Part 4

Make a strong aqueous infusion of powdered galls; pour it off from the undissolved residue, and carefully evaporate to dryness by a gentle heat: towards the conclusion of the process the extract is very liable to burn; this is best prevented by continued stirring with a glass or porcelain spatula. Next, procure a flat-bottomed iron pan, about ten inches diameter and five inches deep. Make a hat of cartridge paper pasted together, about seven inches high, to slip over and accurately fit the top of the iron pan. Strew the bottom of the pan with the gall extract to the depth of three-quarters of an inch; over the top stretch and tie a piece of bibulous paper pierced with numerous pin-holes; over this place the hat, and tie it also tightly round the top of the pan.

The whole apparatus is now to be placed in a sand-bath, and heat cautiously applied. It is convenient to place a glass thermometer in the sand-bath as near the iron pan as possible. The heat is to be continued about an hour, and to be kept as near 420° Fah. as possible; on no account is it to exceed 450°. The vapour of the acid condenses in the hat, and the crystals are prevented from falling back into the pan by the bibulous paper diaphragm. When it is supposed that the whole of the acid is sublimed, the strings are to be untied, and the hat and diaphragm cautiously taken off together; the crystals will be found in considerable quantity, and should be removed into a stoppered bottle; they should be very brilliant and perfectly white; if there is any yellow tinge, the heat has been too great.

I believe that close attention to the above details will ensure success to any one who chooses to try the process, but at the same time I must remind your correspondents that scarcely any operation in chemistry is perfectly successful the first time of trial.

J. G. H.

Clapham.

_Stereoscopic Pictures with One Camera_ (Vol. vi., p. 587.).--In reply to the inquiry of RAMUS, allow me to say the matter is not difficult. My plan is as follows:--Suppose a piece of still-life to be the subject. Set up the camera at such a distance as will give a picture of the size intended, suppose it sixteen feet from the principal and central object; by means of a measuring tape or a piece of string, measure the exact distance from the principal object to the front of the camera. Take and complete the first picture; if it prove successful, remove the camera about two feet either to the right or left of its first station (_i.e._ according to the judgment formed as to which will afford the most artistic view of the subject), taking care by help of the tape or string to preserve the same distance between the principal object and the camera, and that the adjustment of focus is not disturbed. In other words, the camera must be moved to another part of the arc of a circle, of which the principal object is the centre, and the measured distance the radius. If the arc through which the camera is moved to its second station be too large, the stereoscopic picture will be unnaturally and unpleasingly distorted. The second picture is now to be taken.

If the subject be a sitter, it is of the utmost importance to proceed as quickly as possible, as the identical position must be retained movelessly till both pictures are completed. This (in my experience) is scarcely practicable with collodion pictures, unless by the aid of an assistant and two levelled developing-stands in the dark closet; for the time occupied by starting the first picture on its development, and preparing the second glass plate (scarcely less than three or four minutes), will be a heavy tax on the quiescent powers of the sitter. This difficulty is avoided by adopting the Daguerreotype process, as the plates can be prepared beforehand, and need not be developed before both pictures are taken. In this case the only delay between the pictures is in the shifting the position of the camera. This is readily done by providing a table of suitable height (instead of the ordinary tripod), on which an arc of a circle is painted, having for its centre the place of the sitter. If the sitter be at the distance of eleven or twelve feet (my usual distance with a 3¼ inch Voightlander), the camera need not be moved more than ten or twelve inches; and even this distance produces some visible distortion to an accurate observer.

The second levelling stand is required when using the collodion process, because the second {71} picture will be ready for development before the developing and fixing of the first has set its stand at liberty.

COKELY.

_Mr. Crookes' Wax-paper Process_ (Vol. vi., p. 613.).--R. E. wishes to know the exact meaning of the sentence, "With the addition of as _much free iodine_ as will give it a sherry colour." After adding the iodide of potassium to the water, a small quantity of iodine (this can be proctored at any operative chemist's) is to be dissolved in the mixture until it be of the proper colour.

The paper is decidedly more sensitive if exposed wet, but it should not be washed; and I think it is advisable to have a double quantity of nitrate of silver in the exciting bath. I have not yet tried any other salt than iodide of potassium for the first bath; but I hope before the summer to lay before your readers a simpler, and I think superior wax-paper process, upon which I am at present experimenting.

WILLIAM CROOKES.

Hammersmith.

