464 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[2'»'» S. VI. 153., Dec. 4. '58. 



III.) have been to the value of £ s. d. Tournois, 

 as nearly as possible in the ratio of 4 to 1. 



From the reign of St. Louis, Say jumps at once 

 to the epoch of the French Revolution. During 

 this interval of more than five centuries, the 

 French coin went through a continual course of 

 what political economists call dehasement ; the old 

 French writers called it augmentation. "Where can 

 I find an account of the successive steps ? 



At the time of the French Revolution, Say tells 

 us that the livre was no more than the sixth part 

 of an ounce, or the seventy-second part of a 

 pound. From this statement it is to be collected 

 that the pound of silver at that time was — what 

 he expressly states it to have been in the time of 

 Charlemagne — a pound of 12 ounces. 



From some authorities that I have consulted, it 

 would appear that in France silver, like other 

 commodities, was weighed by the Poids de Ma?-c. 



In the Poids de Marc, the pound is stated to 

 contain 9216 French grains (equal to 7555 Eng- 

 lish grains) ; and it is described as being divided 

 into two marcs of eight pounds each, so as to make 

 the pound a pound of 16 ounces. 



It strikes me as not improbable that the pound 

 of silver may have been a mark and a half. Is 

 this surmise correct ? Meletes. 



DB. JOHN TATLOB OF BOMBAY. 



(2-^ S. vi. 309.) 



Dr. John Taylor was born in Edinburgh, edu- 

 cated at that University, became a member of the 

 Royal Physical Society, and took his degree of 

 M.D. in 1804 ; his thesis being " De Dysenteria." 

 Soon afterwards he went to Bombay, and con- 

 tinued there till nearly the time of his death, which 

 took place towards the end of 1821 at Shiraz in 

 Persia, whither he had gone shortly before for the 

 benefit of his health. He was never resident at 

 Bussorah, nor indeed, so far as the writer of this 

 is informed, was he ever employed out of the me- 

 dical service at Bombay, except, perhaps, as trans- 

 lator or interpreter to the Recorder's Court there. 

 He married before going to India, and his wife, 

 who had not accompanied him, died soon after, 

 his departure, leaving him a son (also named John), 

 ■who became a member of the Royal College of 

 Physicians in Edinburgh, and was elected their 

 treasurer. The latter was in good practice in that 

 city, where he died in July, 1S56, much esteemed 

 by his professional brethren, and very generally 

 regretted. 



The only works published by Dr. Taylor (sen.), 

 so far as recollected, were translations of the Sans- 

 crit allegorical drama styled by him in English, as 

 is believed. The Rise of the Moon of Intellect, with 

 a learned and curious preliminary dissertation on 

 the various schools of Hindu metaphysical philo- 



sophy ; of a smaller work printed along with it, 

 styled, it is believed, A Knowledge of Spirit, 

 and of the Sanscrit treatise on arithmetic called 

 Lilawati, all published in India, it is thought be- 

 tween 1812 and 1815. It is supposed he pro- 

 jected other works, such as translations of Sanscrit 

 Treatises on Algebra and Astronomy, and an ori- 

 ginal Alphabetical Dictionary or Pantheon of 

 Hindu Mythology ; but none of these were ever 

 published, and it is not known if they were ever 

 completed or even begun. He may, too, possibly 

 have contributed towards the Transactions of the 

 Bombay Literary Society; but reference as to that 

 might be made, to determine the point, to the 

 Library of the Royal Asiatic Society in London. 



G. 

 Edinburgb. 



ENGLISH JIODE OF PRONOUNCING GREEK. 



(2"^ S. vi. 167.249.) 



Sin J. E. Texnest has very ably shown how we 

 derived our pronunciation of Greek, and quoted a 

 passage from Bishop Gardiner's deci;pe, stating 

 where it may be found in full.* The decree itself 

 is so authoritative, that you may deem it worth 

 preserving in " N. & Q." 



" Edicta Stephani Vintonicnsis Episcopi, Caiicellarii Cantab, 

 de pronuntiatione liuguce Gracas et Latino:. 



" Stepbanus Wintoniensis Episcopus, Academiaj Canta- 

 brigiensis Cancellarius, cum men, turn Senatus universi 

 legitima auctoritatc, rogatioiie aJ me delata, quid in lite- 

 r.irum sonis ac lingua; turn Graica; turn LatiiiM pronun- 

 tiatione spectandum, sequendum, tenendum sit, ita edico. 



" Quisquis nostrum potestatem agnoscis, sonos, literis 

 sive Grajcis sive Latinis, ab usu publico prresentis seciili 

 alienos, pdvato judicio affingere ne audeto. 



"Quod vero ea in re major auctoritas edixerit, jusserit, 

 projceperit, id omnes amplectuntor et observanto. 



" Dipbtbongas GrMcas, nedum Latinas, nisi id dijeresis 

 exigat, sonis ue diducite, neve divellito. Quresitam iisu 

 alteri voealium proerogitivam ne adiraito. Sed ut marem 

 foemina." dominari sinito. Qute vero carum in commu- 

 uione soni usu eonvenerunt, iis tu negotium ne facessito. 



"At ab e, 01 et " ab i sono ne,distinguito. Tantum in 

 orthograpbia discrimen servato, v, ', " uno eodenique sono 

 exprimito; cujusque tamen propriam in ortbographia 

 sedem diligenter uotato. 



" In K et -y quoties cum dipbthongis aut vocalibus 

 sonos i aut e refereutibus consonautur, quoniam a doctis 

 etiamnum in usu variautur, aliis densiorem, aliis tenui- 

 orem sonum afKugenlibus, utriusque pronuutiationis mo- 

 dum discito: ne aut borum aut illorura aures oft'endas; 

 neve de sonis litem inutililer excites ; coeterum, qui in his 

 sonus a pluribus receptus est, ilium t'requentato. 



" B literam ad exemplum nostri b, ne inspissato, sed ad 

 imitationera v consonautis mollius proferto. 



" Literas ^ et t, item y et «, pro loco et situ alios atque 

 alios sonos admittere memento. Itaque t et i^ turn demuui 

 P quum proxime locaiitur, hajc post m, ilia post •', bis locis 

 videlicet litera t referat nostrum d, ^ vero h nostram 

 exprimat. 



[* Tbis decree is also printed in Strype's Eccks. ilfe- 

 morials, vol. i. pt. ii. p. 479., ed. 1822. — Ed.] 



