2'"» S. VI. 1-17., Oct. 23. '58.] 



NOTES AND QUEEIES. 



TiO; 



bert Heathcote (Pope's Heathcote), Lord Mayor 

 of London, and one of the foundex-s of the Bank 

 of England ; of whom, cf. 2"'' S. i. 238. 



Cdthbert Bede. 



Napoleon the IV. (.?) — Some biographer at a 

 future day will be glad, in his researches, to pick 

 up events touching the life of the Prince Imperial. 

 To aid his purpose, he will of course consult " N. 

 & Q.," feeling satisfied that whatever he niay find 

 in its columns, always well ventilated and dissected 

 by inquiring and critical correspondents, may be 

 relied on as authentic. Here is one gem of an in- 

 cident, a real curiosity in its way, copied from the 

 Illmtraied London Neics, Aug. 28, 1858, which he 

 will be grateful to accept for his early pages : — 



" His Imperial Highness the Prince Imperial iSTapoleon 

 Louis Eugfene Jean Joseph, matriculated No. 3463, is ap- 

 pointed to be a corporal in the 1st Battalion, 1st Com- 

 pany, in which there is a vacancy by reason of the 

 transfer of Corporal Prugnot to the 3rd Battahon of the 

 4th Com pan}'. 



(Signed) "De BRETTEviLr,E, Colonel. 



« Versaille, Aug. 14. 1858." 



It is well known that the Prince was borne on 

 the muster-rolls of one of the Imperial regiments 

 of the guard as a private soldier, almost as soon as 

 he was born, and that the pay of the rank was 

 charged for him, as if he had merited it for mili- 

 tary service bond fide rendered. No research of 

 the writer, however, has enabled him to discover 

 the paragraph respecting the infant Prince's en- 

 rolment as a soldier in the journals of the period. 



M. S. R. 



" Lying by the wall." — On visiting a part of 

 Suffolk, near Frauilingham, some years ago, and 

 inquiring for an old man, whom I had formerly 

 known, I was informed that he was then " lying 

 by the wall :" implying that he was dead, but not 

 yet buried. 



The phrase was new to me ; and I have never 

 met with anyone who was acquainted with it. 

 Some of your readers may be able to throw light 

 upon the expression.* T. C. 



Age of Tropical Trees. — Portions of trees from 

 tropical climates have been examined, and some 

 brought to England, whose ages seem enormous. 

 This circumstance is reckoned from the concentric 

 rings which appear when a tree is cut across. 

 One of these is deposited every year, and is due 

 to the rise and fall of the sap ; and there is no 

 doubt their number forms a very good criterion 

 of age in this country. But, near the equator, 

 they have, as it were, two^ummers and two winters 

 in every year. The sun is vertical in March, and, 

 of course, the weather is at the hottest. It then 

 passes away to tlie northward, and is at its greatest 

 distance at midsummer. In September the sun 



[* The origin of tliis phrase was inquired after in our 

 1" S. vii. 33:i. ; but received no reply. — \ii> ] 



again returns to the equator, and is again vertical, 

 and the weather again at its hottest. In Decem- 

 ber the sun is again at its greatest distance south- 

 ward. So that there are two hottest and two 

 coldest seasons in each year. Now, if this be the 

 case, we should suppose a ring to be produced 

 twice a year instead of once ; and, consequently, 

 we should estimate the age of the tree by only 

 half the number of the rings, which, after all, is 

 not so wonderful. Perhaps some of the readers of 

 " N. & Q." have resided in these climates, and 

 can tell us how the fact is. A. A. 



Health of the City. — Mr. Gale of Basinghall 

 Street, himself a flourishing octogenarian instance 

 of the salubrity of London, informs me that in the 

 next house to his in Basinghall Street, there has 

 recently died a woman ninety-two years of age, 

 who was born in the room in which she died, and 

 never slept out of it for a night in her long life- 

 time. S. R. P. 



Photography applied to Palceography. — ^Has ever 

 a consecutive series of ancient deeds, records, or 

 MSS. been photographed ? I have seen isolated 

 charters, &c., but I want to see a consecutive 

 series. I consider that any introduction to the 

 study of palteography will be imperfect, if in ad- 

 dition to engravings it does not contain some 

 photographed examples on which the student 

 may exercise his deciphering powers. I beg 

 leave, through " N. & Q.," to submit this to the 

 consideration of photographers and palaeographers. 



E. G. R. 



caucrte^. 



AUTHOESHIP OF " CTGNUS EXSFIRANS. 



In a volume of Sacred Latin Poetry (London, 

 1849, p. 260.) I have quoted a poem with the 

 title "Cygnus Exspirans," of which this is the first 

 stanza : — 



" Parendum est, cedendum est, 



Claudenda vitae scena, 



Est jacta sors, me vocat mors, 



Hseo bora est postrema ; 



Valete res, valete spes. 



Sic finit cantilena." 



I there regret my ignorance of the quarter 

 from whence this very remarkable poem is drawn, 

 having never met with it except in a poor and 

 somewhat carelessly edited volume of mediaeval 

 Latin poetry, Konigsfeld's Hi/mnen und Gesdnge, 

 Bonn, 1847, where an intimation is given of the 

 source from which it is derived. As I am about 

 to re-edit the volume of Sacred Latin Poetry, I 

 am anxious to verify the text, which in one place 

 at least appears to me corrupt ; also to give some 

 account of the author. Can any of your corre- 

 spondents assist me here .'' Rich. C. Trench. 



Westminster, Oct. 18. 



