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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. n. NOV. 12, '<

to scents, as have other evil spirits. The Larvse, the evil spirits of the Komans, were driven from graves by burnt beans, the odour of which they could not endure. Other evil spirits have also been overcome by strong smells :

So entertained those odorous smells the Fiend Who came their bane, though with them better

pleased

Than Asmodeiis with the fishy fume That drove him, though enamoured, from the

spouse Of Tobit's son.

' Paradise Lost,' bk. iv. lines 166-70. E. YARDLEY.

One Kaikobad was " Ala ed-din Kaikobad, the most powerful and illustrious prince of this branch of the Seljuks "; but he was poisoned by his son Ghiyats ed-din Kai- khosrau in 1234 ('Encyclopaedia Britannica,' xxi. 637). EDWARD H. MARSHALL, M.A.

Hastings.

SILHOUETTES OF CHILDREN (9 th S. ii. 307, 353). These were much in vogue when I was young, in the thirties, and I have seen a good many at different times. In the country town in which I resided a man came round regularly once a year, when, by arrangement, he would come to any private house and cut out any member of the family in a very short space of time ; and very recognizable profiles they were. I think they were most the fashion between 1835 and 1845. I go by the costume ; the majority of those I have seen and some I have represent the girls in short dresses with the long frilled trousers reaching to the ankle worn about that period. Of course, I know this style of dress was being worn by a few as early as 1830, and continued, but with considerable curtailment, well into the fifties, when it disappeared from sight. It is probable, in the groups referred to by MR. TUER, that he will find each figure cut out separately and stuck on cardboard. At least I have a group so done. In many cases the figures were touched up with gold, the hair, face, and frills of the dress being the portion so decorated. There were also sheets of figures in black published, relieved with white lines, having a very good effect. These were very cheap, and I think were sold by Ackermann. Those I have are cut out from the sheet, so that I am not able to give the name of the publisher. JAS. B. MORRIS.

Eastbourne.

From the Earl Poulett I gather that these interesting and clever silhouettes were pro- bably the handiwork of the first wife whose initials were A. L. of the fourth Earl

Poulett, of Poulett Lodge, Twickenham. What the initials M. G. stand for his lordship does not know. ANDREW W. TUER.

The Leadenhall Press, E.G.

If it is permissible to refer to a process exactly the reverse of that described upon p. 354 of the current volume, ARTIST should glance at some illustrations by Mrs. Jane Cook to two of the 'Ingoldsby Legends,' which for freedom and grace it would be difficult to surpass. All the figures, cut with a penknife, whether adults, children, or animals, are instinct with life. R. B.

Upton.

OLDEST PARISH REGISTER (8 th S.xi. 108, 215; 9 th S. ii. 35, 133, 176, 278). My attention has been called to the discussion of this subject in the pages of ' N. &, Q.,' arid particularly to the quotation by MR. E. H. MARSHALL of 1504 as the date of the register of Alfriston, Sussex. As I must clearly hold myself responsible for giving this date, I have referred to my MS. notes on alleged early registers, and I find that Alfriston is there credited with having entries of seven mar- riages during the years 1504-5. I have not personally verified this statement, but it has been more than once submitted to the vicar without correction, and has just now been again returned unaltered for the new edition of the ' Sussex Directory.' As to the printed return of 1831, I have over and over again

Goved it to be untrustworthy, and it would easy to quote instances in which the dates given are wholly incorrect. It was compiled from particulars furnished by the clergy in answer to official inquiries, and this method of compilation is no doubt to a large extent answerable for the inaccuracy of the volume. It is high time, I think, that a new return of parish registers was made ; but it must be the work of experts, and not of the clergy, of whom some I know, and many as I suspect, are quite unable to read the early registers in their keeping.

I have made out from time to time a con- siderable list of parish registers of an earlier alleged date than 1538, and if it will be of advantage to the readers of ' N. & Q.,' I shall be glad to send a copy thereof for publica- tion, which might, at any rate, assist in the disproval or verification of the dates alleged.

THE TOPOGRAPHICAL EDITOR OF 'KELLY'S COUNTY DIRECTORIES.'

I have now seen the extracts from the registers of Alfriston in the Burrell MS. Col- lection, Brit. Mus., vol. 5697, p. 302, and it is there stated that the marriages commence 1544, baptisms 1538, and burials 1547. This