Oct. 29. 1853.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



417 



rings wliicli were worn only on birthdays. Cle- 

 mens Alexandrinus recommends a limit withia 

 which the liberty of engraving upon them should 

 be restrained. He thinks we should not allow an 

 idol, a sword, a bow, or a cup, much less naked 

 human figures ; but a dove, a fish, or a ship in full 

 sail, or a lyre, an anchor, or fishermen. By the 

 dove he would denote the Holy Spirit ; by the 

 fish, the dinner which Christ prepared for his dis- 

 ciples (John xxi.), or the feeding of thousands 

 (Luke ix.) ; by a ship, either the Church or human 

 life; by a lyre, harmony; by an anchor, constancy; 

 by fishermen, the apostles or the baptism of chil- 

 dren. It is a wonder he did not mention the sym- 

 bol of the name of Christ (:?), the cross which is 

 found on ancient gems, and Noah's ark. 



Rings were worn upon the joints and fingers, 

 and hence Clement says a man should not wear a 

 ring upon the joint (m articulo), for this is what 

 women do, but upon the little finger, and at Its 

 lowest part. He failed to observe the Roman 

 custom of wearing the ring upon the finger of the 

 left hand, which is nearest the heart, and which 

 we therefore term the ring-finger. And Macro- 

 bius says, that when a ring fell from the little 

 finger of Avienus' right hand, those who were pre- 

 sent asked why he placed it upon the wrong hand 

 and finger, not on those which had been set apart 

 for this use. The reasons which are given for this 

 custom in Macrobius were often laughed at by 

 H. Fabrlcius ab Aquapendente, viz. that it is stated 

 in anatomical works, that " a certain nerve which 

 rises at the heart proceeds directly to that finger 

 of the left hand which is next the little finger," for 

 nothing of the sort, he said, existed in the human 

 body. 



The ring distinguished the free-born from the 

 servile, who, however, sometimes obtained the jus 

 annuli, or privilege of the ring. It was used as a 

 seal, a pledge, and a bond. Women, when be- 

 trothed, received rings; and the virgin and martyr 

 Agnes, in Ambrose, says, " My Lord Jesus Christ 

 bath espoused me with his ring." Theosebius also, 

 in Photius, says to his wife, " I formerly gave to 

 thee the ring of union, now of temperance, to aid 

 thee in the seemly custody of ray house." He ad- 

 visedly speaks of that custody, for the lady of the 

 house in Plautus says, 



" Obsignate cell^, referte annulum ad me: 

 Ego hue transeo." 



Wives generally used the same seals as their hus- 

 bands : thus Cicero {Ad Attic, xi. 9.) says, "Pom- 

 ponia, I believe, has the seals of what is sealed." 

 Sometimes, however, they used their own. 



Touching the marriage ring, of what style and 

 material it was, and whether formerly, as now, 

 consecrated by prayers to God. Its pattern ap- 

 pears to have been one which has gone out of use, 

 viz. right hands joined, such as is often observed 



on ancient coins. Tacitus {Hist. i. 11.) calls it 

 absolutely dextras, right hands. Among us it was 

 called a faith (una fade. Comp. Eng. " Plight my 

 troth "), and not without precedent, for on the 

 coins of Vitellius, &c. right hands thus joined bear 

 the motto Fides. An esteemed writer (Nider), ia 

 his Formicarium, mentions a rustic virgin who de- 

 sired to find a material ring as a token of her 

 espousal " in signum Clmstiferce desponsationis" 

 and found a ring of a white colour, like pure 

 silver, upon which two hands were engraved 

 where it was united. It was formerly customary 

 to bless a crown or a ring by prayers. The form 

 of consecration used by the priest is thus given ia 

 ancient liturgies : 



" Bene >h die Domiiie, Annulum istum et coronam 

 istam, ut sicut Annulus circundat digltum hominis, et 

 corona caput, ita gratia Spiritus SanctL circundet spon- 

 sum et sponsam, ut videant filios et filias usque tertiara 

 et quartara generationem : qui collaudent nomen vlven- 

 tis atque regnantis in secula seculorum. Amen." 



For the crown, see Is. Ixii. 1. (E. V. Ixi. 10.). 

 The words of Agnes above cited have reference to 

 giving the right hand and a pledge. 



These particulars are from the Symbol. Epist. 

 Lihei' of Laurentius Pignorius, Patar. 1628; where, 

 in Ep. I. and XIX., many other references are to 

 be found. B. H. C. 



ANTICIPATORY USE OP THE CROSS. — RINGING BELLS 

 FOR THE DEAD. 



(Vol. vlii., pp. 130. 132.) 



I trust that the following Information may be 

 acceptable to you and the authors of two interest- 

 ing papers In " N. & Q." (Vol. viii., pp. 130-2.), 

 viz. " Anticipatory Use of the Cross," and "Ca- 

 rious Custom of ringing Bells for the Dead." 



When encamped, in 1823 or 1824, near the town 

 (not the cantonment) of Muttra, on the river 

 Jumna, a place of celebrated sanctity as the scene 

 of the last incarnation of Vishnoo, the protective 

 deity or myth of the Hindoos, an Italian gentle- 

 man of most polished manners, speaking English 

 correctly and Avith fluency, was introduced to me. 

 He travelled under the name of Count Venua, and 

 was understood to be the eldest son of the then 

 Prime Minister of Sardinia. The Count explained 

 to me that his favourite pursuit was architecture, 

 and that he preferred buildings of antiquity. I 

 replied, that while breakfast was preparing I could 

 meet his wishes, and led him to a large Hindoo 

 edifice close by (or rather the remains), which a 

 Mogul emperor had partially destroyed and there- 

 by desecrated, the place having since been occa- 

 sionally used by the townspeople as a cattle-shed, 

 or for rubbish. 



The Count, not deterred by heaps of cattle-dung', 

 paced the dimensions, gazed on the solidity of the 



