Dr. Clai 'ke and the Karaite Jews, 
1812 .] 
53^ 
from a matfs arm, I advised a common 
blistering plaister; but, on its being healed, 
the tattowing was as visible as before. 
Lunar caustic was then repeatedly used, 
whicti removed it in a considerable de¬ 
gree, but not efiectually ; and, as it ap* * 
peared necessary to employ more power¬ 
ful means, I touched the part with lapis 
infernalisy until sloughs were produced to 
the depth of the tattowing punctures: 
this last application completely answered 
the purpose. It appears of little conse¬ 
quence whether the staining be done 
with Indian-ink or. gunpowder, which 
latter sailors sometimes use. I believe 
it will always be found impracticable to 
remove such marks except by destroying 
the part to the whole depth the tattowing 
instrument has pierced. 
N. D. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
SIR, 
D lt. CLARKE, in his volume of 
Travels, &c.^ has given a very in¬ 
teresting account of the hospitable re¬ 
ception which he experienced from a 
Karaite Jew in the Crimea. But he says 
that the etymology of this name is uncer- 
tain, and that those wlio bear it “ deem 
it an act of piety to copy the Bible, or 
copious commentaries upon its text, once 
in their lives.” 
As some of your readers may possibly 
he in the same state of doubt with this 
intelligent traveller concerning the origin 
of the vvord Karaite, and as I suspect 
that he is inaccurate in one part of his 
representation of the Jews so denomi¬ 
nated, you will give tnedeave to refer’ to 
writers who have explained, at some 
length, the meaning of the term. 
Jennings, m his Jewish Antiquities, 
(1808. vol. i. 433—43G) speaks ot the 
Karaites as being anciently a consider¬ 
able sect, which still exists in Poland and 
Russia, but chiefly in Turkey and Egypt; 
and, he adds, that they have their name 
from a Chaldee word of nearly the same 
sound, because tliey adhered to the 
Scriptures as the whole arid only rule of 
their faith and practice. 
Dr, Kenkicott, in his Eissertatio Ge- 
neralis, (841) presents us, in effect, with 
tire same description of the Karaites. 
A fiu’ more elaborate account of them 
may be seen in the Lexicon Talmudicum, 
&c. of Buxtorf, 2111-—2116. 
JJgli/foot (VVorks, vol. ii. 339, Engl.) 
1 ■ - ■ - . ^ 1 --- i - - 
* 476-483. 
Mokthly Mag., No, 221® 
says, that they rejected traditions; and, 
more recently, l)avid Levi, who main¬ 
tains that they received the Hebre^.v 
vowel points, observes that they were 
“ professed enemies to tradition and in¬ 
novation.”* 
After consulting these authors, I am 
rather disinclined to believe, with Dr,. 
Clarke, that the Karaites make a point 
of copying either the Bible, or copious 
commentaries upon it, once in their lives. 
In justice, nevertheles!^, to this writer, 
I shall observe that Frideo-ux^sf testi-. 
mony to the strictness of the Karaite 
Jews is less decisive, and that he con¬ 
firms Clarke’s relation of their numbers^ 
their learning,iind their probity. 
N, 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine^ 
SIR, 
EING gratified, to a considerable 
degree, by the account which Mrs. 
Ibbetson ihas given us of the hair of 
plants, may I take the liberty, with your 
permission, of requesting this lady, w-hen 
not actively engaged in her delightful 
studies and scientific pursuits, to inform 
us what is the name of the microscope 
which she employs; or which is the best? 
If I may mention it, there is another re¬ 
quest which I would beg leave to prefer, 
as the answ’er may be useful to others, as 
well as to me, “what is the price?” 
Nov, 14, 1811. PillLOSOPIIOLOS. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine, 
SIR, 
N a work, published by an Unitarian 
Society, entitled “ The New Testa¬ 
ment, in an improved version,” I observe 
the following passage, in a note on John, 
ch. i. V. 3.—“ ‘ All things w'ere made by 
liim, and without him was not any thing 
made that was made.’ Newcome ; who 
explains it of the creation of the visible 
material world by Christ, as the agent 
and instrument of God. But this is a 
sense which the word s’/iv^ro will not 
admit.’* 
For a proof of the inaccuracy of this 
assertion, I beg leave to refer your read¬ 
ers to the passage in Xenophon’s Me¬ 
morabilia, book 1. chap, i,, beginning, 
“ ov^i TTEel TMV TTdVrSiv (pvcrsa/f, flTTS^ 
'tSv dt S’(caK£to.”&c. in which 
they w'ill find tite verb, yivopai, repeatedly 
8 ) 
* Lingua Sacra, vol. i. 21, 28—34. 
f Connexion, vol. ii. 338==«*340 (edit« 
s z 
