2"4 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2°« S. VI. 144., Oct. 2. '58. 



pyramid. On the rim of tlie medal above are some 

 signs of the zodiac, and below the word fuimds. 

 I have also a large state sword ; the boss of the 

 handle has on each side tlje Serpent of Eternity. 

 On the handle, two figures of Time like the crest. 

 The guard is composed of two serpents or wingless 

 dragons. The sheath Is of velvet, richly decorated 

 with embossed gilt bands, whereon appears the 

 hour-glass. On one side is the arms of the society, 

 on the other the following inscription : " William 

 Smith, First Vice-Grand of Cheap Side Chapter, 

 1736." 



I have endeavoured in vain to acquire more in- 

 formation respecting the Gregorians, and shall be 

 obliged to any one who can and will assist me. 



Edw. Hawkins. 



After so distinct an authority I am at a loss 

 to account for the statements attributed to Mr. 

 Courthope, and Glover, Somerset Herald. 



Meletes, 



MOWBRAY FAMILY. 



(2°'^ S. vi. 89.) 



I beg to offer the following answers to the in- 

 quiries of T. N'oKTH. The first question may be 

 stated thus : — 



1. Was Geoffrey de Wirce (whose estates fell 

 into the hands of Nigel de Albini) the same per- 

 son as Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutances ? 



Apparently not. The estates of Geoffrey, Bishop 

 of Coutances devolved upon his nephew, Robert de 

 IMowbray, and thus formed part of the estates for- 

 feited by bira, and afterwards granted to Nigel de 

 Albini. The lands of Geoffrey de Wirce are 

 spoken of by Dugdale as something that came into 

 his hands "besides all this;" and on referring to 

 Domesday Book, it will be seen that Goisfridus 

 Episcopus Constantieucis, and Goisfridus de Wirce 

 figure there as two separate and distinct person- 

 ages. 



2. If Geoffrey de Wirce was not the Bishop of 

 Coutances, who was he? 



The only clue I can give respecting the family 

 of Wirce is that in Stapleton's Rotnli Scaccurii 

 Normannia, vol. ii. p. xxxii. k., I find that some- 

 where between the years 1067 and 1080, one.John 

 de la Wirce granted the church of St. Corneille to 

 the Abbey of St. Vincent le Mans. 



3. On the death of William de Mowbray in 

 1222, did his son Nigel survive him ? 



Nicohis, in his very accurate synopsis, after 

 William gives " Nigel de Mowbrav, s. and h. ob. 

 1228, s. p." 



If there was any doubt as to Nigel's having sur- 

 vived his father, the point would, I conceive, be 

 settled by the first authority referred to by Dug- 

 dale, 7?o<. Fin. 8 Hen. III. a.d. 1224, Memor. 8. 



" Ebor. Rex Vicecomiti Eboraci salutem. Scias quod 

 Nigellus de Mobray finem fecit nobiscum per quingentas 

 libras pro relevio suo, et pro habenda seisina omnium ter- 

 rarum et tenementorum unde Will', de Moubray pater 

 suus (cujus heres ipse est) saisitus fuit die quo obiit, et 

 quae ipsum Nigellum heriditario coutinguat."&c. — Ro- 

 tnli Finium, vol. i. p. 113. 



PHOTOGRAPHIC NOTES. 



Stereoscopes. — No branch of Photography has, we 

 think, made so much progress as that connected with 

 Stereoscopic Pictures. No branch certainh' has contri- 

 buted so largely to educational purposes: and we believe 

 that the art is destined to further advances and increased 

 usefulness. There is now scarcely a spot of historical 

 interest — a monument which the antiquary delights to 

 contemplate, which may not now be found so success- 

 fuUj- copied for the Stereoscope, that, after looking at 

 it attentively for a few seconds, one feels a doubt whether 

 the object itself is not that which meets the eye, instead 

 of its picture in little. 



Thanks to Mr. Piazzi Smythe we are spared the 

 trouble of mounting the Peak of Teneriffe ; it is now be- 

 fore us in all its majesty — its natural features, geological 

 and botanical, are now familiar as household words to 

 hundreds who never quitted the .shores of England. 



Thanks to the skill of Mr. Frith and the energy of 

 Messrs. Negretti & Zamba, the most home-keeping of us 

 all may study the wonders of the Pyramids, the Nile, 

 Karnak, Thebes, and all the wonders and glories of Egypt, 

 in one hundred beautiful stereoscopic views ; and what is 

 of yet higher interest, we owe to the same parties a 

 second hundred views in the H0I3' Land, extending from 

 Jerusalem to Mount Lebanon, Damascus, and Baalbec, 

 combining every object of historical and biblical interest 

 in tho.se localities. 



If we would study objects nearer home, the London 

 Stereoscope Company has secured for us views of our 

 lakes, our mountains, our venerable abbeys, and our an- 

 cient ca.stles. Have we visited Ireland, Scotland, and 

 Wales, and would we keep in our iremories vivid im- 

 pressions of their beautiful scenery, the London Stereo- 

 scope Company have them ready to our hands. 



In short, the whole world and "all that it inhabit" arc 

 stereographed for educational purposes, and a most plea- 

 sant course of education it is. 



To Mr. Lovell Reeve, to whom we owe the publication 

 of Professor Smythe's Teneriffe, and the first introduction 

 of Stereographs into books, — which, with the book- 

 stereoscope, is a great step in the right direction — we 

 are now indebted for a Monthly Journal, The Stereo- 

 scopic Magazine — a periodical of peculiar interest, and 

 which we should think mu.st command a great sale 

 among the admirers of the Art to which it is especially 

 dedicated. 



Speaking of Photographic Illustrations naturally brings 

 us to Mr. Fox Talbot's new process, by means of which, 

 as we learn from the Photographic News, common paper 

 photographs can be transferred to plates of steel, copper, 

 or zinc, and impressions printed off afterwards with the 

 usual printer's ink .... The plates engraved bj' this 

 mode are said to be beautiful in themselves as photo- 

 graphs, and to bear strong microscopic inspection, the 

 most minute detail being given with astonishing fidelity. 

 .... The specimens which Mr. Talbot has already' pro- 

 duced are free from many of the imperfections which were 

 so evident in former attempts, and the manner in which 

 the half-tones are given is really wonderful ; the speci- 

 mens are of various .subjects, showing the perfection 

 which can be obtained in anj- branch of pictures. Even 

 in these copies the detail is so fine that when a powerful 

 microscopic power is brought to bear on them, we are en- 



