112 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 144. 



Transmutation of Species (Vol. vi., p. 7.). — On 

 ground where sheep have been folded in Australia, 

 a shrubby plant, unknown elsewhere in the 

 country, as far as my observation and inquiries 

 Lave extended, springs up luxuriantly. 1 have 

 also remarked that in a gum-tree (^Eucalyptus) 

 forest, after a severe bush fire, mimosas appear in 

 abundance where there were none before. On a 

 Scotch moor, too, after a fire sufficiently strong to 

 destroy the roots of the heather, clover invariably 

 appears. 



Transmutation of species, if it be a fact as re- 

 corded by Mansfield Ingleby in " N. & Q.," or 

 some analogous principle, might account for these 

 changes. 



I wish to know if it would be possible to place 

 seeds in the earth sufficiently near the surface to 

 be acted upon by manure in the way I have al- 

 luded to, so that they shall neither germinate nor 

 die. W. C. 



TrocMlus and Crocodile (Vol. vl., p. 75.) — In 

 reply to ihe Query of S. L. P., I beg to quote the 

 following extract from a very interesting little work, 

 the Book of Zoology, by James H. Fennell (1839) : 



" The tongue of the crocodile is not sufficiently 

 moveable to allow of its removing anything which may 

 stick against the roof of its mouth ; and its front legs 

 are too stiff, and much too short, to be used for that 

 purpose. At St. Domingo, and in Egypt, the crocodile 

 is greatly annoyed by swarms of muskitoes, or gnats, 

 which enter its mouth in such numbers that the roof of 

 it, which is of a bright yellow throughout, is covered 

 with them, arranged side by side. All these sucking 

 insects thrust their trunks into the orifices of the 

 numerous glands in its mouth, and torment it so much 

 that it would die in consequence, if God had not or- 

 dained that another creature should assist it. The 

 crocodile opens its immense mouth, and a little bird of 

 the plover kind, very common by the water side, hops 

 fearlessly into it, and devours the insects sticking to its 

 roof. The crocodile is grateful for the services of the 

 bird, and is careful to do it no harm. Herodotus, more 

 than two thousand years ago, and Pliny, about seven- 

 teen hundred years ago, mentioned this singular fact, 

 which in modern times has been observed by Hassel- 

 quist and Descourtils." 



Stephen Beauchamp. 



Harefield. 



''Salt as Fire'' (Vol. vi., p. 53.). — Probably 

 from the Roman custom of throwing meal and salt 

 (the mola) into the fire at sacrifices : 



" Cum farre pio et saliente mica." 



Horace. 



lytUch Chronicle of the World (Vol. v., p. 58.). 

 — I possess the work referred to by Mb. John 

 Fenton, which is not Dutch, but German. The 

 engravings are very spirited. The engraved title 

 is, Joh. Lud. Gottfridi Historische Chronica der 

 Vier Monarchien von Erschaffang der Welt hiss 

 uff unsere Zeiten, mitt Kupfferstilcker gezieret 



durch Matthaum Meriamim. It is printed at 

 Frankfort, 1632. AV. G. 



Aldress (Vol. v., p. 582.). — In Iledon Church, 

 Yorkshire, is an inscription announcing that a par- 

 ticular seat is set apart for the aldericomen. W. G. 



Oh! go from the Window (Vol. vi., p. 75.). — 

 If your correspondent, a septuagenarian, will refer 

 to Dyce's edition of Beaumont and Fletcher, vol. ii. 

 p. 193., " The Knight of the Burning Pestle," 

 Act III. Scene 5., he will probably learn as much 

 on the subject of his inquiry, as from any other 

 source, though the information will perhaps be 

 deemed very unsatisfactory. F. H-vf. 



Heywood Arms (Vol. vi., p. 75.). — R. "W. C. 

 inquires what authority there is for attributing to 

 the family of Heywood the following coat : a 

 chevion between three martlets. He should have 

 given the blazoning, which Avould have admitted 

 of a more positive answer ; as it is, however, I can 

 inform him that, of the numerous coats belonging 

 to that name, not one bears the remotest resem- 

 blance to that given above ; but az. a chevron en- 

 grailed between three martlets or belongs to the 

 name of Holywood. II. C. K. 



Curfew (Vol. vi., p. 53.). — In your last. Me. 

 Sansom quotes from my Worcester in Olden 

 Times, a passage to the elFect that the institution 

 of the curfew did not originate with the Con- 

 queror ; and thereupon inquires : " What historical 

 notices are there of a curfew prior to the Con- 

 quest;" and "At what places on the continent, 

 besides Vienna, has the custom been ascertained 

 to prevail ? " 



There is no evidence to show that the custom 

 originated with the Conqueror ; but that It was 

 not a badge of infamy is clear from the fact that the 

 law was of equal obligation upon the foreign nobles 

 of the court as upon the Saxon serfs. Henry, in 

 his History of Britain, says there Is sufficient 

 evidence that the custom prevailed In most of the 

 countries of Europe at the time of the Concjuest-, 

 the intent being merely to prevent the great num- 

 ber of fires which were constantly occurring when 

 the houses were built of wood. (See also Bohn's 

 edition of Brand, vol. ii., p. 220.) J. Noake. 



Worcester. 



Bui'ial on the North Side of Churches (Vol. iv., 

 passim). — Should not the alleged custom of 

 avoiding burial on the north side of a church be 

 rather attributed to the dislike to lie alone in 

 death ; to the wish to sleep near the accustomed 

 path to church ; to rest where the eyes of those 

 who have been loved in life shall fall upon our 

 tombs as they move to their accustomed seats in 

 the house of prayer ? 



In small churches, where there is but one en- 

 trance, we usually, though by no means Invaria- 

 bly, find the door in the south side ; and thus the 



