Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 8.djvu/431

 10 s. VIIL NOV. 2, 1907.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

357

This was a well-known conceit. It occurs e.g., in Chr. Harvey's ' School of the Heart ' (often said to be by Francis Quarles), ed. 1812, p. 66:

Yea, pearls with vinegar dissolve we may, And adamants in blood of goats, they say.

Again, in Dr. W. Brough's ' Manual of Devo- tions,' ed. 4, 1659, p. 166, " Goats blood melts Adamant." W. C. B.

[THE REV. J. PICKFORD also refers to Pliny and Sir T. Browne.]

SEBVIUS STJLPICIUS AND BBET HAUTE (10 S. viii. 205, 297). The reference is Cicero, tion, xi. 3), near the end. This epistle from Servius Sulpicius is one of sympathy and consolation concerning the death of Cicero's daughter Tullia.
 * Epist. ad Fam.,' iv. 5 (Melmoth's transla-

There is an interesting use of diminutives therein : "in unius mulierculse animula si jactura facta est, tanto opere commoveris ? " which is quaintly rendered by I. Webbe, D. of Phys., in his translation (no date, probably about 1620) : " Doe you, for one silly woman's breath expir'd, poure out so infinite lamentation ? " but much better given by Melmoth (1753) : " Can you. . . .be so immoderately afflicted for the loss of a single individual, a poor, little, tender woman ? " ROBERT PIEBPOINT.

The tale mentioned by MB. YABDLEY is Voltaire's ' Les Deux Consoles,' written in 1756. R. L. MOBETON.

As MR. WAINEWBIGHT says, the sentiment expressed is a common one. Here is another instance :

O time, the beautifier of the dead, Adorner of the ruin, comforter And only healer when the heart hath bled. Byron, ' Childe Harold,' canto iv. stanza 130. E. YABDLEY.

THE PEDLABS' REST (10 S. vii. 266, 415; viii. 93, 217, 258). The porter's rest outside Newgate had two inscriptions, painted on the wall of the prison, which I remember very well. They were " Do not waste your time," and " Do not leave your goods." I often wondered what they meant until I aw the need for them. There was also a porter's rest in Guildhall Yard. They were at one time well used, but in these days of lighter labour for errand boys and porters, and the introduction of carrier cycles of all kinds, were not very much missed when removed some years since.

The one in Piccadilly, nearly opposite the Royal Automobile Club, has the following

interesting inscription, in cast brass, on the edge opposite the Park railings (in three lines) :

"On the suggestion of R. A. Slaney, Esq., who for 26 years represented Shrewsbury in Parliament, this Porter's Rest was erected in 1861 by the Vestry of St. George, Hanover Square, for the benefit of porters and others carrying burdens. As a relic of a past period in London's history it is hoped that the people will aid in its preservation."

It is now under the control of the City of Westminster, which took over the duties of St. George's, Hanover Square, together with several other parishes and vestries, under the London Government Act of 1900. E. E. NEWTON.

7, Achilles Road, West End, Hampstead, N.W.

LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY : UNROOFED CABBIAGES (10 S. viii. 167, 234, 292). Still preserved in the London and South-Western Railway Company's engi- neering works at Eastleigh (Hants) may be seen two old unroofed third-class carriages, as well as a couple of others, of much the same primitive type, but covered in. These four were built about 1836, and were last in use upon the Bodmin and Wadebridge branch line (Cornwall).

Up tilt some time in the early seventies, two ancient coaches (numbered 1 and 2) ran upon the same company's line connecting Exeter with Exmouth. Originally first-class ones, they were then doing duty as third- class, and were pointed out by the railway officials of the period as the first coaches ever built by the company in question. They measured respectively (I believe) 19 ft. 6 in. long, 7 ft. 7 in. wide, with an in- terior height of 6 ft. 1 in. in the clear. Each coach afforded accommodation for 18 passengers. I have ridden in both of them scores of times. Upon inquiry, I learn that the railway authorities here are un- aware whether these " lights of other days " are still in existence.

Certainly, so late as 1863, I rode in the " stand-up " thirds that used to run upon the line between Glasgow and Greenock.

HABBY HEMS. Fair Park, Exeter.

I can remember when, about 1844, second- class carriages on the E.C.R. had no windows, with a grand through current of air, and no cushions on the seats. In order to meet the latter difficulty many passen- gers used to carry with them india-rubber cushions to sit upon.

I wonder whether there are in existence any second-class carriages with a division