256
NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. xn. SEPT. 125, 1909.
VIRGIN MARY'S NUT (10 S. xii. 187).
' The Century Dictionary ' mentions the
.Virgin Mary's Nut and also describes it as
- " snake's egg," but without any references.
I have not found either of these names in books on botany or superstition.
The ' ' Molukka beans ' ' referred to by Martin are noticed in the ' New English Dictionary ' under Molucca, as the fruit of a species of Bonduc, with a quotation from J. Wallace, ' Descr. Orkney' (1693), 14:
" Upon the Rocks you will find very ot't these
pretty Nutts [mary. *Molluca Beans], of which they use to make Snuff Boxes."
There is also one from J. Wallace, jun., ' Ace. Orkney ' (1700), ii. 36:
" After Storms of Westerly Wind, amongst the Sea- weed, they find commonly in places expos'd to the Western-Ocean these Phaseofi, that, I know not for what reason, go under the Name of Molucca Beans."
A. B. Lyons, ' Plant Names,' Detroit, 1907, says :
" The botanical name is Guilandina Bonduc, Linnseus (C. Bonduc., Boxb. ; G. glabra, Mill.). Florida and most tropical coasts. Seeds : Yellow Nicker-nuts or Nickar-nuts, Bonduc-nuts (from Arabic bondog, a necklace), Beazor-nuts, Molucca Bean ; Fr. (Eil de chat."
R. Bentley, ' Manual of Botany, ' 1 882, says :
"Guilandina (Ccesalpinia) Bonducella,t'he'Nicke r Tree. The seeds are very bitter, and possess tonic and antiperiodic properties. They are official in the Pharmacopeia of India, and have been em ployed with success in intermittent fevers, &c The seeds are also used for necklaces, rosaries, &c.'
TOM JONES.
This, the Molucca bean, is known scientific ally as Ccesalpinia Bonducella. See Jamie son's ' Etym. Diet. Scott. Lang.' and the
- Dialect Dictionary, ' s.v.
J. HOLDEN MACMlCHAEL.
The capsule of the West Indian plan Ipomc&a tuberasa is known as Virgin Marj kidney. Carried by the Gulf Stream, it i occasionally washed up on the shores of the Outer Hebrides. Its kidney shape, brown colour, and superficial cruciform hollow reasonably account for the popular nam and supposed prophylactic virtue. Why i was called " molluska bean " is not so ea=ul:s explained. WALTER CLARK.
Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh.
BISHOP HEBER : " ONLY MAN is VILE (10 S. xii. 206). ST. SWITHIN points ou that the story about the cheating Ceylo jeweller is evidently an invention, as Hebe wrote the hymn before he left England. H
id, indeed, make one change afterwards-
n that stanza, but it was not in the last line,
""his alteration (which has not been
enerally accepted) consisted in turning
Ceylon's isle " into " Java's isle," on which ! anon Julian remarks, " For what reason is- nknown." It does not appear that Heber fas ever in Java, but he was in Ceylon, and erhaps did not find the breezes there so- picy as he expected. W. T. LYNN.
Blackheath.
STROBE'S REGIMENT, 1760-64 (10 S. xii. 10). 'The Court and City Register' for he year 1762 states on p. 170 that the 62nd Regiment of Foot, whose colonel was Major- leneral William Strode, was stationed in reland that year ; but it does not state the own or garrison where the reginient was. W. H. CHIPPINDALL, Col.
5, Linden Road, Bedford.
On 21 April, 1758, the second battalion >f the 4th or King's Own Regiment was constituted the 62nd Regiment under Col. Wm. Strode, and sent to attack the French settlements in the West Indies. It embarked 900 strong under Lieut. -CoL >ump, and sailed in November of that year, anding in Barbadoes in January of the 'ollowing year. It served in the attacks on VEartinico and Guadeloupe, Col. Crump aeing appointed governor of the latter island, and the regiment remained in garrison there. In 1761 a detachment took part in the capture of Dominico, after which the detachment returned to Guadeloupe. In 1762 the regiment took part in the capture of Grenada, St. Lucie, and St. Vincent. Leaving a small detachment in Guadeloupe, the regiment took part in the reduction of Havana. It then returned to Guadeloupe, and served in the Leeward Islands until the Peace of Fontainebleau, when all those hard- won acquisitions were restored to the French and Spanish monarchs. In the spring of 1764 the regiment quitted the West Indies, arrived in England in July of that year, and commenced recruiting its dimin- ished numbers (' Historical Record of the Fourth Regiment of Foot,' pp. 53-60).
A. RHODES.
COCKBURNSPATH : MAXWELL (10 S. X.
430; xi. 72, 212, 335, 436; xii. 213). When I replied in good faith (10 S. xi. 436) to DR. MILNE'S comments (10 S. xi. 335) upon certain place-names, I had not realized that his purpose was to satirize the efforts of students in place-names. Lest some other reader may be as slow as myself in
