In the cases of all these princes, except Edmund of Langley and Ernest Augustus of Hanover, the title was conferred when they stood next to the heir apparents to the throne. R. G. B.

NEW YORK CITY.

The Landfall of Columbus (Vol. v, p.155).—I am unable to decide what G. H. G. means in alleging the log of Columbus to be of questionable authenticity. If we are to infer that it is fictitious, I fear the truth cannot be established one way or the other, inasmuch as the chart, the journal of his stay in the Bahamas, and the original log-book have disappeared. The only authentic document extant is the narrative of Las Casas, a contemporary and intimate friend of Columbus. Las Casas wrote a narrative of the voyages and discoveries of Columbus, and had before him, among other things in its preparation, the original journals, the log-book, and the map of the Bahamas made by Columbus-all of which have been lost. The log of the voyage has been abridged in places, but from the time the vessels reached Guanahani, the document is given in full. No attempt, I believe, has ever been made to gainsay the authenticity of this document, and, until the original log-book is produced, no track or landfall can be established that does not conform to it. That the original log had a spice of deceptiveness about it is true, as the following extract will show. Is it this to which G. H. G. refers, or is it Columbus' journal in the Bahamas?

"

'MIERCOLES, 10 de Octubre. "Navegó al Ouesudueste, anduvieron á diez millas por hora y á ratos doce a algun rato á siete, y entre dia y noche cincuenta y nueve legnas; contó á la gente cuarenta y cuartro legnas no mas. Aquí la gente ya no lo podia sufrir: quejabase del largo viage; pero el Almirante los esforzó lo mejor que pudo dándoles buena esperanza de los provechos que podrian haber. Y añadia que por demas era quejarse, pues que él habia venido á las Indias, y que así lo habia de prosequir hasta hallarlas con el ayuda de nuestro Señor."

In his official log, Columbus is admitted to have constantly underestimated the daily distances. This he did, as he claims in his private journal, in order that the men might not discover the fact that they were reaching

a longitude beyond the alleged position of Cipango (Japan). In his private journal he kept record of the real distances, and this was used in Las Casas' narrative. That Guanahani was the place of the first landfall all are agreed; but to what one it shall be applied remains to be decided. Captain Fox's investigation has included a discussion of the change in magnetic variation, and for this purpose Prof. Shotte, of the United States Coast Survey, has calculated the probable position of the agonic for 1492. If this has been correctly done, neither Cat nor Watling can be the original Guanahani. J. W. REDWAY.

PHILADELPHIA, PA.

"Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep ;"' or, "Four Corners to My Bed" (Vol. iii, p. 209).-Wordsworth, in a prefatory note to his poem, "The Redbreast," says: "Now that the cats had been driven away from our cottage, the red breasts became familiar visitors, and always felt confident of a welcome. One of them took up his abode without being caged with Miss Dorothy W., and at night used to perch upon a nail, from which a picture had been hung, and fan her face with his wing in a manner that was most touching." The poet connects this incident with the "White Paternoster," best known to us as "Now I lay me, etc.," in the following characteristic lines:

"

Now cooling with his passing wing

Her forehead, like a breeze of spring,

Recalling how with descant soft,

Shed round her pillow from aloft,

Sweet thoughts of angels hovering nigh,
And the invisible sympathy

Of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,
Blessing the bed she lies upon.'

The poet also remarks that the child's prayer alluded to is still (1835) in use in the northern counties.

Ed. Daniel Clarke (b. 1769), the English traveler, when among the Cossacks, observed that this people were accustomed before they consigned themselves to sleep, to make the sign of the cross, facing respectively the four quarters of the globe. "A similar superstition," he remarks, "respecting four cardinal points of worship

The Atlantic Monthly, for August, contains an article by Henry Cabot Lodge on International Copyright," which is worth studying. The balance of the number is made up as follows: "The Use and Limits of Academic Culture," a paper by Prof. N. S. Shaler, which shows the manner in which Prof. Shaler believes the college could be brought into closer touch with the aims of the ordinary student, namely, the gaining of a living, is a noticeable paper of the number. It is followed by a sketch of Madame Cornuel and Madame de Coulanges. Both of these clever French women were given to epigram and bon-mots, many of which are given in this sketch, which is written by Ellen Terry Johnson. Miss Murfree's "Felicia" and Mrs. Deland's "Sidney" are still continued.

