Act i., sc. 4.

[161] "Means" are here equivalent to voices intermediate between treble and bass, as tenors. Collins adduces a passage from Lyly's _Galathea_ (Act v., sc. 3), where there is a similar play on words.

[162] _i.e._ A lordship, Ital. _Signoria_; Fr. _Seigneurie_.

[163] _i.e._ Bond, contract.

[164] What pretty fancies you have.

[165] Savin, an irritant poison, has long been in popular use to induce abortion in women.

[166] Also spelt _popering_. A particular species of pear.

[167] This is obscure, but it probably refers to the Italian music phrase _largo_.

[168] Articles of millinery: veils and headdresses.

[169] The simile is from legal documents in which one superfluous letter might nullify a deed.

[170] A flatulent swelling of the abdomen.

[171] Too narrowly dispute the reason of an accident favourable to myself.

[172] _i.e._ Surrender myself to justice.

[173] Play upon the word "bill," which meant in one sense a stout staff with an iron blade at one end, like a partizan.

[174] _i.e._ Countenance.

[175] _i.e._ Arrested.

[176] Clear up the doubt conveyed in your question.

[177] Shakespeare uses this word in two senses, as "pressing business" and "extremity."

[178] _i.e._ A subject for dissection.

[179] This is addressed to the common headsman.

[180] With a skull in his hand. That it is the skull of his mistress is evident from the whole of the scene. He makes use of it afterwards in