Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 1.djvu/426

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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. I. MAY 21, '93.

must remind ME. LYNN that there is a con- siderable difference between an axis and a sphere or spheroid. That which I have pointed out ('Untrodden Ground,' p. 126) is that a formula invented by the late Prof. F. Baily, and given in vol. v. of the Memoirs of the Koyal Astronomical Society as a supposed accurate method of finding the proper motion of stars, for which paper the Gold Medal was given, is geometrically unsound.

It is indeed sad that MR. LYNN does not accept as true that the earth has a second rotation. I have, however, such confidence in the forces of nature that I believe this second rotation will continue in spite of him, just as the first, or daily rotation, still continues, in spite of the late Mr. John Hampden asserting that the earth had no rotation at all.

MR. LYNN, as a final proof, writes : " In the words of the Director of the Goodsell Observa- tory, ' there is no such second rotation of the earth.' " I must candidly admit that I do not accept this assertion as a proof, because from my thirty years' investigation I know it to be untrue. Also, I am disposed to think that M. C. Flammarion is a more competent geometrician than even MR. LYNN, and M. Flammarion, in his 'Astronomie Populaire,' liv. i. chap, iv., says :

" C'est la terre seule qui en est anime'e, et c'est elle qui accomplit pendant cette longue pe>iode une rotation oblique sur elle-meme en sens contraire de son mouvement de rotation diurne."

This was written by M. Flammarion twenty years after I had announced the same fact. A. W. DRAYSON, Major-General.

Southsea.

[We insert GENERAL DBAYSON'S communication because it deals with questions of alleged misrepre- sentation. This subject, which crops up afresh under different headings, is, however, quite un- suited to our pages, and its discussion snould be reserved for scientific periodicals.]

GOUDHURST, IN KENT (9 th S. i. 87, 154, 337, 374). I thank CANON TAYLOR for his cour- teous reply. It is unfortunate that I should have provoked PROP. SKEAT'S wrath; but it seems difficult to avoid that result. Had I known the old spelling and the present (authoritative) pronunciation, both of which I have, as he says, " carefully and persistently withheld," I would have mentioned them. As to the local pronunciation, I have found it vary from Gpud (rhyming with loud) to Goud (rhyming with mood). I therefore carefully, if not persistently, abstained from confusing the issue in that respect. That the pronun- ciation of the name to-day is any sure guide to the manner of pronouncing it which pre-

vailed eight or nine centuries ago is a thing which some people may believe. I do not. JULIAN MARSHALL.

ACQUISITION OF SURNAMES (9 th S. i. 346). [t is usual for peasants in Norway to adopt as a surname the name of the place in which Miey live. M.D.LoND.

PETT FAMILY OF BARNSTAPLE, co. DEVON (8 th S.ix. 107, 191, 237). A search through the parish registers of Bodmin, co. Cornwall, will no doubt elucidate this matter. What are the family arms? JAMES TALBOT.

Adelaide, South Australia.

ASCETIC (9 th S. i. 227). Surely the Greek a- is a negative prefix; so that if a-K^rr] meant a cottage, then CI-O-K^TIKOS would mean one who does not live in a cottage. So I heartily disbelieve the whole story.

WALTER W. SKEAT.

HOUSES WITHOUT STAIRCASES (9 th S. i. 166, 210, 356). CELER ET AUDAX may be right about the barracks at Aldershot : but I believe an outside staircase was the usual arrangement in old barracks. Indeed, it was almost necessary. Such was the case with the men's quarters in the garrison at Hull, which garrison dated from Henry VIII.'s time. I was very familiar with them before their demolition in 1862. Stories of such omissions are not uncommon, especially where the builder is his own architect. I can remember such traditions about houses in Hull, a city in which freeholds are easily obtainable. But they had no foundation in fact. W. C. B.

The vicarage of St. James's, Exeter, a build- ing of fine architectural proportions, was built, within my remembrance, from plans showing no provision for a staircase. The builder was the late Mr. Stiles, of Exeter, and the " extras " he claimed and obtained, over and above his contract price, for the rectifica- tion of the omission were, to say the least, most substantial. HARRY HEMS.

Mafeking, Bechuanaland.

KEFERENCE SOUGHT (9 th S. i. 229, 298). Mr. Alderman Firkins was the civic magnate who suffered " a sort of proud sorrow " the year after his mayoralty, and said to Gilbert Gurney, " Nor did I ever believe that society presented to its members an eminence so exalted as that which I once touched, or imagine a fall so great as that which I have experienced." The episode, worked out with amazing ingenuity and humour, occupies the greater part of cnap. ii. vol. iii. of ' Gilbert Gurney,' and, in a long note at the end of the