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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. v. JAN. 13, 1900.

"HAIL, QUEEN" OF HEAVEN, THE OCEAN STAR." Who is the author of this most popular Catholic hymn ? In 'Hymns for the Ecclesiastical Year' (Art and Book Co., 1895) it is ascribed to Dr. Lingard.

S. GREGORY OULD, O.S.B.

" FARNTOSH." This appears to be the name of some Scottish dish or delicacy. It is coupled by J. W. Bos well, writing in 1828, with " crowd y " and "haggis" in a poetical skit upon Burns. The word is unknown to the Oxford and Dialect dictionaries and to Jamieson. Can any one explain it ?

C. DEEDES.

Brighton.

FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. Gibbon,
 * Decline and Fall,' chap, xxx., says :

"The Chinese annals, as they have been in- terpreted by the learned industry of the age, may be usefully applied to reveal the secret and remote causes of the fall of the Roman Empire."

Has any author, either in a separate treatise or as part of another work, dealt exhaustively with this subject ? A. F. H.

Perth.

WILLIAM DUFF. Among manuscripts, papers, <fcc., belonging to the late Thomas Baines, F.R.G.S., the African traveller, I came across a book of blacklead drawings and water-colour sketches (Graham's Town, Algoa Bay, &c.) signed " G. Duff," and dated 1843-5. Who was the artist, and was he in any way related to William Duff? H. J. HILEEN.

" TANKAGE." The following sentences are taken from the United States ' Year-Book of the Departmentof Agriculture, 1898,' pp. 283-4:

" If the surface soil does not already contain sufficient available plant food, this should be supplied in the form of barn-yard manure or com- mercial fertilizers ; those containing large per- centages of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash in readily available forms are most valuable. Among such are muriate of potash, ground bone, cotton seed meal, and tankage."

" Tankage," I surmise, means urine or liquid manure ; if so, has the word been often used in this sense in English technical works ? R. HEDGER WALLACE.

DR. HAYDEN, OF DUBLIN. George Thomas Hayden, a medical graduate of T.C.D., living 1854, was author of several medical works as well as of 'The Present State of Ireland : a Brief Dialogue between an Irishman and an Englishman.' Any particulars regarding him will be appreciated. SIGMA TAU.

that said, holding 'The Book of Praise' in one hand and 'The Golden Treasury of Songs
 * TiiE BOOK OF PRAISE,' &c.~ Who was it

and Lyrics' in the other, that while the 'ormer contains scarcely anything that is jood, the latter contains scarcely anything ihat is not good ? It was recently attributed
 * >y a London daily paper to Mr. Gladstone,

3ut I have always heard it attributed to Dr. Martineau. C. C. B.

FATHER GORDON. Of what family was Father Gordon, who was at the head of the Scotch College in Paris in the middle of the "ast century ? H. T. B.

SLANG, WHEN FIRST USED. When did this

word become one of the expressions in

oristant use 1 I find it in Woty's ' Fugitive

and Original Poems' (1786), p. 28. The

passage runs as follows :

Did ever Cicero's correct harangue Rival this flowing eloquence of slang ?

And a note adds, "A cant word for vulgar language " W. P. COURTNEY.

Reform Club.

TALTARUM, A SURNAME. One of the most famous cases in the history of the common law is that of Taltarum, in the twelfth year of Edward IV., wherein it was de- cided that a common recovery might be applied to the barring of an estate -tail. Whence did the odd name of Taltarum originate ; and is it extinct 1 Du Cange gives Talterium as equivalent to Silva ccedua; and this may possibly furnish the reply to my first query. RICHARD H. THORNTON.

Portland, Oregon.

" ANCHYLOSTOMEASIS." This word, I am told, represents a disease from which the Belgian miners suffer, and inquiry is being made from the Home Office as to whether the disease is known among Welsh miners. Can any reader give me the meaning of the word ? It is not given in the ' H.E.D.

D. M. R.

WILLIAM CECIL, LORD BURLEIGH. What authorities can I consult, other than Froude's and Lingard 's histories, 'Diet. Nat. Biog.,'and Macaulay's essay upon Nares's and Hume's 'Lives,' for biographical details relating to this statesman ? W. B. GERISH.

Hoddesdon, Herts.

[Surely Nares's 'Life of Burleigh.']

EGYPTIAN CHESSMEN. While visiting a private museum in Camberwell I became much interested in some remarkable objects, such as I have not noticed elsewhere. I was informed that they were very rare and of ancient Egyptian origin. They are made of alabaster, and consist of about a dozen