April 8. 1854.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



333 



My object in using arrowroot is simply that of having 

 a pure starch without colour, and it serves as a size to 

 the paper, which has lost that originally in it by the 

 repeated washings, &c. 



The paste is made very thin, thus : — Put a teaspoon- 

 ful of arrowroot (not heaped) into a teacup with about 

 two spoonfuls of cold water, and mix into a paste : 

 then add boiling water enough to fill the cup, and stir. 

 Many photographers merely attach the edges of their 

 pictures, but I prefer them to adhere all over. Gum 

 is fatal to the beauty of a photograph, unless it is pre- 

 viously re-sized. Geo. Shadeolt. 



Mr. Lyte's Collodion (Vol. ix., p. 225.). — Our 

 readers may remember that in " N. & Q.," Feb. 18, 

 Mr. F. Maxwell Lvte furnished our readers with a 

 •detailed plan of his mode of preparing collodion. In 

 that article, written from Pan, that gentleman was so 

 good as to promise us that when he had an opportunity 

 lie would send us a couple of specimens of his work- 

 manship. He has more than fulfilled his promise, for 

 we have received from him this week four photo- 

 graphs, which, for general beauty and minuteness of 

 detail, cannot be surpassed. The subjects are, I. Study 

 of Trees, No. 2. ; II. Study of Trees, No. 5. Old Pol- 

 lard Oak; III. Study of Trees, Peasants collecting 

 Leaves ; IV. Old Church Porch, Morlaas, Monogram 

 of the Eleventh Century. Mr. Lyte, who is a first- 

 rate chemist, has shown himself by these specimens to 

 be also a first-rate practical photographer. From him, 

 therefore, the art may look for much future progress. 



&*j)Ito> ta f&inax eaum'etf. 



Burton's " Anatomy of Melancholy " (Vol. ix., 

 p. 191.). — Dr. Rimbault may perhaps be in- 

 terested in hearing that some years ago I urged 

 upon two London publishers the desirableness of 

 bringing out a new edition of Burton's Anatomy 

 of Melancholy, but [they both declined to under- 

 take the work. I then resolved to publish myself 

 the latter part of the work (on Religious Melan- 

 choly}, and made known my intention in " N. & 

 Q.," in the hope of obtaining some casual notes 

 and observations ; but in this also I was disap- 

 pointed. As, however, my intention is only sus- 

 pended for the present, not abandoned, I shall be 

 obliged by any assistance that Dr. Rimbault, or 

 any of your readers, can afford me. Can any one 

 correct the following list of editions of the Ana- 

 tomy of Melancholy ? 



edition was not that of 1676 (see "N. & Q." 

 Vol. ix., p. 121.) ; but on this and other similar 

 points I shall be glad to hear Dr. Rimbault' s 

 opinion. M. D. 



Original Royal Letters to the Grand Masters 

 of Malta (Vol. viii., p. 99.). — When making out 

 the list of English Royal Letters, which has al- 

 ready appeared in "N. & Q.," we were not aware 

 that any others besides those which we recorded 

 at the time were to be found in the Record Office. 

 Since then Dr. Vella has examined other manu- 

 script volumes, and, fortunately, brought to light 

 nine more autograph letters, to which, according 

 to their dates, we hope to call your attention here- 

 after. They are as follows : 



* The letters of James II. are countersigned " Comes de Sunder- 

 land,"^) and that of George I. "I. Stanhope. ' 



In our previous list an error occurred, which 

 we would wish to correct. The last letter of 

 Henry VIII. was addressed to the Grand Master 

 Pierre Du Pont, and not to Nicholas Cotoner, who 

 ascended the Maltese throne in 1663. The trans- 

 lation of H. M.'s congratulatory letter to Du Pont, 

 on his election, we trust you have already re- 

 ceived. We referred in our former Note to a 

 letter of Charles II., under date of " the last day 

 of November, 1674," and since that came to our 

 observation we have seen an exact copy bearing 

 the autograph of the king. This circumstance 

 leads us to inquire at what period, and with what 

 English monarch, the custom of sending dupli- 

 cate letters originated ? In the time of James II. 

 it would appear to have been followed, as one of 

 H. M.'s letters is thus marked in his own hand- 

 writing. 



We would state, before closing this Note, that 

 the letters of James II. are the earliest in date of 

 any English royal letters filed away at this island 

 which are countersigned, or hear the address of the 

 Grand Master at the foot of the first page, on the 

 left-hand side, as is customary in writing official 

 letters to government officers at the present time. 



Will any of your correspondents kindly inform 

 us with what English monarch the custom ori- 



(') Robert Spencer, second Earl of Sunderland, K.G., 

 was principal Secretary of State during the latter years 

 of Charles II. and the whole reign of James II., and 

 as such, when countersigning a royal letter, he placed 

 at the end of his signature the letter P. 