P.S.--I see that in the tables R. E. has given, he has nearly doubled the strength of my iodine bath. It should be twenty-four grains to the ounce, instead of forty-four; and he has entirely left out the iodine.

_India Rubber a Substitute for Yellow Glass._--I think that I have made a discovery which may be useful to photographers. It is known that some kinds of yellow glass effectually obstruct the passage of the chemical rays, and that other kinds do not, according to the manner in which the glass is prepared.

I have never heard or read of India rubber being used for this purpose; but I believe it will be found perfectly efficient, and will therefore state how I arrived at this conclusion.

Having occasion to remove a slate from the side of my roof, to make an opening for my camera, I thought of a sheet of India rubber to supply the place of the slate, and thus obtain a flexible waterproof covering to exclude the wet, and to open and shut at pleasure. This succeeded admirably, but I found that I had also obtained a deep rich yellow window, which perfectly lighted a large closet, previously quite dark, and in which for the last ten days I have excited and developed the most sensitive iodized collodion on glass. I therefore simply announce the fact, as it may be of some importance, if verified by others and by further experiment. I have not yet tested it with a lens and the solution of sulphite of quinine, as I wished the sun to shine on the sheet of India rubber at the time, which would decide the question. However, sheet India rubber can be obtained of any size and thickness required: mine is about one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and one foot square; and the advantages over glass would be great in some cases, especially for a dark tent in the open air, as any amount of light might be obtained by stitching a sheet of India rubber into the side, which would fold up without injury. It is possible that gutta percha windows would answer the same purpose.

H. Y. W. N.

Brompton.

_Dr. Diamond's Paper Processes._--We have been requested to call attention to, and to correct several errors of the press overlooked by us in DR. DIAMOND'S article, in the hurry of preparing our enlarged Number (No. 166.). The most important is in the account of the _exciting_ fluid,--the omission, at p. 21. col. 1. l. 47. (after directions to take one drachm of aceto-nitrate of silver), of the words "_one drachm of saturated solution of gallic acid_." The passage should run thus: "Of this solution take one drachm, and one drachm of saturated solution of gallic acid, and add to it two ounces and a half of distilled water."

In the same page, col. 2. l. 13., "solvent" should be "saturated;" and in the same article, _passim_, "hyposulphate" should be "hyposulphite," and "solari_s_e" should be "solari_z_e."

* * * * *

Replies to Minor Queries.

_Ancient Timber Town-halls._--Since my account of ancient town-halls (Vol. v., p. 470.) was written, one of these fabrics of the olden time noticed therein has ceased to exist, that of Kington, co. Hereford, it having been taken down early in November last, but for what reason I have not learned. Another, formerly standing in the small town of Church Stretton, in the co. of Salop, which was erected upon wooden pillars, and constructed entirely of timber, must have been a truly picturesque building, was taken down in September, 1840. A woodcut of the latter is now before me. Of the old market-house at Leominster I possess a very beautiful original drawing, done by Mr. Carter upwards of half a century ago.

J. B. WHITBORNE.

_Magnetic Intensity_ (Vol. vi., p. 578.).--The magnetic intensity is greatest at the poles; the ratio may roughly be said to be 1.3, but more accurately 1 to 2.906. This is found by observation of the oscillations of a vertical or horizontal needle. A needle which made 245 oscillations in ten minutes at Paris, made only 211 at 7° 1' south lat. in Peru. The intensity and variations to which it is subject is strictly noted at all the magnetic observatories, and I believe the disturbances of intensity which sometimes occur have been found to be simultaneous by a comparison of observations at different latitudes.

For the fullest information on magnetic intensity, ADSUM is referred to Sabine's _Report on_ {72} _Magnetic Intensity_, also Sabine's _Contributions to Terrestrial Magnetism_, 1843, No. V.

T. B.

_Monument at Wadstena_ (Vol. vi., pp. 388. 518.).--I have received the following (which I translate) from my friend in Denmark, whom I mentioned in my last communication on this monument:

"It is only about a month since I saw Queen Philippa's tombstone in the church of Vadstena Monastery. It is a very large stone, on which the device and inscription are cut in outline, but there is no _brass_ about it. King Erik Menved's and Queen Ingeberg's monument in Ringsted Church is the finest brass I ever saw, and I have seen many."

There is a good engraving of the brass alluded to, which is a very rich one, in _Antiquariske Annaler_, vol. iii.: Copenhagen, 1820. The inscriptions are curious, and the date 1319.

