42 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



[No. 33. 



" De corio notissimum, post obitum, ne quid asini 

 unquam conquiescat, f'oraminibiis delaccrari, indeqiie 

 factis cribris, assidu<-E inscrvire agitationi; mule dicebat 

 Apuleiiis : cedentes hinc Inde miserum corium, nee 

 cribris jam idoneum relinquunt. Sed et Albertiis pol- 

 licetiir asinorum corium iion solum utile esse ad soleas 

 calceorum faciendas, sed etiam quae ex ilia parte fiunt, 

 ill qua onera fuerunt, non consumi, etsi ille qui utitur, 

 eis continuo peregrinando in lapidlbus portaverit, et 

 tandem ita indurare ut pedes sustiuere nequeant." — 

 De Quadruped., p. 351. 



T.J. 



POPE PEUX. 



Four Popes of the name have filled the chair of 

 St. Peter. 



The first suffered martyrdom under Aurelian. 

 He is honoured with a festival at Rome on the 29th 

 May. 



The second also received the crown of martyr- 

 dom, under Constantine. His festival is kept on 

 the 29th July. 



The third is commemorated as a holy confessor 

 on the 25th February. He was a collateral an- 

 cestor of Pope St. Gregory the Great, who men- 

 tions him in his writings. 



Gregory had three aunts by the father's side, 

 who all became ntms. One of them, Tarsilla, a 

 lady of pious and beatified life, and of very ad- 

 vanced age, had one night a vision of Pope Felix, 

 who was then dead. He seemed to point towards 

 the mansions of eternal glory, and to invite her to 

 enter. She soon after sickened, and her end 

 visibly approached. While a number of her friends 

 were standing around her couch, she suddenly ex- 

 claimed, looking upwards, " Stand aside, stand 

 aside, Jesus is coming;" and with a look of in- 

 eilable love, she presently expired. This story is 

 related by St. Gregory. 



This Pope is the best known of the four on ac- 

 count of his relationship to St. Gregory. 



The fourth of the name was also a confessor. 

 His festival occurs on the 30th January. J. A. S. 



Edinburgh, May 27. 1850. 



HEPLIES TO NUMISMATIC QUERIES. 



I beg to offer the following remarks in reply 

 to the numismatic queries of E. S. T. (Vol. i., 

 p.468.): — 



1. I can only account for the Macedonian coin 

 being struck in lead, by supposing it to be the 

 work of an ancient forger. 



2. Third brass coins of Tiberius are not un- 

 common ; I have one in my cabinet of the sort 

 described. Obv. head of Tiberius, ti. caesar. 

 Divi. AVG. F. AVGVSTVs; Rcv. the altar of Lyons, 



ROM. ET. AVG. 



3. The coin of Herennia Etruscilla is probably 

 a base or plated denarius, the silver having been 



worn off. Silver coins sometimes acquire a black 

 tarnish, so that they are not to be distinguished 

 from brass without filing the edge, or steeping 

 them in acid. If a genuine brass coin, it should 

 have the S. C. for Senatus Consultum. 



4. The coin of Macrinus was struck at Antioch 

 in Syria, of which famous city there exists a re- 

 gular series of imperial coins from Augustus to 

 Valerian. One in my possession has A above the 

 s. c, and E below for ahmaPX. EEOT2IA2, Tri- 

 bimitia Potestate. May not these be the letters 

 described by E. S. T. as l. c? J. C. Witton. 



Coins of Constantius II. — Can any numismatist 

 kindly inform me by what marks the coins of Con- 

 stantius II., tlie son of Constantine the Great, are 

 distinguished from those of Constantius Gallus, his 

 nephew ? Mr. Akerman, in his Rare and Inedited 

 Roman Coins, gives the following titles as common 

 to both, but does not afford any rule for appro- 

 priating their coins : — 



CONSTANTIVS. NOB. CAES. 



PL. IVL. CONSTANTIVS. NOB. CAES. 



D. N. CONSTANTIVS. NOB. C. 



D. N. CONSTANTIVS. NOB. CAES. 



J. C. WiTTON. 



AS LAZY AS I.UDLUM S DOG. 



(Vol. i., p. 382.) 



I feel obliged by the extract from the Doctor 

 given by J. M. B. (Vol. i., p. 475.), though it only 

 answers by a kind of implication the Query I pro- 

 posed. That implication is, that, instead of Lud- 

 lum and his dog being personages of distinction in 

 their own way and in their own day, the proverb 

 itself is merely one framed on the principle of 

 alliteration, and without precise or definite "mean- 

 ing." This is very full of meaning, as any one 

 may convince himself by observing the active 

 energy of every muscle of all dogs in the act of 

 barking. What can typify "laziness" more em- 

 phatically than a dog that "lays him[self] down 

 to bark ? " 



A jingle of some kind is essential to a proverb. 

 If a phrase or expression have not this, it never 

 "takes" with the masses; whilst, having this, and 

 being capable of any possible and common appli- 

 cation, it is sure to live, either as a proverb or a 

 " saw," as the case may be. Alliteration and 

 rhyme are amongst the most frequent of these 

 "jingles;" and occasionally a "pun" supplies 

 their place very effectively. AVe find these con- 

 ditions fulfilled in the proverbs and saws of every 

 people in the eastern and western world, alike in 

 the remotest antiquity and in our own time. But 

 are they therefore " without meaning ? " Do not 

 these qualities help to give them meaning, as well 

 as to preserve them through their long and varied 

 existence? 



But there is another principle equally essential 



