Page:Notes and Queries - Series 2 - Volume 1.djvu/86

 KOTES AND QUERIES.

- 26. '56.

the same ambiguity of expression which exists in 26 Geo. II. c. 33., is repeated in 4 Geo. IV. c. 76., yet the publication of banns after the Second Lesson has oftentimes been found to be very con- venient, as it enables the parties, immediately after the third publication, to be then married in the face of the whole congregation, a proceeding which I myself have frequently witnessed. Now, if the publication were' deferred until after the reading of the Nicene Creed, the parties could not be married on that day, as the solemnization of the marriage could not take place during the canonical hours, i. e. between 8 A.M. and 12 at noon.

Cripps, in his book on Ecclesiastical Law, has made a strange blunder on this subject. At p. 642. he states that,

" By the Rubric it is ordered that the banns of all that are to be married together, must be published in the church, three several Sundays or holidays, in the time of divine service, immediately after the sentences for the Offer- tory."

And in a foot-note he refers us to the Rubric in Office of Matrimony. That this is no typogra- phical error, or one of mere inadvertence on the part of the author, is thus shown. After the above, he proceeds to speak of the alteration, made by statute, ordaining the publication to take place after the Second Lesson. And he thereunto appends this foot-note :

" It may probably be inferred from this alteration that it was not customary at that time to read the sentences of the Offertory generally on every Sunday."

It is quite clear, therefore, that he fully be- lieved that the ordained time for the publication of banns was after the sentences in the Offertory ; whereas the slightest attention to the Rubric would have told him that the publication was to take place after the Nicene Creed, and before the sermon, and consequently before the aforemen- tioned sentences. ANON.

" On Tuesday morning, which happened to be a holiday, she went to church, where, to her surprise, Mr. Adams published the banns again with as audible a voice as before. It was lucky for her that, as there was no sermon, she had an immediate opportunity of returning home to vent her rage, which she could not have concealed from the congregation five minutes." Adventures of Joseph Andrews, bk. IV. ch. iv.

The above shows'the practice of publishing the banns during the Communion Service ; but is the novelist accurate in representing them to be pub- lished on a holiday ? K. M.

It may illustrate this subject to state that the Rubric quoted from the Oxford Prayer Book of 1745 is retained verbatim in all the Prayer Books of the Irish branch of the United Church, and that the practice is in accordance with it ; banns

of matrimony being published immediately after the Nicene Creed during Morning Service. B.

NAPHTHALINE.

(2 nd S. i. 12.)

PHOSPHILOS must reckon upon having his lights put out several times a year so long as he permits the gas-fitter to come and go, with his many tools, without being required to give an account of his doings. The supply-pipe being " choked with naphthaline," is part of the gas-fitter's "pre- serve," as much so as a wood or coppice, of ten or twenty acres, is for other kinds of game.

Naphthaline is a cause of great anxiety and trouble to some of the manufacturers of gas. It is very irregular in its habits, sometimes pre- senting itself when least expected, and at others staying away when every preparation has been made for its arrival. Under ordinary circum- stances it constitutes one of the many forms of hydro-carbon vapour present in coal-gas. So long as it retains that form it is useful, helping to increase the illuminating properties of the gas. It is present, in greater or less proportions, in probably all kinds of coal-gas ; but its tendency to separate, and assume a solid form, is dependent on some particular qualities of the coal. Sudden and extreme changes of temperature are favour- able to the crystallisation of naphthaline. It is not, however, when the temperature of the atmo- sphere falls, but when it suddenly rises, that mains and service-pipes are most commonly choked. I have long been an observer of such matters. When the atmosphere is highly charged with electricity, the deposit of naphthaline is greater in a few hours than at other times in many weeks, or even months.

When gas passes from a comparatively warm main to a cold service-pipe, especially if the latter be exposed to the direct influence of the atmo- sphere, the conditions are favourable to the crys- tallisation of naphthaline. So also if the velocity of the current of gas be increased by being forced through a small aperture or if there be a burr (rough edge) at the junction of the pipes, any- thing, in fact, to act as a nucleus there is greater probability of an obstruction at ^ such places than any others. If the meter be in an exposed situation, the sudden setting in of cold weather will be likely to cause a choking, by naphthaline, at some of the unions; helped forward, no doubt, by galvanic action of the different metals, lead, brass, and iron. In such cases the tubing and meter should be protected by hay or matting, or pieces of old carpeting.

From these hints I hope PHOSPHILOS, and others interested, will be able not only to discover the