W. C. TREVELYAN.

Wallington.

_David Routh, R. C. Bishop of Ossory_ (Vol. iii., p. 169.).--In the article on a Cardinal's Monument, by MR. J. GRAVES, of Kilkenny, allusion is made to the monument of the above Catholic Bishop Routh or Rothe, as being in the Cathedral of St. Canice, Kilkenny, with his arms "surmounted by a _cardinal's hat_," and that he died some years after 1643. If MR. GRAVES would give the date of this prelate's decease, or rather a copy of the full inscription on his monument, with a notice of the sculptured armorial bearings thereupon, he would be conferring a favour on a distant inquirer; and as MR. GRAVES is, apparently, a resident at Kilkenny, no obstacle exists to prevent his complying with this request.

Any notices procurable regarding Bishop Routh are well deserving of insertion in "N. & Q.," for he was a man of deep learning and research, and is well known to have assisted the celebrated Archbishop Ussher of Armagh in the compilation of his _Primordia_, for which he had high compliments paid him by that eminent prelate, notwithstanding their being of different religions.

Bishop Routh was also himself the author of a work on _Irish Ecclesiastical History_, now very rare, and seldom procurable complete. He published it anonymously, in two volumes 8vo., in the year 1617, at "Coloniæ, apud Steph. Rolinum," with the following rather long title:

"Analecta Sacra, Nova, et Mira, de Rebus Catholicorum in Hibernia: Divisa in tres partes, quarum I, Continet semestrem gravaminam relationem, secundâ hac editione novis adauctam additamentis, et Notis illustratam. II. Parænesin ad Martyres designatos. III. Processum Martyrialem quorundam Fidei Pugilium; Collectore et Relatore, T. N. Philadelpho."

I fear this has degenerated from a Note into a Query; however, I may state in conclusion, that MR. GRAVES is in error in styling the hat on Bishop Routh's monument a cardinal's, for all Catholic prelates, and abbots also, have their armorial bearings surmounted by a hat, exactly similar to a cardinal's hat, with this difference only, that the number of tassels depending from it varies according to the rank of the prelate, from the _cardinal's_ with fifteen tassels in five rows, down to that of a _prior_ with three only on each side in two rows.

A. S. A.

Punjaub.

_Cardinal Erskine_ (Vol. ii., p. 406.; Vol. iii., p. 13.).--Several notices of this ecclesiastic have appeared in "N. & Q.," but as none of them give the exact information required, I now do so, though perhaps tardily. He was born 13th February, 1753, at Rome, where his father, Colin Erskine, a Jacobite, and exiled scion of the noble Scottish house of Erskine, Earls of Kellie, had taken up his residence. "Monsignor Charles Erskine," having embraced the ecclesiastical life at an early age, and passed through several gradations in the Church of Rome, was, in 1785, "Promotore della Fede," an office of the Congregation of Rites; in 1794 auditor to Pope Pius VI., and raised to the purple by Pope Pius VII., who created him a _Cardinal_-Deacon of the Holy Roman Church, 25th February, 1801. Cardinal Erskine accompanied the latter pontiff in his exile from Rome in the year 1809, and died at Paris, 19th March, 1811, in the fifty-eighth year of his age, and eleventh of his cardinalate.

A. S. A.

Punjaub.

_"Ne'er to these chambers," &c._ (Vol. vii., p. 14.).--In reply to ARAM'S Query: "Where do these lines come from?" they come from Tickell's sublime and pathetic "Elegy on the Death of Addison." ARAM ("Wits have short memories," &c.) has _misquoted_ them. In a poem of so high a mood, to _displace_ a word is to destroy a beauty. ARAM has _interpolated_ several words. The following is the _true_ version:

"Ne'er to these chambers, where the mighty rest, Since their foundation, came a nobler guest, Nor e'er was to the bowers of bliss convey'd A fairer spirit, or more welcome shade."

GEORGE DANIEL.

Canonbury.

These lines are taken from the "Elegy on the Death of Addison," written by Tickell. They are, if I remember rightly, inscribed on the gravestone recently placed over his remains by the Earl of Ellesmere, in the north aisle of Henry VII.'s Chapel. The last two lines which your correspondent quotes should be as follows:

"Nor _e'er was to the bowers of bliss convey'd_ A _fairer_ spirit, or more welcome shade."

