Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/311

 2 nd S. N" 15., APRIL 12. '56.]

NOTES AND QUERIES.

303

Baptismal Superstition (2 nd S. i._226.) In the west of Scotland there is something unlucky at- tached to telling the names of infants before they are christened or baptized. All curiosity till then must usually be suspended, and the child is hailed by its name after having been brought home from church.

In presenting the child to the minister for bap- tism, it is understood that the child's head must be supported on the right arm of the male parent, and that when a number of baptisms are to occur at the same time, all the male children take the precedence of the female. The best reason I have ever heard assigned for this certainly partakes of a superstitious order ; namely, that if the practice was reversed, the females when of age would be distinguished for that particular pilious ornament which garnishes the male chin. That any dis- tinction is made (as in the case adverted to, p. 226.) when the baptismal ceremony is performed by a married clergyman or a Calebs, must, I think, relate only to some country districts of England among the most ignorant of the population ; it, so far as I am aware, not having reached Scotland, where there are yet remnants enow of the " dark ages."

A custom existed in country places, but I think nearly now exploded, for a mother when carrying her child to church for baptism, to take along with her a considerable supply of bread and cheese, a portion of which was given to the first person she met on the public road after leaving ner house. I have had in such an instance a ivhang, or slice of the cheese forced upon me, and which it would have been accounted a high insult peremptorily to have refused. I consider that the pi'ocinion borne along was part of the bit/the meat presented to the friends in the house who had as- sembled after the birth to pay their congratula- tions to the pair who had been blessed with this addition to their number. It is not unlikely that in such offerings traces may be found referring to the period when the old Romans inhabited the Caledonian regions, which some of your learned correspondents will be able to canvass. G. N.

Common- Place Books (1 st S. xii. 366. 478.) In Lectures in Connection with the Educational Exhibition of the Society of Arts, delivered at St, Martins Hall, 8vo., Routledge, 1854, will be found an interesting paper on common-place books, with an account of a new plan with great merits, of forming a common-place book by gradual accu- mulation, " corresponding with the mental process by which sciences are built up." It is mentioned that fifty loose leaves, ruled, &c., with a stout portfolio, for this plan may be had, with directions, of Messrs. Street, 11, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, for one shilling. J. p.

Birmingham.

Philosophy of Societies (1 st S. xii. 126.) At the end of vol. ii. of Mr. Charles Bray's Philosophy of Necessity, two vols. 8vo., Longman & Co., 1841, will be found a full and interesting account of the principle of co-operation, and a historical review of the various attempts to bring it into practice, from the earliest times to the present day. In a more extensive sense, reference may be made to the second volume of the English translation of Auguste Comte's Philosophy, two vols. 8vo., John Chapman. J. P.

Birmingham.

Systems of Short-hand (2 nd S. i. 152. 263.) If " curious works " on this subject are note- worthy, there is the following :

" Short- Writing, The most Easie, Exact, Lineal, and Speedy Method that hath ever been Obtained or Taught. Composed by Theophilus Metcalfe, Author and Professor of the said Art. The last Edition. With a New Table for shortning of Words. Which Book is able to make the Practitioner perfect without a Teacher. As many hundreds in this city and elsewhere that are able to write Sermons word for word, can from their own Experience Testifie." London, 1674.

An additional engraved title to "the 10th Edi- tion " exhibits " The X. Commandments " in short-hand within the space of rather more than a square inch, and " The Lord's Prayer " in a circle somewhat less than a modern fourpenny- piece. Opposite, by way of frontispiece, is the effigy of " Theophilus Metcalfe, M r . in the Art of Short Writing." He holds in his right hand a book inscribed " RADIO-Stenografie," and be- neath are these verses :

" Ccesar was prais'd for his Dexterity

In Feates of Warr and Martiall Chevalry ;

And no less famous art thou for thy skill

In nimble turning of thy silver-quill ;

Which with the preacher's mouth houlds equall pace,

And swiftly glides along, vntill the race

Of his discourse be run, so that I thinke

His words breath'd from his mouth are turn'd to Inke."

Dr. Isaac Watts used Metcalfe's system of short-hand. S. W. Rix.

Beccles.

Discovery of the Safety-Voice (2 nd S. i. 240.) Both your correspondents seem in error as to the name of the party for whom they claim this discovery. I have now before me A Con- tinuation of the New Digester of Bones. Together with some Improvements and New Uses of the Air Pump, &c. By Denys Papin, M.D., F.R.S. (1687.) For Passin, therefore, read Papin ; regarding whom I find the following note in Evelyn's Diary (vol. ii. p. 166. edit. 1854):

" D. Papin, a French physician, and mathematician, who possessed so remarkable a knowledge of the mathe- matics, that he very nearly brought the invention of the steam engine into working order. He assisted Mr. Boyle in his pneumatic experiments, and was afterwards mathe- matical professor at Marburg. He died in 1710.",