July 27. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



133 



whetlier any of your subscribers can furnish me 

 with any other versions of this popuhir story, either 

 Oriental or otherwise. Bkackley. 



Putney, July 1 7. 



THE GEOMETRICAL FOOT. 



In several dili'erent places I have discussed the ex- 

 istence and length of what the muthenmticians of 

 the sixteenth century used^ and those of the seven- 

 teenth talkedahout, under the name oit\\e. geonuU-ical 

 foot, of four palms and sixteen digits. (See the Phi- 

 losophical Magazine from December 1841 to jMay 

 1842; the Peimj/ Cyclopcedia, "Weights and Mea- 

 sures," pp. 197, 198; and Arithmetical Books, &c , 

 pp.5 — 9.) Various works give a figured length of 

 this foot, whole, or in halves, according as the page 

 will permit ; usually making it (before the shrinking 

 of the paper is allowed tor) a very little less than 9 J 

 inches English. The works in which 1 have as yet 

 found it are Reiscli, Margarita Philosophica, 1508 ; 

 Stoffler's Elucidatio Astrolabii, 1524; Fernel's 

 Momdospharium, 1526; \\.iJhkA, Astrolabii Declura- 

 tio, 1552; Ramus, Geometria, lo6Q dud 1580; KyfF, 

 Quoestioiie.i Geomeiricce, 1G21. Query. In what 

 other works of the sixteenth, or early in tlie seven- 

 teenth century is this foot of palms and tligits to 

 be found, figured in length ? What are their titles? 

 What the several lengths of the foot, half foot, or 

 palm, within tlie twentieth of an inch? Are the 

 divisions into palms or digits given ; and, if so, are 

 they accurate subdivisions? Of the six names 

 above mentioned, the three who are by far the best 

 known are Stoffler, Fernel, and Ramus; and it so 

 happens that their subdivisions are much more 

 correct than those of the other three, and their 

 whole lengths more accordant. A. De Morgan 



Plurima Gemma. — Who is the author of the 

 couplet which seems to be a version of Gray's 

 " Full many a gem of purest ray serene," &c. ? 



" Plurima gemma latet ca-ca tellure sopulta, 

 Plurima neglecto tVagrat odore rosa." 



s. w. s. 



Emmole de Ilustingn. — 



"emmote de hastinges gist ici" &c. 



A very early slab with the above inscription 

 was found in 182(5 on the site of a demolished 

 transept of Bitton Church, Gloucester. By its side 

 was laid an incised slab of — De Bitton. Both 

 are noticed in the Archceologiu, vols. x,\ii. and 

 xxxi. 



Ilitlierto, after diligent search, no notice what- 

 ever has been discovercil of the said person. Tlie 

 sup]josition is that she was either a Miss De Bitton 

 married to a Hastings, or the widow of a Has- 



tings married secondly to a De Bitton, and there- 

 fore buried with that family, in the twelfth or thir- 

 teenth century. If any antiquarian digger should 

 discover any mention of the lady, a communication 

 to that effect will be thankfully received by 



H. T. Ellacombe. 

 Bitton. 



Booztf Grass. — What is the derivation of 

 " boozy grass," which an outgoing tenant claims 

 for his cattle ? Johnson has, "Boose, a stall for a 

 cow or ox (Saxon}." A. C. 



Gradelif. — What is the meaning, origin, and 

 usage of this word ? I remember once hearing it 

 used in Yorkshire by a num, who, speaking of a 

 neighbour recently dead, said in a tone which im- 

 plied esteem : " Aye, he was a very gradely fellow." 



A. W. H. 



Hats worn by Females. — Were not the hats 

 worn by the females, as represented on the Myd- 

 delton Brass, peculiar to Wales ? An engraving 

 is given in Pennant's Tour, 2 vols., where also may 

 be seen the hat worn by Sir John Wynne, about 

 1500, apparently similar to that on the Bacon 

 Monument, and to that worn by Bankes. A MS. 

 copy of a similar one (made in 1635, and then 

 called "veiy auntient") may be seen in the Ilar- 

 leian MS. No. 1971. (Rosin iale Pedigree), though 

 aj>parentiy not older than Elizabeth's time. With 

 a coat of arms it was " wrought iti backside woi-k" — 

 the meaning of which is doubtful. AVhat is that of 

 the motto, " Oderpi du pariver ?" A. C. 



Feltham's Worlts, Quei-ies respecting. — 



" He that is courtly or gentle, is among them like 

 a merlin after INIichaelmas in tlie field with crows." — 

 A Brief Cluiracler of l/te Low Countries, by Owen Fel- 

 tha n. Folio, London, i661. 



What is the meaning of this proverb ? 



Asa confirmation of the opini(ui of some of your 

 correspondents, that monosyllables give foi-ce and 

 nature to language, the same author says, page 59., 

 of the Dutch tongue, — 



" Stevin of Bruges reckons up 2170 nionosillables, 

 which being compounded, how riclily do tliey grace a 

 tongue." 



Will any of your correspondents kindly inform 

 me of the titles of Owen Feltham's works. I have 

 his Pesolves, and a thin folio volume, 1661, printed 

 for Anne Seile, 102 pages, containing Lnsoria, or 

 Uccnsiomd Pieces ; A Brief Character of the Low 

 Countries; and some Letters. Are these all he 

 wrote? The poem mentioned by Mr. Kersley, be- 

 ginning — 



" When, dearest, I but think of thee," 



is printed among those in the volume I have, with 

 the same remark, that it had been printed as Sir 

 John Suckling's. E. N. W. 