J. K. R. W.

{73}

_The Budget_ (Vol. vi., p. 604.).--It may be useful to inform PRESTONIENSIS, that, in a recent work on political economy, M. Ch. Coquelin says, that the word _budget_, in its present signification, has passed into France from England: the latter country having first borrowed it from the old French language--_bougette_ signifying (and particularly in old Norman) a leather purse. It was the custom in England to put into a leather bag the estimates of receipts and expenditure presented to parliament: and hence, as Coquelin observes, the term passed from the containant to the contained, and, with this new signification, returned from this country into France; where it was first used in an official manner in the _arrêtés_ of the Consul's 4th Themidor, year X, and 17th Germinal, year XI.

F. H.

"_Catching a Tartar_" (Vol. vi., p. 317.).--This common and expressive saying is thus explained in Arvine's _Cyclopædia_:

"In some battle between the Russians and the Tartars, who are a wild sort of people in the north of Asia, a private soldier called out, 'Captain, halloo there! I've caught a Tartar!' 'Fetch him along then,' said the Captain. 'Ay, but he won't let me,' said the man. And the fact was the Tartar had caught him. So when a man thinks to take another in, and gets himself bit, they say he's caught a Tartar."

Grose says that this saying originated with an Irish soldier who was in the "Imperial," that is, I suppose he means the Austrian service. This is hardly probable; the Irish are made to father many sayings which do not rightly belong to them, and this I think may be safely written as one among the number.

EIRIONNACH has now two references before him, Grose's _Glossary_ and Arvine's _Cyclopædia_, in which his Query is partly explained, if he can but find the dates of their publication. In this search I regret I cannot assist him, as neither of these works are to be found in the libraries of this island; at least thus far I have not been able to meet with them.

W. W.

Malta.

_The Termination "-itis"_ (Vol. vii., p. 13.).--ADSUM asks: "What is the derivation of the term _-itis_, used principally in medical words, and these signifying, inflammation?" If "N. & Q." were a medical journal, the question might be answered at length, to the great advantage of the profession; for, of late years, this termination has been tacked on by medical writers, especially foreigners, to words of all kinds, in utter defiance of the rules of language: as if a Greek affix were quite a natural ending to a Latin or French noun. _-itis_ can with propriety be appended only to those Greek nouns whose adjectives end in [Greek: -itês]: _e.g._ [Greek: pleura, pleuritês]; [Greek: keras, keratitês], &c. [Greek: Pleuritis] is used by Hippocrates. [Greek: Pleura] means the membrane lining the side of the chest: [Greek: pleuritis] ([Greek: nodos] understood) is morbus lateralis, the side-disease, or pleurisy. In the same manner _keratitis_ is a very legitimate synonym for disease of the horny coat (cornea) of the eye. But medical writers, disregarding the rules of language, have, for some years past, revelled in the use of their favourite _-itis_ to a most ludicrous extent. Thus, from _cornea_, they make "corneitis," and describe an inflammation of the crystalline lens as _lentitis_. Nay, some French and German writers on diseases of the eyes have coined the monstrous word "Descemetitis," on the ground that one Monsieur Descemet discovered a structure in the eye, which, out of compliment to him, was called "the membrane of Descemet."

JAYDEE.

* * * * *

Miscellaneous.

BOOKS AND ODD VOLUMES

WANTED TO PURCHASE.

DEFENCE OF USURY, by BENTHAM. (A Tract.)

TREATISE ON LAW, by MACKINLOCH.

TWO DISCOURSES OF PURGATORY AND PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD, by WM. WAKE. 1687.

WHAT THE CHARTISTS ARE. A Letter to English Working Men, by a Fellow-Labourer. 12mo. London, 1848.

LETTER OF CHURCH RATES, by RALPH BARNES. 8vo. London, 1837.

COLMAN'S TRANSLATION OF HORACE DE ARTE POETICA. 4to. 1783.

CASAUBON'S TREATISE ON GREEK AND ROMAN SATIRE.

BOSCAWEN'S TREATISE ON SATIRE. London, 1797.

JOHNSON'S LIVES (Walker's Classics). Vol. I.

TITMARSH'S PARIS SKETCH-BOOK. Post 8vo. Vol. I. Macrone, 1840.

ARCHBISHOP LEIGHTON'S WORKS. Vol. IV. 8vo Edition. 1819.

FIELDING'S WORKS. Vol. XI. (being second of "Amelia.") 12mo. 1808.

