July 16. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



65 



have an explanation ; to which she replied, " Why, 

 Sir, if I was to say you were a very handsome 

 man, would you not think I was humbugging 

 you ? " The counsel sat down perfectly satisfied. 



G. H. J. 



Sir Isaac Newton and Voltaire on Railway 

 Travelling (Vol. viii., p. 34.). — The passage in 

 Daniel alluded to is probably the following : — 

 " Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall 

 be increased," chap. xii. v. 4. Mr. Craig should 

 send to your pages the exact words of Newton 

 and Voltaire, with references to the books in 

 which the passages may be found. John Bruce. 



Engine- d-verge (Vol. vii., p. 619.). — Is not this 

 what we term a garden engine ? The French 

 vergier (viridarium) is doubtless so named, quia 

 virgd definita ; and we have the old English word 

 verge, a garden, from the same source. H. C. K. 



Rectory, Hereford. 



" Popidus vult decipi" 8fc. (Vol. vii., p. 572.). — 

 The origin of this phrase is found in Thuanus, 

 lib. xvii. A.D. 1556. See Jackson's Works, book iii. 

 ch. 32. § 9. note. C. P. E. 



Sir John Vanhrugh (Vol. vii., p. 619.). — Sir 

 John Vanbrugh was the grandson of a Protestant 

 refugee, from a family originally of Ghent in 

 Flanders. The Duke of Alva's persecution drove 

 him to England, where he became a merchant in 

 London. Giles, the son of this refugee, resided in 

 Chester, became rich by trade, and married the 

 youngest daughter of Sir Dudley Carleton, by 

 whom he had eight sons, of whom Sir John Van- 

 brugh was the second. The presumption is he 

 was born in Chester, but the precise date is un- 

 known. Anon. 



Erroneous Forms of Speech (Vol. vii., pp. 329. 

 632.). — With regard to your two correspondents 

 E. G. R. and M., I hold that, with Cowper's dis- 

 putants, " both are right and both are wrong." 



The name of the. field beet is. In the language of 

 the unlearned, mangel-wurzel, " the root of -po- 

 verty." It acquired that name from having been 

 used as food by the poor in Germany during a 

 time of great famine. Turning to Buchanan's 

 Technological Dictionary, I find, — 



" Mangel-wurzel. Field beet; a variety between the 

 red and white. It has as yet been only partially cul- 

 tivated in Britain." 



In reference to the assertion of your later cor- 

 respondent, that " such a thing as mangel-wurzel 

 is not known on the Continent," I would ask if 

 either he or his friends are familiar with half the 

 beautiful and significant terms applied to English 

 flowers and herbs ? If he prefer using mangold 

 for beet, he Is quite at liberty to do so, and I be- 



lieve on sufficiently good authority. What says 

 Noehden, always a leading authority in German : 

 " Mangold. Red beet ; name of some other plants, 

 such as lungwort and sorrel." 



Mangold is here, then, a generic term, standing 

 for other plants equally with the beet. One sug° 

 gestion, however ; I would recommend the generic 

 term, when used at all, to be used alone, leaving 

 the more familiar appellation as it stands, for the 

 adoption of those who prefer the homely but su"-- 

 gestive phraseology to which it belongs. E. L. H. 



Devonianisms (Vol. vii., p. 630.).— Plum, adj. 

 I am at a loss for the origin of this word as em- 

 ployed in Devonshire in the sense of " soft," e. g. 

 " a plum bed : " meaning a soft, downy bed. 



Query : Can it be from the Latin pluma ? And 

 if so, what Is its history ? 



There is also a verb to plum, which is obscure. 

 Dough, when rising under the influence of heat 

 and fermentation. Is said to be plumming well ; and 

 the word plum, as an adjective, is used as the 

 opposite of heavy with regard to currant and other 

 cakes when baked. If the cake rises well in the 

 oven, it is commonly said that it is "nice and 

 plum ;" and vice versa, that it is heavy. 



Clunh, verb. This word is used by the com- 

 mon people, more especially the peasantry, to 

 denote the swallowing of masses of unmasticated 

 food ; and of morsels that may not be particularly 

 relished, such as fat. What is the origin of the 

 word ? 



Dollop, subs. This word, as well as the one 

 last-named, is very expressive in the vocabulary 

 of the vulgar. It is applied to lumps of any sub- 

 stances, whether food or otherwise. Such a phrase 

 as this might be heard : " What a dollop of fat 

 you have given me!" "Well," would be the 

 reply, " if you don't like it, clunk it at once." I 

 should be glad to be enlightened as to the etymo- 

 logy of this term. Isaiah W. N. Keys. 



Plymouth, Devon. 



BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES 



WANTED TO PURCHASE. 



A Naurative of the Holy Life and Happy Death of Mr. 



John Angier, London. 1685. 

 Moore's Melodies. 15th Edition. 



Wood's Athex^e Oxonienses (ed. Bliss). 4 vols. 4to. 1 813-20.' 

 The Complaynts of Scotland. 8vo. Edited by Leyden. 1804. 

 Shakspeare's Plays. Vol. V. of Johnson and Steevens's edition, 



in_15 vols. 8vo. 1739. 



•«'» Correspondents sending Lists of Books Wanted are requested 

 to send their names. 



%* Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, carriage free, 

 to be sent to Ml!. Bell, Publisher of "NOTES AND 

 QUERIES." 186. Fleet Street. 



