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existed for more than a century, and was at length sold by public auction in 1799. According to Lysons (Environs,' vol. ii. p. 78), Vice-Admiral Munden and other officers who had been much upon the coast of Spain enriched it with many curiosities, and gave the owner the name of Don Saltero. See Tatler, No. 34, Faulkner's 'Chelsea,' Hare, &c. There are many books in which the coffee-house is mentioned.

H. G. GRIFFINHOOFE.

34, St. Petersburg Place, W.

[See Faulkner's' Chelsea,' i. 378, and 'Old and New London,' v. 62-D. HIPWELL. See the Tatler, Nos. 34, 195, 220, and Mr. Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne,' i. 229: a catalogue of the rarities was reprinted by Mr. Fennell in his Antiquarian Chronicle, No. 11, April, 1883.-G. L. APPERSON. See Cunningham's Handbook to London' and Mackay's 'The Thames and its Tributaries.'-WALTER HAINES. The collection consisted mainly of rubbish, and fetched little more than 501. (121 lots).-JULIAN MARSHALL. J. F. MANSERGH, C. C. BELL, LADY RUSSELL, H. K. H., and EVERARD HOME COLEMAN are thanked for replies.]

'JACK DRUM'S ENTERTAINMENT': 'A TALE OF A TUB' (7th S. vi. 285).—I owe an apology to DR. BR. NICHOLSON for not having attended to his correction. I have only this minute noticed his passage pointing out my stupid error about the Tale of a Tub' date in the Academy of Sept. 15, and I was horrified. I recollect now the way it occurred. I quoted a passage from 'The Case is Altered' (as I thought), and then put in the words "one of his earliest plays." Subsequently, on referring to my notes, I found the passage was in the Tale of a Tub,' and I made the alteration, but forgot to erase the following words. I am much obliged to DR. NICHOLSON for his correction. Of course there is no manner of doubt about the date of the Tale of a Tub.'

H. C. HART. RIDDLE (7th S. vi. 367).-The answer to this is given in Capt. Burton's 'Arabian Nights,' to which those anxious concerning it may be referred. H. T. [Many conjectural and erroneous replies are acknowledged.]

ELSIBETH PLAYERS (7th S. vi. 329).-Brockett gives Elspith as a provincial form of Elizabeth, and so probably Elsibeth is another form of it, which term, in conjunction with players, may refer either to the great rise of the drama in Queen Elizabeth's reign or to theatrical displays at the rejoicings on St. Elizabeth's Day. JULIUS STEGGALL.

[When young we heard as a variant of a known rhyme, Elizabeth, Elsibeth, Betsy, and Bess,

Went into the fields to get a bird's nest, &c.]

BOSWELL, THE BIOGRAPHER (7th S. vi. 369).The Hon. Andrew Erskine was the youngest son of Alexander, fifth Earl of Kellie. See the notice

of his death in the Scots Magazine for October, 1793, p. 571. A short account of him will be found in 'Boswelliana,' by the Rev. Charles Rogers, from which the following passage is quoted by Dr. Hill in his edition of Boswell's Correspondence with the Honourable Andrew Erskine and his Journal of a Tour to Corsica' (1879) :—

"His habits were regular, but he indulged occasionally at cards, and was partial to the game of whist. Having sustained a serious loss at his favourite pastime, he became frantic, and threw himself into the Forth and perished."

G. F. R. B.

SIGMA asks, Who was the Hon. Andrew Erskine? A reprint of the Boswell-Erskine 'Correspondence,' together with the 'Corsican Journal,' edited by Dr. Birkbeck Hill, was issued in 1879. In a note prefixed to the first letter of the series Dr. Hill says that the Hon. Andrew Erskine was the youngest son of Alexander, fifth Earl of Kellie. Reference is made to a short account of Erskine in 'Boswelliana the Commonplace Book of James Boswell,' edited by the Rev. Charles Rogers for the Grampian Club, 1874. GEO. L. APPERSON.

Wimbledon.

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FRIAR'S LANTHORN (7th S. vi. 168, 257, 338).— In Normandy these fires are called "Feux Follets":

"Another opinion is, that Le Feu Follet is the soul of a priest, who has been condemned thus to expiate his broken vows of perpetual chastity; and it is very prob. able that it is to some similar belief existing in this country at the time he wrote that Milton alludes in 'L'Allegro.'

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Vide Thom's 'Notelets on Shakespeare,' pp. 64-5, quoted by the Rev. T. F. Thiselton Dyer in 'Folklore of Shakespeare.' H. G. GRIFFINHOOFE. 34, St. Petersburg Place, W.

"TO JOIN GIBLETS" (7th S. iv. 268, 511).-Your esteemed correspondent MR. E. WALFORD at the former reference suggested that this expression might possibly occur in some play. I have recently met with it in Wilson's 'Belphegor,' printed 1691: "Now, Bianca, I was thinking, what if thou and

F. C. BIRKBECK TERRY.

I should join jiblets." These words are used by relieve her had not been passed, as in England, at Pausa at the beginning of Act III. sc. ii. the beginning of her reign. E. F. D. C. In Lockhart's' Life of Sir Walter Scott' (vol. iii. p. 342) is given an anecdote about! Lord Justice Clerk Braxfield, which Scott told at dinner to the Prince Regent, at which his Royal Highness laughed heartily and replied :

"OUR FATHER" (7th S. vi. 388).-In having debts in the prayer and trespasses in the succeeding context the Authorized Version has faithfully followed the ὀφειλήματα and παραπτώματα of the original. That the English version adopted by the Church of Rome has trespasses instead of debts is remarkable as occurring in a translation from the Vulgate, where we read debita. Whether as a rendering of opeλýμata or of debita, trespasses is utterly indefensible. R. M. SPENCE, M.A. Manse of Arbuthnott, N.B.

It would be interesting if PROF. ATTWELL would give some account of the King's Primer of 1552 of which he writes. I have been a collector of primers for many years, but have never met with one of that date. J. R. DORE. Huddersfield,

ISAAC D'ISRAELI (7th S. vi. 348). Foster's 'Peerage' is tolerably correct. In it I find ("E. Beaconsfield ") that Isaac D'Israeli was the "only child of Benjamin D'Israeli, of London, Merchant." In 'The Complete Pocket-Book' of 1773 is a list of London merchants. Amongst them appears "D'Israeli, Benjamin, Mercht., No. 5, Great St. Helens." This, I think, goes far to show that M. I. D'Israeli was the father of Lord Beaconsfield, though it offers no explanation of the other prénom. A. W. CORNELIUS HALLEN.

"I' faith, Walter, this old big-wig seems to have taker things as coolly as my tyrannical self. Don't you remember Tom Moore's description of me at breakfastThe table spread with tea and toast, Death-warrants-and the Morning Post?" HERBERT MAXWELL.

'THE STAR CHAMBER' AND 'THE WASP' (7th S vi. 347).—Of the former publication (attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield) the British Museum possesses vol. i. part i., of nine numbers (April 19 to June 7, 1826), with Nos. 1-12 (September 30 to December 16, 1826) of the Wasp. DANIEL HIPWELL.

66

34, Myddelton Square.

There are only nine numbers of the Star Chamber at the British Museum. The date of the first number is April 19, 1826, of the last June 7, 1826. These nine papers constitute "vol. i. part i.," and are stated in the Catalogue to be attributed to Benjamin Disraeli, Earl of Beaconsfield." There are in the same library twelve numbers of the Wasp, the first of which is dated September 30, 1826, and the last December 16, 1826. Among the notices to correspondents in lastmentioned number it is announced that

DEATH WARRANT (7th S. vi. 308). The ques-"Part i. of the Wasp will be ready for delivery on the tion having been asked, as now, at 2nd S. viii. 433, by a STATIST, it was partly answered as follows by J. SPEED D. at p. 523 :

"It was not the custom for the sovereign to sign death warrants. Prisoners capitally convicted at the Old Bailey were reported to the sovereign in council, by whom each case was separately considered, and in those instances where the sovereign in council could not interfere the law was left to take its course, the Recorder afterwards making out and signing and sealing the warrant for execution. In all other instances where the sovereign could interfere the prisoners were directed to be transported or imprisoned according to circumstances.

1st of January with the magazines. It will consist of 13 Numbers, neatly sewed up with Index and title-page." The volume in the British Museum contains the index and the title-page, but no thirteenth number. G. F. R. B.

BALL OF STONEHOUSE (7th S. vi. 367).—Your correspondent may perhaps be glad to be referred to Gloucestershire Notes and Queries, vol. i. pp. 13, 128, 129, 377, for sundry particulars of Sir Alexander John Ball and the Ball family of Stonehouse. "The sovereign, though it is the law which condemns, new 'Dictionary of National Biography,' vol. iii. He is probably acquainted with the article in the being the fountain of mercy, can interpose to save life, by the advice of the council. p. 70.

"This was the practice prior to 1837, but I have been informed that when the Queen came to the throne it was thought desirable to discontinue these reports, cases sometimes arising that were unfit to be reported to our youthful Queen.'

ED. MARSHALL.

Until the present reign the sovereign signed orders for execution of sentences of death passed at the Central Criminal Court. All other sentences passed at assizes were carried out on the order of the judge. Her Majesty has, I believe, only once signed an order for execution, viz., of a prisoner sentenced in the Isle of Man, where an Act to

ABHBA.

DRINKING HEALTH IN BLOOD (7th S. vi. 388).— Without being able to localize the occurrence referred to by MR. R. W. HACKWOOD, it may be pointed out that the stabbing of arms and drinking healths in blood is of frequent reference in the Elizabethan dramatists. Nares's 'Glossary' (sub voce "Arms ") gives quotations from Marston's Dutch Courtesan,' from the 'Honest Whore' and Green's' Tu Quoque,' and from an account of England written by a Frenchman Nobleman in 1699," which states that some debauchees "died of the intemperance." I may add that there is a

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of his Sons: 1. Turk, 2. Chars, 3. Sacklap, 4. Russ, 5.
Maninaeh, 6. Zwin, 7. Camari, 8. Tarich."
From the fourth of these the Russians claim to be
descended, and to derive their name from him.
They reject with scorn the assertion that their
country was named Russia by Uruss Chan, as some
have affirmed.
C. C. B.

Waltham Abbey, Essex. RUSSIA, BLACK, WHITE, AND RED (7th S. vi. 149, 177, 275, 372).-The name of a country and 'ALUMNI WESTMONASTERIENSES' (7th S. vi. the name of a people are not the same thing. It is 347).-This is not an annual or serial publication. very probable that before Russia existed a people It was first collected by Joseph Welch, London, or tribe were called Rusi from their habitat on the 1788, 4to., pp. vii and 190, with index of 26 pages river Russe (vide 'Words and Places'), and Gesenius and two plates. A new edition, with additions, says that a people were so called in the tenth cen- London, Ginger, 1852, royal 8vo., with views and tury. That Ezekiel xxxviii. and xxxix. refer to facsimiles. The work gives a list of the scholars of Russia at all is mere assertion, rash and trying. St. Peter's College, Westminster; elected to Christ The seeming authority of the LXX. settles nothing. Church, Oxford; and Trinity College, Cambridge; It is one of those instances where that version from its foundation by Queen Elizabeth in MDLXI. transliterated what it probably did not understand. to date of publication, including the admissions Pos (which your correspondent MR. BLENKINSOPP into the first-named college from MDCLXIII., with a modestly says "can only mean Russia") is simply list of the deans of Christ Church, masters of the Hebrew 7, head, chief, written in Greek Trinity, and the masters of Westminster School. letters, and is a very common word in the original The following extract from the 'Autobiography of Scriptures. The LXX. sometimes translates it by Bishop Newton,' author of the celebrated 'Disdifferent words. The idea of the Greek word being sertation on the Prophecies' and editor of Milton's a "gloss" is as funny as the grammar of "this is 'Poems,' may be of interest. He was sent to the a gloss crept into the text." The LXX. has no school in 1717, and admitted into the college the various reading, nor has the Hebrew. Our Autho-year following by the nomination of Bishop Smalrized Version is most probably correct, and the early Vulgate translates the two words apxovra pos of the LXX. by "principem capitis," or, as the English Bible has it," chief prince." A few German authorities started the "Russian" idea, from the text of the LXX. probably, and some Byzantine writers of the tenth century, (says Gesenius) spake of the "Russians" as oi Pos, dwelling to the north of the Taurus" (probably a mere tribe); but, assuming the present Russia to be thus spoken of, it is a mighty feat of fancy to make the prophet Ezekiel, 1,600 years before, mean the same thing, and that on the mere accident of a word in the LXX., notorious for its verbal uncer

tainty or variety.

Perhaps those who are reviving the "Russian" bear do not remember that the Jews had very great notions about the Scythian "Gog" to appear in the days of their Messiah, and to be slain by him, leaving to Israel wood enough from their lances and arms for the use of seven years! If the same people are indicated, the character of Russia and her doom are not to be envied.

W. F. HOBSON.

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"Never [says he] was Westminster School in higher estimation than at that time under the auspices of Dr. Freind and Dr. Nicoll, nor ever contained a greater number of scholars, there being really not fewer than five august, and awful too, in the Westminster elections, to hundred, and several of quality. There was something see three such great men presiding, Bishop Atterbury as Dean of Westminster, Bishop Smalrige as Dean of Christ Church, and Dr. Bentley as Master of Trinity College; and as iron sharpeneth iron' so these three by their wit and learning and liberal conversation whetted and sharpened one another."-Pp. 11, 12. Again he writes :—

College there were perhaps more young men who made

"During the time that Newton was in Westminster

a distinguished figure afterwards in the world than at
any other period either before or since."-P. 23.
The references are to A. Chalmers's edition of 'The
Lives of Pocock, Pearce, Newton, and Skelton,'
London, 1816, in two volumes, 8vo., Newton's life
being in the second volume. W. E. BUCKLEY.

My edition of this work-'The List of the Queen's Scholars of St. Peter's College, Westminster, admitted on that foundation since 1663,' &c., to give the book its name according to its The name Russia is traced by native writers to title-page-is the new and last edition which was a grandson of Noah's. Abulghazi says:—

Temple Ewell, Dover.

"Japhis [Japhet] has been looked upon by some as a Prophet, and by others as a common Man. After he had quitted the Mountain where the Ark rested, he went to settle about the Rivers Atell and Jaigick, and died after having lived there 250 years. He left eight sons and many Kinsfolks and Relations. These are the Names

published in 1852.* Prefixed to this edition is the "advertisement" of the first edition, which bears the date of March 1, 1788. The work was origin

* This edition was edited by Charles Bagot Phillimore, and from the large additions made by him practically forms a new work,

ally"collected by Joseph Welch," and may be said to have attained to the dignity of an authority. I have never heard of the 1851 edition, and am surprised to hear the British Museum does not contain a copy of either of the editions. A new edition, brought down to date, is much wanted. If MR. WILSON has not yet received the loan of a copy of the book I shall be happy to spare him mine for a short time. ALPHA.

at Ledbury. Malvern and much of the surround-
ing country belonged to Westminster. There are
vines of some size and note at Eastnor and Madres-
field. Worlidge, in his Treatise of Cider,' third
edition, 1691, pp. 224-6, mentions several grapes
which "ripen with us," and adds, "There are
also several old English Grapes......fit only to
make Vinegar of."
W. C. B.

It may interest MR. MASKELL and the readers of his valuable note on the above subject to see the following passage, taken from a paper on 'Old Hammersmith and Chiswick,' in a recent number of All the Year Round:—

The correct title of the last edition of this book is 'The List of the Queen's Scholars of St. Peter's College, Westminster, admitted on that Foundation since 1663......Collected by Joseph Welch. A New Edition......By an Old King's Scholar." It was "Where the Bath road enters the parish of Hammerpublished in 1852 (London, 8vo.), and edited by smith-a point well marked by the railway and Addison Mr. Charles Bagot Phillimore. The preface to the Road Station, and the adjacent Olympia-there existed first edition (London, 1788, 4to.) is dated March 1, metropolis. It was known as Lee's Vineyard Nursery; one of the earliest established nursery grounds in the 1788. No other editions of this book have been and was formerly planted with vines, and produced published. There are three copies of the first edi-native Burgundy till the middle of the last century." tion and two of the last edition at the British

Museum. See Catalogue, s. v. "Welch, Joseph."
Being engaged on the admissions to the school, I
am unable to lend MR. WILSON my copy of the
'Alumni,' but will gladly give him any information
in my power.
G. F. R. B.

PROTOTYPES OF ROBINSON CRUSOE (7th S. vi. 286). "The Original Robinson Crusoe; being a Narrative of the Adventures of Alex. Selkirk and Others, on which De Foe is believed to have founded his famous Romance," by Rev. H. C. Adams, London, s.a., has at chap. xiv., App., "Other Occupants of Desert Islands," pp. 250-256. There is also in the preface a list of the "original records" in respect to Alex. Selkirk.

ED. MARSHALL.

FAROE ISLES (7th S. vi. 408).—The entry in the British Museum Catalogue reads:"Graba, Carl Julian.-Tagebuch, geführt auf einer Reise nach Färö im Jahre 1828. Hamburg, Kiel [printed], 1830. 8°." DANIEL HIPWELL.

34, Myddelton Square, Clerkenwell.

BURIAL-PLACE OF GEORGE I. (7th S. v. 488; vi. 51, 253, 317, 377).-My quotation was taken from Murray's 'Handbook' of 1868, p. 378.

J. A. C.

THE VINE IN ENGLAND (7th S. vi. 321).-The present parish of Newland, near Malvern, belonged to Malvern Priory, which had a grange there. One of the farms is called Monkfields, and on it there are two old houses. The older house, quaint, gabled, overhanging and timbered, has the reputation of possessing a secret chamber; the other house, more modern and of red brick, but nevertheless of respectable age, bears a vine on its front, which faces south. It is of the small green sort, and though it bears fruit it is never of any account. I remember seeing similar trees on some old houses

I wish the writer of the paper had told us why the wine was called "Burgundy" rather than by any other name; and further what was done with this "native Burgundy" in the middle of the last century.

Referring to MR. MASKELL'S note, I may say that the suggestion that in many cases the English "vineyards" mentioned by ancient writers were orchards, and "whether when vinum is mentioned it may not have a wider sense than the true juice of the grape, as oivos had in Greek," appears to me a most probable and valuable one. I have myself very little doubt that such was the case.

Budleigh Salterton.

T. A. TROLlope.

A correspondent has called my attention to Shakespeare's 'Othello,' II. i.—

The wine she drinks is made of grapes

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asking for its exact meaning, and suggesting that
it proves that the word "wine was often used
for other liquors than the juice of the grape. I
presume the meaning is a moral one.
J. MASKELL.

[Surely this only means that she is not different from eats is made of flour! In other words, she is human. other women, and is the same as saying, the bread she The context shows this.]

about the Abbey of Fesle. I know nothing about ABBEY OF FESLE (7th S. vi. 307).—J. B. S. asks it; but is it not possible that it is the Priory of Fail, near Tarbolton, in Ayrshire, that is in ques

tion ?

The friars of Fail drank berry-brown ale,
The best that ever was tasted;
The monks of Melrose made gude kail
On Fridays when they fasted.
It was a priory of Red Friars, founded by Andrew
Bruce in 1252, and governed by a minister
(Brochie MSS.; Chalmers, vol. v.; Monasticon,
pp. 294-5). Only two walls remain of the old

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"The Lordis of Secreit Counsall made ane act that all placis and monumentis of ydolatrie suld be destroyit. And fer this purpose wes directed to the west the Erle of Arrane, having joined with him the Erlis of Argyle and Glencarne, togidder with the Protestantis of the west: quba burnt Paislay, the Bischope (of Sanctandrois quha was abbot therof) having narrowly eschapit; kest down Failfurd, Kilwynning, and a part of Corsragwelland thus God sa potentlie wrocht with us, sa long as we dependit upon him, that all the warld mycht se his potent hand to maintain us, and to fight against our enemies; yea, most to confound them, quhen that they promest to thameselfis victory without resistance. Oh that we suld rychtlie considder the wonderouse workis of the Lord oure God!"

Yes; and we are at liberty "rychtlie to considder" the blind fanaticism that has left us but two ruinous walls of the fair Priory of Fail.

HERBERT MAXWELL.

Ware's 'Antiquities of Ireland' (1745), vol. ii. p. 275, under head "Cistertian or Bernardine Abbeys," has, "Co. Limerick: Feal, or Ne-Feal, Abbey or Cell to Nenay. Founded 1188." From Lenihan's 'Limerick' I gather that the abbey was "a Cistercian one of some celebrity, founded in 1188 by Brien O'Brien, and afterwards made a cell to Monasternenagh." See also Archdall, 'Monast. Hibern.,' edit. 1786, p. 414. ONESIPHORUS.

"Fesle" is a misprint. The word is Feale, the name of a river that runs through the valley at the foot of the Mullaghreirke Mountains, in Munster. The abbey gave its name to the town of Abbeyfeale, ten miles south-east from Listowel. Some authors state that the beautiful Kathleen Mac Cormac (afterwards wife of Thomas, sixth Earl of Desmond) lived (circa 1418) in the abbey with her father, who went by the sobriquet of "the Monk of Feale." This points to the fact that the abbey was then in ruins; and I am desirous of knowing to what order it belonged, and when and by whom it was founded. J. B. S.

Manchester.

I cannot answer the inquiry of J. B. S. as to the Abbey of Fesle; but I should like to point out that his quotation is incorrect. It should be: Bernardus valles, montes Benedictus amabat, Oppida Franciscus, celebres Ignatius urbes. J. A. J. H. MARRIAGE PRESENTS (7th S. vi. 406).-This bidding custom, with its printed form and blanks left to be filled in as occasion and circumstances may require is, or, at all events, has been for many years common in Wales. When the day for the wedding has been fixed, the papers are sent to all friends; and in many cases the well-to-do in the neighbourhood find them delivered to them, and usually return some pecuniary or other gift in

reply. By the following it will be seen how the invitation varies in some cases, although its basis is exactly the same in all:

Carmarthen, Nov. 15, 1850. As we intend to enter the Matrimonial State, on Wednesday, the 4th day of December next, we are encouraged by our friends to make a Bidding on the occasion, the same day at the Young Woman's Brother's House, at which time and place the favour of your very good and most agreeable company is respectfully solicited; and whatever donation you may be pleased to bestow on us then will be thankfully received, warmly acknowledged, and cheerfully repaid, whenever called for on a similar occasion by your most obedient Servants

DAVID PRICE.

ELIZABETH JONES. The Young Man with his Brother and Sister (Richard and Mary Price) desire that all gifts of the above nature due to them be returned to the Young Woman on the above day, and will be thankful, together with his Uncle and his Brothers-in-Law and Sisters, and their Wives, for all additional favours. The Young Woman and her Sister (Ann Jones) desire that all gifts of the above nature due to them be returned to the Young Woman on the above day, and will be thankful, together with her Brothers and Sisters-in-Law and her Uncles and Aunts for all favours granted. R. W. HACKWOOD.

The "bidding" was a well-known Scotch and Welsh custom. Sometimes it was called a "penny wedding." See Brand's 'Popular Antiquities,' vol. ii., Bohn's edition. EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M. A.

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"The poison was similar to that manufactured by La Spara (p. 205). Hahnemann the physician, and father ject, says that it was compounded of arsenical neutral of the homoeopathic doctrine, writing upon this subsalts, occasioning in the victim a gradual loss of appetite, faintness, gnawing pains in the stomach, loss of strength, and wasting of the lungs. The Abbé Gagliardi says that a few drops of it were generally poured into the tea, chocolate, or soup, and its effects were slow and almost imperceptible. Garelli, physician to the Emperor of Austria, in a letter to Hoffmann, says it was crystallized arsenic, dissolved in a large quantity of water by decoction, with the addition (for some unexplained purpose) of the herb cymbalaria. The Neapolitans called it Aqua Toffina; and it became notorious all over Europe under the name of Aqua Tofania."-P. 206.

This refers to "the numerous cases of assassina

tion in Italy" in the seventeenth century. If P. currente calamo, I am not aware of "the numerous means the "sixteenth century," not having written cases." ED. MARSHALL.

Beckmann's History of Inventions' has an interesting chapter on 'Secret Poison.' See also Sir Henry Halford's essay on the deaths of some illustrious persons of antiquity. It seems likely

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