HOLCROFT'S LAVATER. Vol. I. 8vo. 1789.

OTWAY. Vols. I. and II. 8vo. 1768.

EDMONDSON'S HERALDRY. Vol. II. Folio, 1780.

SERMONS AND TRACTS, by W. ADAMS, D.D.

THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE for January 1851.

BEN JONSON'S WORKS. (London, 1716. 6 Vols.) Vol. II. wanted.

THE PURSUIT OF KNOWLEDGE. (Original Edition.) Vol. I.

RAPIN'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND, 8vo. Vols. I., III. and V. of the CONTINUATION by TINDAL. 1744.

SHARPE'S PROSE WRITERS. Vol. IV. 21 Vols. 1819. Piccadilly.

INCHBALD'S BRITISH THEATRE. Vol. XXIV. 25 Vols. Longman.

MEYRICK'S ANCIENT ARMOUR, by SKELTON. Part XVI.

*** _Correspondents sending Lists of Books Wanted are requested to send their names._

*** Letters, stating particulars and lowest price, _carriage free_, to be sent to MR. BELL, Publisher of "NOTES AND QUERIES," 186. Fleet street.

* * * * *

Notices to Correspondents.

_Owing to the necessity of infringing on the present Number for the Title-page of our Sixth Volume, we are compelled to omit many interesting communications, and also our usual_ NOTES ON BOOKS, _&c._

B. H. C._'s communication on the subject of "Proclamations" has been forwarded to_ MR. BRUCE. {74}

A. S. T. _The line is from Prior_:

"Fine by degrees and beautifully less."

T. M. G. (Worcester) _is thanked_. _As the entire document would not occupy any great space, we shall be obliged by the opportunity of inserting it._

NOTES ON OLD LONDON _have only been thrust aside_. _They are intended for early insertion._

M. B. C. _We fear this cannot be avoided. The only consolation is, the additional interest with which the volumes will be regarded a century hence._

N. C. L., _who writes respecting Shaw's_ Stafford MSS., _is requested to say how a communication may be forwarded to him_.

A READER, _who writes respecting the "Arnold Family," the same_.

W. S.'s (Sheffield) _communications are at press, and shall have early attention_.

J. E. L. _is thanked_. _We can assure him that the present result of much consideration and many communications, both by letter and personally, is to impress us with the feeling that the majority approve. The book-men shall, however, be no losers._

NEW ORDINARY OF ARMS. _The anonymous Correspondent on this subject will obtain the information of which he is in search on reference to its Editor, Mr. J. W. Papworth, 14 A. Great Marlborough Street, London._

ALDIBORONTOPHOSKOPHORNIO--WORLD WITHOUT A SUN. _The many Correspondents who have replied to these Queries are thanked._

C. (Pontefract) _is requested to forward copies of the Queries in question_.

REV. E. B. (B***) _is requested to state the subject of his communication. In his last very extraordinary letter he has omitted this important piece of information._

C. E. F. _who complains of the disappearance of a portion of the collodion film at the spot where the hyposulphite of soda is applied, is informed that this is by no means an uncommon occurrence, and indicates the feeble action of the light at the present time of year. By using the glass a little larger than is required, as has been before recommended, and pouring the hyposulphite of soda on the portion which is to be cut off, and allowing it to flow over the picture, the defect will generally be avoided. A much stronger solution of the hyposulphite of soda may be used--say, one ounce to two ounces of water; and then, by preserving the solution, and using it over and over again, a more agreeable picture is produced. The solution, when it becomes weak, may be refreshed by a few crystals of the fresh salt added to it._

F. W. _If the bath of nitrate of silver produces the semi-opaque appearance upon the collodion, in all probability there is no hyposulphite of soda in the bath: three or four drops of tincture of iodine added to each ounce of the solution of nitrate of silver in the bath, often acts very beneficially. All doubtful solutions of nitrate of silver it is well to precipitate by means of common salt, collect the chloride, and reduce it again to its metallic state. The paper process described by DR. DIAMOND in our 166th Number is calculated both for positives and negatives._

"Notes and Queries" _is published at noon on Friday, so that the Country Booksellers may receive Copies in that night's parcel, and deliver them to their Subscribers on the Saturday_.

* * * * *

THE ECLECTIC REVIEW for JANUARY, price 1s. 6d., or by post 2s. (commencing a new volume), contains: