June 30. 1855.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



515 



A curious woodcut of two witches casting, the one 

 a serpent, the other a cock, into a burning caul- 

 dron, completes the first, or title-page. After 

 gravely discoursing whether these " Lamisa et In- 

 cantatrices " can, by the assistance of the devil, do 

 harm to children, and bring diseases upon them ; 

 whether they can ride on a " baculum unctum," a 

 wolf or other animals, and whether " cum talibus 

 malific. mulieribus posset diabolus incubando in 

 forma hominis commisceri ; " and whether " ex 

 tali coitu possibile sit generari filios ; " with divers 

 other curious inquiries, the tract ends with the 

 following colophon : 



" Impressum Colonie apud conventum predicatorum, 

 In deslolchzgasse per me Comelium de zyrichzee." 



This tract is in quarto, consists of twenty-two 

 leaves, with several very curious woodcuts : one 

 represents three old witches regaling themselves 

 with good cheer, at a primitive-looking table with 

 three legs, a castellated building appearing in the 

 distance. (" When shall we three meet again ? ") 



In this edition the dedicatory epistle of the 

 author is dated 1489. Brunet mentions this 

 edition ; but Hain has not seen it, though he quotes 

 four Latin and two German ones, all printed in 

 the fifteenth century. 



In the sale of Dr. Kloss's library in 1835, a 

 copy was purchased by Longman for 6s. 6rf., and 

 was, in Longman's Catalogue for 1836, priced 12s. 

 In the Kloss Catalogue it was described as — 



"Ed. 2. Curious woodcuts. Col., Corn, de Zyrichzee 

 (1505)." 



H. B. 

 Warwick. 



Assignats (Vol. xi., p. 444.). — Assignats are of 

 no value whatever ; the document is waste paper. 

 I saw at Dieppe, in France, two small casks full, 

 for various amounts, which the gentleman who 

 owned them kept out of mere curiosity. I saw 

 them first in 1825, and again in 1854, last Sep- 

 tember ; tolerable proof they were worth nothing. 



H. Baschet. 



Waterford 



Fox Family (Vol. xi., p. 146.). — No answer has 

 as yet, I think, been given to this Query, nor can 

 I do much towards enlightening the subject ; but 

 ,1 believe a family of this name were settled in 

 Westminster for many years. Joseph Fox, paro- 

 chial clerk to the House of Commons, was a book- 

 seller in Westminster Hall in 1760 ; and published 

 register books, &c., relative to the New Marriage 

 Act. H. G. D. 



Armageddon (Rev. xvi. 16.). — Written in Greek 

 kpfxaye^^disv and apfaayebtSiv, whilst some MSS. have 

 Maryi^div. This place, so " called in the Hebrew 

 tongue," Har-Megiddon, means " Mountain of 

 Megiddo" (2 Kings xxiii. 29.; Zech. xii. 11.). 

 It is marked in Dr. Kobinson's map (vol. iii.) as 



Legio Megiddo, its present Arabic name being 

 el-Lyjun, a corruption of AeyecSv, which Greek 

 word is a translation of Megiddo, from the root 

 gad, a troop. Armageddon is partly a plain, 

 partly mountainous, about eighteen miles south 

 by west of Cana (^Kdna-el-Jelil^C&na, of Galilee), 

 and ten or twelve miles south-west of Nazareth 

 and Mount Tabor. T. J. Buckton. 



Lichfield. 



Sibylle (Vol. xi., p. 445.). — This is the correct 

 spelling in French of the class of prophetesses to 

 whom the name of 'ZifivWa was given. The Greek 

 word is commonly derived from :Zi6s (for Ai6s) and 

 PovXri, meaning " the counsel or will of Jupiter," 

 and was synonymous with " prophetess." * Blon- 

 dell, in "Des Sibylles celebrees tant par I'anti- 

 quite payenne que les SS. peres" (1652), and 

 Freret, in his " Recueil des Predictions de Si- 

 bylle," &c., in the Mem. Acad, des Inscrip., xxiii. 

 187., adopt the uniform Greek and Latin Sibylla. 

 In Boinvillier's Gradus ad Parnassum I find the 

 word Sibylla explained in French by Sybille, 

 which is a misprint, as the next word, Sibyllinus, 

 is explained de Sibylle. The Italian has Sibilla, 

 the Russian Sivilla, the German Sibylle. Virgil's 

 Sibyl is well known as a general personification 

 of the character. There were several females to 

 whom this title was given. The following is a 

 prediction of one of them, — Phaennis : 



" Then, indeed, the pernicious army of the Celtffi, hav- 

 ing passed over the narrow sea of the Hellespont, shall 

 play the flute, and in a lawless manner depopulate Asia. 

 But divinity will still more severely afflict those that dwell 

 near the sea. However, in a short time afterwards, Jupi- 

 ter will send them a defender, the beloved son of a 

 Jove-nourished bull, who will bring destruction on the 

 Gauls." t — Pausan. 1. x. c. 16. 



This poetical bull is supposed to have been Atta- 

 ins, King of Pergamus. T. J. Buckton. 



Lichfield. 



Sevastopol (Vol. x., p. 444.). — ■ The Tatar 

 name of this place was Ahtiar (= White Moun- 

 tain) ; but Catherine II. changed it to Sevas- 

 topol, from the Greek words "ZeSaarhs and it6\is, 

 meaning City of Augusta, in allusion to herself. 

 In Acts xxvii. 1., the centurion was " of Au- 

 gustus's band" a-irelp-ns Steoo-r^s. (ActS XXV. 21.) 

 In modern Greek S is pronounced as v. 



T. J. Buckton. 

 Lichfield. 



* Another derivation is from ?2^ (comp. Is. xlvii. 2.), 

 the same as the Arabic ^ , ^,_,,, (^sibulla), hair, character- 

 istic of the sibyl. 



"Non comtiE mansere covnse." — JEneid. vi. 48. 

 + " Ar) tot' ifi.ei.'pdiiLevoi (TTeiuov nopou 'EX.\ri<r7r6vTOV 

 Av\i^(Tei raAttTWc oXobs (TTpaToy, o'l p' ade/biia'Tcas 

 'AcrCSa nopBi^crovtTr ©«6s S en Kvvrepa Brja-ei 

 JIdyxv fAoA', 01 vaCovai. trap' yjiovecrcrt. KpovMiv 

 'Opfirjcrei ravpoio ScoTpec^e'os ^C\ov viov, 

 'Oy n-acrtc TaXdTXI<Ttv oKiOpiov i})U.ap ec^TjVet." ", 



