tank be used, a mound may be raised above one of the piles of rock-work, and planted with ferns; which have a fairy-like aspect when waving their emerald fronds over the glittering water. The best for this purpose are the oak fern (Polypodium dryopteris), the brittle bladder fern (Cystopteris fragilis), the pretty little Alpine bladder fern (C. Alpina), the true maiden hair (Adiantum capillus), and the Tunbridge filmy fern (Trichomanes Tunbridgense). The ferns should be planted in a mixture of pounded charcoal, fine sand, leafmould, and very old lime rubbish; and so arranged that the rocky surface on which they grow will prevent their root-stocks penetrating to the water. A fountain, which is easily arranged by the aid of a concealed gutta percha tube, may be made to play above these to the advantage of the ferns and the completeness of the scene. There are other moisture-loving ferns which would thrive in such a situation, but they would attain to too great a size. Those recommended do not any of them attain a greater height than eighteen or twenty inches.

To obviate the necessity of a frequent change of water, a little system of compensation may be adopted. Furnish the tank with some plants of chare, and also with three or four water-snails. The chara will supply continuous streams of oxygen by a decomposition of the water, and thus preserve its freshness for the health of the fish, and the water-snails will devour every particle of scum or result of vegetable decay, and as they multiply under the masses of herbage the fish will regale upon their offspring.

As to fish, where ornament is sought rather than means of study, common gold fish are the easiest to obtain and keep; but these fish ought not to monopolise our indoor lakes, as they do. The little stickleback and the gudgeon should be supplied in goodly numbers. They are very sportive, and splash about amongst the floating foliage in a most amusing manner. Carp, barbel, roach, and bream are all suitable, if not too large; but perch, chub, and tench do not suit well, on account of their voracity, and the large size they attain.

This form of the aquarium admits of ornament to almost any extent, and is a pleasing addition to the resources of an invalid, or as a hobby for those who love "little things that live and grow." I shall shortly publish an account of my progress in the culture of fresh-water productions indoors, and offer the foregoing hints in advance of what I have to say farther on the subject.

SHIRLEY HIBBERD.

As some of your readers appear to be interesting themselves about vivaria, possibly the following notice of their early existence may not be uninteresting:

"Thence to see my Lady Pen., where my wife and I

were shown a fine rarity; of fishes kept in a glass of water, that will live so for ever; and finely marked they are, being foreign." — Pepys's Diary, May 28, 1665. G. H. KINGSLEY.

PRIESTS' HIDING-PLACES.

(Vol. xi., p. 487.)

The

There are many of these remaining in the mansions of old Catholic families. Your correspondent HENRY TUCK alludes to those at Sawston Hall, near Cambridge; Coldham Hall, Suffolk; Maple Durham; and Ufton Court, Berkshire. There is one very deep at Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk; and nearly every old Catholic hall was provided with one, from the necessity of the times when the penal laws were rigorously enforced. most curious hiding-place I have seen is that at Irnham Hall in Lincolnshire. The situation of this ingeniously-contrived place had been forgotten, though it was well known to exist somewhere in the mansion, till it was discovered a few years ago. In going round the chimney stacks it was observed that one of the chimneys of a cluster was without smoke or any blackness, and as clean as when the masonry was new. This led to the conjecture that it was not in reality a chimney, but an open shaft to give light and air to the priests' hiding-place, yet so forming one of a group of chimneys as to obviate all suspicion of its real purpose. It was carefully examined, and the conjecture fully borne out by the discovery of the long lost hiding-place.

The opening into it was found by removing a beam behind a single step between two servants' bedrooms. You then come to a panel, which has a very small iron tube let into it, through which any message could be conveyed to the occupant of the hiding-place. This panel being removed, a ladder of four steps leads down into the secret chamber, which, like that at Ingatestone Hall, is exceedingly dry, and free from any unpleasant atmosphere, owing to the excellent ventilation by means of the chimney above described. The floor, when I went down into it a few years ago, was of loose sand and a few stones, like the ordinary rubbish of an unfinished building. There was a thick rush mat rolled up at one end, which had served the priest for a bed, and there was a small prayerbook, which no doubt he had used in his solitary confinement. The hiding-place is eight feet long by five feet broad, and just high enough to allow of standing upright. F. C. H.

I have read with much interest the remarks (Vol. xi., p. 437.) on the priests' hiding-place at Ingatestone Hall.

As misprints occur in the names of the localities of two of the examples cited by your correspon

PHOTOGRAPHIC CORRESPONDENCE.

