a plain surface 

 are equally distant. He explained his meaning at p. 351., 

 where he allows that the I'emark above quoted "is of 

 course only approximately true." The statement, never- 

 theless, is always untrue, whatever point the distance is 

 taken from. He adds, " the same [remark] applies to the 

 usual two pictures; but in the one case the fact would be 

 discernible in consequence of the uniform convergence of 

 the axes of both eyes, if brought to bear upon all parts of 

 the picture, whereas with two pictures this is not the case," 

 &c. I reply, every tyro in optics knows that a uniform 

 convergence is impossible in either case : the only surface 

 that admits of such uniformity is a sphere \vhose radius 

 = 3 distance between centres of the eyeballs x cosecant 

 of angle of inclination of the optic axes." 



Mr. Shadbolt's last remark, then, is no more true 

 than the first was. I must beg Mk. Shadbolt not to 

 fall into the mistake of Mr. George Norman, and sup- 

 pose that I write for the sake of indulging satire. My 

 respect for either correspondent, however, shall not pre- 

 vent mj' saying that no good can come of these discus- 

 sions if inaccuracy and ambiguitj' are to be the weapons 

 of the disputants. C. Man8Fieu> Inuleby. 



Birmingham. 



He^lCtjS to Minat ffkuttlts. 



King Bomba (Vol. xii., p. 285.). — This name 

 was given to tlie king of Naples by the Sicilians, 

 after his bombardment of Messina : in which the 

 slaughter and destruction of buildings was ira- 

 luense, and contributed, more than any act of the 

 king's, to the hatred entertained against him in 

 that island. E. C. H. 



Bridge, the Organ Builder (vol. xii., p. 46.). — 



" Richard Bridge enjoj^ed considerable celebrity, and 

 it is to be regretted that nothing is known of his biogra- 

 phy. According to an advertisement in the General Ad- 

 vertiser for Feb. 20, 1748, " Bridges, organ builder," 

 probably the same person, then resided in Hand Court, 

 Holborn. We learn incidentally, from a note in Burney's 

 Histori/, that he died before 177G. 



" Organs built by R. B. — 

 " 1. S. Bartholomew the Great, 1729. 



2. Christ Church, Spitalfields, 1730. This is esteemed 

 the maker's [ ? builder's] best instrument. Its original 

 cost was COCA, not half its value. In point of number 

 of pipes and stops, it is one of the largest parish 

 organs in London. 



3. S. Paul's, Deptford, 1730. 



4. S. George's in the East, 1733. 

 6. S. Anne's, Limehouse, 1741. 



No. 317.] 



6. S. Leonard's, Shoreditch, 1757. 



7. Entield Church, Middlesex, 1753, 



8. Eltham Church, Kent. 



" Organs built by Byfield, Jordan, and Bridge, conjointly. 



" In consequence of the many new churches that were 

 erected at the commencement of the last century, an 

 equal number of organs were required, which induced 

 many persons who were totally unskilled in the art and 

 mystery of voicing organ-pipes to become builders. To 

 prevent, therefore, tlie sad consequences which must 

 naturally follow, a coalition was formed between the 

 three eminent artists of the day, Byfield, Jordan, and 

 Bridge; who undertook to build organs at a verj' mode- 

 rate charge, and to apply their united talents to each. 

 The result of which was a fair, though moderate, com- 

 pensation to themselves, and superior instruments to our 

 churches." 



Three only of the instruments, built " con- 

 jointly," are named : 



" 1. S. Dionis Back-Church, city. 



2. Yarmouth Church, Norfolk. An instrument cele- 

 brated for its many beauties. 



3. S. George's Chapel. Yarmouth." 



From Hopkins's and Kimbault's recent 

 work upon The Organ. 



H. Ap. Auam. 



Rules to be observed by Public Meetings, Sf'C. 

 (Vol. xii., p. 384.). — The only treatise that 1 know 

 on this subject is, — 



" The Chairman and Speaker's Guide : being an Essay 

 towards a Brief Digest of the Rules required for the 

 Orderly Conduct of a Debate. To which is prefixed an 

 Essay on Public Meetings, Manner of Proceeding with 

 regard to them, &c. By Thomas Smith, Author of Evo- 

 lution, of Lessons on Arithmetic. &c. 'Order! Order! 

 Order ! ' London, Longman and Co. ; Dublin, J. Gum- 

 ming ; Edinburgh, Oliver and Boyd." 



The book is in 32mo., without date, and was 

 printed at Liverpool. The author was, I believe, 

 a brother of the late Mr. Egerton Smith, editor of 

 the Liverpool Mercwt/. It is a very judicious 

 manual, and deserves to be extensively read by 

 public speakers. I never saw any but my own 

 copy, and think it is not much known. 



H. Martin. 

 Halifax. 



Harbingers of Spring (Vol. xii., p. 254.). — On 

 this subject, and with reference to the cuckoo, the 

 following extract from a letter written to The 

 Times, by the Rev. E. H. Tiiompson, Lyneham 

 Vicarage, Chippenham, may be worth recording : 



" On Friday, the 28th Sept., 1855, a cuckoo was seen 

 and heard in tliis parish, by two boys, one of them a son 

 of mine. The bird was seen on the wing uttering his 

 well-known cry, clear and loud, and flying in a north- 

 east direction. The cry of the cuckoo is considered to 

 cease at the beginning of July." 



R. W. Hackwood. 



In confirmation of Mr. Phillott's account of 

 the mortality this year among the swallow tribe, I 

 have to state that a very great diminution of these 

 birds has been observed in Devonshire, as well as 



