Jan. 21. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



63 



The Certainly of the Worlds of Spirits fully evinced 

 by the unquestionable Histories of Apparitions, SfC, 

 by Richard Baxter, London, 1691. I can trace 

 no mention of the Dr. Beaumont, author of the 

 Treatise of Spirits, unless he be the "eminent 

 apothecary in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden," 

 stated by Nichols (Literary Anecdotes, vol. ix. 

 p. 239.) to be the father of Mr. Beaumont, Regis- 

 trar of the Royal Humane Society. 'AXieis. 

 Dublin. 



Barrels Regiment (Vol. viii., p. 620.). — If the 

 song referring to Barrel's regiment was written 

 about 1747, it was not original, but a parody or 

 adaptation of one in The Devil to Pay, performed 

 as a ballad opera in 1731 ; and which still main- 

 tains its place, if not on the stage, in recent edi- 

 tions of the " acting drama." 1 have not an old 

 edition of the play, but quote from a collection 

 of songs called The Nightingale, London, 1738, 

 p. 232. : 



" He that has the best wife, 



She's the plague of bis life ; 

 But for her that will scold and will quarrel, 



Let him cut her off short, 



Of her meat and her sport, 

 And ten times a day hoop her barrel, brave boys, 



And ten times a day hoop her barrel." 



May I append a Query to my reply ? Was The 

 Nightingale published with a frontispiece? My 

 copy is mutilated, but has belonged to some per- 

 son who valued it much more highly than I do, as 

 he has neatly repaired and replaced torn leaves 

 and noted deficiencies. Prefixed is a mounted 

 engraving of a bird in the act of singing, which, 

 if intended for a nightingale, is really curious ; as 

 it is of the size and shape of a pheasant, with cor- 

 vine legs and beak, and a wattle round the eye 

 like that of a barb pigeon. The book is " printed 

 and sold by J. Osborn," and shows that the post 

 assigned to him in The Dunciad was not worse 

 than he deserved. H. B. C. 



Garrick Club. 



[Our correspondent seems to have the veritable 

 original engraving ; the nightingale or pheasant, or 

 whatever it may be, is mounted on a branch over a 

 stream near to three houses, and a village on its banks 

 is seen in the distance.] 



Sneezing (Vol. viii., pp. 366. 624.). — To the 

 very interesting illustrations given by Mr. Francis 

 Scott of the ancient superstitions associated with 

 sternutation, 1 should like to add one not less 

 curious than any which he has given. It is re- 

 corded in Xenophon's Anabasis, lib. iii. cap. 2. 



At the council of Greek generals, held after the 

 death of Cyrus, Xenophon rose and made a speech. 

 He set before his comrades the treachery of their 

 late associate Ariseus ; the serious difficulties 

 attendant upon the position of the Greeks ; and the 



necessity for immediate and vigorous action. Just 

 as he had alluded to the probability of a severe con- 

 flict, and had invoked the aid of the gods, one of 

 the company sneezed. He paused for a moment 

 in his harangue, and every one present did reve- 

 rence (TcpooeKov-ntrav) to Jupiter. The circumstance 

 seemed to give new spirit and fortitude to the 

 whole assembly; and when Xenophon resumed, 

 he said, " Even now, my comrades, while we were 

 talking of safety, Zeus the saviour has sent us an 

 omen ; and I think it would become us to offer to 

 the god a sacrifice of thanksgiving for our pre- 

 servation." He then, in the manner of a modern 

 chairman at Exeter Hall, invited all of that opinion 

 to hold up their hands. This appeal having met 

 a unanimous response, they all made their vows, 

 sung the paean, and the orator proceeded with his 

 discourse. 



The adoration of the god, or the use of some 

 auspicious words or religious formulary, appears to 

 have been designed to avert any evil which might 

 possibly be portended by the omen. It seems by 

 no means certain that it was always regarded as 

 favourable. Xenophon, in the case referred to, 

 contrived very adroitly to turn the incident to 

 good account, and to interpret it as a sign of the 

 divine favour. The form of one of the sentences 

 I have translated — 



"'Errel irtpl o-air-qpias T)yua>v Key6vjwt> olwvbs rod 

 Aibs- rov 2 a> t rj p o s e(pav%" 



affords a little illustration of the benediction in 

 current use among the Greeks on such occasions, 

 " Zeu oacov" J- G. F. 



Does " Wurm" in modern German, ever mean 

 Serpent? (Vol. viii., pp. 465. 624.). — F. W. J. is 

 quite right as regards his interpretation of the 

 word Wurm, used by Schiller in his Wallenstein 

 in the passage spoken by Butler. 



Wurm is not used in German to mean a ser- 

 pent. Serpents (Schlangen) are vertebrata, and 

 are therefore not confounded with Wurmer by the 

 Germans. The language of the people frames 

 proverbs, not the language of science. The Ger- 

 mans apply the word Wurm to express pity or 

 contempt. The mother says to her sick child, 

 "Armes Wurmchen!" signifying poor, suffering, 

 little creature. Man to man, in order to express 

 contempt, will say "Elender Wurm!" meaning 

 miserable wretch; an application arising out of 

 the contemplation of the helpless state and in- 

 ferior construction of this division of the animal 

 kingdom. The German proverb corresponds to 

 the English. C. B. d'O. 



Longfellow's Reaper and the Flowers (Vol. viii., 

 p. 583.). — This charge of plagiarism, I think, is 

 not a substantial one. To compare Death to a 

 reaper, and children to flowers, is a very general 

 idea, and may be thought by thousands, and ex- 



