OF SELBORNE. 231 
Gipsies are called in French Bohémiens ; in Ital- 
ian and modern Greek, Zingani. 
LETTER XXXVI. 
Selborne, Nov. 1, 1775. 
Dear Sir,— | 
“ Hic—tedze pingues, hic plurimus ignis 
Semper, et assidua postes fuligine nigri.” 
I sHALL make no apology for troubling you with 
the detail of a very simple piece of domestic econ- 
omy, being satisfied that you think nothing be- 
neath your attention that tends to utility: the mat- 
ter alluded to is the use of rushes instead of can- 
dles, which I am well aware prevails in many dis- 
tricts besides this; but as I know there are coun- 
tries also where it does not obtain, and as I have 
considered the subject with some degree of ex- 
actness, | shall proceed in my humble story, and 
leave you to judge of the expediency. 
The proper species of rush for this purpose seems 
to be the juncus conglomeratus, or common soft 
rush, which is to be found in most moist pastures, 
_ by the sides of streams, and under hedges. These 
rushes are in best condition in the height of sum- 
mer, but may be gathered, so as to serve the pur- 
pose well, quite on to autumn. It would be need. 
less to add that the largest and longest are best. 
Decayed labourers, women, and children make it 
their business to procure and prepare them. As 
soon as they are cut they must be flung into water 
and kept there, for otherwise they will dry and 