Mr. Lyte's Process (continued from Vol. xi., p. 492.).If we desire to give the coating of collodion an extra degree of sensibility, we must proceed as follows: Take of fine old and white crystallised honey, 6 ounces; distilled water, 6 ounces; nitrate of silver (completely neutral), 300 grains; alcohol, 8 drachms. Dissolve the nitrate in the water and alcohol, and then add the honey. When the whole is completely dissolved, pass it through a filter, exposing it to daylight during the operation. The light acts on the syrup, and turns it a dark red-brown colour. Put then some animal charcoal into another filter, and pass the liquid through it; and from this it will drip quite colourless. Should it, on exposure to light, again change colour, it must again be passed through the animal charcoal; and when the light no longer seems to affect it, it is ready for use. This syrup is to be poured on to the plate as it comes out of the bath, or, what is better, is to make a bath of the syrup itself, into which to plunge the plate just as it was plunged into the ordinary nitrate bath, which I have already described. Anyhow the surface of the plate must be well washed with the syrup, so as completely to replace the nitrate solution which before adhered to it, by the syrup. The plate is thus rendered exquisitely sensitive, so that even with a landscape lens, if a diaphragm of not less than half an inch be used, instantaneous pictures may be produced, as may be seen by some specimens done by this process and lately exhibited in London. I must remark here, however, that the operator must be most careful in his preparation of the syrup. 1st. That it be not exposed to too high a temperature, e.g. not left in the sun any length of time. 2nd. That the nitrate of silver be not the least acid (for this purpose, therefore, fused nitrate is preferable). 3rd. That the honey be old and crystallised, and of good quality, as all kinds of honey cannot be used indiscriminately; indeed, so great is the difficulty of getting good honey, that after I had first discovered this process, and when I had used up the little stock of good honey I had by me, I was at least two months experimenting on various samples procured from all sources, till at last I got some from Toulouse, which answered my purpose. I doubt not but a method may be found of purifying all honey from the substance contained in it which is thus injurious, but up to the present time I have not discovered what that substance is. One thing I am almost sure of, which is, that whatever the substance may be, it is one which oxidises on exposure to air, as exposure seems to beneficially affect the crude honey before mixing. The syrup keeps well, but after some time it seems to lose its extreme sensibility, and to become perceptibly slower in its action, though at the same time a plate plate prepared with it is more stable.

The next process we come to is the preservative process; for although by the former process the plate may

be preserved, in cool weather, for several hours, and even in summer, if not too hot, for at least one hour, yet it is much more liable to deteriorate than when treated by the following modification, which I now give. To preserve the plate sensitive a long time, take of glucose, or sucre de raisin, or sucre de fécule, as it is sometimes called, 6 ounces; distilled water, 7 ounces; alcohol, 8 drachms; mix and filter. (The process for making glucose I will describe at the end; I only here remark that should it be purchased, and should its solution give a cloudiness on the addition of nitrate of silver, it may be considered bad; neither should its solution be precipitated by alcohol, or coloured by the addition of iodine water.) Then, in two other bottles, make a solution of 5 grains of nitrate of silver to 1 pint of distilled water, and in another small bottle make a solution of 10 grains of nitrate per ounce of water filter all these. The collodion plate having been taken from the nitrate bath, is to be placed in a similar bath of one of the bottles of distilled water above mentioned; and here it is to be well washed by moving the bath up and down, as in the first instance. At the end of five minutes' careful washing it is to be taken out and let to drip; then, having added 1 drop of the 10-grain solution of nitrate of silver to 1 ounce of the syrup, the plate is to be well washed with this till all the surface is well covered with it; it may be then put into the dark slide to be kept for use. Care must be taken also in this case that the plate be kept cool as possible, and free from dust or noxious gases. Of these last ammonia is completely destructive to it, and sulphuretted hydrogen equally so; also chlorine and all acid vapours. The plate thus prepared may be exposed in the camera at once, or, if the operator chooses, may be kept at his will, providing it be placed in a cool and dark situation. It is advisable, however, to employ it before the expiration of many days; indeed the sooner the better, as if kept long it is always subject to casualties, such as dust, gases, and, lastly, the hardening of the syrup, as shown by Dr. Mansell, although I dissent entirely from his remedy for this (steaming), which in my hands has proved a complete failure, though I think I may feel confidence in my experience in such-like manipulations.

F. MAXWELL LYTE.

Bagnères de Bigorre, Hautes-Pyrénées.

[We are compelled by pressure of other matter to postpone the remainder of the second portion of MR. LYTE'S communication until next week.]

Replies to Minor Queries.

One

The late Lord Viscount Strangford (Vol. xi., p. 456.). It should be added to the well-deserved notice of that accomplished and able nobleman, that he was the contributor to "N. & Q." of the articles signed P. C. S. S. the initials of his name, PERCY CLINTON SYDNEY SMYTH. who had known him for fifty-eight years has a melancholy pleasure in bearing-valeat quantum his testimony to the extent and variety of his information the liveliness of his fancy-the soundness of his principles-the goodness of his heart-and the private and public integrity of his long and distinguished life.

C.

Judge James Whitelock's "Diary" (Vol. xi., p. 341.). This MS., about which MR. BRUCE

inquires, belongs to a descendant of the judge, now living at Amboise in France. Mr. Basil Montagu has given MR. BRUCE and me, and I have no doubt many other persons, a great deal of unnecessary trouble in searching the different libraries, by omitting to state where he found it. Having been indulged with its perusal, I can truly say that it is a most interesting record of the time; and contains some anecdotes quite as curious as that extracted by Mr. Montagu, in his "Life of Bacon," relative to Sir Henry Yelverton. EDWARD FOSS. Foundling Hospital for Wit (Vol. xi., p. 386.). To the series of parts and editions of the New Foundling Hospital for Wit, furnished by MR. HAWKINS, a volume may be added, though not bearing this exact title.

MR. HAWKINS's list commences with a work published in 1768. I possess an octavo volume, entitled

"The Foundling Hospital for Wit, intended for the Reception and Preservation of such Brats of Wit and Humour, whose Parents chuse to drop them. London, printed 1743. Reprinted for W. Webb, near St. Paul's,

1763."

The work was published in numbers, of which six are here given, irregularly dated, viz. No. 2., 1749; No. 3., 1746; No. 4., 1763; No. 5., 1764; No. 6., 1749.

On the title-page of No. 4. alone is subjoined to the publisher's name and address the following paragraph:

"Where may be had Nos. 1, 2, and 3, containing all the Satires, Odes, Ballads, and Epigrams, by the Prime Wits of this Age, since the change of the late Earl of

Od's administration."

The contents of the volume consist almost exclusively of politico-satirical poems, mixed with many of an indelicate character. It may be mentioned that in the third part is a reply by Lady Winchelsea to the "Impromptu addressed to her by Pope, not in his works, occasioned by four verses in the Rape of the Lock."

The impromptu will be found in Mr. Carruthers' very useful and carefully-edited volumes of Pope (vol. iv. p. 246.). The reply. may possibly have a place in Mr. Croker's forthcoming edition of Pope, subjoined to the impromptu.

J. H. MARKLAND. Artificial Ice (Vol. x., p. 290.). —— The artificial ice to which J. P. O. alludes was a solid composition and not a freezing composition. It was invented by Mr. Wm. Bradwell, the architect of the Glytotheca, and Mr. Henry Kirk, and would have been introduced at the Colosseum, but that litigation broke out between the patentees. It was, however, exhibited for a short time on a small scale at the Glaciarium in Tottenham Court Road. The composition had the appearance of ice, and

took the mark of the skate like real ice. One great object was to cultivate skating as a gymnastic exercise at all seasons. It received the approval of Sir Wm. Newton and the Skating Club. Its composition will be found described in the patent. HYDE CLARKE..

Cathedral Registers (Vol. xi., p. 445.). - Marriages and christenings are solemnized in cathedrals, and funerals also, unless burials have been ordered to be discontinued in them by Her Majesty's order in council, under the recent burial acts. Such marriages, christenings, and burials are registered in the usual way, and in the same mann as in parish churches.

I had written the above when I saw the answer of OXONIENSIS (Vol. xi., p. 496.), who gives as a reason that marriages are not often celebrated in cathedrals, that cathedrals, not being parish churches, would require to be licensed for the purpose, and that this being very seldom done, it would require a special licence to have a marriage celebrated in a cathedral.

A cathedral is the parish church of the whole diocese, and the diocese in ancient times was therefore commonly called Parochia, Gibs. 171.; Skin. 101. By 6 & 7 W. 4. c. 85. s. 26., the bishop, with the consent of the patron and incumbent, is empowered to license certain chapels for the solemnization of marriages. This of course cannot apply to cathedrals, in which marriages always were, and still are, solemnized under the ordinary licence of the bishop of the diocese, or by banns, or by the ordinary licence of the archbishop, which he has power to grant throughout his province. J. G.

Exon.

-

Earl of Galway or Galloway (Vol. xi., pp. 263. 413.). The remarks which I took the liberty of making upon this subject, are applicable to Henri de Massne de Ruvigni, who was created Baron of Portarlington, and Viscount of Galloway or Galway, upon the 25th of November, anno 4 William and Mary. As far as my researches have extended, I find that by the public records of Ireland he has been styled Viscount Galloway; but by a fac-simile of his handwriting, which is to

be found in a recent number of the Ulster Archaological Journal, it appears that he spelt his name Galway. JAMES F. FERGUSON.

Dublin.

"Thee" and "thou" (Vol. x., pp. 61. 295.).— The use of "thee" for "thou" is an old practice among the Quakers. A member of the society, born in 1754, and who had associated with relatives born in the seventeenth century, who was familiar with high Quakers and low Quakers, and had personal intercourse with American and Irish Quakers, told me that he had always heard it.