The poetry of the number is particularly good. Mrs. Fields has a sonnet; Mr. Whittier a three-page poem on the town of Haverhill; and Dr. Holmes ends his installment of "Over the Teacups" with some verses entitled "The Broomstick Train; or, The Return of the Witches." The Salem witches, he tells us, impatient at their long imprisonment, petitioned to be released, but when the Evil One allowed their liberty, they played such mad pranks that he called them together and, for punishment, made them pull the electric

installment will be published in the September number. In the new chapter of Mrs. Barr's striking novel, Friend Olivia," the heroine sets sail for America with her father, who goes in search of religious freedom and converts. The short story of the number, "The Emancipation of Joseph Peloubet," by John Elliott Curran, introduces a Frenchman who turns his back in disgust on the Second Emp re, starts a newspaper in New York which advocates emancipation of the slaves, and collapses, and who then returns to his trade of baking until the breaking out of the war, when he enlists, and his ideals are realized and his life is sacrificed.

Few readers will reach the end of the second paper by Dr. T. H. Mann, on his experiences as "A Yankee in Andersonvile," without being profoundly touched by the pathos of his helpless journey to his home in Boston. The realistic pictures, made from photographs, add to the interest of the narrative of life in the prisonpens at Andersonville and Florence. Another article bearing briefly on the history of the war, is Miss S. E. Blackwell's statement in " Open Letters" of "The Case of Miss Carroll," whose claims for services to the Union are still unconsidered by Congress.

In the tenth part of "The Autobiography of Joseph Jefferson," the comedian writes most entertainingly of John Brougham, Edwin Adams, Charles Fechter, George Holland, and of other favorites who have not long been absent from the stage. Another illustrated feature of the number that is pervaded by an artistic personality, is the fifth installment of John La Farge's Letters from Japan." There is also a decided literary quality in Mrs. Amelia Gere Mason's fourth paper on "The Women of the French Salons," which treats more particularly of the salons of the eighteenth century.

John Muir contributes an important paper on "The Treasures of the Yosemite." The article is richly illustrated, and there are maps to indicate the boundaries of the proposed enlargement of the Yosemite Park by the creation of a new national park to preserve the sources of the waters that are such an indispensable feature of the old park. Mr. Muir, who is recognized as qualified to give a weighty opinion in the matter, urges the attention of the public to the preservation of the Yosemite.

Other illustrated features of the number are W. J. Stillman's paper on the "Italian Old Masters," Sandro Botticelli, with three full-page engravings by Cole; an entertaining account by Gustave Kobbé of "The Perils and Romance of Whaling;" and the second part of Harriet W. Preston's Provençal Pilgrimage," illustrated by Pennell.

President Eliot of Harvard contributes "The Forgotten Millions," a study of the common American mode of life, as typified by the permanent native population of Mt. Desert. In "Topics of the Time" there is a discussion of the Distaste for Solitude;" of "The New School of Explorers," as exemplified by Stanley; and a brief comment on Mistral and his poetic country of "Provence." In "Open Letters," the Rev. Alfred J. P. McClure describes the work of the "Siberian Exile Petition Movement of Philadelphia," and Abbot Kinney replies to Major Powell's article in the April Century on the arid regions of the West.

Besides the poems in "Bric-a-Brac," the number contains a charming poem on Shakespeare by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, entitled "Guilielmus Rex," and poems by Harriet Prescott Spofford, Frank Dempster Sherman, Edith Thomas, Bliss Carman, and Charles G. D. Roberts.

Vol. V. No. 15.

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CONTENTS.

NOTES:-Tinker's Dam, 169-Notes on Words-Meditate-
Rail, 170.
QUERIES: Colored Starch, 170- Frogs of Windham-
Meum Nil Non Fert, 171.
REPLIES:- Brazen Fly of Virgil-Herod and Mariamne,
171-Stone Worn Away-Qui Vive-Greek Cities, 173.
REFERRED TO CORRESPONDENTS:-Lake Baikal-
Remember Boy, etc.-Shrewsbury-Kubla Khan-Seiche-
Authorship Wanted, 174.

