134 NOTES AND QUERIES. [iis.vn. FEB. 15,191* been common) can be thought more feasible than the one accepted by Wootton. The notching of the rolled pill-mass is clearly a comparatively modern device for saving trouble, with a view to cheapness. " Pill-a- cosher " is rarely, if ever, asked for in better- class pharmacies. A correspondent of The Chemist and Druggist says that in his 'pren- tice days it was sold (apparently not notched) in " pipes — the length and diameter of twelve 5-grain pills," at the rate of two pipes for three-halfpence ! The formula was aloes, jalap, and colocynth—that of the old Pil. Coccice was aloes, scammony, and colocynth —with an excipient. He adds :— " The customers, I presume, bit off sufficient for their requirements, uhich would make ' pilules (?) omcinales qui purgent fortement.' It always reminded me of the farmer who never required medicine. He chewed the end of a horse- ball occasionally, but then ' he never wanted no doctor's physic, he said." This speaks for itself, and the writer's note of interrogation after " pilules " is signifi- cant. C. C. B. DIED IN HIS COFFIN (11 S. vi. 468; vii. 96).—I know of two cases that occurred within five miles of one another. William Teanby, an eccentric schoolmaster at Winter- ton, Lines, who died 15 May, 1810, had Jong used a plain square headstone, with quaint epitaphs incised by himself, as his table, and his coffin as a cupboard (Asso- ciated Societies' Transactions, xix. 373).* Marmaduke Constable, Esq., of Walcot, in the parish of Alkborough, who died towards the middle of the last century, had his coffin made many years beforehand. J. T. F. Durham. Some twelve or fifteen years ago there died in the North Country an old gentleman (with whom formerly I had some acquaint- ance) of remarkable intelligence, an occa- sional writer on economic subjects. I am not aware that he was " eccentric," but I was told that he had a coffin made for him- aelf and kept it up-ended in his bedroom or dressing-room. I asked a near relative of his not long ago if this story was correct. He said, Yes ; that it was done to save pain and trouble at death ; that the coffin —I think it stood in an alcove or recess— was fitted with hooks, and was used as a hanging wardrobe—I think, with a curtain before it. Very sensible, too. D. O.
- Here for " Crewell we feel the friendly stroke,"
Ac., read Ere irelt, &c. "DOPE," "TO DOPE," "DOPEB" (11 S. vi. 508 ; vii. 35, 97).—J. Redding Ware, the author of ' Passing English of the Victorian Era' (London, Routledge, n.d.), also attri- butes an American origin to " doping," and says the term came to be heard in England in the summer of 1900. He suggests it may have been derived from a proper name, but that is only somebody's guess. L. R. M. STRACHAX. Heidelberg. Perhaps one of your American readers can explain the following use of the word " dope." A commercial circular was sent by a firm to a correspondent in the United States, and his reply began : "I am in receipt of your dope circular." Judging from the context, the word was not intended to be used in an uncomplimentary sense; but what is its precise meaning ? B. T. K. SMITH. THE MURDER OF SABAH STOUT AT HERT- FORD (US. vi. 469; vii. 31).—Referring to MR. COURTNEY'S reply, I may mention that the bibliographers of the National Library are not the only scholars who have forgotten (?) "Sarah," to judge by a letter signed " A Puzzled Inquirer" that ap- peared in The Westminster Gazette of 17 Oct., 1910. I think the letter is worth reproducing in 'N. & Q.' IGNORANCE IN HIGH PIAOES. To the Editor of The Westminster Gazelle. 1 H..MI SIR,—An interesting collection of Quakci letters has just been issued. The volume con- tains a preface by a leading statesman [Augustine Birrell] who ia also famous in literature. It U edited by a lady bearing a name known in literary circles for several generations [Mrs. Locker-Lamp- son]. It is brought out by that great publishing firm [Longmans], the story of whose cheque to Maeaulay for 20,0001. as his share of the profits of the third and fourth volumes of his ' History ' —and that merely «s a payment on account—is remembered by most of us. This Quaker volume contains an account uf the finding at Hertford of the body of Sarah Stout, " drownd in a River." The work is well annotated, but this incident is not elucidated by a single comment. The intelligent reviewer in the columns of a daily paper [The Times] there- upon remarked that he should like to know more of Sarah Stout. To none of these distinguished persons—prefacer, editor, publisher, reviewer— does her name convey any information. Yet a lawyer [Spencer Cowper], afterwards raised to the judicial Dench, who was a member of one of England's leading families, was accused of lu-r murder, and the scandal of the trial, with the subsequent proceedings instituted by his political opponents, threatened to mar the career both of him and his elder brother, a future Lord Chan- cellor. The event, moreover, seriously affected the political fortunes of the Whigs.