John Howland (Vol. xi., p. 484.). — Elizabeth Howland married Wriothesley, not Rotherby, Russell, afterwards second Duke of Bedford. Mrs. Howland, her mother, was a daughter of Sir Josiah Child, of whom, as well as Mrs. Howland, there are portraits in the Duke of Bedford's. collection at Woburn Abbey. Mrs. Howland married in 1681 John Howland, of Streatham, Esq., co. Surrey. JOHN MARTIN.

Lord Dundonald's Plan (Vol. xi., p. 443.). Projects like those of Lord Dundonald are no novelties; even in the time of the Commonwealth, when the science of gunnery was not so perfectly understood, some idea of the same kind was set afloat. The following proposition was sent to Mr. Augier from Paris, and is still preserved in MS.:

"A person, who makes profession of honor, and saith he hath had the good luck to have beene knowne of Sr Oliver Flemming during his publick employments abroad, doth propound to a friend of yours, that, by a secret he hath, he can with one ship alone breake what navall army or fleet soever, though never so great; and that by the same secret he shall easily and in a short time beate downe all manner of earthen forts. Offering, that, if the commonwealth of England be pleased, he will go over at his owne charge to make what tryalls so ever shall be desired of him, weh will cost nothing. He desires likewise to be assured, that he shall not be forced to reveale his secret, untill the agreement be made for the reward; and sayth, that the tryall shall be very speedy, and the execution as sure, in general, as in particular."

CL. HOPPER. Black Rat (Vol. ix., p. 209.; Vol. x., pp. 37. 335.).—The black rat is to be found in Basinghall Street, and, as MR. PINKERTON states, harbours in the walls and roofs at times. It is probable that the black rat contents himself with this domain, leaving the sewers to the brown rats.

HYDE CLARKE.

The Crucifixion (Vol. xi., p. 485.).—It is not easy to account for the frequent practice of representing the two thieves fastened to their crosses with cords, except by supposing that historical truth has been sacrificed to pictorial effect. That the thieves were fastened with nails, as well as our Blessed Lord, is undoubtedly the truth. St. Augustin, alluding to St. Matt. xxvii. 38., says, "Nisi clavis fixus esset (Christus), crucifixus non fuisset," which will of course equally apply to the thieves. (St. Aug. in Ps. lxviii.) But he directly

affirms this of them in his Tract XXXVII. in Joan, where he says "clavis confixi diu cruciabantur." And the same is asserted by St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory the Great, St. Ambrose, and Rufinus. Indeed, the fact that when the three crosses were discovered by the holy empress Helen, they were at a loss to distinguish which had borne our Blessed Saviour, till the Almighty was pleased to make it evident by a miracle, suffices to prove that all three must have exhibited similar marks of nails. F. C. H.

French Churches (Vol. x., p. 484.). — The question of ANON. has not yet been answered? "What date are we to assign to French churches, whose architecture corresponds to our Early English?" A sufficient answer will be found in the following extract from An Inquiry into the Chronological Succession of the Styles of Romanesque and Pointed Architecture in France, &c., by Thomas Inkersley, 1850:

"It appears undeniable that the use of the pointed arch in France was an anticipation upon its adoption in England by a considerable period; that the confirmed Firstpointed or Early French style likewise took precedence of the Early English, except perhaps in the province of Normandy: that the geometrical or Decorated style was invented and brought to perfection by our neighbours half a century before our English builders began to imitate it: that this style maintained its ground long after the appearance of the English perpendicular style, which had attained its highest degree of splendour at a moment when French Flamboyant was but struggling into existence; whilst the latter, in its turn, still preserved itself pure and unmixed at a time when the former had become utterly debased, corrupted, and disfigured." - P. 36. In the second part of his work he gives the dates of the buildings mentioned in the first part.

A comparative table of the architectural styles of the cathedrals of France, is given in Les Cathédrales de France, by M. l'Abbé Bourassé, and is copied into the Ecclesiologist, vol. vi. p. 20. CEYREP.

“ Λαμπάδιον δράματος” (Vol. xi. p. 465.). — The former word, in connexion with the latter, has a particular signification, according to Scapula :

Numeratur etiam inter personas comicas, quæ crinium plexus gestant in acutum desinentes, instar lampadis." "This word is also used among comic actors, who wear their hair plaited and ending in a point, somewhat in the shape of a burning torch." Hence, figuratively, the word came to signify the point or conclusion of a matter, the end or catastrophe of a drama, as we phrase it, to bring the matter to a point. A. F. S. therefore seems, proprio marte, to have elicited the correct mean

ing.

CHARLES HOOK.

"The Chapter of Kings" (Vol. xi., p. 450.).—I am inclined to doubt if the authorship of the above song has been clearly ascertained. In my