COMMUNICATIONS :-What Year is This? 174-Sunken Cities and City of Is-Popocatepetl, 175 - Thackeray's Nose-Kansas-Leper Kings-Red Sea-Cool as a Cucumber, 176-Wise Men of Gotham-Parallel Passages-Colors of Lakes and Rivers, 177 - Duke of York-Telegraphic Blunders-Devil's Lake-Arthur Kill, 178—Musical SandsCharivari-Rivers Flowing Inland-Lake Drained-Rhyming History of England-Discoveries by Accident, 179— Hardships of Genius-Ford in Place Names-Presbyterian True Blue-Sunken Islands-Corrigendum, 180.

ПОЛЕЅ.

TINKER'S DAM.

(VOL. 1, P. 261.)

A great many people believe that this expression comes from the dam of putty or clay that a tinker uses to restrain his molten metal from overflowing, and which is thrown away when his work is completed.

This is altogether an error. "A Tinker's Dam" is equivalent to the expression, "A Continental Damn." The latter expression arose when Continental money had become so utterly worthless towards the end of the Revolution, as the Confederate notes did at end of the Civil War. In a "Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," London, 1796, a "dam" is defined as "a small Indian coin, mentioned in the Gentoo code of laws; hence the etymologists may, if they

please, derive the common expression, ‘I do not care a dam!' i. e., I do not care a farthing for it." And dam is the smallest Hindu coin in circulation, like a Turkish paper piastre or a Portuguese milreis, the one-thousandth part of a dollar, or a French centime, one-fifth of a sou, used in making up accounts, but a coin rarely if ever seen in circulation. A Hindu Tinker is a Pariah, the lowest caste, an outcast. For a higher class to touch what a Pariah has touched is pollution; consequently, a "Tinker's Dam" is a monetary token almost valueless in itself, and utterly worthless by being polluted in passing through a Tinker's or Pariah's hands. Sometimes this expression is spelled "Tinker's Damn," and it has been stated that the French say "Damn." But both are errors. The French oath sounding like Dam is Dame, very common. That is said to be the misuse of Dame, abbreviation of Notre Dame, although respectable dictionaries interpret it as an exclamation to denote surprise, as "Bless me! Forsooth! Many !"

TIVOLI, N. Y.

NOTES ON WORDS.

ANCHOR.

Matie. This is a fisherman's name for a fat herring, with the spawn not largely developed. The "Century Dictionary" says that its origin is uncertain. The Dutch name for small herring is maatjes; maatje also means a small measure, as explained by Mr. Holdsworth in "Encycl. Brit.," Art. "Fisheries;" herring full of spawn are called voll, or full. The subject certainly requires further examination. Brockhaus ("The Conv. Lexikon," under "Herring'') defines matjeshering as virgin-herring.

Metaxite.-The "Century Dictionary" derives this word (which has been employed as the name of at least three minerals, of which this dictionary gives us only one) from the Greek μstažu, between. Why not derive it from pétaža, silk? It has always been applied to fibrous or silky minerals. I have no doubt that the derivation here offered is correct.

Meristem. The "Century Dictionary" states that this word, a botanical term, is irregularly formed from the Greek μερίζειν,

to divide, peptorós, divided. Is not the formation perfectly regular? Quite a num ber of Greek nouns denoting a material acted upon, are formed from verbal stems with -ema.

Mot, or Motte.-This well-known Texan word for a clump of trees, a small grove, is not in the "Century Dictionary." Compare Fr. motte, a lump, a patch, a mound; Sp. mota, a mound. P. F. P.

AUSTIN, TEX.

MEDITATE.

This word, in Milton's phrase, to "strictly meditate the thankless muse," is defined by the Century, and other dictionaries, as meaning "to think upon; to resolve in the mind; to consider." It strikes me that in this case we have to do with a strict Latinism, and that the meaning is "to exercise one's self in; to devote one's attention to; to occupy one's time with." It is the "silvestrem tenui musam meditaris avena" of Virgil, in which case it plainly means more than to think upon. G.

