382 
NOTES AND QUERIES. 
[224 S. Ne19., May 10. 56. 
by Awon before I asked you. I agree with 
N. H. L. R. in the goodness of the process which 
he describes. I know, however, that at least five 
of my letters so sealed were opened within a fort- 
night before suspicion was excited, and that was 
not #rom any injury apparent on the view. I 
found out how it was done, but abstain from ex- 
plaining. 
As to the adhesive envelopes, silence is of little 
use. The trial of the postmaster of Rugeley ex- 
cited general attention. Dr. Taylor, in reply to a 
question put by Mr. Huddleston in cross-examin- 
ation, told how an adbesive envelope might be 
opened and resealed, without leaving any trace of 
foul play. An answer given in open court, and 
reported in the newspapers, is no longer a secret. 
Let it suffice that the process is short, simple, and 
requires neither practice nor dexterity. 
Last week I received by post a sample from a 
dealer in envelopes; it was ostentatiously sealed, 
so as to invite experiment. I opened it by the 
Rugeley process, and read an advertisement which 
stated that when once sealed it could not be 
opened by steam, heat, or in any other way. 
Ihave made many experiments in the hope of 
getting a good adhesive composition, but have not 
succeeded. Till some one does, I would advise 
all who are not indifferent to the opening of their 
letters to seal them as directed by N. H. L. R., 
and especially to use good wax, if they can get it. 
I believe the “hard” wax prepared for hot climates 
is the safest, but on this point I do not speak con- 
fidently. Hos.C. 
Acteon surprising Diana (2° §. i, 290.) — The 
picture so minutely described by your correspon- 
dent H. is a reduced copy of the celebrated pic- 
ture on this subject, painted by Titian after he was 
eighty years of age for Philip II., King of Spain. 
It is in the Museum at Madrid, and was engraved 
on stone by A. Blanco, in a collection published 
in 1826 by D. Joseph de Madrazo. There is 
an outline of it in the Musée de Peinture et de 
Sculpture, published in Paris in 1833. 
Joun Tururr. 
Your querist H. has only to find some other pic- 
ture of the peculiar stamp and quality of his own, 
with the never omitted monogram of a wriggling 
serpent, to be at a glance satisfied he has a work 
of that quaintly elaborate artist Lucas Cranach. 
As to Jan Wynants, we need not to be told that 
he has never been found to deviate from the path 
of gentle nature into the sinuosities of mythology. 
Iam ever ready to lend aid to querists in art, 
and will ask in return, of H. or yourself, some 
sort of response to any inquiry affecting the first 
root or early germ of native art in relation to a 
sculptor named Spang, working at the period of 
Roubiliac, say 1750-60 ? CuIsEL. 
Revolvers (2"? §. i. 311.) — You may add to 
the remarks about. revolvers, that pistols on that 
principle (sec. xvii.) are found in the Armoury at 
Dresden, (not in the collection of fire-arms, but 
what is called the Historical Gallery), I. M. K. 
. 
In the Turkish Spy, vol. iv. p. 50., is a notice of 
a pistol seemingly of the same kind as those men- 
tioned by Pepys: 
“As a Mark of the Respect I owe thee, thou wilt re- 
ceive with this Letter a Pistol of curious Workmanship, 
which being once charged, will deliver six Bullets one 
after another.” 
Epwarp Peacock. 
Bottesford. 
Bashett (1* S. xii. 428.) — Mr. Bascuer’s at- 
tention is called to the resemblance between the 
arms which he gives as those of Bashett and the 
arms of the Bache family, which are, “ Or, a lion 
rampant reguardant pean within a bordure be- 
zantée.” (The crest ig a demi-lion reguardant pean, 
holding in the paw a bezant.) The name Bache 
is understood to be a contraction of the old form 
De la Bache, which was an English rendering of 
the Norman name De la Béche. More unlikely 
things have happened in the matter of names than 
the derivation of Bashett from Bache. M. E. 
Approach of Vessels foreseen (2"4 §. i. 315.) — 
I have a note that Captain Scoresby recognised 
his father’s ship, the Fame, while in the Greenland 
seas in 1822, by its inverted image in the air, 
although the ship was below the horizon. Indeed 
he found, if I mistake not, that it was twenty 
miles below, and full thirty distant from him. 
Several cases of this sort are given in the Cabi- 
net Cyclopedia, vol. xviii., where Harney may 
possibly find the particular instance he cites. 
Cuartes REep. 
Paternoster Row. 
Durer’s “Melancholy” (2™ S. i. 12.) —In 
Heller’s work on Albert Durer there is a long 
and very German account of this engraving, of 
which the following is an abstract : 
The wings denote the flighty nature of her 
thoughts. The book the philosophic studies that 
have induced the state of mind. Zhe compasses 
indicate the study of mathematics, and the bound- 
less (!) extent of her researches. The garland of 
spleenwort round her head shows she may still 
hope to penetrate the deepest mysteries. The 
bunch of keys and bag (which “ probably contains 
also her valuables”) betrays her suspicious cha- 
racter. Above her left wing is the magic square 
described by Cornelius Agrippa, Paracelsus, &c. 
The sum of the figures is thirty-four, in whatever 
way they are counted. This stands for arithmetic. 
The bell denotes physic. The hour-glass reminds 
constantly of death. The winged boy writing, 
