Page:Notes and Queries - Series 12 - Volume 1.djvu/204

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [12 s. L MAR. 4, in*. I may state incidentally that the popular terms "Poll" and "Polly" as pet names for Mary appear to me (see 10 S. xii. 405) to have originated from the Latin pullam or pullum, the young of an animal, especially of horses, peacocks, bees, fowls, &c. In Walloon, a purely Romance tongue, evolved from Latin quite independently of literary French, this word became polle, also the young of an animal. To quote my former remarks, ''loc. cit.:—''

"A young parrot would naturally be called 'a pretty poll,' and as naturally learn to repeat the phrase; while the same appellation might be predicated of an image of the Virgin, the word being used in Walloon for maidens generally."

This etymology is, I think, greatly to be preferred to the conjectural Molly-Polly, Meg-Peg theory as regards the name Mary.

In Latin, besides being applied in the senses already noted, pullus was used as a term of endearment in speaking of animal pets. Thus in the 'Casina' of Plautus we have: "Meus pullus passer, mea columba"; so I think it is a fair assumption that the genesis of that familiar name Polly may be far more ancient than is generally supposed at the present time.

As to "parrot," the most likely solution of its etymology for it presents many difficulties in relation to the French Pierrot seems through the secondary type parakeet, Italian parachetto, diminutive of parroco, a parson, just as French moineau, a sparrow, comes from moine, a monk. Either this, or the Spanish periquito, diminutive of pericv, a wig, in allusion to the bird's peculiar headgear, may be the actual source. Perico is also one of the familiar Spanish variants of Pedro, Peter. Personally, I should favour the Italian derivation of this word.

N. W. HILL.

CLEOPATRA AND THE PEARL (12 S. i. 128). From the ' Life of George Hartley,' by Mrs. Alec Tweedie, we learn that this careful investigator doubted the well- quoted story of Cleopatra's costly draught. He recorded the following interesting facts :

" Shell-fish pearls are not nearly so easily dissolved in strong vinegar as the interesting tale of Cleopatra having taken a large pearl from her ear, and after having dissolved it in vinegar drunk it to the health of her lover Antony, woiild lead us to believe ; for during our experiments we have learned that not only does it take many days to dissolve out the mineral constituents of a large pearl in cool vinegar, but that it even requires several hours to extract the mineral matter by boiling vinegar, from a pearl no

bigger than a garden pea. While in neither case, moreover, can the pearl be then made* to disappear, as from the fact of the organic matrix of a pearl being \vholly insoluble in vinegar, even after every particle of the earthy substance has been removed, it still remains in the same shape, bulk, and almost iden- tical appearance as before. Hence we fear- that if the Cleopatra legend is to be believed at all, it requires considerable modifications ere it can be brought into harmony with scientific truth. There is indeed only one way in which a large pearl, such as that which Cleopatra is said to have employed, could be dissolved in vinegar at a supper table, and that is by having it com- pletely pulverized by a hard hammer and a strong arm before applying the vinegar to it- For once the mineral constituents of a pearl hav& been reduced to the state of an impalpable powder they not only readily dissolve, but effervesce like a seidlitz-powder though much less strongly when brought into contact with strong vinegar, and thus, on their being diluted with water, may be transformed into what might be called a cooling lover's potion." From an article quoted pp. 303, 304.

ST. SWITHIN.

As acetic acid, which constitutes the sour element of vinegar, acts as a powerful solvent both of gum resins and also of metallic oxides, such as copper, I think there can be little doubt that such a substance as pearl or mother-of-pearl would dissolve in vinegar. A. R. BAYLEY.

'THE GENTLEMAN'S CALLING' (11 S. xiu 27, 87, 487).' The Gentleman's Calling ' is attributed at the British Museum, interroga- tively, to Humphrey Henchmann, Bishop first of Salisbury (Oct. 28, 1660), and then of London, who lived from 1 592 until 1 675. But the Catalogue does not mention the edition of 1664, which one finds in the Bodleian Library. There the book is attributed to Dr. Richard Allestree. That edition con- tains a letter recommending it to Mr. Garthwait, the publisher, at the end of which occur the words : " Sarum, 27 Octob^ 1659. Your assured Friend, Hum. H." Does the fact that he was oppressed by the- Cromwellites account for his not avowing himself the author of the treatise ? Has it been proved to be the work of Allestree ? E. S. DODGSON.

The Oxford Union Society.

STICKING-PLASTER PORTRAITS (12 S. i. 109, 153). Mrs. Nevill Jackson, in her book on silhouettes, does not mention sticking- plaster as having been used for cutting portraits. However, she gives a quotation, from Swift's ' Miscellanies ' (1745), vol. x. p. 204, describing how " Lady Betty " takes a portrait in silk. MERVARID.