150 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 96. 



tribunals. At first the Emperor of Russia and 

 the Kin^ of Prussia, who knew that the Dau])hln 

 was alive, opposed the Duke of Wellington's 

 proposal to reinstate Louis XVIII. The Empress 

 Jose])hine is also said to have been aware, that 

 the Uauphiue did not die in the Temple, and is 

 reported to have said, "Ah! legitimacy is nearer 

 than you suppose." It is an unsettled historical 

 question worthy the attention of the historian 

 who has time to bestow on it. ^grotus. 



Anachronisms and Errors of Painters. — Perhaps 

 the commonest of all anachronisms of painters is 

 that of representing St. John Baptist in a Holy 

 Family, himself a child, adoring the infant Saviour, 

 and carrying a slight cross or flag, with the motto 

 " Ecce Agnus Dei." That John knew our Lord as 

 an eminently holy man is clear from his expostu- 

 lation, " I have need to be baptized of Thee," &c. ; 

 but he himself most distinctly assures us that it 

 was not till he saw the Spirit descending on Jesus 

 like a dove that he knew him as the promised 

 Messiah and Lamb of God. 



I have seen an engraving from an old Master 

 (perhaps some of your correspondents may remem- 

 ber the painting itself) in which the mother of 

 Zebedee's children comes forward to beg the boon 

 on their behalf, James and John being represented 

 as boys of seven or eight, one on each side of her. 

 These errors of painters are perhaps excusable 

 when they occurred at a time when the Bible was 

 not in everybody's hands : but what excuse can we 

 make for artists' blunders now ? The Illustrated 

 News has lately given us prints from ])aintings by 

 living artists, in one of which, "Noah's Sacrifice," 

 a couple of fat ducks figure as clean fowl at the 

 foot of the altar; and in the other, the Five Wise 

 and Five Foolish Virgins have increased into two 

 sevens; neither error being apparenlly noticed by 

 the editor. It is said that no sea piece, however 

 fine, is admitted to our exhibitions if the rigging 

 is incorrect. Would it not be quite as advisable 

 to exclude Scripture pieces with palpable blunders? 



P.P. 



27(6 Ring Firiger.— The English Book of Com- 

 mon Prayer orders that the ring should be put 

 " npon the fou>-th finger of the woman's left hand;" 

 and the spousal manuals of York and Salisbury 

 assign this practical reason for the selection of the 

 said finger: 



" Quia in illo digito est qiisdam vena procedens 

 usque ad cor." — Maskell, Ancient Liturgy of the Church 

 of England, 2nd edition, Preface, page civ. note 

 Lond. 1846. 



Aulus Gellius tells us — 



" Veteres Gteecos annulum habulsse in digito acce- 

 pimus sinistra maniis, qui minimo est proxiuius. 

 Romanos quoque homines aiunt, sic plerumque annulis 

 usitatos. Causam esse hujus rei Appianus in libris 

 jEgyptiacis banc dicit: quod insectis apertisque hu- 



manis corporibiis, ut mos in ^gypto fuit, quas Graeci 

 avaTopias appellant, repeitum est, nervum giiendam tenu- 

 issimum ab eo mio dir/ko, de quo diximus, ad cor liominia 

 pert/ere ac pervenire. Propterea non iiiscitum visum esse, 

 eum potissimum digituin tali honore decorandum, qui 

 continens et quasi connexus esse cum principatu cordis 

 videretur." — Nodes Atlicte, lib. x. cap. 10. 



Other reasons are assigned by ^lacrobius ; and the 

 author of the Vulgar Ei-rors {hoo^i iv. ch.4.)has en- 

 tirely overthrown the anatomical fiction mentioned 

 above. Can any one give me any further informa- 

 tion than that contained in L'Estrange or Wheat- 

 ly, or in the authors to which they refer? The 

 fourth finger of the left hand is certainly "the 

 least active finger of the hand least used, upon 

 which, therefore, the ring may be always in view, 

 and least suliject to be worn out:" but this is a 

 very unromantic and utilitarian idea. Rx. 



Waimington, Aug. 9. 1851. 



The Od Force. — As considerable interest apper- 

 tains to the earlier manifestations of what is now 

 termed Mesmerism, the following Note may not 

 be altogether unworthy of a place. 



The ex])eriment, upon which a subjective proof 

 of the agency of the power of Od is founded, as 

 described by Dr. Herbert I\Iayo in the supple- 

 mentary chapter to the last edition of Letters on 

 the Truths contained in Popidar Superstitions, and 

 alluded to by R. D. H. (Vol. iii., p. 5 17.), is another 

 instance of there being " nothing new under the 

 sun." In the Bigarrures du Seigneur des Accords, 

 first published at Paris in 1582, in the chapter 

 " Des faux Sorciers et de leur Impostures " occurs 

 the following passage, which I copy verbatim et 

 literatim : — 



" Autres ont une ruse, qu'ils semblent d'attacher un 

 anneau d'or ou d'argent a un petit filet, qu'on suspend 

 dans un verre a demy plain d'caue, et puis I'ayant 

 trenipe pair trois fois, disent bellenient ce verset du 

 Psalme, autant de fois, ' Ecce eniin veritatem dilexisti, 

 incerta et occulta sapientife tUEB maniCestasti mibi.' 

 L'anneau bat contre le verre, et sonne autant d'heures 

 qu'il en peut estre." 



W. PiNKEETON. 



Ham. 



New Costume for Ladies. — The following para- 

 graph, extracted from a London paper (No- 

 vember, 1794) would lead to the conclusion that 

 the agitation resarding costume now soing on in 

 America, is not entirely novel ; the Turkish 

 fashion having been introduced unsuccessfully into 

 this metropolis in the last century : — 



" The young ladies of haul ton, who have invented 

 Turkish fasliions, will not be surprised if their husbands 

 should follow their example, and adopt the Turkish 

 taste for variety. — No man of sense can be long attached 

 to such absurdity ! " 



G. R. 



Thanet Place, Temple Bar, Aug. 20. 



