and it is always fulfilled. Hyder, in his disguise, calls out to Tippoo—'Cursed is the prince who barters justice for lust; he shall die in the gate by the sword of the stranger.' Tippoo was killed in a gateway at Seringapatam.
Orontii Finaei… Quadratura Circuli. Paris, 1544, 4to.
Orontius squared the circle out of all comprehension; but he was killed by a feather from his own wing. His former pupil, John Buteo, the same who—I believe for the first time—calculated the question of Noah's ark, as to its power to hold all the animals and stores, unsquared him completely. Orontius was the author of very many works, and died in 1555. Among the laudatory verses which, as was usual, precede this work, there is one of a rare character: a congratulatory ode to the wife of the author. The French now call this writer Oronce Finée but there is much difficulty about delatinisation. Is this more correct than Oronce Fine, which the translator of De Thou uses? Or than Horonce Phine, which older writers give? I cannot understand why M. de Viette should be called Viète, because his Latin name is Vieta. It is difficult to restore Buteo; for not only now is butor a block head as well as a bird, but we really cannot know what kind of bird Buteo stood for. We may be sure that Madame Fine was Denise Blanche; for Dionysia Candida can mean nothing else. Let her shade rejoice in the fame which Hubertus Sussannæus has given her.
I ought to add that the quadrature of Orontius, and solutions of all the other difficulties, were first published in 'De Rebus Mathematicis Hactenus Desideratis,' of which I have not the date.
Nicolai Raymari Ursi Dithmarsi Fundamentum Astronomicum, id est, nova doctrina sinnum et triangulorum.…Strasburg, 1588, 4to.
People choose the name of this astronomer for themselves: I take Ursus, because he was a bear. This book gave the quadrature of Simon Duchesne, or à Quercu, which excited Peter Metius, as presently noticed. It also gave that unintelligible reference to Justus Byrgius which has been used in the discussion about the invention of logarithms.
The real name of Duchesne is Van der Eycke. I have met with a tract in Dutch, Letterkundige Aanteekeningen, upon Van Eycke, Van Ceulen, &c., by J. J. Dodt van Flensburg, which I make out to be since 1841 in date. I should much like a trans-
