May 24. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



405 



" By oblacion of ufhes, halt lame and blynde 

 Hath ben restored vnto prosperite ; 

 Doinbe men to speke aboue cours of kynde 

 Sickemeu delyuered from payne and miserie, 

 Maydens hath ke|)t theyr pure virginite, 

 AVyddowes defended from greuous oppression. 

 And clarkes exalted by her to promocion." 



It is also remarkable that a reason exists in. the 

 story of this saint for the choice of so strange an 

 ofTcring. As she was escaping from her husband, 

 a crop nf oats sprang up miraculously, to testify 

 in her behalf, and to silence the messengers who 

 had been sent to turn her fn)m her purpose. 



On this account is there not room for the con- 

 jecture that St. Rhadegund is the original St. 

 Uncuniber, and that the custom of offering oats 

 at. Poules, when a wife was weary of her husband, 

 k traceable to the story of tLe French queen, 

 wlio died in 587. C. H. 



St. Catharine's Hall, Cambridge. 



" Similia similibus curantur." — The list pro- 

 posed by Mr. James Buckmas (Vol. iii., p. 320.) 

 of " ohl wives' remedies," based on the above 

 principle, would. I imagine, be of endless length; 

 but the following extract from the Herbal of Sir 

 John Hill, M.D., " Fellow of the Royal Acailemy 

 of Sciences at Bordeaux," published in 1789, will 

 show at how late a period such notions have been 

 entertained by men of education and even scientific 

 attainment: — 



" It is to be observed that nature seems to haye set 

 her stamp upon several herbs, which have the virtue to 

 slop blee ings; this [cranesbiil] and the tutsan, the two 

 best remedies the fields afford for outward and inward 

 bleedings, become all over as red as blood at a certain 

 season. " 



Seleuciis. 



Cure ofLirge Neck. — I send you two remedies 

 in use here for the cure of a common complaint, 

 called " large neck." Perhaps they may be worthy 

 of a place in your "Folk Lore." 



A common snake, held by its head and tail, is 

 slowly drawn, by some one standing by, nine times 

 across tlie front part of the neck of the peison 

 affe<;ted, the reptile being allowed, after every 

 tliird time, to crawl about for a while. Afterwards 

 the snake is put alive into a bottle, which is I'orked 

 tightly and then buried in the ground. The tra- 

 dition is, that as the snake decays the swelling 

 v:ini.-«lie!». 



The second mode of treatment is just the same 

 as tlie aljove, with the exception of the siiake's 

 doom. In this case it is killed, and its skin, sewn 

 in a piece of silk, is worn round the diseased neck. 

 By degrees the swelling in this case also disappears. 



IIOVERT. 



Withyam, Sussex. 



DIBDIN S LIBRART COifPANION. 



A few days since the writer was musing over 

 the treasures of one of the most amiable of 

 the bibliographical brotherhood, when his eye 

 rested on a document endorsed with the follow- 

 ing mysterious notification : " A Stjuib for Dib- 

 din, to be let off on the next Fifth of November." 

 What in the name of Guido Fuwkes have we 

 here ! Thinking that the explosion in " Notes 

 AND Qderies " would do no harm, but perhaps 

 some good, a note was kindly permitted to be 

 taken of it for that publi(;ation. It was evi- 

 dently written soon after the appearance of the 

 Library Companion. 



" Sundry Errors discovered in the Library Companiov, 

 recently put forth by the Rev.T. F. Dibdin, F.R.S., A.S. 

 This work exhibits the most extraordinary instance of 

 gross negligence that has appeared since the discovery 

 of the profitable art of book-making. In t«o notes 

 (pp. 37, 38.), comprised in twelve lines, occur fifteea, 

 remarkable blunders, such as any intelligent bookseller 

 could, without much trouble, have corrected for the 

 Rev. and learned author. 



" Henry's Exposition nfthe Old and New Testaments 

 first appeared collectively in 1710'", five^vols. folio; 

 but the recent edition of 1810^ in six vols. 4to., is the 

 best', as the last volume contains* additional matter 

 from the author's MSS. left at his decease. — Dr Gill's 

 Exposition of the Sew Testament was published in 

 1746, &c., three vols, folio; of the Old, in 1748«, &c., 

 nine' vols, folio ; but the work advancing in reputation 

 and price, became rare, so as to induce Mr. Bagster' 

 to put forth a new edition of the whole, in ten' vols. 

 4to. I recommend the annotations of Gill to every 

 theological collector, and those who have the quarto 

 edition will probably feel disposed to purchase Gill's 

 Body of Practical'" Divinity, containing" some account 

 of his life, writings, and character, in two''^ volumes 

 4to. 1773." Those two'* volumes are worth about 

 1/. I5s.<*" 



' Instead of I7iO. read 1707. 



^ This edition is in six volumes. 



3 It bears the date of 1811. 



* The hest edition of Henry's Commentary was elegantly printed 

 by Knapton. in 5 vols, folio, 1761, known as the fifth edition. 



^ This n-^vv edition is respectable, except the plates, which had 

 been well worn in Bnwyer's Cabinet Bible. The Commentary is 

 printed verbatim from the former editions, and has no additional 

 matter from the au'hor's .MSS. left at liis decease ; no mention of 

 anylhing of the kind is made in the tile, preface, or advertise- 

 ment, until Mr. DibJin so marvellously brought it to light : upon 

 what authority he makes the assertion remains a my«tery. A 

 very cmsider-ible number of sets remain unsold in the warehouse 

 of a certain great bookseller. Query. Wa-^ the Rev. gentleman's 

 pen dipped in golil when he wrote this nuif direct ? 



^ Not 174S. Ike. : it first appeared in 1763, Uc, 



' Nine volumes folio should he six volumes folio. 



8 It w;is not Mr. Bagster, but Messrs. Mathews and Leigh of the 

 Strand, who put fortii the new edition of Dr. Gill's Expusition, 



^ It was completed in vine voU. 4to. 



'" The title is A Rodii i\f Doctrinal Divnity. 



" Ur. Gill's Burty of Dit'iniiy was pulilislied by him.^elf, and 

 ha« no account o:' his life, writings, and character. 



'^ It was in tlirec vols. 4to , not in two. 



" Insie.id of 177.3, it was published in 1709-7f) ; nor did any new 

 edition appear fo.- many years, until those recently primed in 

 3 vols Hvo., and 1 vol. 4io. 



'< Thise two vols, should lie three vols. 



" Dr. (Jill's liiiily oj Uiviniiy is introduced under the bead of 

 "Engli-h Bibles <.'" 



*• These glaring errors are made with regard to 



