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NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. x. NOV. 21, im

DB. WILLIAM GORDON OF BRISTOL (10 S. x. 349). Robert Gordon, a West India mer- chant, was a member of the Common Council of Bristol from 1756, and Alderman from 1777, till his death, 14 Dec., 1784, being Sheriff 1757-8, and Mayor 1773-4. I think, but am not quite sure, that John Gordon, Sheriff of Bristol 1789-90, Collector of Customs there 1813-32 (elected Mayor, but declined to serve, 1800), was a son of Robert. He died, aged 81, 20 Dec., 1839.

A Dr. Gordon, of whose Christian name I have no record, was an unsuccessful can- didate for the post of physician to the Bristol Royal Infirmary in December, 1761. Probably he was the " Dr. William Gordon of Bristol " referred to in MR. J. M. BULLOCK'S query. ALFRED B. BEAVEN, M.A.

Leamington.

CAPT. BARTON OF H.M.S. LICHFIELD (10 S. x. 249, 334). Admiral Matthew Barton was the seventh son of the Rev. Geoffrey Barton, Rector of Rushton, co. Northampton, and Elizabeth his wife, fifth and youngest daughter of Richard and Susannah Lock- wood of Gayton, co. Northampton. He waa born 2 Aug., 1716, at Rushton, and married Rachel Brook of Hinton St. George, Somer- set, who survived him, and was buried at Hampstead, 25 Jan., 1813. He died without issue at Hampstead, and was buried 6 Jan., 1796, at St. Andrew's, Holborn, of which parish his nephew the Rev. Charles Barton was rector. There is a portrait of him in the possession of Major-General Newton Barton. A full pedigree of the Barton family is con- tained in Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, Second Series, vols. iii., iv. JTJDEX.

" DISDATJNTED " (10 S. x. 328, 352, 377). Among the farmers and labourers oJ Sussex, and in particular East Sussex, this word is of constant use, and I have on severa occasions heard the word in such a sentence as " Even now we are not disdaunted/ I cannot say, however, that I have seen th word in print, nor do I believe it is to be found in any of the published lists of " loca words." H. J. ALLEN HARDWICKE.

Vergemount, Crowborough, Sussex.

EDWARDS OF HALIFAX (10 S. ix. 510 x. 54, 94, 315). This was James Edward not William Edwards, as stated bj R. S. B. at p. 94. On 28 Jan., 1785, h took out a patent (No. 1462) for an improve ment in bookbinding, in which he is de scribed as " late of Halifax, now of Pal Mall, bookseller." His improvement con sisted in painting pictures or ornamenta

esigns upon vellum specially prepared o as to render it transparent. The vellum ;

then reversed and attached to the sides- f book-covers, the painting being visible ] hrough the transparent vellum. The object f this is to prevent the painting being i amaged by wear, and so successful was Edwards that in many cases it is difficult o believe that the pictures are actually n the back of the vellum, and not on the urface. James Edwards is noticed in the- Dictionary of National Biography.'

R. B. P.

TOOTHACHE (10 S. x. 121, 171, 196, 216). "hat blacksmiths actually did draw teeth the early days of last century I can vouch or. My maternal grandfather, who was- orn in 1803 and died in 1895, has often old me that when he was a boy he had tooth extracted by the village blacksmith. How the man performed the operation I am mable to say, but I believe that the principal nstrument in the operation consisted of, pair of pincers. My grandfather informed ne that a piece of his jaw was broken off when the tooth came away. The old gentle- man's grinders were firmly set in his head, and he never had occasion again to submit /o a dental operation. JOHN T. PAGE. Long Itchington, Warwickshire.

INITIAL LETTERS INSTEAD OF WORDS; 10 S. ix. 126, 174 ; x. 176, 258). The ormula I.D.B., noted by MR. HARLAND- OXLEY, may perhaps sound somewhat mystic to Englishmen, but in South Africa,, and especially at Kimberley, it has a very potent and ominous significance ; for it stands both fdr the criminal and the crime,, that is, for the illicit diamond buyer and for illicit diamond buying, being used in this way both colloquially and in the* press and law courts. No greater stigma,, indeed, can rest on a man's name than that' he should even be suspected of having a leaning towards I.D.B. in Griqualand West. The penalty on conviction varies from five to fifteen years' hard labour at the breakwater at Cape Town. The method of " trapping " suspected persons by the employment of Kaffirs, who offer the sus- pected man or woman a stone previously marked by the detectives, has been much criticized, but has been found to be the only effectual way of dealing with this particular form of theft. A good account of the system is given in the late Mr. Reginald Statham's novel, first printed anonymously as ' Mr. Magnus.' N. W. HILL.

New York.