72 



RECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



JVIt JVfotewortliy^s Cf< 



orner. 



Alleged Shakesperian Fokgeeiks. — Mr. Collyer 

 discovered, and bought in 1849, a copy of Shakespeare's 

 works printed in 1632, which contained emendations 

 by one Thomas Perkins. The book under any circum- 

 stances was a treasure, and Mr. Henry Eodd, the book- 

 seller, must have been very careless to let it slip for a 

 trifle into Mr. Gollyer's hands. The latter gentleman 

 kept his treasure some time. Then it gradually ooeed 

 out that he had it. In 1853 he published a corrected 

 edition of the works, with these new old readings. In 

 1856 a complete list of all the readings appeared. 

 Since then there have been floods of papers on the 

 folio of 1633. All the editors and commentators were 

 against " Perkins," whoever he may have been, or be, 

 for he was against all. What with comma, dot, dash, 

 alteration, new word, new line, altered letters, these 

 emendations amounted to thousands; of the more 

 important there are one thousand three hundred and 

 three. Of these only two hundred and ninety are 

 worth much. Of them one hundred and seventy-three 

 have been part of the received text for a quarter of a 

 century, and the remainder one hundred and seven- 

 teen have fair claims to be received as really emen- 

 dations. 



Nobody knows who " Perkins " was. Some say a 

 player, others an author; others, one who attended 

 the plays with the folio in his hands, and corrected as 

 he heard, or thought should be. His emendations have 

 no more authority than Stevens's, or Malony's, or yours, 

 or mine. His volume is bound in rough calf, about the 

 date of George II., the fly-leaves having a water-mark 

 G. R., crown and Dutch livre — obvious, by the way, 

 William III., Gulielmus Rex., and the Dutch arms, 

 not George II., as Mr. Hamilton will have it — and 

 having been given by Mr. Collyer to the Duke of 

 Devonshire, has by him been placed in the hands of 

 Sir F. Madden, keeper of MSS. of the British 

 Museum, for the inspection of an inquiring public. 

 This year, Mr. N, E. S. A. Hamilton, of the MSS. 

 department, has examined the folio with a microscopic 

 eye, and has written a long letter to the Times, assert- 

 ing that the emendations are forgeries ; that beneath 

 the ink letters are others in pencil in " stiff chancery 

 capitals of the present century," in "the modern hand 

 of to-day," with the printer's corrections of the hour, 

 etc., etc. ; his inference being that some one made all 

 the corrections with pencil, then had them copied in 

 antique writing. Some of the corrections have been 

 allowed to remain, others have been effaced, either by 

 the knife or chemical agency. The whole gist of Mr. 

 Hamilton's letter being an accusation of an impudent 

 forgery by some person or persons unknown, the 

 forgery being published by Mr. Collyer. 



Mr. Collyer has replied to this by a very long letter, 

 in which he re-states all that he has ever asserted. 

 Firstly, in reply " to what is meant, although darkly 

 asserted," that " he is the author of the psncillings and 

 Ijotes in ink," he has, in 1856^ declared on oath that he 



was not, and the affidavit is filed in the Queen's 

 Bench. He has also sworn that the very book, fifty 

 years ago, belonged to one Parry; and had been given 

 to him by a relation, George Gray. There is also this 

 to be said, viz., that had Mr. Collyer wished for fame, 

 he might have appropriated all the emendations, and 

 have burnt the volume. This he did not do ; had he done 

 so, he would have had a brighter Shakesperian fame 

 than all the commentators put together ; but he adds, 

 " This I did not do, in spite of the warnings of a 

 friend, that my enemies would never forgive my disco- 

 very, and that their hostility would outlive my ex- 

 istence." Thus, apathetically, Mr. Payne Collyer, 

 who further states his determination not to waste any 

 more time in answering, but if, need be, again to esta- 

 blish his fair fame by law. The whole correspondence 

 is curious. Mr. Collyer never claimed for his folio 

 more than the value any conjectural emendation 

 should have. He has not stated that the corrections 

 were by any one of authoritj-, yet many of them are so 

 apt that they are iri'efragable. Mr. Hamilton's accusa- 

 tions so far fall to the ground ; for if the corrections 

 were made yesterdaj', they would be of equal value as 

 if made, as Mr. Collyer says, in the 17th century. Mr. 

 Hamilton's statement does not touch Mr. Collyer's 

 reputation ; and relying, as we must, on the word of 

 the latter gentleman, we think Mr. Hamilton's deduc- 

 tions too hastily made. The folio of 1632 has, after 

 all, done much to give us something like an amended 

 text of Shakespeare. * 



How Many Eggs does the Cuckoo Lay? — It is 

 generally supposed that the cuckoo lays only one egg. 

 This is incorrect. Colonel Montagu says, " I dissected 

 a female cuckoo early in May, which weighed 3j ozs. 

 The ovaries and iiterus were vastly distended, but I 

 imagine no egg had been laid. The largest vitellus 

 appeared to be of sufficient size to separate from the 

 ovarium, but it was still attached. The next egg in 

 succession was not one quarter so large. The third 

 and fourth were nearly of the same size, not more 

 than half as large as the second. There were two 

 others rather inferior, and a seventh not half so large 

 as these." Colonel Montagu adds, " These may be 

 considered as the portion of eggs destined to be pro- 

 duced within the season." The cuckoo divides her 

 favours evidently, and is often found " absent without 

 leave." 



CoLOUES OF Shells. — The endless diversities of 

 shades and colours, varying from the sober coat of the 

 garden snail to the delicate and glowing tints which 

 are diffused over some of the finer species, in the infi- 

 nite profusion of undulations, clouds, spots, bands, 

 and reticulated figures, with which those architects 

 enrich their structures, are strongly calculated to 

 attract attention, and excite investigation. The in- 

 strument by which they paint those beautiful colours 

 is called " the mantle," and is placed in the anterior 

 part of the body. It is furnished with pores, through 

 which the secreted fluid is carried, and applied to 

 enlarge the volume of the shell. 



