Aug. 28. 1852.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



193 



do to archaeological science by depositing printed 

 copies of their works in the British Museum and 

 the Library of the Society of Antiquaries ? 



PHOTOGRAPHY IN THE OPEN AIR. 



Being most desirous to acquire sufficient know- 

 lodge of one or other of the various systems of 

 pliotography, to enable me to take thoroughly 

 accurate views of certain antiquarian remains, I 

 wished to put myself under the tuition of seme 

 artist competent to instruct me. I called upon 

 several, but, upon explaining the object I had in 

 view, and stating that most of the antiquities I 

 was anxious to copy lay for removed from lunnan 

 habitations, a doubt was raised as to the possibility 

 of rendering photography available under such 

 circumstances, unless I carried a tent along with 

 me, in which, shaded from the light, the process 

 of rendering sympathetic any of the various kinds 

 of prepared paper, and of afterwards fixing the 

 picture, could be performed. This, however, 

 would be extremely inconvenient, and I would 

 feel much indebted to any of your correspondents 

 who would do me the favour to point out any 

 systeni by which the tent could be dispensed with. 



Being a perfect novice in the art, I am not 

 aware whether the same objection applies to 

 Diiguerre's method ; that is, whether such an 

 amount of shade is necessary ; but if in tiiis 

 resjject it were manageable, my feeling would be 

 in favour of employing it, as, from all I can ler.rn, 

 an amateur would be much more likely to obtain 

 good pictures by it, after shorter practice, than by 

 any of the manifold systems in which prcj^ared 

 paper or albumenised glass is used. But, in slioi t, 

 what I wish to know is, what system would be 

 most convenient, most easily acquired, and best 

 adajited for the purpose I have in view ? If any 

 gentleman will kindly enlighten mo on this point, 

 he will perhaps be good enough also to inform me 

 where the best portable apparatus can be obtained, 

 and what treatise most clearly explains the pro- 

 cess he may recommend to ma ? A. II. R. 



[We gladly insert this Query, in hopes tliat Dr. 

 Diamond, whose specimens exhibited at Lord Rosse's 

 soirees during the last season attracted such general 

 admiration, will kindly give our correspondent the 

 benefit of his great experience upon this very interest- 

 ing subject.] 



FOLK LORE. 



The Application nf Toads to Cancers. — Are thei-e 

 any well-authenticated cases of cures resulting 

 from the application of toads to cancers? The 

 naturalists of eighty years ago considered that the 

 land-toad (Rubcta) possessed the property of suck- 

 ing out the poison of the disease ; and some re- 

 markable " facts " are brought forward in proof of 



the assertion. Do any medical men or quacks of 

 the present day, in their treatment of cancer, pre- 

 scribe "the toad as before"? or is this merely a 

 bit of Folk Lore ? Cuthbeet Bbde, B.A. 



Salt-Box. — When entering a house in Wales, 

 and purchasing some of the furniture, the property 

 of a former occupant, a Welsh gentleman told me 

 I must purchase the salt-box. I bid for that valu- 

 able piece of fui-niture, and no one attempted to 

 bid against me. I was afterwards told ill-luck 

 would follow me if I had not bought the salt-box. 

 Whence this association of salt and good fortune ? 



K. W. F. 



Bath. 



Burial Superstition. — In removing tlie old 

 church of Old Swinford, Worcestershire, some 

 time ago, a coffin was found with the remains of a 

 lady full dressed In ancient costume, and an asto- 

 nishing multitude of pins (blackened by age) in 

 her dress, and lying strewed about. Was this con- 

 nected with any charm or burial superstition ? 



J. K 



Worcester. 



Spitting for Luck, Sfc. — During my boyhood it 

 was a common practice with children, when they 

 saw a grey horse, to " spit three times," and "go 

 where the spit goes " (as the initiating phrase ex- 

 pressed it), in order to be lucky. Q'he modus 

 operandi was to eject spittle as far from the opera- 

 tor as possible, and for him to take his stand for 

 the second ejection upon the spot where the first 

 emission fell ; and so for the third. The practice, 

 notwithstanding the progress of education, has not 

 entirely died out, as I find my own children have 

 been taught the charm, or whatever it may be 

 called. Can any of your correspondents explain 

 the origin of this custom ? 



For two persons to wash their hands in the 

 same water is deemed a cause of strife, imless the 

 second person spits in the water. Whence the 

 origin of this ? 



It is considered unlucky for a person to walk 

 under a ladder, unless he spits three times. Can 

 this be exi^lained ? 



To spill salt on the table is considered unlucky. 



These matters are curious, and I should much 

 like to see them elucidated. Ks. 



Plymouth. 



Cromwell Family. — A few years since I copied 

 the inclosed from the Register of Burials for the 

 parish of Felsted, Essex : 



« 1623. 



" Robertus Cromwell filius honorandi viri M''» 

 Olivari Cromwell et Elizabethae uxoris ejus sepultus 



