Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 7.djvu/414

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9* s. VIL MAY 25, 1001.

derful tree, the other from the Otomi ma gite, flesh. My objection to these suggestions is that each of the dialects already possessed a name for the plant, the Aztecs calling it metl, while the Otomi term was na guada, so that it seems unlikely either of them would coin a second. The notion that the word is Mexi- can must have been based, I fancy, upon the statement of Dr. Francisco Hernandez in his 4 Cuatro Libros de la Naturaleza,' 1615, reprinted 1888, p. 216: "La planta llamada metl es la que los Mexicanos llaman maguey." Marcgrave also, in his ' Hist. Nat. Brasilise,' edited by De Laet, 1648, p. 88, refers to " Metl quse Mexicanis dicitur maguey." De Laet himself, however, in his 'Nouveau Monde,' 1640, p. 139, speaks of "Le maguey dit des Mexiquains metl," just the reverse of the preceding. It is noteworthy that both Hernandez and Marograve oppose the Aztec metl to the Mexican maguey. I am therefore inclined to think they intended " Mexican " in the sense of "Spanish," which would solve all difficulties. My present impression is, then, that this hitherto unexplained word was very early caught up by the Spaniards in the West Indies, and naturalized in Mexico.

JAS. PLATT, Jun.

" ALEWIVES." In a case I recently had to try here some part of the subject-matter in dispute consisted of a considerable number of barrels of "alewives," known here as "shads," or a large kind of herring, which were in pickle. They were consigned from Nova Scotia, so the term no doubt comes from that colony. I am sorry that I have not my General Indexes to 'N. & Q.' here with me, so that I might see whether this term in connexion with the fishing or rather- fish trade has been noticed before. Perhaps j some correspondent of ' N. & Q.' can throw light upon the term. J. S. UDAL.

Antigua, W.I.

[The 'H.E.D.' describes the alewife as "an American fish (Clupea serrata) closely allied to the herring." Of the etymology it says: "Corrupted from 17th c. aloof e ; taken by some to be an Ame- rican Indian name ; according to others a literal error for Fr. alose, a shad. Further investigation is required."]

STOCK EXCHANGE CENTENARY. On Satur- day last the members of the Stock Exchange made holiday to celebrate the centenary of the laying of the foundation stone of their first building. The exchange of stocks in London commenced more than two centuries back, the business being then conducted in the open air. A writer in the Daily Graphic states that the name " Stock Exchange " was not coined until 1773, when rooms were hired

for business purposes at New Jonathan's in Sweeting Alley, and the place was called "The Stock Exchange "" which is to be wrote over the door." The brokers, however, determined to have a building of their own,- and on the 18th of May, 1801, Mr. William Hammond, the chairman of the then Com- mittee of Management, laid the foundation stone of the Exchange which has since been so considerably extended. The Daily Tele- graph mentions the curious fact that the stone was lost during the rebuilding in 1853-4, and when it was discovered in 1883 it was found to contain a plate with the subjoined inscription :

" On May 18, in the year 1801, and 41 of George III., the first stone of this building, erected by private subscription, for transaction of business in the public funds, was laid in the presence of the pro- prietors, and under the direction of William Ham- mond, William Steer, Thomas Roberts, Griffith Jones. William Grey, Isaac Hensley, Jo. Brackshaw, John Capel, and John Barnes, managers ; James Peacock, architect. At this era, the first of the union between Great Britain and Ireland, the public funded debt had accumulated in five succes- sive reigns to 552,730,924/. The inviolate faith of the British nation, and the principles of the consti- tution, sanction and secure the property embarked in this undertaking. May the blessing of the con- stitution be secured to the latest posterity."

The building was opened for business in March, 1802, the subscription being then ten guineas, payable annually. The members then numbered 500. The present number is given as 4,673, each paying 40. per annum. Among notable visitors have been the Prince of Wales in 1885, the Duke of York in 1897, and Lord Kitchener after the taking of Khartoum. A. N. Q.

GIPSIES AND LONGEVITY. The Brighton Herald of the 18th of May states that Sammy Lee, the " Gipsy King," said to have been the father of Gipsy Lee, the famous fortune-teller at the Devil's Dyke, has just died at the age of 103, having been born in 1798. He claimed the distinction, of which he was very proud, of being a thoroughbred gipsy, a real " Romany dial." He leaves a sister who is 102 years of age. It would be interesting if Mr. Theodore Watts-Dunton, or some other authority on gipsy folk-lore, could inform us whether gipsies generally live to a great age, and what constitutes a " gipsy king." N. S. S.

"LIFE'S WORK WELL DONE." (See ante, p. 369.) Mrs. J9hn Mills, Hale, Cheshire, writes as follows in reference to the query :

" The lines inquired about were written January, 1878, to the memory of a brother who died in 1877, by Mr. John Mills, banker, of Manchester. He had the last line in two forms, one as quoted by your