306 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 178. 



TTie Left Hand ; its Etymology. — I have read 

 with much pleasure Trench's Study of Words. 

 The following passage occurs at p. 185 : 



" The ' left ' hand, as distinguished from the right, 

 is the hand which we ' leave,' inasmuch as for twenty 

 times we use the right hand, we do not once employ 

 it; and it obtains its name from being 'left' unused 

 so often." 



Now I should certainly be sorry to appear 

 " Ut lethargicus hie, cum fit pugil, et medicum urget." 



I am not the person to aim a word at Mr. Trench's 

 eye. Although I am Boeotian enough to ask, I am 

 not too far Boeotian to feel no shame in asking, 

 ■whether It is quite Impossible that " left " should 

 be a corruption of Icbvus, Kaihs. We have, at all 

 events, adopted dexter, the " right " hand, and the 

 rest of its family. Bceoticus. 



Edgmond, Salop. 



The Parthenon. — M. de Chateaubriand says 

 that the Greek, Theodore Zygomalas, who wrote 

 in 1575, is the first among modern writers to have 

 made known the existence of the Temple of Mi- 

 nerva or Parthenon, which was believed to have 

 been totally destroyed. The Messager des Sciences 

 et des Arts de la Belgique, vol. iv. p. 24 , corrects 

 Chateaubriand, and says that^ CIriaco d'Ancona 

 had, in the year 1436, described this celebrated 

 monument, together with other ancient buildings 

 of Athens. I am desirous of verifying this state- 

 ment, and for this purpose beg the assistance of 

 some of your learned correspondents, who may 

 probably be able to inform me what is the title 

 and date of the work of CIriaco in which this de- 

 scription of the Parthenon occurs. W. M. K. E. 



3ftcpTfc^. 



MEDIEVAL OB MIDDLE AGES. 



(Vol. v., p. 469.) 



The question there put by L. T. is still con- 

 stantly asked, and the answer given by a reference 

 to Mr. Bowling's work may perhaps be unsatis- 

 factory to many, as not sufficiently defining the 

 period at which the Middle Ages may be said to 

 terminate. By some of the best historical writers, 

 the commencement and termination are variously 

 stated. In a work recently published by George 

 T. Manning, entitled Outlines of the History of 

 the Middle Ages, with heads of analysis, &c., the 

 Querist seems answered with more precision. Mr. 

 Manning divides General History into three great 

 divisions — Ancient History, that of the Middle 

 Ages, and Modern History : the first division 

 extending from the Creation to about four hun- 

 dred years after the birth of Christ ; the second 

 from A.D. 400 to the close of the fifteenth century 



of the Christian era ; the third embracing those 

 ages which have elapsed since the close of medi- 

 aeval times. 



The Middle Age portions he divides into five 

 great periods, denoted by the vast changes which 

 took place in the course of that history, viz. : 



A.D. 400 to A.D. 800, First Period. 

 A.D. 800 to A.D. 964, Second Period. 

 A.D. 964 to A.D. 1066, Third Period. 

 A.D. 1066 to A.D. 1300, Fourth Period. 

 A.D. 1300 to A.D. 1500, Fifth Period. 



The doubling of the Cape of Good Hope being the 

 last important event, which he places in 1497. 



This is nearly the same view as taken by 

 M. Lame Fleury, who commences with the fall 

 of the Western Empire in 476, and closes with the 

 conquest of Granada by the Spaniards in 1492 r 

 thinking that memorable event, which terminated 

 in a degree the struggle of the Western against the 

 Eastern Empire, a better limit (" une limite plus 

 rlgoureusement exacte") than the taking of Con- 

 stantinople by Mahomet II. in 1453, the date 

 when this historical period is generally terminated 

 by most writers. 



Appended to this little volume is a list of re- 

 markable dates and events, as also of battles and 

 treaties during the Middle Ages. G.. 



CONSECRATOKS OF ENGLISH BISHOPS. 



(Vol. vil., pp. 132.220.) 



1 . Ashurst Turner Gilbert, Bishop of Chichester, 

 was consecrated Feb. 27, 1842, by the Archbishop- 

 of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishops of Lincoln 

 and Llandaff. 



2. Edward Field, Bishop of Newfoundland, 

 April 28, 1844, by the Archbishop of Canterbury,, 

 assisted by the Bishops of London, Bangor, and 

 Worcester. 



3. Thomas Turton, Bishop of Ely; 



4. John Medley, Bishop of Fredericton ; 



5. James Chapman, Bishop of Columbo ; 



May 4, 1845, by the Archbishop of Canterbury,, 

 assisted by the Bishops of London, Rochester, Lin- 

 coln, Hereford, Lichfield, and Bishop Coleridge. 



6. Samuel Gobat, Bishop of the United Church 

 of England and Ireland in Jerusalem, July 5, 1 846, 

 by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the 

 Bishops of London, Calcutta, and Lichfield. 



7. George Smith, Bishop of Victoria ; 



8. David Anderson, Bishop of Rupert's Land ; 

 May 29, 1849, in Canterbury Cathedral, by the 

 Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted by the Bishops 

 of London, Winchester, and Oxford. 



9. Francis Fulford, Bishop of Montreal, July 25, 

 1830, by the Archbishop of Canterbury, assisted 

 by the Bishops of Oxford, Salisbury, Chichester, 

 Norwich, and Toronto, 



