Sept. 14. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



247 



In allusion to the English the following passage 

 occurs, — 



" But they forget, they are all so idle and debauched, 

 such gobbling and drinking rascals, and expensive in 

 blew-heer," &o. 



Query the unde derivatur of bleiu-beer, and if it 

 is to be taken in the same sense as the modern 

 phrase of " blue ruin," and if so, the cause of the 

 change or history of both expressions ? H. 



Carpatio- — I have lately met with a large aqua- 

 tinted engraving, bearing the following descriptive 

 title : " Angliaj Regis Legati inspieiuntur Sponsam 

 petentes Filiam Dionati Cornubite Regis pro Anglo 

 Principe." The costume of the figures is of the 

 latter half of the fifteenth century. The painter's 

 name appears on a scroll, op. victor caepatio 

 TEXETi. The copy of the picture for engraving 

 was drawn by Giovanni de Fian, and engraved by 

 the same person and Francesco Gallimberti, at 

 Venice. I do not find the name of Carpatio in the 

 ordinary dictionaries of painters, and shall be glad 

 to learn whether he has here represented an his- 

 torical event, or an mcident of some mediaaval 

 romance. I suspect the latter must be the case, 

 as Cormuhia is the Latin word used for Cornwall, 

 and I am not aware of its having any other appli- 

 cation. Is this print the only one of the kind, or 

 is it one of a set ? J. G. N. 



Value of Money in Reign of Charles II. — Will 

 any of your correspondents inform me of the 

 value of 1000?. circa Cluu'les II. in present money, 

 and the mode in which the difference is estimated ? 



Dion X. 



Bishop Berkeley — Advenhires of Gnudentio di 

 XyMcea. -^ I have a volume containing the adven- 

 tures of Signor Gaudentio di Lucca, with his ex- 

 amin:ition before the Iiwpiisition of Bologna. In 

 a bookseller's catalogue 1 liave seen it ascribed to 

 Bishop lierkeley. Can any of your readers inform 

 me who was the author, or give me any particulars 

 as to the book ? Iota. 



Cupid and Psyche. — Can any of your learned cor- 

 respondents inibrai me whether the fable of Cupid 

 and Psyche was invented by Apuleius; or whetlier 

 he made use of a superstition then current, turn- 

 ing it, as it suited his p4ir|>0K0, into the beautiful 

 i'aljle which lia« been handed down to us as his 

 coMiixwition? W. M. 



Ziln-d-iiadcl Gims. — In a paper of September or 

 Octiil>er last, I saw a letter dated Berlin, Sept. 11, 

 which connnciK'cd — 



" We liavc liad tliis morning a splendid military s(ice- 

 tacic, and liuing the first of ihu kind since tlic revolu- 

 tion, attracted immense crowds to tlie scene of action." 



" Tlie I'usileer battaliims (light infantry) were all 

 armed with the new ziind-na<iel gnus, llie advantages and 

 superiority of which over the eoninion percussion musket 



now admits of no contradiction, with the sole exception 

 of the facility of loading being an inducement to fire some- 

 what too quick, when firing independently, as in battle, 

 or wlien acting en tirailleur. The invincible pedantry 

 and amour-propre of our armourers and inspectors of 

 arms in England, their disinclination to adopt inven- 

 tions not of English growth, and their slowness to avail 

 themselves of new models imtil they are no longer new, 

 will, undoubtedly, exercise the usual influence over 

 giving this powerful weapon even a chance in England. 

 It is scarcely necessary to point out the great advan- 

 tages that these weapons, carrying, let us say, 800 yards 

 with perfect accuracy, have o^'er our muskets, of which 

 the range does not exceed 150, and that very uncertain. 

 Another great advantage of the ziind-nadel is, that rifles 

 or light infantry can load with ease without effort when 

 lying flat on the ground. The opponents of the ziind- 

 nadel talk of over-rapid firing and the impossibility of 

 carrying sufficient ammunition to supply the demands. 

 This is certainly a drawback, but it is compensated by 

 the immense advantage of being able to pour in a deadly 

 fire when you yourself are out of range, or of con- 

 tinuing this fire so speedily as to destroy half your op- 

 ponents before they can return a shot with a chance of 

 taking effect." 



This was the first Intimation I ever had of 

 the ziind-nadel guns. I should like to know 

 when and by whom they were invented, and their 

 mechanism. jAEtTZBEKG. 



Bacon Familj/, Origin of the Name. — Among 

 the able notes, or the ?io/-able Queries of a recent 

 Number, (I regret that I have it not at liand, for 

 an exact quotation), a learned correspondent men- 

 tioned, en passant, that the word bacon had the 

 obsolete signification of " dried wood." As a pa- 

 tronymic. Bacon has been not a little illustrious, 

 in literature, science, and art ; and it would be 

 interesting to know whether the name has its 

 origin in the crackling fagot or in the cured flitch. 

 Can any of your genealogical correspondents help 

 me to authority on the subject ? 



A modern motto of the Sojiiersetshire Bacons 

 has an ingenious rebus : 



ProBa-conScientia ; 

 the capitals, thus placed, giving it the double 

 reading, Proba conscientia, and Pro Bacon Sci- 

 entia. Nocab. 



Armorials. — Sable, a fesse or, in chief two fleurs. 

 de lis or, in base a hind courant argent. E, D. B. 

 will feel grateful to any gentleman who will kindly 

 uiform him of the name of the family to which the 

 above coat belonged. They were quartered by 

 Richard or Roger Barow, oi' Wynthorpe, in Lin- 

 colnshire (Ilarl. MS. \6^2. 42 b), who died in 

 150.5. E. D. B. 



Arlf'phins, the Chemical Philosopher. — AVhat is 

 known of liie chemical pliihj.soplier Artcphiusi' 

 lie is mentioned in JoekerV Dictionary, and by 

 Roger Bacon (in the Opus Mujus ajjd cLsevyhere), 



