316
NOTES AND QUERIES. [ii s. ix. APRIL is, 191*.
days of interior heating the habit being
retained simply as a tradition in certain
special instances. However, the ultimate
origin, it would seem, should be sought for
in folk-lore ; but when, where, and how
did the custom arise ?
WM. A. MCLAUGHLIN. Ann Arbor, Michigan.
THE ROADS HOUND LONDON SEVENTY YEARS AGO : RHUBARB (US. ix. 82, 157, 274). At the first reference the market- gardens of South London were mentioned and associated with the Miatts, who culti- vated the common garden rhubarb. This is supported by a quotation in the * N.E.D.' :
" 1860. Wynter, * Curios. Civil.,' 236, Rhu- barb is almost wholly furnished by the London market - gardeners. It was first introduced by Mr. Miatt forty years ago, who sent his two sons to the Borough Market with five bunches, of which they only sold three."
The earliest date given for " rhubarb -pie " is 1855, but " rhubarb tarts " occur in the tenth edition of Farley's ' London Art of Cookery,' published in 1804. Farley was chef at the " London Tavern." The ' Dic- tionary ' notices English rhubarb as early as 1 650, but, of course, not in connexion with the above. TOM JONES.
Rhubarb was grown in this country long
Erevious to 1820. Tradescant's garden in outh Lambeth was well stocked with rare and curious plants. Tradescant was King's Gardener temp. Charles I. His son pub- lished a catalogue of plants, roots, &c., amongst which is mentioned " Hippo - rnarathrum," or Rhubarb of the Monks. This garden existed in 1749, and is described in the Philos. Trans., vol. xlvi.
Lambeth at one time was noted for its orchards. Here was Cuper's Garden, de- signed and laid out by Boydell Cuper, gar- dener to Thomas, Earl of Arundel. The site is now crossed by the Waterloo Road (Timbs). REGINALD JACOBS.
COMMUNION TABLE BY GRINLING GIBBONS IN ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL (11 S.jix. 248,295). On the erection of the present reredos the table was removed, and temporarily used as the altar of the Jesus Chapel, on the site of the original sanctuary.
The table was subsequently stored in the crypt, but is now placed, with the old altar- cross from the choir, in a small chapel (without dedication, provided for private devotion) at the eastern end of the south aisle of the crypt.
CHAS. H. HOPWOOD.
HUMAN FAT AS A MEDICINE (11 S. ix. 70
1 15, 1 57, 195). The use of human fat in folk-
leechcraft was mentioned many years ago
in a paper, ' Pratiques Empiriques,' read
by M. 1'Abbe Nogues at a congress held at
Niort by the Societe d'Ethnographie Natio-
nale et d'Art Populaire :
" Les incomparables vertus que 1'on attribuait a la graisse humaine la faisaient grandement rechercher des mamans et des .... coquettes. Aussi les bourreaux la vendaient-ils au poids d'or. On 1'employait contre les convulsions infantiles. En ce cas, 'on I'^tendait sur un lainage et Ton en frottait le corps do 1'enfant. C'^tait aussi un pr&servatif. Les belles dont la variole avait de"- charne" les traits en faisaient usage pour combler les petites cavit&s que la maladie avait creuse"es sur leur visage. Elle aplanissait toutes les dfectuosite"s de cette nature, et finalement les faisait disparaitre. On s'en servait aussi fructu- eusement pour empecher les rides de se creuser ; en un mot :
Pour r^parer des ans 1'irreparable outrage. Tnfaillible contre les rousseurs, elle rendait encore la peau lisse et veloute"e comme du satin. C'^taifc la Royal-Windsor de ce temps-la. Ce qui n'empechait pas le diable d'en tirer parti pour ses malences et d'en composer un onguent magique qu'il passait aux sorciers afin de les rendre in- visibles a 1'heure du sabbat ! "
BARBERS AND YELLOW (11 S. ix. 148). I learn from Mr. Samuel Smiles's ' Jasmin/ which a recent visit to Agen has led me to look up, that M. Boisjoslin in ' Les Peuples de la France : Ethnographic Nationale,* says
" half the barbers of Paris are Ibe"riens. For the last three centuries in all the legends and anec- dotes the barber is always a Gascon." ' Jasmin,' pp. 152-3.
I incline to think that this question of race may have something to do with the " tra- ditionnelle veste jaune.' 5 Not long ago, I was inside a barber's shop at St. Emilion without facing the garment, and I peered into other establishments in the South of France, but failed to find Figaro with any touch of yellow. Will no cordial Frenchman come to my aid ?
ST. SWITHIN.
- NAPOLEON DANS L' AUTRE MONDE '(11 S.
ix. 269). The British Museum possesses a copy of the above work, and enters it in the Catalogue as " [By Baron A. H. de Jomini ?]." Baron de Jomini was a native of Switzerland, joined the French army, and rose to be a brigadier-general under Napoleon. He became famous for his writings on military subjects, while he also wrote a political and military life of Napoleon.
ARCHIBALD SPARKE, F.R.S.L.
