502 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 239. 



square of the former, and inversely as the square of the 

 latter ; and, without these corrections, the results of 

 one lens are not comparable with those of another. 



When shall we get a good structureless paper? The 

 texture of Turner's, especially his new paper, is a great 

 defect ; and its skies are thin, very inferior to the dense 

 velvety blacks obtained with Whatman's of old date — 

 a paper now extinct, and one which, unfortunately for 

 us, it seems impossible to reproduce. T. L. Mansell. 



Guernsey. 



Conversion of Calotype Negatives into Positives. — At 

 the second meeting of the British Association at York, 

 Professor Grove described a process by which a nega- 

 tive calotype might be converted into a positive one, 

 by drawing an ordinary calotype image over iodide of 

 potassium and dilute nitric acid, and exposing to a full 

 sunshine. Not being able to find the proportions in 

 any published work, can any of your numerous readers 

 give me the required information ; and whether the 

 photograph should be exposed in its damp state, or 

 allowed to dry? G. Grantham. 



Albumenized Paper. — Mr. Spencer, in the last 

 number of the Photographic Journal, in describing a 

 mode of preparing albumenized paper, states he has 

 never found it necessary to iron it, as the silver solution 

 coagulates the albumen the moment it comes in con- 

 tact with it, " and I fancy makes it print more evenly 

 than when heat has been employed." But Mr. Spencer 

 uses a nitrate of silver solution of 90 or 100 grains to 

 the ounce, while Dr. Diamond recommends 40 grains. 

 Now as it is very desirable to get rid of the ironing if 

 possible, my Query is, Will the 40-grain solution coagu- 

 late the albumen so as to do away with that trouble- 

 some process ? P. P. 



JXt^Xiti to Minor <©uerf«J. 



Table-turning (Vol. ix., p. 39.). — The follow- 

 ing conclusions, from an expose of the laws of 

 nature relating to this subject, have been sub- 

 mitted to the world, at the end of a series of 

 articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes, by M. Ba- 

 binet, of the French Institute : 



" 1°. Que tout ce qui est raisonnablement admis- 

 sible dans les curieuses experiences qui ont ete faites 

 sur le mouvement des tables ou l'on impose les mains, 

 est parfaitement explicable par Penergie bien connue 

 des mouvemens naissans de nos organes, pris a leur 

 origine, surtout quand une influence nerveuse vient 

 s'y joindre et au moment ou, toutes les impulsions etant 

 conspirantes, l'effet produit represente reflet total des 

 actions individuelles. 



" 2°. Que dans l'etude consciencieuse de ces pheno- 

 menes mecanico-physiologiques, il faudra ^carter toute 

 intervention de force mysterieuse en contradiction avec 

 les lois physiques bien etablies par l'observation et 

 Pexperience. 



" 3°. Qu'il faudra aviser a. populariser, non pas dans 

 le peuple, mais bien dans la classe eclairee de la so- 

 ciete, les principes des sciences. Cette classe si impor- 

 tante, dont l'autorite devrait faire loi pour toute la 



nation, s'est deja montree plusieurs fois au-dessous 

 de cette noble mission. La remarque n'est pas de moi, 

 mais au besoin je l'adopte et la defends : 



' Si les raisons manquaient, je suis sur qu'en tout cas, 

 Les exemples fameux ne me manqueraient pas !' 



Comme le dit Moliere. II est a constater que 1'initia- 

 tive des reclamations en faveur du bon sens contre les 

 prestiges des tables et des chapeaux a ete prise par les 

 membres eclaires du clerge de France. 



" 4°. Enfin, les faiseurs des miracles sont instamment 

 supplies de vouloir bien, s'ils ne peuvent s'empecher 

 d'en faire, au moins ne pas les faire absurdes. Imposer 

 la croyance a un miracle, c'est deja beaucoup dans ce 

 siecle ; mais vouloir nous convaincre de la realite d'un 

 miracle ridicule, c'est vraiment etre trop exigeant !" — 

 Revue des Deux Mondes, Janvier 15, 1854. 



J. M. 



Oxford. 



Female Dress (Vol. ix., p. 271.). — I have 

 dresses from 1768 to the present time, two or 

 three years only missing, from pocket-books, which 

 I have carefully arranged and had bound in a 

 volume. On referring to it I find that hoops 

 ceased after 1786, excepting for court days. The 

 ladies at that time wore large hats, the same shape 

 young people and children have at the present 

 day. Powder went out at the time of the scarcity, 

 patches before hoops, and high-heeled shoes when 

 short waists came in fashion. 



I have a small engraving of their Majesties, at- 

 tended by the lord chamberlain, &c, together 

 with the Princess Royal, Prince Edward, and the 

 Princess Elizabeth, in their boxes at the opera in 

 the year 1782. The queen in a very large hoop, 

 each with their hair full powdered ; and the cele- 

 brated Mademoiselle Theodore, in the favourite 

 comic ballad called " Les Petits Reins," the same 

 year, with a large hoop, hair well powdered, a 

 little hat at the back of her head with long strings, 

 very short petticoats, and shoes with buckles. 



Julia R. Bockett. 



Southcote Lodge. 



Office of Sexton held by one Family (Vol. ix., 

 p. 171.). — A search into parish registers would, 

 I think, show that the office of clerk was often a 

 hereditary one. In Worcestershire, for example, 

 the family of Rose at Bromsgrove, and the family 

 of Osborne at Belbroughton, have supplied here- 

 ditary clerks to those parishes through many 

 generations. In the latter case, also, the trade of 

 a tailor has also been hereditary to an Osborne, in 

 conjunction with his duties as clerk. The Mr. 

 Tristram, who was the patron of the living of Bel- 

 broughton (afterwards sold to St. John's College, 

 Oxford), states, in a letter to the bishop (Lyttel- 

 ton), that the Osbornes were tailors in Bel- 

 broughton in the reign of Henry VIII. They 

 are tailors, as well as clerks, to this day, but they 

 can trace their descent to a period of more than 