MERCHANTVILLE, N. J.

RAIL.

This word, meaning a tunic (extant in the term night-rail) is generally referred, and no doubt correctly, to Anglo-Saxon hregil. (But is not the Latin rallus, a tunic, of the same origin?) I am inclined to think that a tunicle, scarf, or stole, comes near to what the English people at one time meant by a rail. N. S. S.

UERIES.

Colored Starch.-Has colored starch ever been used? C. R. REYNOLDS. DAYTON, O.

Yes. There was once a yellow starch invented by a Mrs. Turner, who made herself famous in the fashionable world of London on its account. Mrs. Turner was executed at Tyburn, on November 15, 1615, for her connection with the mysterious poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury in the Tower of London.

When Lord Chief Justice Coke pro

nounced sentence of death upon Mrs. Turner, he told her "that as she had been the inventor of yellow starched ruffs and cuffs, he hoped she would be the last by whom they would be worn." He accordingly gave strict orders for her to be hanged in the attire which she had made fashionable. This addition to her sentence was fully carried out, and the prisoner came to the gallows with her face rouged and a ruff stiffened with yellow starch around her neck.

The object contemplated by the Lord Chief Justice was fully attained, as the yellow ruff was never more worn from that day.

Frogs of Windham.-Where can I find the best account of the visitation of the frogs at Windham, Conn., in the olden times? I know that there are various versions of the affair, and I would like to see and compare them. RUDOLPH.

BRYN MAWR, Pa.

Is it not probable that the terrific noise made by the alleged "Frogs of Windham" were in reality produced by the "Spadefoot Toad," Scaphiopus solitarius? It is stated that when these creatures (rarely seen, and not very well known to naturalists) assemble themselves together they sometimes make a very hideous din, which is almost always ascribed incorrectly to the bull-frogs.

Meum Nil Non Fert.-What does this sentence mean? JAMES R. KEMBLE.

ST. LOUIS, Mo.

This is an old puzzle; it is said to mean "Bearwort produces no indigo."

REPLIES.

Brazen Fly of Virgil (Vol. v, p. 162).Gervase of Tilbury states that the poet Virgil made a fly of brass, which, being mounted upon one of the gates of Naples for many years, hindered that city from being troubled with flies. QUI TAM.

GERMANTOWN, PA.

as a mighty magician-in fact, as a type of that class. His poetical eminence and the consequent familiarity of his name to the people, caused the ascription to him of many of the marvelous necromantic exploits originally told of others, notably of Hippocrates, besides new stories that were invented and placed to his credit. One of the wonderful examples of Virgil's magical power, which is related by Gervase of Tilbury, was the creation of a brazen fly, which was placed on one of the gates of the city of Naples, and had the effect of keeping the city free from real flies. But this is only one of the many marvelous constructions of his hands. We read of a chamber built by him which would keep meat fresh any length of time; of a certain brazen statue which kept the city free from the smoke and fire issuing from "Vulcan's forges;" his baths which cured every disorder, and the wonderful brazen archer which guarded the public fire, besides many more not less astonishing.

A curious story, which may not be out of place, is told of the manner in which Virgil attained his power in the "scyence of nygromancy." While at school, at Toledo, he wandered into a cave in which a “devyll conjured out of the body of a certeyne man' was imprisoned. This devil promised Virgil full knowledge of all the magical arts if he would liberate him; he was accordingly released, and faithfully complied with his agreement; but afterwards Virgil made a bet with him that he could not crawl back into the same hole; the devil reëntered his former prison, and Virgil closed the opening and left him there.

An unfortunate accident which happened while Virgil was undergoing the process of rejuvenation, many years later, cut short his extraordinary career, which might otherwise have been prolonged for centuries. E. G. KEEN.

WARWICK, PA.

Herod and Mariamne (Vol. ii, p. 223.)"The old story of Herod and Mariamne is so simple and natural, that it appeals to every heart in every age."