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NOTES AND QUERIES.

[9 th S. II. AUG. 6, 'i

among the recent biographies of Bunyan, although perhaps this is scarcely a matter for surprise, as biographers are prone to take a very favourable view of their subject's life and compositions. I am anxious to learn what has become of the "collections" above referred to, assuming the proposed work never saw the light (and a vigilant search has failed to reveal its existence), and to ascertain if any other Bunyan student has ever dealt with this vexed question. In an age when so much is made of the Bacon-Shakespeare con- troversy it seems worth while to set at rest any doubts as to the real authorship of almost as widely read a work as that of Shakespeare. W. B. GERISH.

Hoddesdon, Herts.

BIRCH. Can any genealogical reader of 'N. & Q.' kindly give me information respecting the ancestors or descendants of the late Richard Birch, alias Richard Ormond Birch, a solicitor, who was born in Maryle- bone, and practised (about fifty years ago) in New Bridge Street, Blackfriars, and else- where in London ? The deceased is described as Richard Birch in certificates Of baptism, marriage, and death, and as Richard Ormond Birch in certificate of burial.

J. BASIL BIRCH.

15, Eckington Road, Stamford Hill, N.

MRS. NORTON'S ' THE DREAM.' In an "appreciation" of Mrs. Norton, written by Mrs. Alexander for 'Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign ' it is remarked (p. 289) :

" It is a curious instance of the change of fashion and the transient nature of popular memory that great difficulty is experienced in obtaining copies of Mrs. Norton's works, especially of her poems. 'The Undying One,' 'The Dream,' and one or two smaller pieces are found only in the British Museum Library."

Is this a fact ? If it be so, I ought to re- gard with other eyes than hitherto a highly respectable copy of ' The Dream, and other Poems,' second edition, 1841, which has its place among my books. ST. SWITHIN.

THE PLOUGHING OP THE EMPEROR OF CHINA. In Emerson's essay on 'Greatness 1 in 'Letters and Social Aims' the following passage occurs :

"There is so much to be done that we ought to begin quickly to bestir ourselves. This day-labour of ours, \ve confess, has hitherto a certain emble- matic air, like the annual ploughing and sowing of the Emperor of China."

I have a print designed by C. Fisen and engraved by D. Nee in 1773 of the emperor, who is guiding a plough behind two oxen,

surrounded by wondering worshippers and many members of his court, a pagoda and pavilion in the background. An attendant with an ox-goad is beating the oxen on the right of the emperor. I should like to know more about this annual festival, what signifi- cance it had, and whether the emperor still humbles himself in this manner at the present time. WM. GUSHING BAMBURGH.

WILD FOREST BULLS. Were the wild bulls we read about in the early days of our history black, red, or white? I find it generally assumed that they were white ; was it so ? I shall be glad of references which distinctly refer to the colour of the Bos silvestris.

R. HEDGER WALLACE,

F VCSIMILE OF SIGNATURE AS MARK OF OWNER- SHIP. A copy of Hpussaie's 'History of the Government of Venice,' 1677, which recently came into my possession, once belonged to Robert Harley. In addition to his name and arms stamped on the outside of each cover and his fine book-plate within, it bears, in gold letters on the back of the title-page, what I assume to be a facsimile of his signature, " Ro : Harley." Was this last mark of ownership usual in his day ? Any early instances would oblige. CHAS. GILLMAN.

Church Fields, Salisbury.

USE OF Low LATIN IN THE CLASSICAL PERIOD. Is there any treatise handling this topic intelligently? It is sufficiently plain that, even in the Augustan age, comparatively few persons spoke the pure Latin of Horace and Cicero. It would seem, for example, that caballus was the popular word for equus ; and that it proved stronger in the long run is demonstrated by Fr. cheval, Sp. caballo, &c. I am aware that caballus is used once or twice by Horace, as in the well-known line :

Optat ephippia bos ; piger optat errare caballus, but the word was Low Latin for all that. Was there not a corresponding use of testa for captit ? Du Cange quotes Ausonius :

Abjecta in triviis inhumati glabra jacebat Testa hominis, nudum jam cute calvitium.

It would be interesting to trace this meaning to an earlier date. I have a suspicion that rostrum was applied to a man's nose as well as to the beak of a bird, and that it camo to be applied to the face as a whole. How otherwise did rostro in Spanish come to mean the countenance? See the Sp. New Test., passim. RICHARD H. THORNTON.

Portland, Oregon.

BRITISH COLONIAL REGISTERS OF BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, AND DEATHS. At the sitting of