110 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 223. 



founders, like some modern enterprising firms, 

 kept a poet on the establishment, e.g. 



" Thine incomparable oil, Macassar ! " 



J. Yeowell. 



A friend informs me, that on a bell in Durham 

 Cathedral these lines occur : 



" To call the folk to Church in time, 



I chime. 

 When mirth and pleasure's on the wing, 



I ring. 

 And when the body leaves the soul, 

 I toll." 



J. L. S. 



ARMS OF GENEVA. 



(Vol. viii., p. 563.) 



Your correspondent who desires the blazon of 

 the arms of the " town of Geneva," had better 

 have specified to which of the two bearings assigned 

 to that name he refers. 



One of these, which I saw on the official seal 

 affixed to the passport of a friend of mine lately 

 returned from that place, is an instance of the 

 obsolete practice of dimidiation ; and is the more 

 singular, because only the dexter one of the shields 

 thus impaled undergoes curtailment. 



The correct blazon, I believe, would be : Or, 

 an eagle double-headed, displayed sable, dimidi- 

 ated, and impaling gu. a key in pale argent, the 

 wards in chief, and turned to the sinister; the 

 shield surmounted with a marquis' coronet. 



The blazon of the sinister half I owe to Ed- 

 mondson, who seems, however, not at all to have 

 understood the dexter, and gives a clumsy descrip- 

 tion of it little worth transcribing. He, and the 

 Dictionnaire de Blazon, assign these arms to the 

 Republic of Geneva. 



The other bearing would, in English, be bla- 

 zoned, Checquy of nine pieces, or and azure : and 

 in French, Cinq points (for, equipolles a quatre 

 dazur. This is assigned by Nisbett to the 

 Seigneurie of Geneva, and is quartered by the 

 King of Sardinia in token of the claims over the 

 Genevese town and territory, which, as Duke of 

 Savoy, he has never resigned. 



With regard to the former shield, I may just 

 remark, that the dimidiated coat is merely that of 

 the German empire. How or why Geneva ob- 

 tained it, I should be very glad to be informed ; 

 since it appeal's to appertain to the present inde- 

 pendent Republic, and not to the former seignorial 

 territory. 



Let me also add, that the plate in the Diction- 

 naire gives the field of this half as argent. Mr. 

 Willement, in his Regal Heraldry, under the arms 

 of Richard II.'s consort, also thus describes and 

 represents the imperial field ; and Nisbett alludes 



to it as such in one place, though in his formal 

 blazon he gives it as or. 



Nothing, in an heraldic point of view, would be 

 more interesting than a " Regal Heraldry of Eu- 

 rope," with a commentary explaining the historical 

 origin and combinations of the various bearings. 

 Should this small contribution towards such a 

 compilation tend to call the attention of any able 

 antiquary to the general subject, or to elicit 

 information upon this particular question, the 

 writer who now offers so insignificant an item 

 would feel peculiarly gratified. L. C. D. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE. 



Multiplying Negatives. — In reply to M. N. S. 

 (Vol. ix., p. 83.) I would suggest the following mode 

 of multiplying negatives on glass, which I have every 

 reason to believe would be perfectly successful : — 

 First, varnish the negative to be copied by means of 

 Dr. Diamond's solution of amber in chloroform ; then 

 attach to each angle, with any convenient varnish, a 

 small piece of writing-paper. Prepare a similar plate 

 of glass with collodion, and drain off" all superfluous 

 nitrate of silver, by standing it for a minute or so on 

 edge upon a piece of blotting-paper. Lay it flat upon 

 a board, collodion side upwards, and the negative pre- 

 pared above upon it, collodion side downwards. Ex- 

 pose the whole to daylight for a single second, or to 

 gas-light for about a minute, and develope as usual. 

 The result will be a transmitted positive, but with re- 

 versed sides ; and from this, when varnished and treated 

 as the original negative, any number of negatives simi- 

 lar to the first may be produced. 



The paper at the angles is to prevent the absolute 

 contact and consequent injury by the solution of ni- 

 trate of silver ; and, for the same reason, it is advisable 

 not to attempt to print until the primary negative is 

 varnished, as, with all one's care, sometimes the nitrate 

 will come in contact and produce spots, if the varnish- 

 ing has been omitted. Should the negative become 

 moistened, it should be at once washed with a gentle 

 stream of water and dried. 



I have repeatedly performed the operation above 

 described so far as the production of the positive, and 

 so perfect is the impression that I # see no reason why 

 the second negative should be at all distinguishable 

 from the original. 



I am, indeed, at present engaged upon a similar 

 attempt ; but there are several other difficulties in my 

 way : I, however, entertain no doubts of perfect suc- 

 cess. Geo. Shadbolt. 



TowgoocTs Paper. — A. B. (Vol. ix., p. 83.) can pur- 

 chase Towgood's paper of Mr. Sandford, who frequently 

 advertises in " N. & Q." With regard to his other Query, 

 I think there can be no doubt of his being at liberty 

 to publish a photographic copy of a portrait, Mr. Fox 

 Talbot having reserved only the right to paper copies 

 of a photographic portrait. Collodion portraits are not 

 patent, but the paper proofs from collodion negatives 

 are. Geo. SHAnBOLT. 



