Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 6.djvu/548

 456 ° NOTES AND QUERIES. we S. VI- DEC. s. ww. (Murray, 1894). In April, 1775, from the balcony of his lodgings at Orleans, Jekyll saw a criminal broken on the wheel. In a letter to his father  13) he enters minutely into the sickening etails, adding that “ the crime of the unfortunate creature was burglary as we learnt from his sentence, which is posted up at every corner of the streets.” THOMAS HUTCHINSON. At p. 13 of the ‘Correspondence of Mr. Joseph J ekyll,’ published by Murray in 1894, there is an account of this horrible punish- ment a.s witnessed by Mr. Jekyll himself at Orleans in April, 1775, nearly half a century later than the instances given by MR. MACMICIIAEL. R. MAnsHAM-TowNsIIIsNn. “J1NNI:'r”: “JINTED” (9°“ S. vi. 369).- Halliwell’s ‘Dictionary’ gives “Je'nnets, a species of fur.” The fur was taken from the genet, a genus of the civet family. There is an illustration showing the animal in the ‘ Encyclopaedia Britannica] x. 146. Its fur is s ken o as “soft and beautifully spotted.” }iDl;)ewhe|'e, xv. 436, the fur is described as “ short and soft, spotted or cloudy.” ARTHUR MAYALL. I.O.U. (9°" S. v. 475 ; vi. 14, 74, 276, 336).- This correspondence recalls abbreviations on ol<%)posy‘ 'I-Ell:g8i ag., “ I cannkqt shog ghe lOi6 I .” e ove is truetat .’ t would be interesting if the earliest date of a ring sith thedlatter posy ci>)uld1&e given, as it ears in irect on R. URRAY’S query. See _Jones’s ¥Finger- Ring Lore’ (Chatto & Wlndus, 1877,  399 et seq.). In the case of rings such revity was often imperagive. A; a   instaince may I quote rom t e same oo p. 407) - “On a mediaeval armillary ring, consisting of eight ringséhone Evghin the other, each having a portion o e mo : W.IEfigure of a hearrg] A. 3' D. G. CS T. .A.L.A.R.C . SIYV here heart and hand do give consent, here live and love and rest content.) H. E. M. St. Petersburg. “ I.O.U. 5s.” is a memorandum signed by the borrower of five shillings, and handed at the time of borrowing by him direct to the lender (“ you ”), and how “ owe unto” can be used in this way I fail to see. Because we lawyers make use of “exs. and ads.” for “executors and administrators,” and many other like abbreviations, I cannot make out what it has to do with the plain meaning of I.O.U. (I owe you). Even assuming the old book of precedents referred to to be of some value, the words in question, “ I owe unto,” are fol- lowed by other words to make sense, and these words will doubtless put a different complexion on the meaning than “I owe you.” R. R-R. Pmcns or PARCHMENT AND VELLUM (9*" S. vi. 328).-The following entries from the Ex- chequer Rolls of Scotland may assist in fixing the prices of parchment in the fourteenth cen- tury. To get at the real price we must compare the money paid for other articles so as to ascertain the purchasing power of the pound, shilling, and penny. A number of the entries only give the sum paid, and give no state- ment of the quantity of parchment received. In 1342, however, a rather fuller statement appears. In 1329, 31. 12s. ld. was paid for archment, and 2s. for ink ; in 1330, ll. ls. 3d. For parchment, 2s. for ink; in 1331, ll. 7s. lld. for parchment; in 1337, 4s. for parchment, and 5s. was id for one stone of wax for lights for the Eiichequer ; 1342, 18s. for twelve dozen parchments (“ Et per dluodecim duo- denas rgameni, er tempus u'us com ti et propescaccaridi). In the Einglish rlgx- chequer Miscellanea in 1304-5, 40s. was paid for parchment for rolls, extents, and other letters. The most likely source of informa- tion will be the account rolls of the various religious houses that are still to the fore. J. G. WALLACE-JAMES, M.B. Haddington. In the index to ‘ Durham Account Rolls’ (Surtees Soc.), now in the press, are fifty-two references to archment and one to vellum, some of which afford indications of price. Pp. 1-576 have been issued, and 577-743 are rinted. If your correspondent wishes, I will send him the index references, and will look up all after p. 576 and let him know the result. At p. 626 we find, in a bursar’s account, c. 1440: “Et in pergameno et papiro, viz. in 6 pellibus de velym, 2s. 6d., et in 12 pell. de mutylyn, 3s., et in 4°' quaternis papiri, 20d.” But I am afraid there are not many entries as good as that one. J. T. F. Durham. BILL: WILLIAM BILL (9°‘“ S. vi. 265).-In 1853 a man in Missouri of this name called his twin sons Fugitive Slave and Kansas Nebraska. The latter is still living, the former died young. O. H. DARLINGTON. COUNTING ANo'rnEn’s BU'r'roNs (9°*‘ S. v. 496 ; vi. 30, 273, 371).-When I was a school- boy in Herefordshire, 1873-4, we used to cast each other’s horoscope by means of plum, or cherry, or damson stones left on our plates