ANALYSIS OF CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 
241 
previous to this date, when Henry VIII rooted out the 
monasteries. There is a curious old Percy ballad extant 
which imputes all the evils of dear provisions' to this mea- 
sure. It is written in broad Somersetshire dialect : — 
Chill tell thee what, good vellowe. 
Before the vriers went hence, 
A bushel of the best wheate 
Was zold vor vorteen pence ; 
And vorty egges a penny, 
That were both good and newe.” 
Nor can it be wondered at that they were so cheap, seeing that 
in the previous century a hen was only 3\d, and a goose 3d. 
Perhaps the most extravagant price in the marketing* bill 
are those of cauliflowers (colleyfloreys) and artichokes, but 
they had only just been introduced and were considered as 
great rarities, which, in a general way, were only found on 
royal or noble tables. Potatoes were equally considered 
as delicacies, not to be obtained by the vulgar herd. The 
same thing may be said of the sugar, which at Is. per lb. 
would not be in general use. As early as the fourteenth cen- 
tury it is mentioned, but only as a luxury, w 7 hich it continued 
to be down to the reign of King James. 
The fishmonger's bill in those early times was even smaller 
than the butcher's or the vintner's. A list of prices put 
forth in 1274 tells us that a plaice cost 1 \d., twelve soles 3d., 
mullet 2d., conger eel Is., turbot 6d., dorae 5d., mackarel \d., 
(though in Lent they rose to 1 d.) twenty pickled herrings 1 d., 
twenty-five eels 2d., 100 smelts Id. Surely with such prices 
as these, Friday ought to have come every day in the week, 
and a fish dinner could be supplied at a considerably lower 
rate than one gets it even at Simpson's. 
Analysis of Continental Journals. 
By W. Ernes, M.B.C.V.S., London. 
Annales de Medecine Veterinaire, Sept., Oct., Nov., and 
December. 
EXPLORATION OP THE METACARPAL ARTERIES TO ASSIST 
THE DIAGNOSIS OP POOT LAMENESS IN THE HORSE. 
By P. Defais, Clinical Professor at the Veterinary School, Brussels. 
The author says that every objective symptom is an 
important acquisition to veterinary medicine, and the more so 
