Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 10.djvu/315

 11 S. X. OCT. 17, 1914.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

309

VEGETABLE PARCHMENT. Real vellun constitutes, perhaps, the most durabl binding in existence. I have many sixteenth century volumes which, save for the dis coloration of .age, are as perfect in thei vellum binding as when they first issuei from the bookseller's shop. On the othe hand, the substance known as " vegetabl parchment " forms the worst binding tha tli'- perversity of human ingenuity eve invented. It affords a most attractive bai to mice and vermin of all descriptions Th<- binding of many good books in m; possession has been destroyed in the cours of years. One out of many is the fin quarto edition of Ruskin's ' Poems,' pub lishecl in two volumes in 1891. The back of these volumes are entirely gone. Can any correspondent suggest a solution which mijzht be applied to this material, and which without injuring the binding or contents would stay the ravages of the vermin ?

W. F. PRIDEAUX.

OLD ETONIANS. I shall be grateful for information regarding any of the following (1) Fortescue, Thomas, admitted 28 Aug. 1759, left 1760. (2) Foster, Caleb, ad mitted 22 Jan., 1757, left 1758. (3) Foster, John, admitted 28 Jan., 1758, left 1764. (4) Foulkes, Martin, admitted 22 May, 1758, left 1766. (5) Foyster (TForster), Samuel, admitted 13 Sept., 1764, left 1765. (6) Fydell, Richard, admitted 23 Jan., 1762, left 1762. (7) Gaily, Henry, ad- mitted 6 June, 1762, left 1768. (8) Gas- coigne, Crisp Chandler, admitted 16 Sept., 1765, left 1772. (9) Gibson, George, ad- mitted 2 Sept., 1761, left 1773. (10) Glynn (?Glyn), John, admitted 16 Feb., 1756, left 1758. (11) Goldwin, Thomas, admitted 12 Feb., 175C, left 1758. R. A. A.-L.

SHERLOCK HOLMES : HIS METHODS AND LITERARY PEDIGREE. It is usual to trace the inductive method of Sherlock Holmes back to Poe, and leave it there as if Poe invented it. There are signs, however, of a narrative of some length, involving the reproduction of a scene from small evidences which would escape the ordinary person, in Voltaire's ' Zadig,' which is admittedly Oriental in character. I have looked for a similar passage in the ' Arabian Nights,' but have so far failed to find one. Is there anv such in Oriental tales of early date ?

Dumas, who makes D'Artagnan anticipate Holrnes's methods in reconstructing the details of a duel, perhaps took a hint from ' Zadig,' or is the idea one of those common

properties of the human mind which turn up everywhere ? The instance in ' Zadig ' is, I should add, mentioned in a German dissertation published this year on the stories of Sherlock Holmes and the Raffles tales of Mr. E. W. Hornung, but it was not new to me, as I had noted it some years since, when I was engaged in the now obsolete pastime of comparative criticism.

Readers more learned than I am in Oriental lore may be able to assure me that this detective wisdom came from the East. So far as I am aware, this style of thing is not represented in the well-known types of Indo-European folk-tales.

I am aware, of course, that an Edinburgh doctor was the prototype of Sherlock Holmes, but I think that the existence of fine tales of the sort by Poe must have encouraged Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to make a popular success on similar lines.

LOTTDON DODD.

AUTHORS WANTED. I should be glad to know who were the authors of :

1. Love Elegies. Written in the Year 1732. London : Printed for G. Hawkins, at the Middle- Temple Gate, Fleetstreet. 1757. 4to. 31 pp.

2. Four Elegies: Descriptive and Moral. Lon- don : Printed for J. Buckland, in Pater-Noster- Row ; R. and J. Dodsley, in Pall-Mall, &c. 1760. 4to. 24 pp.

3. Amyntor and Theodora : or, The Hermit. A Poem. In Three Cantos. London : Printed for Paul Vaillant, in the Strand. 1748. 4to. 92 pp.

4. Edwin and Emma. Birmingham : Printed by John Baskerville, for A. Miller in the Strand. 1760. 15pp.

5. Maria to Henrie, and Henrie to Maria : or, The Queen to the King in Holland, and His

Majesty's Answer: Two Heroical Epistles in Citation of the Stile and Manner of Ovid. Written by a Young. Lady. London, Printed for Joseph Knight, at the Pope's Head, in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange. 1641. Sm. fol. 12 pp.

J. S.

[Nos. 3 and 4 were written by David Mallet, for whom t>ee the ' D.N.B.']

HARFORD OF PLYMOUTH, " TRAITOR," 538. Writing of the year 1538, ' The Grey Viars' Chronicle of London,' at p. 41, says :

" Also this yere the xxv of February was drawne rom the towere to Tyborne, Henry Harford cntleman and Thomas Hever merchant, and tiere hongyd and qwartcrd for tresone." But ' Wriothesley's Chronicle,' which is Iways much more accurate, says :

" This yeere, the 20th daie of March, being aterdaie the second weeke of Lent, Thomas [arford, gentleman, was drawen from Newgate o Tiburne for seditious words ot treason against he Kinges Majestic, and also a yong man