Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 1.djvu/449

 10 th S. I. MAY 7, 1901.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

369

instance of how names which puzzle etymo- logists are sometimes acquired.

H. G. P. Barrow-in-Furness.

ROMAN TENEMENT HOUSES. An American writer has stated, " We have reason to believe that the great majority of the people in the city of Rome lived in immense tenement houses, six stories high, or even more, and divided into rooms." Is there any foundation for the above 1 Upon what authority is the statement made ? S. P. Q. R.

BRAZEN BIJOU. Amongst a number of kitchen utensils metioned as being in use about 1830 occurs " one Bijou of brass," with the value " about two shillings " set against it. I have never come across this article in any list of such kitchen furniture before, with the exception of the allusion to it in Dickens's bijou over the fireplace, designed for the suspension of a roasting jack." The word probably went out with the last-mentioned article. Can any one tell me its derivation, and also its proper designation to-day, sup- posing such still to be in use in kitchens ? FREDERICK T. HIBGAME.
 * Great Expectations ' (chap, xxv.), " A brazen

" GRINGO " = FOREIGNER : " GRIENGRO." "Gringo" is used by natives of the River Plate to designate all foreigners (see 9 th S. vii 389, 496 ; viii. 21, 130, 210) except Spaniards Spanish-Americans, and Portuguese. It is applied especially to Italians. The meaning given in a large Spanish dictionary is "unintelligible," and the word is stated to be " Gitanesco," gipsy. The word gnengro^ a horse-dealer, occurs several times in 'Aylwin,' referring to gipsies. Is it possible that these two words are identical? The equivalent griego, given by ' La Academia,' does not seem right. W. L. POOLE.

Montevideo.

CHAIR OF ST. AUGUSTINE. In a report in a London paper of the recent dedication of the new west front of Hereford Cathedral is the following :

" Speaking at a subsequent reception, the Bishop of Hereford expressed the hope that the Arch- bishop would help to restore the Chair of St. Augustine from Canterbury to Hereford."

What did the Bishop allude to by this ? Was the seat St. Augustine sat in removed afterwards to Hereford from the conference in Worcestershire 1 ALFRED HALL.

NUMBER SUPERSTITION. My wife asked a little Jewish girl how many children there were in her class at school. The answer was

" Nicht zwanzig." Eventually it appeared that the number was exactly twenty, but that to name the exact number of a party is unlucky, and involves the death of one of them during the year. Can any reader explain this ? FRED. G. ACKERLEY.

Care of British Vice-Consulate, Libau, Russia.

ENGRAVINGS. (10 th S. i. 309, 336.)

I ADVISE MRS. HULTON to apply to Mr. Daniel, Mortimer Street, Cavendish Square, or any similar dealer in old prints and books, for the remaining prints of the series to which her note refers.

The line "publisht according to Act of Parliament," which is a portion of the so- called publication line, means that the engravings upon which it appears were issued according to the rules and conditions prescribed by what is known as Hogarth's Act, a measure intended to secure to thps e who complied with them some protectio n against the pirates who after, and eve n before, the appearance of engravings did no t hesitate to issue fraudulent copies of prints or pictures upon which artists had expended their best powers and (where the two functions were not performed by one person) publishers their capital.

The Act in question bears Hogarth's name because, owing to the great popularity of some of his earlier prints, especially 'A Harlot's Progress' in 1734, unscrupulous persons had put forth copies of them, manifestly to his injury and, the copies being invariably bad, the degradation of his art. Before this enactment came into force there was, in this country at least, no protection whatever for painters and pub- lishers. On the Continent it was very different ; in fact, centuries before Hogarth's time the Signory of Venice had defended Albert Diirer against their piratical country- men, who, nevertheless, were not invariably bad engravers. After a great deal of trouble Hogarth, and others who were interested, procured the passing of the Act which bears his name. In consequence the publication lines of the prints of 'A Rake's Progress,' eight in all, are "Invented Painted Engrav'd & Publishd by W m Hogarth June y e 25 1735 According to Act of Parliament." Probably this is the earliest instance of this form of the publication line on an engraving. The issue of ' A Rake's Progress' was delayed until the above date, which had been fixed